kenwood and pi-star RF fails

[AF6VN]

You haven't shown how the hotspot was defined in the radio config, nor have you notated what parts of that log listing are applicable to whatever you were attempting to perform. The only obvious line is:

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M: 2020-12-31 01:55:37.135 D-Star, non repeater RF header received from KJ7ITZ  

I'd expect to see that if running in DV mode. If that was while in DR mode, you have a very badly configured "repeater" definition.

PTT (only) on my unit gave (mmdvm log followed by ircddbgateway log:

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M: 2020-12-31 20:54:29.733 D-Star, received RF header from AF6VN   /D74A to CQCQCQ
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31.061 D-Star, received RF end of transmission from AF6VN   /D74A to CQCQCQ  , 1.5 seconds, BER: 0.0%

M: 2020-12-31 20:54:30: USER: AF6VN    AF6VN  B AF6VN  G 76.255.154.65
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: From RF
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: 0000:  24 47 50 47 47 41 2C 2C 34 32 35 36 2E 31 36 2C    *$GPGGA,,4256.16,*
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: 0010:  4E 2C 30 38 35 32 31 2E 33 39 2C 57 2C 2C 2C 2C    *N,08521.39,W,,,,*
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: 0020:  31 39 38 2C 4D 2C 2C 2C 2C 2C 2A 32 38 0D 0A 24    *198,M,,,,,*28..$*
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: 0030:  47 50 52 4D 43 2C 2C 41 2C 34 32 35 36 2E 31 36    *GPRMC,,A,4256.16*
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: 0040:  2C 4E 2C 30 38 35 32 31 2E 33 39 2C 57 2C 2C 2C    *,N,08521.39,W,,,*
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: 0050:  2C 2C 2C 2A 32 35 0D 0A 41 46 36 56 4E 20 20 20    *,,,*25..AF6VN   *
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: 0060:  2C 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20    *,               *
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: 0070:  20 20 20 20 20 0D 0A                               *     ..*
M: 2020-12-31 20:54:31: USER: N2SKY    N2SKY  B N2SKY  G 65.114.195.171

{Note: I'm configured to send embedded APRS location data on each PTT}

In DV mode (no entry in ircddbgateway log):

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M: 2020-12-31 21:01:19.280 D-Star, non repeater RF header received from AF6VN

Addendum: just out of curiosity, what power level do you have the D74 set to. If within 50 feet of the hotspot, you probably should be running the D74 at EL power level. Anything else might be causing front-end overload of the hotspot.

Does the D74 screen show:
Use Reflector
CQCQCQ
<hotspot name>
<freq><callsign><node -- for me "B">

[dh3ybe]

Hi,

best wishes for 2021.

: 2020-12-31 01:54:17.328 D-Star, received RF header from KJ7ITZ /D74 to CQCQCQ
M: 2020-12-31 01:54:18.064 D-Star, received RF end of transmission from KJ7ITZ /D74 to CQCQCQ , 0.9 seconds, BER: 0.0%, RSSI: -47/-47/-47 dBm
M: 2020-12-31 01:55:20.643 D-Star, received RF header from KJ7ITZ /D74 to CQCQCQ
M: 2020-12-31 01:55:20.958 D-Star, received RF end of transmission from KJ7ITZ /D74 to CQCQCQ , 0.5 seconds, BER: 0.0%, RSSI: -47/-47/-47 dBm
M: 2020-12-31 01:55:23.962 D-Star, received RF header from KJ7ITZ /D74 to CQCQCQ
M: 2020-12-31 01:55:29.058 D-Star, received RF end of transmission from KJ7ITZ /D74 to CQCQCQ , 5.2 seconds, BER: 0.0%, RSSI: -47/-47/-47 dBm
M: 2020-12-31 01:55:37.135 D-Star, non repeater RF header received from KJ7ITZ
M: 2020-12-31 01:55:49.500 D-Star, received RF header from KJ7ITZ /D74 to CQCQCQ

THe life log says, that you have not a repeater RF header. So it receives your d-star signal and has a BER of 0 and that is good, bad your are not in d-star REPEATER mode. So your hotspot addresses your signal not related to hotspot repeater. your hot spot thought: "nothing to do for me, it is only a simplex signal". You have to put it in d-star repeater mode.
In the manual, it is described maybe for dv and dr. I think, you have not told your trx to use the GATEWAY GW.

