Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Help with DMR issues
K0DXV
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:25 pm

Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by K0DXV »

I have PI-STAR running on a generic MMDVM hotspot. I have a TYT MD-380 that I've installed a code plug on. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. YouTube after YouTube but nothing I try makes any difference. Hotspot doesn't hear me and I can't get Parrot to respond. Days of trying things with no luck. Any help truly appreciated.

I've tried various offsets from 0 to -500. Everything looks right based on about 5 YouTubes. What could be wrong?
K0DXV
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:25 pm

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by K0DXV »

DMR ID is correct on both the radio and the hotspot. TX/RX is set to 446.100. I'm not sure what else I can provide that would be helpful.
AF6VN
Posts: 821
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:15 am

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by AF6VN »

K0DXV wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:45 pm I have PI-STAR running on a generic MMDVM hotspot. I have a TYT MD-380 that I've installed a code plug on. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. YouTube after YouTube but nothing I try makes any difference. Hotspot doesn't hear me and I can't get Parrot to respond. Days of trying things with no luck. Any help truly appreciated.
"...installed a code plug on" ... Who created said code plug?

How are the channels set up? You need a channel for each talk group you intend to use. Color code, admit criteria, etc. What DMR network are you using?

Don't know if this will work -- the URL forwards to an R-Pi in my LAN. It works for me locally, but my cell-phone seems unable to load from it.

If it does, it is a screen grab from the configuration software of a channel that works on my system
Image
Rx and Tx need to be set to the same frequency (Allow TalkAround is superfluous -- it basically is a way for a repeater [different freqs] channel to be temporarily set to use the Rx for Tx, bypassing the repeater itself). Set power to low -- high power can overload the front-end of a hot-spot if you are close to it. Slot MUST BE 2.

The group list is set-up with a bunch of channels [or Contact Names, I forget which] (all identical except for Contact Name -- Contact Names contain the talk group ID) -- hypothetically, this allows you to /hear/ traffic coming in from any of the Talk Groups in the list, allowing you to change to the matching channel if interested in responding (I'm not sure if the radio has a setting that allows direct reply so long as the screen hasn't timed out). However, since Brandmeister tends to lock-out other groups for some minutes when one has activated (PTT) a particular talk group, it isn't that useful on BM.


Addendum: In the Contacts configuration page, make sure they are set to GROUP CALL

--
AF6VN
Dennis L Bieber
K0DXV
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:25 pm

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by K0DXV »

I've built a codeplug with a single entry following the various YouTube Videos. I imported a codeplug from Bridgecom Systems. I have a codeplug from Rocky Mountain Ham radio. All are correct.

The following is from the dashboard. I can't get a fixed font so the columns don't line up

Gateway Activity
Time (MDT) Mode Callsign Target Src Dur(s) Loss BER
19:20:31 Jul 28th DMR TS2 K0DXV
(GPS)
TG 310 RF 0.7 0% 0.1%

Local RF Activity
Time (MDT) Mode Callsign Target Src Dur(s) BER RSSI
19:20:31 Jul 28th DMR TS2 K0DXV
(GPS)
TG 310 RF 0.7 0.1% S9+46dB (-47 dBm)
K0DXV
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:25 pm

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by K0DXV »

From MMDVMCAL:
DMR voice end received, total frames: 6, bits: 846, errors: 5, BER: 0.5910%
TX Level: 50.0%, Frequency Offset: 0, RF Level: 100.0%
K0DXV
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:25 pm

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by K0DXV »

At this point I'm beginning to wonder if the hotspot is bad. Doesn't seem like it should be this hard. I attempted to connect to Parrot but the hotspot didn't even show the transmission. No gateway activity and no Local RF Activity.

In advance I appreciate any help given. I know this is complicated to figure out.

Code: Select all

BrandMeister Master	Repeater ID	Static TGs	Dynamic TGs
BM 3102 United States	3182828	None	None
Not sure how you got BM4601 the above is how the hotspot is configured.

