Located in Gainesville, Florida, the KC4MHH DMR Repeaters are "open" repeaters operating on 444.8375 (449.8375 input) , 146.640 (146.040 input), and 147.270 (147.870 input) all are Color Code 1 and are available to all amateurs. The DMR Repeaters are connected to the BrandMeister Network. Pi-Star.UK presently lists well over 1,500 BrandMeister talkgroups, but there are indeed many more than this and all are available for you to use. All three repeaters are located high atop the WCJB-TV tower in Gainesville at 550 and 620 feet.

 

The VHF DMR repeater systems consists of a Bridgecom BCR-50V Repeater (50 watts), a STM32 DVM MMDVM digital interface on 147.270 and a Hytera RD 982 with Comprod 66-13-46 duplexers and Sinclair SD214 4-Bay Dipole antennas.

 

The UHF DMR repeater system consists of a Hytera RD982i repeater, TX/RX Combiner and an Andrews DB420-B antenna.

Building your own Hytera RD982i? Check out my Hytera Build Page for hints and programming for the Hytera. Many thanks to Terry Gillard, NX7R, for his expert help in getting the repeater on the air.

 

The repeaters are available to support local emergency services including Alachua County Emergency Management and the American Red Cross Disaster Services. When needed, they can be immediately reverted to conventional analog operation.

 

Our Repeaters presently have several "Static" (always on) talkgroups:

 

444.8375 UHF Repeater (Color Code 1):
   TS1  3100  USA Nationwide
   TS1  3112   Florida Statewide
   TS1  31227 Florida State ARES
   TS1  3199   Hurricane Network
   TS2  312558 GNV 1
   TS2  312571 GNV 2
   TS2  312812 GNV 3
   TS2  31012 QuadNet Scheduled Net - Hotspot, Raspberry Pi Net - Monday's from 1600-1900
   TS2  31012 QuadNet Scheduled Net - Multi Mode Voice Net - Saturday's from 1600-1900
   TS2  31012 QuadNet Scheduled Net - Ham Nation After Show - Wednesday's from 2200-0100

 

147.270 VHF Repeater (Color Code 1)
   TS1  3199   Hurricane Network
   TS1  31127 Florida State ARES
   TS1  5002021 TGIF Free Speech
   TS2  312558 GNV 1
   TS2  312571 GNV 2
   TS2  312812 GNV 3
   TS2  31229 ArkLaTx (My sister,Vickie,KF4LAF,lives in Shreveport,LA)

146.640 VHF Repeater (Color Code 1)
   TS1  91 World Wide
   TS2  313136   Kansas City Wide
   TS2  312558  GNV1
   TS2  312571  GNV2
   TS3  312812  GNV3

 

"Local 9" on time slot 2 is recommended for local conversations unless you need to communicate with someone who is on another repeater or a hotspot. Please note that any talkgroup less than 80 is LOCAL TO THAT REPEATER ONLY. You will not be able to access from another repeater or hotspot. During emergencies, I can remotely alter these to remove the routine "chat" groups and replace them with needed groups such as the "Florida Statewide", "Florida ARES", "NE Florida ARES", and other talkgroups as needed by emergency and relief organizations.

 

All other groups are "dynamic" in nature. This means you can activate them by simply keying up on that talkgroup. It will now be active until either replaced by another dynamic, disconnected (using TG 4000), or times out after 15 minutes of no local activity (This is setup by BrandMeister).

 

If you find there is an interest for one of the available scheduled nets, let me know. I can add a schedule that will make that talkgroup "static" just prior to net time and will end 3 hours later. Scroll down to the bottom of this web page for a list of some available nets.

 

The 147.270 VHF Repeater is one of the first repeaters in the nation to be "dual network" capable. This means that in addition to access to the BrandMeister Network, it now has access to the TGIF Network as well! In order for this to be accomplished, there needed to be some additional "rules" that allow the repeater (and your radio) to distinquish between BrandMeister and TGIF. When programming your radio for TGIF talkgroups, convert the existing talkgroup into a 7 digit talkgroup (padding the front of the talkgroup with "5" and "0" to create the new talkgroup. For example: TGIF talkgroup "9990" (Parrot) will become "5009990", TGIF talkgroup "110" (North America) will become "5000110" and so on... You will note that TGIF Free Speech Radio (talkgroup 5002021) is now static on TS1.

