D-Star User buys CSI 700 DMr and needs help

[KQ4BX]

I live in south Florida, north of West Palm beach, and I have been on D-Star for a few months and I really like it. However, i do get to talk to Hams from all over the world on D-Star, and many have DMR as well. I hear that DMR could be better than D-Star, but I wanted to see for myself, so I bought the CSI 700 HT, and will need to program it for South Florida. I'm not exactly sure if I have a DMR repeater in Stuart, but maybe I do. I would like to know if someone would send me a code plug for South Florida to give me something to start with.
Without that, maybe someone has a good "Idiots Guide to programming a DMR radio in PDF format.

To be honest, to set a D-Star radio up, all one does it load Rt Systems software and select the D-Star calculator, then tell it where you live and load what you want from a menu. My radio was working in a few minutes. I tweak it a little as I get used to what I can do, versus what my radio currently does, and bring the programming up to my speed.

The D-Star group is fantastic in terms of how friendly they are , and who will help you understand D-Star.

The radio will arrive in a day or two via priority mail, and i will be very eager to get it working. I have an antenna at 40 feet, and will use this radio in the shack along side my D-Star radio. I operate D-star on HF, but i saw no reference to DMR on HF, does it exist?

I am currently reading The Amateur Radio Guide to Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) by John S. Burningham, W2XAB, dated october 2014. I find the DMR system to be better than D-Star in some respects, but far behind it in others. I will know if this is true once I get my radio programed and working. I plan to document this as a report for the D-Star community. Many of my D-Star friends are curious about DMR. if i say anything about DMR, i want it to be first hand, not something I heard, or read.

All help is appreciated.

 

[AK9R]

Did you check the DMR-MARC repeater database to see if there's a DMR repeater in your area?

 

[KQ4BX]

Yes, I actually know the hams who own the repeater. I registered for a radio ID today, and only need some guidance on programming the radio myself. I asked for a code plug just to use as a reference for my own education.

Joe KQ4BX

 

[kb5udf]

Programming Help

Hi There,

It's a little long but excellent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U83hCT5ehdU

This video taught me enough to get going. Normally I hate video's but you can
fast forward through the parts you don't care about. PM me with your email if you want my code plug.

73 KB5UDF

 

[jaspence]

DMR

Join the csidmr group. There are code plugs for several states/areas and you may find one ready for your use. I have had a D-Star radio since the IC-91AD came out, and DMR has one big plus that makes it a winner. That is the ability to carry on 2 conversations at the same time on a single frequency while using less band width than a standard FM radio.

 

[KQ4BX]

Hi There,

It's a little long but excellent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U83hCT5ehdU

This video taught me enough to get going. Normally I hate video's but you can
fast forward through the parts you don't care about. PM me with your email if you want my code plug.

73 KB5UDF

This has got to be one of the best video tutorials on programming the CS700. Thanks, I liked it.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

From what I remember, my favorite feature of TRBO is not a feature supported on the CS-700.

I've got loaner XPR series from the owner of my local TRBO repeater.

 

[KQ4BX]

What feature are you speaking of, and if it was so important to you, why can't you remember?

 

[Project25_MASTR]

What feature are you speaking of, and if it was so important to you, why can't you remember?

All of my TRBO radios are Motorola, I've only talked to guys with the CS700.

From what they've told me, the CS700 doesn't have roaming in it.

 

[N4KVE]

There's a local guy named Hector who works for the Palm Beach County 2 way shop who's a whiz with the 700, & has codeplugs for the area. I forget his callsign though. There are repeaters in Palm Beach Gardens, & West Palm Beach, but not in Stuart. If you had a Moto radio, I could help you, as I'm near Okeechobee, & the Turnpike, but you will need to find Hector, or Jim in the Gardens, as they both have 700's. Good luck.

 

[AK9R]

According to the DMR-MARC database, 444.97500 in Stuart, Florida, is a DMR repeater.

 

[N4KVE]

According to the DMR-MARC database, 444.97500 in Stuart, Florida, is a DMR repeater.

Thanks, that's good to know. I don't remember one being there at the last Stuart Hamfest.

 

[N4KVE]

There's a local guy named Hector who works for the Palm Beach County 2 way shop who's a whiz with the 700, & has codeplugs for the area. I forget his callsign though.

Hector's call is AD4C, & he lives in Lake Worth.

