POC to DMR for Security company

[KJ7IUI]

Good morning everyone,
I am curious if anyone had patched a gateway with zello to an DMR repeater for business operation. For back ground me and a coworker are starting are own security company outside of the one we work at now and I have been tasked to set up are coms for individual officers and are patrol guards we are state wide as well looking at out of state operations. We want to primarily use DMR in the greater I5 corridor in western Washington but for out of region we are looking at using zello work for dispatching and management has anyone done this. Any help is appreciated.

 

[TampaTyron]

ESchat....... with LMR gateway. Then low piwer mobile hooked to gateway to tie 2 systems together. TT

 

[mmckenna]

Good morning everyone,
I am curious if anyone had patched a gateway with zello to an DMR repeater for business operation. For back ground me and a coworker are starting are own security company outside of the one we work at now and I have been tasked to set up are coms for individual officers and are patrol guards we are state wide as well looking at out of state operations. We want to primarily use DMR in the greater I5 corridor in western Washington but for out of region we are looking at using zello work for dispatching and management has anyone done this. Any help is appreciated.

Couple of questions...

Do you already own the DMR radios?

Are you using a radio service provider, using these simplex, or do you have plans to build out your own repeater coverage?

There are a number of ways to do this, and it would depend on what you already have in place.

 

[KJ7IUI]

Couple of questions...

Do you already own the DMR radios?

Are you using a radio service provider, using these simplex, or do you have plans to build out your own repeater coverage?

There are a number of ways to do this, and it would depend on what you already have in place.

I would be building a repeater service for the greater Seattle area eventually but wanted to know if anyone has done it with a gateway to zello for other or offsite use

 

[mmckenna]

I would be building a repeater service for the greater Seattle area eventually but wanted to know if anyone has done it with a gateway to zello for other or offsite use

Are you aware of how much this would cost?
Suitable radio sites?
Equipment?
Engineering?
Permitting?
Installation/construction?
Frequency coordination?
Licensing?
Ongoing maintenance?

Before you go too far down this road, make sure you price out getting service from an established provider. Or, look into the LTE only radios that will ride upon existing networks.

If you are really going to build out your own system, and have the hundreds of thousands of dollars, take a look at the Motorola offerings that will support LTE coverage.

 

[KJ7IUI]

Are you aware of how much this would cost?
Suitable radio sites?
Equipment?
Engineering?
Permitting?
Installation/construction?
Frequency coordination?
Licensing?
Ongoing maintenance?

Before you go too far down this road, make sure you price out getting service from an established provider. Or, look into the LTE only radios that will ride upon existing networks.

If you are really going to build out your own system, and have the hundreds of thousands of dollars, take a look at the Motorola offerings that will support LTE coverage.

So I'm aware of how much I can cost but I'm also trying to avoid motorola just due to there difficulties in communicating with people that are not well established and I'm also trying to avoid dealing with Day Wirless here in WA. So ultimately it would be 1 repeater site in Seattle area our Dispatch would be in that area. 2 we plan on doing a gateway for Zello and using there dispatching system. Like I said before this is for getting an understanding but in the start of things we are going to be mainly using the POC radios to start.

 

[a417]

Starting out?

budget your self a basic PTToC solution, and then evaluate where you are after a year. You know...like Zello.

Walk before you try to run.

 

[mmckenna]

Yeah, I agree, go with the Push To Talk over Cellular solution.
There's a lot of people that show up here with dreams of building out these large radio systems for their newly formed security company. What that tells us is that they have no idea how much it is going to cost and no idea of the technical challenges involved. Installing repeaters does not involve buying a bunch of stuff off Amazon or E-Bay and just plugging it all together. There's a ton (decades) of technical knowledge and skill involved, not to mention $50K or more (often WAY more) worth of test equipment and tools to properly set up a repeater. Tower climbing certifications, insurance, site leases, and a lot of high end/expensive parts to make this work.

And considering that small radio shops with similar repeater systems are going belly up because everyone is switching to cellular, you'd be hard pressed to ever recover any of that money on your own radio system.

Many of us here have been doing this stuff for decades. Even we can see that for applications like yours would benefit from a PTToC solution.

 

[mmckenna]

So I'm aware of how much I can cost but I'm also trying to avoid motorola just due to there difficulties in communicating with people that are not well established and I'm also trying to avoid dealing with Day Wirless here in WA. So ultimately it would be 1 repeater site in Seattle area our Dispatch would be in that area. 2 we plan on doing a gateway for Zello and using there dispatching system. Like I said before this is for getting an understanding but in the start of things we are going to be mainly using the POC radios to start.

OK.
Still, one radio site in a major metropolis like Seattle, plus a dispatch center, is going to be really expensive.

Before you buy any equipment, make sure you get a written contract for your tower site. For major cities like that, access to a decent tower can easily run you $1000 or more per month just to bolt your own antenna to the tower and a small repeater in the enclosure.

There are some really good LTE solutions that would let you get your system off the ground with minimal investment first. Then see how things progress.

Besides that, getting a good UHF frequency pair somewhere like Seattle may be a challenge. Engage with a good frequency coordinator before doing anything else.

 

[DeoVindice]

Something I've tinkered with to good effect is mobile LTE-LMR gateways, consisting of a mobile radio, USB audio interface, and a small PC. The result is sort of the best of both worlds - the ergonomics and simplex capability of portable radios, with the cheap wide-area coverage of LTE. On-site users can communicate simplex, and the gateway will pass their calls over PTToC while transmitting PTToC calls over LMR.

Roxitek sells a good USB audio interface for use with Zello.

 

[madrabbitt]

Ok. Lets put together a reasonable checklist for a DMR repeater system covering both a major metropolitan area and a highly traveled corridor, plus a radio to POC gateway (likely zello) for those employees who may be outside of the system for assignments:

1. 5 year plan
2. 10 million dollars of funds
3. Frequency licensing and coordination
4. Established relationships with existing infrastructure owners who may lease tower space

You have all of that in hand on day 1, right? Excellent.

On day 365 you may be testing. On day 547, you may be in limited operation.

 

[a417]

Roxitek sells a good USB audio interface for use with Zello.

What did you pay? They are all sekrit squirrel with their pricing on their webpage.

 

[fire_master_21]

What did you pay? They are all sekrit squirrel with their pricing on their webpage.

I was quoted $300 for a RG-001 gateway, and $125 for a cable back in 2021.

 

[a417]

I was quoted $300 for a RG-001 gateway, and $125 for a cable back in 2021.

Ty. 'preciate it.

 

[DeoVindice]

I was quoted $300 for a RG-001 gateway, and $125 for a cable back in 2021.

This is in the ballpark of what I was quoted as well.

 

[Firebuff880]

You should look a the Motorola TLK products for the look and feel of a mobile/portable but they use the LTE Wave on Cloud for Carrier.

Current Models.
TLK-110 for Portable
TLK_150 for Mobile