How is everyone structuring their zones/channels?

[razorseal]

So I just got my GD-77 dual band DMR...

I noticed my idea of how to setup my zones is different than most...

I was thinking of having a zone that is a repeater. so if I move areas (let's say go from home to work) I would just change zone from zone named "Home (or name of repeater)" to "work (or again name of repeater)".

within these zones, I'll have the talk groups as channels. so on my home zone I'll have 6 channels with my the nearest DMR repeater to my house as the freq for each ch I setup, and each channel will be assigned a talkgroup.

so when I drive to work, I can just change the zone, and I don't have to scroll through 20 channels to get to the repeater I want then find the talkgroup.

Does this sound inefficient in a way that I haven't noticed it yet? How do others setup their radios?

now I have a PD682 coming tomorrow too and I know that supports roaming, so I assume that works totally different (and programmed totally different) since it auto changes repeaters based on RSSI, so that I'll probably zone way different.

anyways, let me know! I'll be asking alot of questions

 

[N4KVE]

I do that, but there is also a Zone called local that is the simplex freq's, repeaters, & TG's I use every day. Analog, DMR local TG's, everything that's used daily. No NA, WW, Tri State stuff. 95% of the time, that's the Zone I'm in.

 

[djs13pa]

This is an interesting question that seems to have become more common with DV modes. I run DStsr, not yet on DMR, but the same issues arise.

Personally I have a zone for my club machines and daily commute. I have a zone for the region I live in and might do errands in. I establish less zones for common long trips out of state. I have a zone for off road driving areas and a zone for car to car/car to spotter comms.

I also commit a zone each to simplex and emcomm.

Zones may include analog if needed.

I guess it really depends on your situation. Lots of folks have lots of ways of organizing because we all use our radios differently.


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[razorseal]

I do that, but there is also a Zone called local that is the simplex freq's, repeaters, & TG's I use every day. Analog, DMR local TG's, everything that's used daily. No NA, WW, Tri State stuff. 95% of the time, that's the Zone I'm in.

I just got my Hytera, so hopefully you can show me how you do that. I got the stuff programmed, but it's kinda hectic.

What would be awesome is if I could actually use a contact as a channel, and the radio pick out the best repeater based on RSSI/roaming function.

 

[SOFA_KING]

The issue is too many (often different) talkgroups on repeaters, and then too many repeaters on a commute to fit in a single zone. Most radios do only 16 channels a zone, and that's very limiting. Changing zones is a pain. I often forget. And roaming only works when repeaters use the same talkgroups. Often there are differences.

So I came up with an idea to use a combination of "Group Lists" to expand talkgroup reception capacity, and then use Talkback Scan to be able to jump in a conversation if I hear something of interest. I pick four talkgroups of interest (2 per time slot) as my primary TX talkgroups, then use Group Lists with up to 16 talkgroups loaded into them on RX. Scan List limitations are another issue, but as long as you can scan at least one channel per time slot on every repeater, you'll hear everything in the group list on every repeater. On a 32 channel zone that gives me up to eight repeaters to scan on my commute, although I usually also scan some simplex and analog channels, so maybe 7 or 6 repeaters are possible. Turn on scan and never even change a channel as I drive. I hear everything in range and just TX when I want to join a conversation. If I actually initiate a conversation, then I have to pick one of the four talkgroup channels I can select (steer) for TX, and chooses what repeater I'm closest to. Local and Florida Statewide were usually slot 2 channels. North America and TAC310 were slot 1 channels. All had a 16 talkgroup group list for RX. That gave huge capacity in a single zone with wide area coverage, but was a compromise on TX talkgroup selection. Since I listen more than initiate conversations, it works well. I hear everything and can answer anything I hear. I don't even think about what repeater it's on, as talkback scan does the selection. Usually, if you can hear it, you can talk to it. And if one repeater is dragging into the mud, I can temporarily lock it out of scan using nuisance delete. It will scan to another repeater in range.

