DMR Scanning

[MASONROBERSONMR]

I purchased the Baofeng DMR radio. That radio was trash. It could not decode any DMR. My local city uses a non truncked dmr system. I listen to them with SDR and DSD. Clearly I cannot pick my laptop up and SDR and go. I'm looking for something portable. Like I said I got the baofeng DMR radio for scanning only and it was trash. It did not decode any of my normal DMR frequencies. I returned it to Amazon and now looking at the TYT MD-380 again for scanning only. Will this work? I seen some really bad reviews of the Baofeng DMR, but ignored them unfortunately. Unlike the TYT I have seen almost nothing negative almost all love them...

 

[Station51]

DMR Choices

I first purchased a Radioddity GD-77 which works fine, but there seemed to be a diminished volume while listening to UHF DMR. (Could be the repeater itself,) (Wanted a dualband as well)

I then bought a MD-380 which has a higher volume than the GD-77 but still a little lower that non DMR transmissions. Radio mono band (UHF Only)
The 380 has been around for awhile and more support is available I've been happy with it.
Got mine thru "letsgeteady" in Los Angeles thru eBay. Shipped it the same day from LA not China
I had it the next day bc I'm only 70 miles from LA

BTW I use them to monitor local Mall Security as well as talk on Ham DMR repeaters

Good Luck!!

 

[MASONROBERSONMR]

Thanks I'm looking into the MD380 which is the VHF version which is the version ok need

 

[newsphotog]

The Baofeng radio is Tier 1 DMR only, meaning it won't decode Tier 2 systems, which most are. Tier 1 = 1 time slot. Tier 2 = 2 time slots.

 

[INDY72]

The Baofeng radio is Tier 1 DMR only, meaning it won't decode Tier 2 systems, which most are. Tier 1 = 1 time slot. Tier 2 = 2 time slots.

Umm HUH? Nope, wrong on tier points. If that was so, Tier 3 would be 3 Time Slots... Which is so not true, DMR is 2 Slot TDMA on ALL tiers.

DMR Tiers
[edit] DMR Tier I
DMR Tier I products are for license-free use in the 446 MHz band in the European Union.

This part of the standard provides for consumer applications and low-power commercial applications, using a maximum of 0.5 watt RF power. With a limited number of channels and no use of repeaters, no use of telephone interconnects, fixed/integrated antennas, and a talk timer of 180 seconds, Tier I DMR devices are best suited for personal use, recreation, small retail and other settings that do not require wide area coverage or advanced features.

In North and South America the 446.0 - 446.2 MHz band is part of the amateur radio 70 cm band and requires an amateur radio license.

[edit] DMR Tier II
DMR Tier II covers licensed conventional radio systems, mobiles and hand portables operating in PMR frequency bands from 66-960MHz. The ETSI DMR Tier II standard is targeted at those users who need spectral efficiency, advanced voice features and integrated IP data services in licensed bands for high-power communications. ETSI DMR Tier II specifies two slot TDMA in 12.5 kHz channels.


DMR Tier II is based on the following ETSI standards.

ETSI TS 102 361-1 Air interface
ETSI TS 102 361-2 Voice and generic services and facilities
ETSI TS 102 361-3 Data protocol
[edit] DMR Tier III
DMR Tier III covers trunking operation in frequency bands 66-960MHz. The Tier III standard specifies two slot TDMA in 12.5kHz channels. Tier III supports voice and short messaging handling similar to MPT 1327 with built-in 128 character status messaging and short messaging with up to 288 bits of data in a variety of formats. It also supports packet data service in a variety of formats, including support for IPv4 and IPv6.

 

[newsphotog]

I never said anything about Tier 3.

The standards you copy-pasted is not applicable to this conversation.

DMR Tier I & II - Miklor

This explains why OP's Tier 1 radio wasn't able to decode Tier 2 systems.

 

[MASONROBERSONMR]

Thanks newsphotog. You cleared the tiers up for me! I'm still doing some research on the TYT 380

 

[MASONROBERSONMR]

This is what I see on DSD+ so I assume that it is tier 2 which the TYT 380 can do
+DMR slot1 BS VOICE
+DMR slot2 BS DATA DCC=1 Idle

 

[natedawg1604]

Keep in mind, some commercial DMR systems using a single frequency will rotate slots (I'm not sure of the correct term, maybe single-frequency trunking or something). With ham systems, they always use fixed slots. However, I've encountered numerous single-frequency commercial DMR systems which do not show up as Cap+ or Con+ in DSD+, but which still use rotating slots. When you monitor these systems with a ham radio, you must program both slots and scan between them, and this will cause some degree of missed transmissions.

 

[W2SJW]

I'd suggest going with the Anytone D868: Connect Systems

Dual-band (136-174/400-480)
4000 channels total/250 channels max per bank
75 channels max in each scan list
10,000 talkgroups max
150,000 private ID's max.
Has a digital monitor mode by default that will show you all traffic on a channel & the color code, slot, TG info, etc.

$169 with a 3100mah battery that literally lasts forever...

 

[Ubbe]

DM380 have excellent audio quality on TX, when I'm listening to radio amateurs using it. It also has excellent sensitivity in RX, better than scanners, in both digital and analog mode. So in general it is not a bad radio.

It can scan and decode all TG's. I believe all other DMR radios like Connect Systems, Anytone, BelFone only have the option to decode wildcards while sitting on one channel and sometimes only on one slot.

The MD380 scan 32 channels and one slot per channel which means 16 DMR frequencies can be scanned.
The slot with the control channel doesn't need to be monitored in a DT3 system and my Cap+ systems always have the first voice channel on slot 2 and also the DT3 system always starts to occupy slot 1 on the first voice frequency. So there are plenty of systems that can be scanned in just one list if you monitor all TG's and private calls. If you do selective TG scanning in normal mode you probably need to scan all voice slots from one site to not miss that important TG call when there is a lot of traffic in the system.

/Ubbe

 

[Golay]

User comments

I'd suggest going with the Anytone D868: Connect Systems

Dual-band (136-174/400-480)
4000 channels total/250 channels max per bank
75 channels max in each scan list
10,000 talkgroups max
150,000 private ID's max.
Has a digital monitor mode by default that will show you all traffic on a channel & the color code, slot, TG info, etc.

$169 with a 3100mah battery that literally lasts forever...

Sometime this spring, I'm going to sell my 6550 and get a dual bander. I like the 6550, but I just don't want to carry a radio for VHF analog, and another for 440 DMR and analog. (All DMR near me is 440).

How long have you had this radio? Is there anything you do not care for it? Thanks.