By Dave Jensen, W7DGJ

For years now I've listened to hams gripe about "digital" and how it might be the end of the Amateur Radio Services as we know it. While most of those gripes have been focused on the rise of FT-8, I found out the other day at a ham gathering that the voice digital modes fall into the same category of "not real radio." And, to some extent, I've agreed in the past. That is, until I tried it myself and came away having a lot of fun with another way to do ham radio.

I've recently spent time learning DMR. In this article, I'll tell you about some of my headaches and the experience I had in this transition. If you're a present user, you may laugh and remember going through the same thing. But if you've never picked up a digital radio, this may be the inspiration you need to give it a try, because the digital voice modes can be a great addition to what you are doing now on HF. Whether it's through open source or branded modes like those of Yaesu or ICOM, this new experience can be a great addition to your hobby.

The First Big Question -- What Drives Your Radio Interests?

Here's my personal list of the key elements of my radio shack. Yours will be different than mine, and as we all know, there are at least a dozen sidelines you can get into that are separate radio areas of their own. For me, the major interests have always been:

1) Fussing with Antennas and Understanding Propagation, 2) Rag Chewing, 3) Getting to Know People from Other Countries, and 4) Cool New Stuff. I've followed digital voice since the mid 2000s when it was developed, but it never appealed to me because of that number one interest mentioned. Putting up an antenna that I just built or bought was the joy of my amateur radio day. I can't tell you how much fun I have just fine-tuning and checking out propagation with a new antenna. 

For that reason, I never had any interest in radios where the antenna decision is choosing between a Rubber Ducky or a 16" whip. But when I started thinking seriously about getting a handheld Digital Radio, I considered the OTHER elements of my radio interests. I love to talk to people in world locations and rag-chewing a bit just to get to know them. And since I've always been so fascinated by innovation, it just made sense for me to understand what was going on in the digital modes. That's why I pulled the trigger on yet another radio.

You'll have to think about what elements of A.R. get your juices flowing. While a contester may not jump readily into DMR, a person who hates tuning into weak DX signals to talk to a ham from another continent would LOVE the mode.

The Next Big Question -- Go It Alone or via Plug 'n Play?

There's a lot of messing around involved with any digital radio. Don't worry -- I am not going to suddenly change my style and write up a geeky IT-focused article for this column. But, you should be warned in advance that it's not for the faint-hearted -- especially the programming for the software that runs your radio (which is called the "Code Plug" in DMR). That's why, in my case, I went to one of those vendors that is known for selling you not just the radio, but the knowledge base as well. BridgeCom Systems gave me a great deal on their Skybridge Max hotspot with their Anytone ATD-168UV, a new'ish radio which is the little brother to their very popular ATD-878UV HT. I spent a few hundred bucks in getting set up, but my thought was that I would lessen the amount of startup time through the "BridgeCom University" training along with a pre-programmed radio. And while I had a couple of kinks in the process, I think I made the right decision.

One glimpse in the top drawer of my shack desk and you'll see that I've had plenty of experience with Chinese radios. Yes, there are a few Baofengs and some other no-name radios there that collect dust, while even an ICOM HT has a spot in that drawer -- the local simplex frequencies are rather dead here. (Some regions of the country are lively enough but that's just not the case in my backyard.) It's because of my knowledge of other Chinese radios that I was so happy upon opening the box for my ATD-168UV. It's built well -- it feels very solid, and the package included more than I expected. I got the USB charger and stand, along with two batteries, one of them a real bruiser. Also, there was the obligatory rubber duck along with a very nice whip that allows me to reach a local DMR repeater from my back porch. The radio with accessories is a good value at about $200 from BridgeCom.

The process itself for getting set up on DMR requires the acquisition of a DMR license, which is available through RadioID (www.radioid.net) but I think it's a little trickier than it needs to be. The big hang up for me wasn't at RadioID, but at the FCC where I had to chase down a "real" copy of my amateur radio license. It's available for download on their site, but you must know your FRN number. Mine was lost ages ago, and it took me some time to retrieve it and then to identify the exact location where an "official" license can be downloaded at the FCC web page. Once you've submitted that license to RadioID, it takes only a day or two for them to respond with your official DMR license number. Every time you key up your radio, that license number is displayed on the thousands of radios that are tuned in at that time. (There are few wackos on DMR -- everyone is known with a clear name, location, and DMR license. Wouldn't you like to have that when you are listening to 75m in the evening?).

The second part of the process is to get registered on the Brandmeister network. There are a few different "networks" that you can tap into with your DMR radio, but the one that seems to be very popular is Brandmeister, and this is what BridgeCom likes. Once I had my DMR license and my Brandmeister registration, I was pumped and ready to use the radio.

It was a Friday afternoon, and I didn't realize it but I would spend a very frustrating weekend trying to use my new gear. I ended up listening only, on the cool page that Brandmeister put up where anyone can eavesdrop on their included frequencies (or Talk Groups as they are known in DMR). You'll find this website located here.

A Fumble and a Recovery

The first issue I had was that my BridgeCom University account wasn't working, so I didn't have access to their excellent videos . . . calling them on a Friday night wasn't going to result in any help until Monday. The manual is written well in English but it's incredibly detailed and quite confusing, as so much of it deals with programming. (I realize that programming is half the fun for some hams, but not for me.) So, using a variety of other Internet aids, I cobbled up a bit more knowledge of how to use my radio and hit the push-to-talk button on a variety of Talk Groups. Hours later, I still hadn't been heard.

The fact that I "didn't hear anyone talking" made me feel like a new ham with his first Baofeng hollering out "CQ, CQ" on 146.52. My new radio appeared to be dead.

On Monday morning I had a return call from a nice lady at BridgeCom who fixed the University issue and I was able to access the videos that told me about my equipment. That's when things started to cook. I later heard from an excellent tech support ham, who solved my "dead radio" issue by determining that this particular Anytone was one of a very few that hadn't been set up properly by the factory. After changing an "Offset" setting on the radio, Talk Group 91 (the very popular DMR channel) was suddenly bursting with signals from all over the globe. Without support on this purchase from BridgeCom, I would have been floundering. As this radio is available from multiple vendors and websites, I'd suggest you remember the value of a helping hand. 

I loved that feeling when I hit the PTT and Marko (S51D) came back to me from Slovenia! I was finally on my way to discovering more about Digital Mobile Radio.

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But is it Really Ham Radio?

I asked a DMR friend, Paul Goldman (WA2TAX), about that question and I liked his response: 

"Dave, I've read a lot about the various digital modes and saw the debate on whether these protocols are 'really radio.' I found the argument compelling that they are the latest in the evolution of communications technology. Because one of the objectives of Amateur Radio is to experiment, explore and keep abreast of changing technologies, it just makes sense that DMR is indeed another aspect of radio communications," Paul told me.

I'd agree. After all, the radio I'm holding does send a signal over an antenna, and the receiver at the other end retrieves it the same way. Sure seems like radio to me! Check out the web page that the equipment from BridgeCom came with, personalized for my station (below). It ties in directly with QRZ and allows me to quickly get a handle on who is calling me.   VY 73 for now!   Dave W7DGJ

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