Hotspot Recommendation

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WA6IJD

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Looking for recommendations on the best hotspot that does as many modes as possible. Like DMR (of course) P25, Fusion, and Etc.

Thanks Again
Robert WA6IJD
 

K4EET

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Looking for recommendations on the best hotspot that does as many modes as possible. Like DMR (of course) P25, Fusion, and Etc. <snip>
Robert, I am very interested in this thread because I am looking to get a hotspot too. How much programming experience do you have for these hotspots, e.g. with Pi-Star for the DVMEGA Hotspot, etc.? I have zero experience but don't let that drive your thread. Also, are you looking for a single band or dual band (VHF/UHF) hotspot? Probably dual band which is a little more expensive but gives you the added flexibility. There is so much to look at and ask questions about for these hotspots. Some I hear are a nightmare to program and others are a piece of cake. That remains to be seen. LOL :ROFLMAO: Thanks in advance for letting me jump in on your thread but don't let me be the driving force. I was just curious to know if you are a Raspberry Pi programmer already which apparently makes life easier on a Pi-Star based hotspot. 73 my friend, Dave K4EET
 

cmjonesinc

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I'm not going to say it's the "best" hotspot, but for the $80ish I paid for mine I'm impressed. I've got one of the generic mmdvm ones off ebay that go for $80-90 bucks. I paid a few bucks extra to get one from a usa seller so the shipping would be faster. I'm no linux pro but followed this guide and I had zero problems Amateur radio: Pi-Star
Mine already had a sd card preloaded with pi star so I was able to skip a couple steps in that guide but it was super easy to get on the air.
 

JSTARS03

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I'm not going to say it's the "best" hotspot, but for the $80ish I paid for mine I'm impressed. I've got one of the generic mmdvm ones off ebay that go for $80-90 bucks. I paid a few bucks extra to get one from a usa seller so the shipping would be faster. I'm no linux pro but followed this guide and I had zero problems Amateur radio: Pi-Star
Mine already had a sd card preloaded with pi star so I was able to skip a couple steps in that guide but it was super easy to get on the air.

Do you remember which seller that was?
Thank you
 

K4EET

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TGIF spot..
Do you have one and is it this one HERE? I do not see anywhere on their website that says whether or not this is a dual band (VHF/UHF) hotspot or not. What can you tell us about your real-life experience with it (if you actually have one)? TIA es 73, Dave K4EET
 

WA6IJD

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Best would probably be OpenSpot3. Most affordable is an MMDVM board on a pi zero.

Link for OpenSpot3
Link for MMDVM Hotspot
Saw the 50 to 100 $ ones on Amazon. Thought OK, prices not bad. Then I found the OpenSpot3. Should have checked the price first! I'm thinking these are a lot like baofengs. You can go cheap or go OpenSpot3. Going cheap will be similarto chinese menus. They'll work but with a struggle. As the more expensive units would be so much easier to live with. I like the app to control the OS3.
 

WA6IJD

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Robert, I am very interested in this thread because I am looking to get a hotspot too. How much programming experience do you have for these hotspots, e.g. with Pi-Star for the DVMEGA Hotspot, etc.? I have zero experience but don't let that drive your thread. Also, are you looking for a single band or dual band (VHF/UHF) hotspot? Probably dual band which is a little more expensive but gives you the added flexibility. There is so much to look at and ask questions about for these hotspots. Some I hear are a nightmare to program and others are a piece of cake. That remains to be seen. LOL :ROFLMAO: Thanks in advance for letting me jump in on your thread but don't let me be the driving force. I was just curious to know if you are a Raspberry Pi programmer already which apparently makes life easier on a Pi-Star based hotspot. 73 my friend, Dave K4EET
I'm not a Rasberry Pi guy. However I have programming experience in 6 or so languages. And worked in commercial 2-Way radio repair and install. And wrote my own programs when I could not find one. ... Would like dual band, and with the most flexibility. We all know what going cheap and the word baofeng are in the dictionary = stress. I might have to go the way of OpenSpot3. I (we) don't need added stress/frustration. I'm retired as of the first of the year, so I have time for play toys. No problem, jump in again. That's what it's about my friend.
73 de WA6IJD
Robert
 

WA6IJD

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Do you have one and is it this one HERE? I do not see anywhere on their website that says whether or not this is a dual band (VHF/UHF) hotspot or not. What can you tell us about your real-life experience with it (if you actually have one)? TIA es 73, Dave K4EET
I have not purchased one yet.
 

bchappuie

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My $100 Jumbo Spot on Amazon does every mode and even lets me cross mode. I now have Fusion radio, and talk to DMR talk groups all day.
 