Code: Select all

Hostname	Kernel	Platform	CPU Load	CPU Temp
pi-star	5.10.11+	Pi Zero W Rev 1.1 (512MB)	2.62 / 1.76 / 1.06	42.2°C / 108°F

Controller Software:	MMDVMHost (DV-Mega Minimum Firmware 3.07 Required)
Controller Mode: Simplex Node 
DMR Mode: DMR Mode   RF Hangtime: 20  Net Hangtime:20
Hostname: pi-star
Node Callsign: K0DXV
CCS7/DMR ID: 3182828
Radio Frequency: 446.100.000 MHz
DMR Master: BM_3102_United_States
Hotspot Security:
BrandMeister Network:	
DMR ESSID:3182828 none
DMR Color Code:1
DMR EmbeddedLCOnly: 
DMR DumpTAData: DMR Dump T-A Data

This is the best I can do to copy relevant configuration data from the hotspot.

Code: Select all

Radio configuration (Channels Information):
Channel Mode: Digital
Channel Name: PRA Parrot
RX Frequency: 446.10000
TX Frequency: 446.10000
Admit Criteria:Channel Free
Private Call Confirmed: True
Color Code:1
Repeater Slot: 2
Privacy: None

Radio configuration (Digital Contacts):
No. 989
Contact Name: Parrot
Call Type: Private Call
Call ID: 9990
Call Receive Tone: No

Radio configuration (General Setting):
Radio Name: K0DXV
Radio ID: 3182828
If it's of any value the radio configuration file is attached.

Monitor Type: Open Squelch
MD-380-K0DXV-210729-0944.zip
(14.03 KiB) Downloaded 144 times
AF6VN
Posts: 821
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:15 am

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by AF6VN »

I'm a bit surprised that the editor for the MD-390 could even open the MD-380 config...

Image
  • There is no contact defined -- the talk group number is associated with the contact name. So PTT on this Parrot channel goes nowhere
  • Recommend setting Admit Criteria to Color Code; Channel Free essentially means there can be NO RF detected on that frequency.
I note that you have both
TAC310 and BM TAC 310 in the contacts list -- but they are the same talkgroup; the only difference in the config is that one has the "call receive tone" set. Same for W0TX USA and BM USA, and W0TX CO and BM Colorado. Again, same talkgroups differing only in "call receive tone" -- and they are all BM talk groups. Unless a repeater operator has created repeater specific talk groups that are not propagated over the net, the Contact lists should not specify repeater names. There should only be ONE contact name associated with any particular call ID; otherwise you will get confusing screen displays.

It also appears that rather than creating a set of Channels specifically for the hotspot, you edited a set that had been for the PRA repeater. I'd create HS specific channels, put them all in the same group list, and also into the same Zone list (then restore the PRA channels you edited -- "PRA Parrot" is quite misleading as you are going into a hotspot and thence to Brandmeister; it has nothing to do with PRA repeater group).

You have PRA Mtn West configured for hotspot, but still on high power.

--
AF6VN
Dennis L Bieber
AF6VN
Posts: 821
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:15 am

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by AF6VN »

KE7FNS wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:36 pm I got it from your BM dashboard.

https://brandmeister.network/?page=hotspot&id=3182828

Untitled.png

You must of had BM4601 selected at some point, because if you hadn't the BM dashboard entry wouldn't even exist. The problem is when you have moved to a US master, you don't ever connect because of a password mismatch so the data can't be updated.
Interesting... That shows "Nano_hotSPOT" for hardware, yet the OP's recent posts indicate it is a DV-Mega

Code: Select all

Controller Software:	MMDVMHost (DV-Mega Minimum Firmware 3.07 Required)
Okay, I may be misreading -- that line is irrelevant, and the OP didn't provide the "Radio/Modem Type" line

--
AF6VN
Dennis L Bieber
K0DXV
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:25 pm

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by K0DXV »

I appreciate your help. A week ago a friend said "Get on DMR" so I bought a HotSpot and and MD-380 knowing nothing about digital radio. There's a lot of fine detail to this.

The contents of the CodePlug is basically someone else's ideas. I just borrowed it.

You say there is no contact for Parrot. It's listed in Digital Contacts as #989 Parrot Private Call 9990.

Is there somewhere else it needs to be defined?
K0DXV
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:25 pm

Re: Completely new to this. Can't get gateway and MD-380 to work

Post by K0DXV »

Not sure where you're seeing BM 4601 BrandMeister Master is set to BM 3102.

Looking at Live Logs I get this:

Starting logging, please wait...
E: 2021-07-29 20:55:28.057 DMR, Login to the master has failed, retrying network ...
M: 2021-07-29 20:55:28.057 Closing DMR Network

It's logging into something. What is it using for credentials and where are they defined?

Thanks
Post Reply