Lots of Real-Time Status Info on KK4ICE 442.175 DMR Repeater Viewable Online

If you would like to see a ton of real-time status information on the 442.175(+) Gold Hill, AL KK4ICE DMR Repeater, you can do so by just going to the KK4ICE Repeater status and info page on the Brandmeister Network.

Just some of the information you can see on that page is a list of current static and dynamic links on each time slot.

There is a TON of information on that webpage regarding the operating parameters and status of the repeater. There is a log of the latest contacts heard coming into the repeater, including their callsigns and DMR ID numbers, which you can filter and sort if you wish.

There is also a coverage map for the repeater, which is pretty close to what we’re all experiencing when using the repeater. The QSO quality and reliability has jumped dramatically since the changeover from analog to DMR operation.

The change to DMR has accomplished several things:

• Increased QSO quality. Because it is digital, there is no static or white noise.
• Effectively increased coverage area. The error correcting abilities of the DMR digital encoding and decoding scheme makes it almost impossible to tell if a user is keying and talking through the repeater from right at the tower site or way out at the edges of the coverage area. And those signals which used to be way down at the noise floor and impossibly to understand because they seemed like all noise can get decoded and sound just like the stronger signals from users closer to the repeater.
• Like having two repeaters in one! Because the repeater uses both time slots 1 and 2, there can be totally independent QSO’s occurring on each of the two times slots. It’s like adding a second repeater without having to have a second frequency repeater and another machine.
• Less power needed. The analog FM Mastr II had been operating at around 85 Watts of PA and transmit power. The Yaesu repeater being used now that it’s a DMR setup is only transmitting 50 Watts of power. Not bad at all, especially considering it now has the ability for two individual QSO’s to be going on, better signal quality, and larger usable coverage area.

Keep in mind that if you are out of range of being able to reach the repeater by use of your DMR radio, if you have one of the “hotspot” devices you can set your radio and hotspot to the 310023 East Central Alabama DMR Talkgroup and anything you transmit will automatically be transmitted by the repeater just as if you were accessing it directly, and you will hear anyone else who keys up and talks to the repeater directly using that TG number, anyone else who is talking to that TG by way of their hotspot, and anyone who is linking to that talkgroup by way of any other DMR repeater in the world which is using that talkgroup number.

Many of us were already having a blast since we got involved in DMR, which is arguably the hottest thing to happen to Amateur Radio in a long time. However, since changing the Gold Hill, AL 442.175 repeater over to DMR, it has seen more activity and use since I acquired the frequency pair and got it back online. For example, timeslot 1 stayed almost constantly keyed with users gathering on the 311342 WB4ULK Columbus area talkgroup on timeslot 1, while some of us were also enjoying QSO’s on the 310023 talkgroup on time slot 2. The machine was going wide open from mid-afternoon until around midnight!

When there is activity on the 310023 East Central Alabama DMR Talkgroup, you can listen-in without a radio or hotspot by going to Brandmeister’s Hoseline site. This link will take you to the Hoseline with 310023 already selected. Once you’re there, you can also explore and go to other talkgroups, and even use their “scanner” feature (via the menu bar) and scan multiple talkgroups at the same time. It’s very cool, although you do sometimes have to refresh the page (or hit the “apply” key again on the scanner page) to keep it actively listening, because they have it set up to automatically time-out after a certain length of time in order to reduce bandwidth and load on their servers and network.

If you are a fellow ham and haven’t done so already, do yourself a huge favor and check into DMR.

You can purchase a reliable handheld DMR radio for $89 on Amazon Prime. If you are anywhere in range of this 442.175 Gold Hill repeater, a 70 cm / UHF DMR handheld will give you a powerful, flexible, and very enjoyable link to DMR users worldwide via the repeater. If you are not in range of the repeater, get yourself a “hotspot” setup which operates in the 70 cm band (along with your 70 cm DMR handheld.) Hotspot devices consisting of a Raspberry Pi, MMDVM board which plugs onto the top of the RPi, and a memory card for the RPi can be put together for around $75-80 if you shop around. DMR users in our area (and on the DMR network) have a lot of experience and knowledge to share if you need a little help getting started in DMR. All you have to do is ask. As of last night, there were 97,665 registered DMR users worldwide — and that number is growing like crazy! That’s up by around 30,000 in just the past several months.

There will be a live presentation in June in Opelika to help people better understand and get started in the exciting world of DMR. It will be hosted and conducted by the Alabama Frequency Coordination & Repeater Advancement Society (AFCRAS.) For more details on that, visit the www.AFCRAS.org website.

73 everyone!
KK4ICE (the “ICEman”)