Best Regards
73
Kai
dh3ybe

[KJ7ITZ]

This doesn;t make sense; the SD card is 8GB.
Anyone know of a utility to expand the partition?
and i will continue to investigate repeater mode.
Today I was advised to set up the pi-star in duplex mode; no D-Star mode has failed completely.

found it 1. Expand the file system if you have not done so already

pi-star@pi-star(ro):~$ sudo pistar-expand
2. Reboot after the expand process completes.

pi-star@pi-star(ro):~$ sudo reboot

updating but it's a config issue.

[KJ7ITZ]

1 Hotspot 1 Pi_Star 1 pistar438 KJ7ITZ B KJ7ITZ G Off PiStar 439.000 - 7.700 Digital Off Off Approx. 44 9.00 N 122 9.00 W -8:00 On Off Off

[KJ7ITZ]

1. sd card expanded apparently it was an 8 partitioned to 2. There is no space problem.
2. pi-star updated. No change
3. hat firmware updated , no change.
4 all freqs and hotpsot set to duplex. no change.
5. tried dr and dv. No change.
6. tried lower settings from H to EL. No change.
7. set the pi-star and radio back to simplex. No change.

[AF6VN]

1 Hotspot 1 Pi_Star 1 pistar438 KJ7ITZ B KJ7ITZ G Off PiStar 439.000 - 7.700 Digital Off Off Approx. 44 9.00 N 122 9.00 W -8:00 On Off Off

I presume that is finally the D74 repeater definition. My first concerns are that you have not used the defined zone identifiers

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4	North America	51	USA	108	W8	AF6VN  B	AF6VN  G	Off	Hotspot	DV-Mega	446.250	+	0.000	Digital	Off	Off	Exact	42	56.16	N	85	21.40	W	-5:00	On	Off	Off			

Region 1 is Asia, Country 1 is Japan, Group 1 is JA1/Kanto. You should change the "1 Hotspot 1 Pi_Star 1 pistar438" to appropriate values for you main location. Maybe add a sub-name after the name.

However, the biggest thing I see is that you have a 7.7MHz REPEATER OFFSET DEFINED. Hotspots use a 0.0 offset (even though you need to be in "repeater shift" mode, not simplex). According to the settings you have, you are listening on 439.0MHz, but transmitting on 431.3MHz
Where did you even find a 7.7MHz shift? Europe and Africa tend to use 7.6MHz on 70cm band, with some exceptions

[AF6VN]

1. sd card expanded apparently it was an 8 partitioned to 2. There is no space problem.
2. pi-star updated. No change
3. hat firmware updated , no change.
4 all freqs and hotpsot set to duplex. no change.
5. tried dr and dv. No change.
6. tried lower settings from H to EL. No change.
7. set the pi-star and radio back to simplex. No change.

Based upon the screen shots, your radio is configured with an empty repeater list (except for the one hotspot entry).

I recommend you reload the radio with the latest world-wide repeater list, then add your hotspot at the bottom of the list -- using the correct region/country/group values. DO NOT [Edit Area], just use [Edit Repeater] (though MCP is rather confusing about that -- most fields are inactive until you supply frequency and offset, then you can access the call sign fields, followed by name/sub-name, and then the drop downs for region etc.)

[KJ7ITZ]

according the MMDVM manual, it only supports simplex,

[AF6VN]

according the MMDVM manual, it only supports simplex,

The hotspot needs both Tx and Rx on the same frequency (ie: simplex).

The radio needs a Repeater configuration (+ or -) offset value of 0.0MHz, and used in DR mode. Without using repeater configuration you will not be sending the proper headers to have your packets routed. A repeater offset/shift of 0.0 means the radio will use the same frequency for Tx as Rx, hence appear as "simplex" to the hotspot.

I've shown you exactly how my hotspot appears in the repeater list of my D74 (granted, mine is a DV-Mega with both 2m and 70cm capability -- set up for 70cm). Change the 108/W8 to match your local district, obviously change the AF6VN to match your call sign, change Hotspot/DV-Mega to your preferences, and change my 446.250 to your hotspot frequency. Oh, and of course, put in your lat/long, so that (if you had a fully populated repeater list) the repeater search function (with GPS lock) will find the hotspot as "nearest repeater".

[G8SEZ]

There is also configuration advice for Kenwood and Icom at K9WLW's YouTube channel.

Just search for K9WLW and you will find it easily.