I dipped my toes into a whole new aspect of Ham Radio a couple weeks ago; Digital Mobile Radio (DMR). I don't know why it's considered Mobile, since you don't need to use a handheld radio or a mobile radio to use it. I'll use the term, DMR, but to me it's just Digital Ham Radio.
Here's basically how it works. You buy a Radio that's DMR-ready. You tell it the information needed to connect to a DMR repeater, and then you use it like you would any other radio. Well, almost, but I'll get to that in a moment.
When you attempt to talk to another Ham operator or converse in a Ham talk group (a talk group is a radio chat room), your signal goes to the repeater. The repeater sends the content to a server on the Internet. The server directs that content to the intended target (another Ham or a Ham talk group). Assuming you don't have a high bit error rate or loss, the audio quality is nearly perfect.
Why would you have a high bit error rate or loss? You may not be near a repeater. The easy way to get around that is to purchase a DMR Hotspot. Such hotspots are almost always based on a Raspberry Pi. When you transmit on your radio, the Hotspot receives the signal and forwards it to the DMR server over the Internet. It receives replies and forwards them to your radio over the air. I have this particular Duplex Hotspot:
If I had it to do over again, I would get a cheaper simplex Hotspot. I don't find myself using the duplex features, even though my radio is capable of using them.
It's actually a rather complicated process to set up a DMR radio and Hotspot. There are good Youtube tutorials on it, but here are the basics, some of which the tutorials omit.
First, you go to the Pi-Star web site (it redirects to your Hotspot software) and configure your Hotspot transmit and receive frequencies and fill in required information such as your DMR ID and Ham call sign. (Register at that DMR ID link to get a DMR ID. It's free.) Then you need to choose a DMR server. Two such servers are Brandmeister and TGIF. You'll need to register with one or both and get a password or key. I find there's more activity on TGIF than Brandmeister, so that's where I set my Hotspot to communicate. Maybe I'm just picking the wrong places on Brandmeister, but it is what it is.
Another setting of which you may need to be aware is called a time slot. DMR uses two time slots so that multiple conversations can take place simultaneously through the same repeater or server. That's all I'll say about time slots, since it's a matter of finding out which time slot or slots are used by the destination you're trying to reach. You configure the radio to use the correct slot or slots (when there are multiple time slots).
Every radio has a different way to configure the settings. Since you have a Hotspot, tell your radio to talk to the frequencies you set up for the Hotspot. Set your output to low power, since you'll be in the same room, house or apartment as your Hotspot.
Here's a step many tutorials leave out. When I dial my radio into the TGIF 31665 Talk Group, I have to kerchunk the talk group before I can hear anyone. By kerchunk, I mean press the Push-To-Talk button on the radio for a second or two. This initiates a connection to the Hotspot for that talk group. After that, I can hear activity on that talk group and transmit on the talk group. The Hotspot stays connected even if I turn of the radio. If you want to initiate a connection to some other destination, you'll have to kerchunk that one in order to connect. As far as I can tell, your Hotspot will only work on one network at a time. I could be wrong about that, but time will tell as I get more into DMR. My Hotspot is set to use TGIF. Most will default to using Brandmeister. I'm a DMR newb, so it's possible I'll end up back on Brandmeister.
All the above information isn't nearly enough to get you started on DMR, because it depends heavily on what radio you're using, whether or not you use a Hotspot, and what kind of Hotspot you are using if so. But hopefully this gives you an idea of how much trouble is involved, and therefore whether or not its the kind of stuff you want to learn. If you do get into DMR, there's such a thing as DMR etiquette, so do a little research and observe polite behavior.
(If you're a DMR ham, feel free to ping me on the TGIF 31665 talk group. My call sign is N2EWS.)
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Here are the answers to the quiz:
You do this to blades of grass MODEM (mow them)
Trolly car driver CONDUCTOR
Part-time trolly car driver SEMICONDUCTOR
Directors of locksmithing school KEYBOARD
Empty nest MOTHERBOARD (mother bored)
"IC," said the blind man. "No, you don't," said his deaf and dumb wife.
Pulling a load of fish onto the deck NETWORK
Froot Loops Wine SERIAL PORT (cereal port)
Affirmative Action RACE CONDITION
Golly, that stinks GPU (gee -- p.u.)
What Matthew 19:12 is talking about UNIX (eunuchs)
