D-STAR, DMR and C4FM Repeater Maps

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Radio amateurs use at least five different and incompatible amateur radio digital voice modes on the VHF/UHF bands, D-STAR, Motorola's DMR, dPMR, Yaesu System Fusion C4FM and FreeDV

FreeDV

Of those D-STAR, DMR and C4FM have widespread repeater networks and there is currently one dPMR repeater GB7RR.

Yaesu supply the DR-1XE dual band repeater which can operate in both Digital SystemFusion (C4FM) mode and the traditional Analogue FM mode. It features an Automatic Mode Selection function.

FreeDV was initially developed for HF but is now being used at VHF as well. It is a free software solution for digital voice making use of your PC's soundcard, see

Maps showing the D-STAR, DMR and C4FM repeaters are available on the UK Repeater website.

FreeDV - http://freedv.org/

D-STAR Repeater map - http://www.ukrepeater.net/d-star.htm

DMR Repeater Map - http://www.ukrepeater.net/dmr.htm

Yaesu System Fusion C4FM Repeater Map - http://www.ukrepeater.net/fusion.htm

Amateur Radio Based Group Rescues Released Broadcast Frequency

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When the "Deutsche Welle" decided to close down one of their 500 KW short wave broadcast transmitters near Munich at the end of 2012, a group containing some German radio amateurs applied for and were allocated the then available short wave frequency of 6070 KHz in 2013.

This group now have an operational 10KW station on the frequency, using the driver stages from the old Deutsche Welle transmitter. The rest of the transmitter was built by and is run by Rainer DB8QC . The licence allow transmission 24/7 but at present most transmissions are on a weekend during daylight hours.


Content is mainly provided by existing Internet Radio stations wanting to get their material "on-the-air" this includes several soceities that remember the days of the Pirate Radio pop music stations in the North sea between England and Holland and a lot of their music content is from the 60's and 70's.

Additional content is being sought and at only 15 Euros an hour, this is not a corporate big business rather a facility where smaller groups can afford to buy time to transmit their content. One such group is the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club, the National Amateur Soceity in Germany, who hope to have a weekly 2 hour slot on the station from mid-March to send a DX orientated program, probably from 6pm local time on Sundays.

The DARC DX magazine will be in the German language and targeted towards German speaking listeners. Amateur radio is an international medium however so there are thoughts of also producing an international / English hour in addition, to reach out across Europe not only to radio amateurs but also to short wave listeners and the general public. 

Rainer DF2NU who is one of the group running the station and the president of the Munich South section of the DARC, he told me that they hope to be able to broadcast more often once sufficient content is available however they are already seeing other broadcasters such as Radio China moving onto the frequency in the evenings as those stations percieve 6070 KHz as a free frequency.

“Channel 292” has airtime bookings for 20-25 hrs a week, mostly on weekends at which times it runs at 10 kW output. When it is idle as there is no booking, the transmitter power is reduced to 1kW and transmits an infinite music-loop with no actual program. Late evenings, after 8pm local, the transmitter is switched off completely in order to save energy costs.”
— Rainer DF2NU

Rainer stressed that the license is for 24/7 so they can use the frequency at any time when they have content.

With a current rate of EUR 15,-- per hour airtime you cannot earn any money. This broadcast station is an extenion of the amateur radio hobby and the group seek to simply cover their costs. Thinking back to the very start of amateur radio, Hams were allowed to transmit music, news and entertainment programs, so it's nice to see some of this coming back onto the short wave bands thanks to the efforts of groups like this one.

For program information about "Channel 292" – http://www.channel292.de 

 

Use of Digital Modes in UKAC

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The RSGB Contest Committee has issued a statement concerning the use of digital modes (MGM) in the UK Activity Contest (UKAC)

Following an exceptional request for a change to UK Activity Contest (UKAC) by the RSGB Board, made in order to enable increased participation by remotely located stations, and after consultation between the RSGB Board and the RSGB Contest Committee (RSGBCC), the RSGBCC has agreed to the following amendment to the rules of the UKACs effective from the 1st February 2015:

“The use of machine generated transmission modes (MGM) are permitted in the AX section of all UKACs and in all sections of the 23cm UKAC and the SHF UKAC.”

The latest edition of the RSGB Contest Committee Newsletter - http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/newsletter/newscurrent.shtml

HF Contesting Yahoo Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UK-HF-Contesting

VHF Contesting Yahoo Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UK-VHF-Contesting