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Author Topic: DMR for Emergency Communications and Public Service  (Read 536 times)

KA4GFY

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Re: DMR for Emergency Communications and Public Service
« Reply #15 on: January 15, 2020, 11:26:26 AM »

The local talk group would be the primary one we would use.

The other talk groups on the DMRVA system cover the Commonwealth of Virginia or specific parts of Virginia.  They would be ideal if we needed to communicate with another part of the state.   The network managers and users are very good about using the system for public service and emergency communications.  There are a couple of public service events in the Richmond area that use the local talk group on the local DMR repeaters and its never been an problem. 

Our local club owns the DMR repeater in Alexandria, VA, so that's not an issue.  We have floated the idea of a dedicated talk group on the DMRVA system for the Alexandria and Washington, DC repeaters for use at the Marine Corps Marathon.  Hasn't happened yet , but it might.

73,
Rich, KA4GFY   
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AI7PM

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Re: DMR for Emergency Communications and Public Service
« Reply #16 on: January 22, 2020, 08:43:20 AM »

....... meaning cell phones, computer networks don't work which means DMR won't work.  DMR competes with police, fire, medical etc. For Communications Emergencies we need radio operators not telephone operators.

What load of excrement. DMR has no more to do with cellphones or the internet than FM. Same as FM, it MAY be linked via internet or other means. It is NOT internet dependent.

DMR competes with police, fire, medical etc. ? Say what?  How does DMR "compete" with any of those services?
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KB8VUL

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Re: DMR for Emergency Communications and Public Service
« Reply #17 on: January 22, 2020, 06:40:15 PM »

Yeah, Not sure how DMR is competing for space with public safety.
Much of the current public safety is going or on 700/800 trunking systems.  Not everyone, but I would say that it's now a majority.

As far as DMR for ARES/EMCOMM. 
It's really a double edged sword.  On one hand if you have a group doing a specific function, it's almost a private channel because the radios are a bit different and every ham doesn't have one yet.  So weather nets will typically have less fair weather reports.  Problem is that joe average is not going to have a DMR radio.  So when he's getting reportable weather, you may not get to hear about it. 

For emergency service, ARES and EMCOMM.  Again special communications paths.  Consider it legal encryption.  It's like using 900 or 220, no one has gear.  So it's sudo private due to obscurity.  But again, your main line traffic needs to be FM.  That way if you have people wanting to report things, check in to a net, or provide assistance, then they can.
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WA8NVW

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Re: DMR for Emergency Communications and Public Service
« Reply #18 on: January 30, 2020, 08:54:54 AM »

DMR and P25 are commercial standards-based digital operating modes, while D-STAR and Fusion are primarily developed and used by amateurs.  700/800 MHz are (nearly) adjacent frequency ranges assigned by the regulatory agencies in North America primarily to public safety licensees.  The two categories of frequency and modulation type are not directly comparable, since the modes themselves do NOT depend on the frequency band(s) being utilized.
With the 'Joe average' ham wanting to spend as little money out-of-pocket as possible, the $100-$200 imported commercial-grade digital-mode portable and mobile radios are becoming far more popular on the VHF-UHF bands than legacy analog FM units.
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