 

[KQ4BX]

Can't get software to communicate with radio

I have the newest programming software, and it opens fine. I have the cable on the radio and it is connected to the computer fine, no problem there.
The CS700 and the programming software can't see each other. They don't complain so I can understand why, they just sit there when I say read ort write and never do anything but try. The programming windows opens and sits there and does nothing.
The radio is on, and I have tried turning off and back on like Icom requires, but nothing I can do will make them talk. The software has no place for me to set a com port, nor can I see exactly which port the radio is on, without removing it and watching for it to uninstall itself from device manager.

I won't bother trying to find the port when there is no place to address the port within the program. i printed the manual, but it does not address communication with the radio , it only talks about the settings.

Can someone tell me the secret handshake to get these two to talk?

Joe

 

[N4KVE]

Try KD4SJF, Jim in Jupiter. He just programmed my friend's 700 last week, & he's closer to you than Hector. He's also on the radio a lot more often. GARY

 

[KQ4BX]

I figured out the way to program the radio, and have a bunch of analog frequencies working, but nobody is on any of the repeaters. I don't know if the DMR channels are working, so I tried to reach James Stevenson, the ham you mentioned in Jupiter. He does not list and email address in QRZ, so I had to do some web snooping, which I am pretty good at, and I got a phone number for a company he owns. I left him voice mail and hope he responds.

DMR is pretty dead in Florida, but I hear that it is going strong in the Carolina's, and California.

The CS700 is built pretty well, and it appears to work well, but takes a little to program it properly.

 

[N4KVE]

DMR is pretty dead in Florida, but I hear that it is going strong in the Carolina's, and California.

Actually, my friend Rick, AC4XQ owns a system linking 7 DMR repeaters in Florida. North Dade, South Miami, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Ft. Myers, Orlando, & Melbourne. Then there's all the DMR-MARC repeaters scattered all over the state, so DMR is doing well in Florida. Hopefully Jim can help you.

 

[KQ4BX]

I downloaded Ad4c's code plug, made some mods to be mine, then uploaded it. It has all 1000 memories used for Florida . I will put the radio in scan and see what comes up. Then again when I get the connectors to adapt the radio to my duel band tower mounted antenna @ 40 feet.
The program I got from AD4C was so big, and has the entire state in it, it will take me a while to make it work for my own use, while keeping all the systems he has in tact.

 

[N4KVE]

I downloaded Ad4c's code plug, made some mods to be mine, then uploaded it. It has all 1000 memories used for Florida . I will put the radio in scan and see what comes up. Then again when I get the connectors to adapt the radio to my duel band tower mounted antenna @ 40 feet.
The program I got from AD4C was so big, and has the entire state in it, it will take me a while to make it work for my own use, while keeping all the systems he has in tact.

Great. Hope to talk to you on DMR. Oh, & if you didn't already do this, go to the DMR-MARC site & apply for an ID #. You will need this to access the DMR repeaters.

 

[KQ4BX]

Gary, I got the DMR ID last week after I read a DMR primer. I spoke to some guys on North America, but it isn't like D-Star, they don't want yoiu to carry on any concersation on North America. So one of the hams was local, and just as new to DMR as I am, so we went local and talked for a while. The audio quality was very good. although the audio out of the CS700 was low, and I needed to eat the mic to keep it strong.

I can reach those systems from my home, but to get into the them solid, Ineeded to go outside. I have a connector coing to fit the CS700 and give me a SO-239 so I can put it on my base antenna.

DMR has good audio, but in Florida, there isn't much traffic. I called several times to get a contact on North America, and once I did, they told me to move it local. Then North America went silent again, and stayed that way. I can't say I admire the hams in DMR, they handle it like it was a business and not ham radio. Go to D-Star, and connect to 30 Charlie and have no ham tell you to go somewhrere else. Then talk to Scotland, London, Japan, all over the US, and the rest of the world. I've met more hams, and had more QSO's on D-Star than I could ever have on HF. HF goes like this, "Thank you for the contact, you are 59 in Ohio, 73'" D-Star goes like this, Hello Ivan HL5BBD, what kind of D-Star equipment are you using? "Oh you have a DVDongle into a Raspberry Pie, that's cool." DMR doesn't have much in the line of other ways to get on DMR if you don't have a DMR radio, but one did just come out, but they call it DV3000U, and it will do D-Star and DMR, and others, but somone has to write software for it. Good luck in getting someone to write DMR software for it, but D-star is already working. That DV3000U is what is going to Cuba for the special event next month.

Anytime you want to talk, just call me on North America, and If I ma here, I should have it on. I'm not sure if we can go local, but I guess if you reach the repeater I am on, that should work too. My local is called Stuart Local.

73' Joe