 

Additional DMR Repeaters in Gainesville

 

The Gainesville Amateur Radio Society (GARS) operates a VHF DMR Repeater, also on the BrandMeister Network, using a BridgeCom BCR-50V Repeater (50 Watts) at about 175' on the WUFT-TV Tower.
146.685 VHF Repeater (Color Code 1):
   TS1  91    World Wide
   TS2  312558 GNV 1
   TS2  312571 GNV 2
   TS2  312812 GNV 3

 

The Gator Amateur Radio Club (GARC) at the University of Florida, operates a UHF DMR Repeater on the MARC (https://k4usd.org) Network, using a Motorola Repeater.
It is unknown if any are set as "Static" talkgroups. This repeater is a member of the FDARN Network (Florida Digital Amateur Radio Network - FDARN.Com) and provides some unique talkgroups unavailable on the other repeaters.
444.8125 UHF Repeater (Color Code 1):
Static talkgroups are:
 
   TS1  3          North America
   TS1  9          Local Repeater Use Only
   TS2  2          F-DARN Repeater System
   TS2  3112     Florida Statewide
   TS2  3174     South East Region

 
PTT (Dynamic) talkgroups are:
 
   TS1  1          World Wide
   TS1  13        World Wide English
   TS1  310       TAC 310
   TS1  311       TAC 311
   TS2  3113      Georgia Statewide
   TS2  3125      Massachusetts Statewide
   TS2  3139      Ohio Statewide
   TS2  3100      Nationwide
   TS1  8801     FDARN TAC 1
   TS1  8802     FDARN TAC 2
   TS1  8803     FDARN TAC 3
   TS1  8804     FDARN TAC 4
   TS1  8805     FDARN TAC 5
   TS1  8806     FDARN TAC 6
   TS2  8951      TAC 1
   TS2  1776     USA Nationwide
   TS2  113      UA English 1
   TS2  123      UA English 2
   TS2  9998     Parrot
   TS2  9999     NoCal Audio Test

Ham Radio Videos and Tutorials

 

View our Plex server to learn more about amateur radio including many of the more in depth technical subjects. If you are in the process of building or maintaining a repeater system, there are some excellent videos demonstrating how to properly tune your duplexers. There are several ways to view.

     1. Go to "http://plex.tv" on your browser

     2. If you have a "smart tv" (Roku, etc), add the PLEX app to your lineup.

     3. Add the PLEX app to your phone or tablet

Now that you have access to PLEX, just log in!

     Username: KC4MHH

     Password: Repeater64

 

Finding Active Talkgroups

 

Want to know when different talkgroups are active? Go to BrandMeister Hoseline. You can view all of the active talkgroups, who is talking, and even click on the talkgroup to listen from your computer. Remember that all of the Brandmeister talkgroups are available to you, so it is as simple as programming the talkgroup into your radio (some radios allow you to do this "on the fly" from a menu - see your radio's operation manual for details).

 

Programming Your DMR Radio

 

The following information will assist you with programming your DMR radio for use with our repeater:

 

Assuming you have already obtained your DMR ID (if not, go to RadioID.net and register), you need to download the entire Brandmeister talkgroup list from the Pi-Star Download Page.

 

As there are many different DMR radios on the market, each with their own software, I will provide here some very general information. I will try to provide some "generic" downloads for various models that I have programmed to make it easier for you to get on the air quickly. As I have the opportunity to program different models, I will create a template that will be available on this page for you to download. For the Anytone radios, there are templates for other areas on the Bridgecom Systems website.

 

In your "general" settings, you will enter your "Radio Name" (usually your call sign) and Radio ID (the number you obtained when you registered on RadioID.Net).

 

Most radios are able to import from csv files, so at this time, import the Digital Contacts or Talkgroups from the file you downloaded earlier from Pi-Star.

