Timz DMR Repeater
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DMR Best Practices
DMR Do's & Dont's
The N8NQH repeater system operates on the Brandmeister DMR Network.
Each talk group on the world wide Brandmeister DMR network has specific uses on the system. Some talk groups are "always-on" and are active all the time on a repeater, and some are "user activated" and are only active for a certain amount of time if someone keys up their radio on that particular talk group.
With hundreds of repeaters and thousands of users, there needs to be some "traffic control" rules in place to make sure the network runs smooth and efficiently. If all the talk groups were active all the time on all the repeaters in the world, I'm sure you can imagine what kind of mess that would turn out to be. That's why there are many different talk groups and uses for each one.
A talk group can be set up to be an "always-on" talk group or a "user activated" talk group.
An always-on talk group is exactly that, it is always on and available on the N8NQH DMR repeater.
A user activated talk group is always available, but is not activated on the repeater until a user "turns it on." This is done by selecting the talk group and pushing your radio's push-to-talk (PTT) button. The short transmission from your radio activates the talk group for 15 minutes. This "user activated" talk group will remain active as long as there is local activity on the talk group. After 15 minutes of local
inactivity, the talk group goes dormant and back to a "user activated" status until it is activated again.
BRANDMEISTER TALK GROUP KEY UP PROCEDURE
Due to the nature of dynamic talk groups specific procedures must be used when keying up a talkgroup. If done improperly several different issues can occur:
• A local user keying up a talk group can isolate another local user from a talk group he was using.
• A local user can key up a talk group and disrupt an existing conversation on that talk group.
• A local user can key up multiple talk groups on the same time slot which can possibly create talk group chaos.
Key Up Procedure
Before keying up a talk group, monitor the Channel Busy LED for at least a minute. If the LED doesn’t light then both time slots are idle. Key up your desired talk group. Then listen for at least a minute before transmitting to determine if the talk group is busy. The reason for listening is because if a remote talk group user is transmitting when you keyed up the talk group, you will not hear his audio nor will the Channel Busy LED light. You will hear audio, and the Channel Busy LED will light, when the next remote user begins transmitting.
If the Channel Busy LED is on, or flashes on and off, then one or both of the time slots are busy. To determine if your desired time slot is idle or busy, wait until the Channel Busy LED is on and then key up your talk group. If a busy tone results, then your desired time slot is busy. Do not key up again until the Channel Busy LED has been off for a minute indicating that the time slot is now idle. The Channel Busy LED will turn off and then back on between long conversation “overs”. If keying up while the Channel Busy LED is on results in a “connect confirmation tone”, then your time slot is idle and your talk group has been activated. As mentioned above, listen before transmitting.
Click HERE to read indepth info on the Talk Groups available on Timz DMR repeater.
