DMR Talkgroup Questions

[chief21]

I'm fairly new to DMR, but with my background in trunking, I thought I had a good grasp of talkgroups. Maybe not so much.

Here's a question for the DMR experts here...

Due to my location, I have not been able to reach any of the DMR repeaters around me directly with my handheld MD-380. As a solution, I recently purchased a SharkRF OpenSpot and have since been able to access several of the wide-area talkgroups, such as TAC310, 311, and SEast. Unfortunately, however, I have had no luck at all trying to access a number of other talkgroups.

I suspect that this might be due to the different types of DMR systems (DMR-MARC, Brandmeister, etc) but the differences aren't real clear to me. In particular, there are three local/regional talkgroups that I have been unable to access - all are networked among numerous repeaters:

WNC (talkgroup 27600) - linked through 6 or 7 repeaters, but nothing heard via OpenSpot

NCPRN (talkgroup 2) - linked across several states, but when I monitor this TG, I hear hams from Ohio, Indiana, New York, etc. - nothing from NC or TN.

NAmerica (talkgroup 3) - obviously linked, but nothing heard via OpenSpot


I'd like to be able to use these (and other) talkgroups, so what are the rules on which talkgroups I can access and which I can't when using the OpenSpot? Is there a list somewhere?

Thanks in advance for suggestions.

John AC4JK

 

[CarolinasFeedNet]

An openSPOT will only connect to Brandmeister or DMRPlus networks. The PRN and WNC Talkgroups you mentioned are a no go, but NAmerica maybe accessible thru the DMRPlus network. Goto the DMR-MARC page for more info. Basically, the WNC and PRN Talkgroups are confined to their respective C-Bridges. But I
am surprised that you can't hit a PRN or WNC-Net repeater

 

[chief21]

An openSPOT will only connect to Brandmeister or DMRPlus networks. The PRN and WNC Talkgroups you mentioned are a no go, but NAmerica maybe accessible thru the DMRPlus network. Goto the DMR-MARC page for more info. Basically, the WNC and PRN Talkgroups are confined to their respective C-Bridges. But I am surprised that you can't hit a PRN or WNC-Net repeater

Totally can't hit a repeater on either of those networks. I even tried hooking the MD-380 to an attic antenna but no joy.

Thanks for the information about the talkgroups. Is there somewhere I can find some lists to print out? How does one know which talkgroup numbers belong to which DMR network? There appears to be duplication in the numbers.

John AC4JK

 

[CarolinasFeedNet]

DMR-MARC Network is a list of DMR+ talk groups as well as DMR-MARC talk groups that are accessible via DMR+ reflectors. The best info on Brandmeister talk groups is in the explore link of the Brandmeister Live app for Android. There are many roll your own talk groups on Brandmeister so there's probably not a comprehensive list anywhere( many are based on the geographic code used to assign radio ID's however ie. 3137 NC Statewide, 3112 FL statewide, etc)

 

[CarolinasFeedNet]

Also make sure you have an up to date codeplug, there have been some changes over the last few months, new repeaters, frequency changes, etc

 

[rescue161]

I'm not sure about the OpenSpot, but on the 380 (or any DMR radio for that matter) you have to make sure you select which slot the radio is using along with the correct talkgroup. So, for PRN, it would be Slot 2 and TG 2. This of course relies on you being within the coverage area of a PRN repeater.

Disregard if you knew this already.

 

[N8OHU]

Another thing; many talk groups are PTT activated, which means that unless someone specifically is using it on a given repeater, you won't be heard by anyone using that system.

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