 

In your "Channel Information", program each of your "channels". Unlike your analog (conventional repeater) channels, DMR channels are a combination of the repeater frequency, talkgroup, and color code (the DMR equivalent to a CTCSS in analog). Here is how I have mine programmed for each "channel". This is an example for EACH REPEATER OR HOTSPOT. If you are programming your radio for multiple repeaters and/or hotspots, you will need to repeat these entries for each repeater you are using.

 

MODE	CHANNEL NAME	RX FREQ	TX FREQ	ADMIT	TALKGROUP	COLOR	SLOT	CTCSS
Digital	USA 3100 (3100)	444.8375	449.8375	Always	3100	1	1	none
Digital	Parrot	444.8375	449.8375	Always	9990	1	1	none
Digital	QuadNet	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31012	1	2	none
Digital	ArkLaTx	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31229	1	2	none
Digital	Florida Statewide	444.8375	449.8375	Always	3112	1	1	none
Digital	Local 9	444.8375	449.8375	Always	9	1	2	none
Digital	GNV 1	444.8375	449.8375	Always	312558	1	2	none
Digital	GNV 2	444.8375	449.8375	Always	312571	1	2	none
Digital	GNV 3	444.8375	449.8375	Always	312812	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 310	444.8375	449.8375	Always	310	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 311	444.8375	449.8375	Always	311	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 312	444.8375	449.8375	Always	312	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 313	444.8375	449.8375	Always	313	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 314	444.8375	449.8375	Always	314	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 315	444.8375	449.8375	Always	315	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 316	444.8375	449.8375	Always	316	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 317	444.8375	449.8375	Always	317	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 318	444.8375	449.8375	Always	318	1	2	none
Digital	TAC 319	444.8375	449.8375	Always	319	1	2	none
Digital	TAC Florida	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31120	1	2	none
Digital	Florida First Coast	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31121	1	1	none
Digital	Florida West Coast	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31122	1	1	none
Digital	Florida Treasure Coast	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31123	1	1	none
Digital	Southeast Florida	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31124	1	2	none
Digital	World Wide	444.8375	449.8375	Always	91	1	1	none
Digital	North America	444.8375	449.8375	Always	93	1	1	none
Digital	Scheduled Nets 1	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31001	1	2	none
Digital	Scheduled Nets 2	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31002	1	2	none
Digital	Hurricane Net	444.8375	449.8375	Always	3199	1	2	none
Digital	Florida ARES	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31127	1	1	none
Digital	NE Florida ARES	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31128	1	2	none
Digital	EMCOM US	444.8375	449.8375	Always	9911	1	1	none
Digital	North Florida RACES	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31675	1	1	none
Digital	Southeast Region	444.8375	449.8375	Always	3174	1	1	none
Digital	Gulf Coast	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31011	1	1	none
Digital	1776 USA	444.8375	449.8375	Always	1776	1	1	none
Digital	AllStar Net	444.8375	449.8375	Always	3167	1	2	none
Digital	QuadNet Weather	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31680	1	2	none
Digital	Weather	444.8375	449.8375	Always	31774	1	1	none
Digital	Kansas City Wide	444.8375	449.8375	Always	313136	1	2	none
Digital	GNV 1	444.8375	449.8375	Always	312558	1	2	none
Digital	GNV 2	444.8375	449.8375	Always	312571	1	2	none
Digital	GNV 3	444.8375	449.8375	Always	312812	1	2	none

 

Of course, you can taylor this list of talkgroups to your own personal taste. Feel free to add your favorites as all talkgroups are available as "Dyanamic" talkgroups (on BrandMeister networks). As such, once you key them up, they are active until replaced (someone activates another dynamic in it's placed) or a "Disconnect" talkgroup is keyed on that Repeater Slot. I also (even though I did not display them here) created channel for each of the 50 states and placed them in their own zone.

 

Own a hotspot? Think of it as your own personal, low powered, repeater. Programming for your radios is very similar, just change the frequencies.