K4EET

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TGIF spot..
Do you have one and is it this one HERE? I do not see anywhere on their website that says whether or not this is a dual band (VHF/UHF) hotspot or not. What can you tell us about your real-life experience with it (if you actually have one)? TIA es 73, Dave K4EET
I have not purchased one yet.
Robert, my TGIFSpot hotspot question was really directed at dcr_inc's post #7 in this thread. 73, Dave K4EET
 

K4EET

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My $100 Jumbo Spot on Amazon does every mode and even lets me cross mode. I now have Fusion radio, and talk to DMR talk groups all day.
bchappuie, question for you. I know that you will not be able to speak to all of these combinations, but which ones have you successfully been able to do a cross-mode connection to in addition to the Fusion / Wires-X ---> DMR cross-connect (if any others)? For the Fusion / Wires-X ---> DMR cross-connect, do you have full functionality or just partial functionality? Very interested indeed!

Cross-Mode Connections Possible?

Fusion / Wires-X ---> DMR (Yes)
DMR ---> Fusion / Wires-X (?)
Fusion / Wires-X ---> D-STAR (?)
D-STAR ---> Fusion / Wires-X (?)
Fusion / Wires-X ---> P25 (?)
P25 ---> Fusion / Wires-X (?)
DMR ---> D-STAR (?)
D-STAR ---> DMR (?)
DMR ---> P25 (?)
P25 ---> DMR (?)
D-STAR ---> P25 (?)
P25 ---> D-STAR (?)

I had no idea that a cross-mode connection was even possible. In my case, I have been looking at a Yaesu Fusion radio and a DMR HT. If I understand you correctly, I could just get the Yaesu HT and the right hotspot and be able to connect to the DMR network. Yes?

Anybody else want to chime in on this with your knowledge? Is this something some, but not all, hotspots can do? Not having to purchase multiple HTs and potentially being able to talk on different networks from one HT through the right hotspot in my ham shack, well that would really make my day! :)
 

dcr_inc

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Yes.. The TGIF spot is real.. It has a pi3B+, 2.5" TOUCH screen and custom nextion script to allow actual touch screen access to most if not all of the configuration / features.. You can configure the wifi from the touch screen without knowing the IP address, you can configure freq, cc, slots, servers etc frm the touch screen.87584
Its available at www.tgifspot.com
 

bchappuie

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bchappuie, question for you. I know that you will not be able to speak to all of these combinations, but which ones have you successfully been able to do a cross-mode connection to in addition to the Fusion / Wires-X ---> DMR cross-connect (if any others)? For the Fusion / Wires-X ---> DMR cross-connect, do you have full functionality or just partial functionality? Very interested indeed!

Cross-Mode Connections Possible?

Fusion / Wires-X ---> DMR (Yes)
DMR ---> Fusion / Wires-X (?)
Fusion / Wires-X ---> D-STAR (?)
D-STAR ---> Fusion / Wires-X (?)
Fusion / Wires-X ---> P25 (?)
P25 ---> Fusion / Wires-X (?)
DMR ---> D-STAR (?)
D-STAR ---> DMR (?)
DMR ---> P25 (?)
P25 ---> DMR (?)
D-STAR ---> P25 (?)
P25 ---> D-STAR (?)

I had no idea that a cross-mode connection was even possible. In my case, I have been looking at a Yaesu Fusion radio and a DMR HT. If I understand you correctly, I could just get the Yaesu HT and the right hotspot and be able to connect to the DMR network. Yes?

Anybody else want to chime in on this with your knowledge? Is this something some, but not all, hotspots can do? Not having to purchase multiple HTs and potentially being able to talk on different networks from one HT through the right hotspot in my ham shack, well that would really make my day! :)


I have an FT70 and do Fusion to DMR daily. Never attempetd any other cross modes.
 

K4EET

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I found this on the Pi-Star website (pistar.uk):

Excerpted from "What is the Pi-Star Multi-Reflector?"


Utopia

Finally we arrive in mid 2019, HBLink3 has a pivotal role in helping connect everything to everything, thank you Courtney (N0MJS) for releaseing that to the world, thank you too, to Jonathan Naylor (G4KLX) for all the reflectors for YSF/P25/NXDN, for MMDVMHost and the rest of the associate MMDVM tools, to Andy (CA6JAU) for his cross-mode software allowing the un-wrap/re-wrap of voice packets so that they can move between networks, to Travis (KK4VCZ) for his excellent work on the MD-380 HT, to the keepers of the XLXs we connect to, in order to bring in D-Star / XLX users, and to the Admins/Devs from BrandMeister for hosting TG 31672 and being supportive to the Pi-Star project.

We are finally getting to the point where anything can connect to anything, almost - there is no longer a need to seperate hams based on whatever mode you have access to, finally there are places where you can talk to your friends no matter what they have available!

This is perfect!
 
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