OK what is DMR Radio.
Digital mobile radio (DMR) is a limited open digital mobile radio standard defined in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Standard TS 102 361 parts 1–4[1] and used in commercial products around the world. DMR, along with P25 phase II and NXDN are the main competitor technologies in achieving 6.25 kHz equivalent bandwidth using the proprietary AMBE+2 vocoder. DMR and P25 II both use two-slot TDMA in a 12.5 kHz channel, while NXDN uses discrete 6.25 kHz channels using frequency division and TETRA uses a four-slot TDMA in a 25 kHz channel.
DMR was designed with three tiers. DMR tiers I and II (conventional) were first published in 2005, and DMR III (Trunked version) was published in 2012, with manufacturers producing products within a few years of each publication.
The primary goal of the standard is to specify a digital system with low complexity, low cost and interoperability across brands, so radio communications purchasers are not locked into a proprietary solution. In practice, given the current limited scope of the DMR standard, many vendors have introduced proprietary features that make their product offerings non-interoperable with other brands.
The ham versions of the Anytone, TYT,Retevis, BTECH, Ailunce, Yaesu and Alinco and a few other brands are Tier I and II. And both Analog and Digital. The ALMR radios that the state is using and some municipalities are Tier III.
Some of the radio are Type 90 approved and work for ham also. Prices vary 100-300 dollars. There are some mobile version out there as well that go for 300-600 dollars.
My brand is the Anytone from Bridgecom. This training and support they provide is top notch and no question goes unanswered. They have several videos out on U-Tube and they have training courses at Bridgecom to take you thru the radios, programing and use.
Building your first code plug is a little daunting but their videos and support sites get you thru it, plus you can get with a buddy and share.
We currently have 4 Repeaters operational in Alaska, South Anchorage, Homer, Fairbanks and Wasilla. We organize or various groups of contacts into groups called Talkgroups and have one for Alaska, but there are several that include the lower 48 and the world.
These radios can be used on RF or thru internet/WiFi and cell phone hotspot connections. We are experimenting in the Valley using them simplex and repeater coverage areas to see how they compare to standard Analog simplex and repeaters.
This is just the beginning. Folks who are interested and/or are working this mode, lets put out heads together and see if we can getting going.
Don/KL7JFT