 

Here is how to program in your analog channels:

 

Mode	Channel Name	RX Freq	TX Freq	Admit	Talkgroup	Color	Slot	CTCSS
Analog	146.850 KC4MHH	146.850	146.250	Always				123.0
Analog	147.270 KD4MGR	147.270	147.870	Always				123.0
Analog	444.9875 KC4MHH	444.9875	449.9875	Always				123.0
Analog	444.5875 KC4NWK	444.5875	449.5875	Always				123.0
Analog	146.820 GARS	146.820	146.220	Always				123.0
Analog	146.985 GARS	146.985	146.385	Always				123.0
Analog	444.925 GARS SARNET	444.925	449.925	Always				123.0
Analog	146.740 Waldo	146.740	146.140	Always				123.0
Analog	146.910 UF	146.910	146.310	Always				123.0
Analog	146.520 Simplex	146.520	146.520	Always				none

 

You can create any number of these including duplicating these talkgroups on additional frequencies to cover other repeaters.

 

Once you have created your channels, it is time to organize these into groups or "zones". These "zones" are simply a group of channels, they can even be a mix of analog or digital and even give you the opportunity to organize them in any order you wish. You can even have the same channel appear in multiple zones.

 

Another option you have are "scan groups". These are also selected on a per channel basis as well as entered into the scan group category. The only limitation here is that a channel can only appear in one scan group, so unlike zones, it cannot be in multiple scan groups.

 

Some radios, such as the Anytone models, also sport a "Promiscuos Mode". This function allows you to monitor any talkgroup on a specific time slot or even both time slots, irregardless of what "channel" you have selected. Some radios call this function "digital monitor".

 

Another programming option you will have involves "programmable buttons" on your radio. Depending on your radio, these buttons can make selecting zones, power output, scan functions and digital monitor as easy as pressing a programmed button. Like many other features, the available functions can vary depending on manufacture and model of your DMR radio.

 

If your radio has the ability to display information about the users (their callsign, name, location), then you can obtain and download from the RadioID.Net database. Please keep in mind the capability of your radio. Some older radios might hold as few as 10,000 contacts where one of the newer radios (the latest Anytone D-878 HT) can hold over 500,000. The entire world database now sports over 200,000 registered DMR stations, so you may have to either use RadioID's custom download or manually remove stations from the downloaded CSV file prior to uploading it to your radio.

 

 

DMR Nets

 

There are many nets that you may listen to as well. I have created a few "scheduled static" entries to make listening to these easier. If you find a specific net that you think others would be interested in listening to on a regular basis, I will be willing to add this to the schedule. Of course, you can always bring up these nets manually on time slot 2 (remember, all talkgroups are available dynamically). Here is a list of just a few of these nets:

 

Day	Time (EST)	Talkgroup	Net Description
Sunday	1700	31012	QCWA D-Star Net
Sunday	1900	31012	Young Operators Digital Voice Net
Sunday	2000	310	TAC 310 Net
Sunday	2000	314722	Sunday Night Net
Monday	0000	310	Midnight Net
Monday	1800	31012	Ham Radio Rookies Net
Monday	2200	31012	Hotspot, Raspberry Pi, ZumSpot Net
Tuesday	1900	3162356	Absolute Tech Net
Tuesday	2000	31648	DMR Information Net
Tuesday	2000	31630	STEM Northstar Digital Net
Tuesday	2100	31281	East Coast IRLP Tech Net
Wednesday	1930	314722	Southeast Link TAG Multi-Mode Digital Net
Wednesday	2100	93	North America Tech Net
Wednesday	2100	31012	Amateur Astronomy Digital Voice Net
Wednesday	2200	31012	After Hamnation Net
Thursday	1930	3133	Skywarn DMR Net
Friday	2200	31513	Night Owl's DMR Net
Saturday	0900	91	BrandMeister Worldwide Net
Saturday	1000	31012	Medical Amateur Radio Council
Saturday	1600	31012	The Food Net
Saturday	1800	31012	Multi Mode Digital Voice Net

 

Site location courtesy of WCJB-TV. Use of antennas, combiners and the Hytera 982i (444.8375 DMR) courtesy of LadyComm.