Need your help.... Talkgroups, how to change ?

[M7MLB]

Hi

Been tinkering with my DMR pi-star hotspot for about 10days now. Still struggling to work out how to change talkgroups etc.

Using a MD-380 and a Raspberry Pi Pi-Star hotspot as no repeaters in my home location. Someone helped me setup my codeplug as originally i couldn't even get my radio to talk to the hotspot. Now it works i cant figure out how to change talkgroups etc. I am in the UK and hotspot is set to UK Brandmeister network.

On my radio codeplug i have setup 5-6 channels each with different talkgroups WW, EU, Local, echo test etc, and all in a zone set for the hotspot But if i turn to either of these channels all i can hear is the WW talkgroup, on every one!Im reasonably certain my codeplug is correct, although not 100%. So i go to my brandmeister dashboard and see that the reflector is set to Worldwide (4639). Thinking this is the issue i disconnect the reflector in dashboard. Then using the radio i try to use any of the channels, nothing?

Little confused on how you use radio with hotspot to change talkgroups etc.. Please help

[AF6VN]

Basically -- you have to transmit using the configured channel. Brandmeister should detect the talkgroup in your transmission, and will enable that talkgroup as a "dynamic".

You /could/ use the Brandmeister self-care page to set some talkgroups to static (always connected) but if they are busy groups you might get blocked out from using lower traffic groups -- as traffic on static (and active dynamics) will be sent to your radio regardless of which talkgroup/channel you selected.

You should not be hearing 4639 on every channel unless either:

The channels are misconfigured (you may have NAMED the channel for some other talk group but failed to put that other talk group into the contact field)

OR

You have misconfigured the "Digital Contacts" list -- talk groups will need to have call-type "group call" and the correct group ID number (the name is whatever you find useful -- but is the name that will have to be in the Channel's "contact name" field)

OR

You have defined a receive group list which contains all the talkgroups you are interested in and that group list is attached to all the channels (group lists means the radio will accept all listed talkgroups, even though the contact/talkgroup means you only transmit to one of them -- the radio will tell you which group was received and you can then change channel if you want to respond to it. {This is how my radios are configured -- and I have the low-traffic Mi5 talk groups set as static in Brandmeister while normally on 3100 as a dynamic}

Unfortunately, only the contacts list has import/export so I can't easily show my channel/group list configurations.

[kd2lh]

As mentioned, DMR talkgroups on Brandmeister can be either dynamic or static (including timed static).

Dynamic talk group association is probably the easiest to use, so you should try this first. When the Pi-Star hotspot first hears you transmit on the timeslot with a talkgroup configured in your radio, it will dynamically register that association between your hotspot and Brandmeister. Subsequent transmissions from your radio will be forwarded through the Brandmeister network to other available repeaters and hotspots currently attached to that talkgroup.

The Pi-Star dashboard will show you which talkgroup(s) have association active. These dynamic associations will eventually be dropped after a configurable hangtime.

You setup static talkgroups and timed static talkgroups using the online Brandmeister configuration tools for each hotspot you're operating.

There is a control interface available through the Pi-Star desktop also. It's call the "Brandmeister Manager" and will showup on the Admin page when you have it properly configured. You get a "API Key" for each hotspot from Brandmeister's Edit Profile page. This key must be copied onto the Hotspot and is pasted to the "BM API" page of the "Expert" "Configuration" menu.

You actually select the talkgroup you want to talk on within the MD-380 radio, generally by configuring it within the channel definition for each channel. The talkgroups themselves are defined as a "Digital Contact" as "Group" contacts. Some radios allow you to dynamically change the talkgroup on a channel that allows it to be selected.

Make sure you have the color code (kind of like a digital PL) and the TimeSlot properly configured on both the radio and the hotspot before you start any of this.

There is a "Live Log" option on Pi-Star that will give you a running list of what it's doing, and any problems the hotspot is encountering on the way.

[G4AON]

Lee, it sounds like your 380 is set to “promiscuous”. It should only receive the talkgroup selected on the radio, regardless of what is configured on the Pi-Star.

Assuming you have no static groups configured, send 4000 (usually one of buttons on the radio is programmed to bring it up on screen), the Sending of 4000 drops all dynamic groups. You can then transmit for half a second on ONE talkgroup and it will be active. You should really clear that before firing up others. On Brandmeister one dynamic talkgroup will remain after the rest time out, the time out is around 15 mins. For the avoidance of doubt, send “4000” to clear all dynamic.

I have set one local TG as static, but it’s fairly quiet. Avoid setting a busy TG as static, unless you want to monitor/use it daily.

73 Dave

[AF6VN]

Lee, it sounds like your 380 is set to “promiscuous”. It should only receive the talkgroup selected on the radio, regardless of what is configured on the Pi-Star.

If it has factory firmware, the 380 does not have a promiscuous mode (there is a 3rd-party hacked firmware that adds it: https://md380.org/features/promiscuous/ ). The closest is the Receive Group List which is limited to just the groups in the list attached to the current channel.

[M7MLB]

Thankyou all, Dave was spot on... !
Previous owner had changed firmware and i found "promiscuous" was indeed on!

[M7MLB]

Lee, it sounds like your 380 is set to “promiscuous”. It should only receive the talkgroup selected on the radio, regardless of what is configured on the Pi-Star.

That was it Dave.... Phew thanks !!