Zone limitations are the issue for how hams use DMR. We need radios that are unlimited. Some high-end commercial radios are unlimited, but expensive. Using group lists expands capacity 16 times. That's about as much as you can do to cram everything into a limited zone radio. Those companies that target amateur radio use should give you two selection knobs. One for the repeater, and another for the TX talkgroup. Unlimited channels per zone, and unlimited scan channel capacity. They should also show both the channel name and talkgroup name underneath it on the display. And of course be frequency, CC, slot and TG agile so you can program everything on the fly without a computer. Hams need a non-commercial approach.

Phil

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Really depends on what you do.

My personal preference is to have a mix of zones based off of what I do. I tend to name zones off of the nearest international airport. So my primary zones are things like AUS (Austin), SJT (San Angelo), DFW, HOU (I know this is Hobby and not Intercontinental...just makes more sense), and LBB (Lubbock). Then I have my regional (generally work) zones such as WR (Western Region, a.k.a. Western Counties) and PB (Permian Basin). The a IOP (Interop) zone for the band. DPS and DOT zones (these are mainly for my scanning purposes as neither agency is currently a customer). Then the TVL zone where I have commonly used amateur repeaters with MPL. A new zone I'm working on is for the Armadillo/Cactus Intertie using conventional voting scan...still working on it though. Some channels are mapped to multiple zones such as a TG or two that are in AUS, WR, and in the near future PB (waiting on a system core migration) since they are wide area talk groups.

 

[kayn1n32008]

In my DMR portable my zones are setup like this:

Zone 1: VE6VPR DMR repeater with all talk groups available on it.

Zone 2: VE6RYC DMR repeater with all talk groups available on it.

Zone 3: YEG UHF repeaters(Local repeaters)

Zone 4: YYC UHF repeaters(I am in Calgary fairly frequently.

Zone 5: Local Aux Comm frequencies. In Alberta we have coordinated, province wide, 2 repeater pairs for temporary portable repeaters and 2 simplex frequencies specifically for AuxComm. There is also a province wide pair for SAR that also use amateur radio to complement their LMR comms. It also contains local YEG repeaters.

Zone 6: Red Deer ARES UHF repeater network. Wide area linked repeater system in Central Alberta.

Zone 7: Southern Alberta Repeater Association North. Wide area linked repeater system. All SARA UHF repeaters north of Red Deer.

Zone 8: SARA South. SARA UHF repeaters South of Red Deer.

Zone 9: Alberta North. All UHF repeaters North of Red Deer. Excludes repeaters that fall in above zones.

Zone 10: Alberta South. All UHF repeaters South of Red Deer. Excludes repeaters that fall in above zones.

Zone 11: Digital Simplex. All common simplex frequencies used for DMR simplex.

Zone 12: Analogue simplex. All RAC UHF band plan 25KHz UHF simplex channels.

Zone 13: Canadian GMRS frequencies.

Zone 14: VE7RAG DMR repeater. All available talk groups on this repeater

Zone 15: VE7NWR DMR repeater. All available talk groups available on this repeater.


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[Jasphetamine]

So I just got my GD-77 dual band DMR...

I noticed my idea of how to setup my zones is different than most...

I was thinking of having a zone that is a repeater. so if I move areas (let's say go from home to work) I would just change zone from zone named "Home (or name of repeater)" to "work (or again name of repeater)".

within these zones, I'll have the talk groups as channels. so on my home zone I'll have 6 channels with my the nearest DMR repeater to my house as the freq for each ch I setup, and each channel will be assigned a talkgroup.

so when I drive to work, I can just change the zone, and I don't have to scroll through 20 channels to get to the repeater I want then find the talkgroup.

Does this sound inefficient in a way that I haven't noticed it yet? How do others setup their radios?

now I have a PD682 coming tomorrow too and I know that supports roaming, so I assume that works totally different (and programmed totally different) since it auto changes repeaters based on RSSI, so that I'll probably zone way different.

anyways, let me know! I'll be asking alot of questions

This is the most effective way I've found to program my GD-77. Zones are either bands with placeholder channels for semi-VFO use (UHFA UHFD VHFA VHFD) allowing keypad programming, then repeaters stored in the sequence I'd use moving south along the East Coast, NOAA zone with Rx only channels for all NOAA stations, and Rx only FRS, GMRS, and MURS zones.

Requires a lot of channels but judicious use of the copy paste command in the CPS channel list helps a lot.

Don't forget to set a programmable key to short press zone list. Essential.