WEBVTT 00:00:09.450 --> 00:00:12.269 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:12.269 --> 00:00:30.230 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:30.230 --> 00:00:32.969 tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:33.149 --> 00:00:40.929 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:40.929 --> 00:00:44.710 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:45.049 --> 00:00:48.030 cables, and more, visit them at a ham fest near 00:00:48.030 --> 00:00:56.350 you or call 920 -435 -2973 or online at pl -259 00:00:56.350 --> 00:01:30.310 .com. Hey good evening everyone it's HamTalk 00:01:30.310 --> 00:01:36.409 Live episode number 122 on System Fusion recorded 00:01:36.409 --> 00:01:41.230 live on Thursday July 5th 2018. I'm your host 00:01:41.230 --> 00:01:46.150 Neil Rapp WB9VPG and thanks for tuning in to 00:01:46.150 --> 00:01:49.090 another episode of HamTalk Live. Tonight we're 00:01:49.090 --> 00:01:54.049 joined by Corey Sickles WA3UVV and we'll take 00:01:54.049 --> 00:01:57.810 your calls live in a few moments. Last week, 00:01:58.010 --> 00:02:01.489 Marty Sillaway, KC1 Chicken with Fries, and Don 00:02:01.489 --> 00:02:06.469 Greenbaum, N1DG, who was live from Baker Island. 00:02:06.689 --> 00:02:08.849 They were here to talk about the Baker Island 00:02:08.849 --> 00:02:13.689 De -Expedition. And they did go QRT today, made 00:02:13.689 --> 00:02:18.439 a lot of contacts, and so now they have... have 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:21.939 begun the teardown process and believe tomorrow 00:02:21.939 --> 00:02:24.960 will begin the journey home. But if you missed 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:27.099 that show, you can listen anytime. Just go to 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:30.039 HamTalkLive .com and bring it up there. Or you 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:32.759 can listen to one of our podcast editions over 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:36.099 on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeart Podcasts, 00:02:36.180 --> 00:02:38.800 Google Play, TuneIn, SoundCloud, or your favorite 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:43.199 app. and we're also over on YouTube. So get your 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.479 questions ready to go. After the interview, you 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:47.680 can call us. I'll go ahead and give you the phone 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:50.860 number, but it's not time to call just yet. It's 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:58.759 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. Or you 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:02.479 can Skype us. We're HamTalk Live on Skype. And 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.860 of course you can tweet us. We're at HamTalk 00:03:04.860 --> 00:03:09.240 Live on Twitter. This summer we're giving away 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:12.599 some prizes to people who call in on the telephone 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:16.560 lines So thanks to radio waves for donating a 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:21.580 40 meter 40 meter Double bazooka and Hile sound 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:25.020 for donating an Mcom headset foot switch two 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:27.819 autographed Bob Hile ham radio manuals and a 00:03:27.819 --> 00:03:31.080 bag So each night at the end of the show, I'll 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:35.060 pick a call of the night So just be sure to call 00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:38.159 in when it's time and who knows, you may win 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:42.360 one of our prizes. So make sure you stick around 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:48.199 for that. And yeah, if this were WKRP in Cincinnati, 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:53.919 somebody would call in and ask, why didn't Comcast 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:57.020 send us an email telling us that the internet 00:03:57.020 --> 00:04:02.620 was down? So if you don't have internet, I'm 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:04.479 not sure how you're supposed to get that email. 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:09.460 But anyway Yeah, we've got a Comcast outage here. 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:11.460 I've been without internet for the last three 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:16.680 hours. So We're doing this by cell phone Internet 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:20.100 tonight. So hopefully that holds up. So if we 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:23.540 suddenly disappear That's probably what happened. 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:26.160 So just wanted to let you know about that. And 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.019 also, uh, one other reminder, uh, don't forget 00:04:29.019 --> 00:04:31.500 that next week, the show is at eight o 'clock 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:34.500 in the morning instead of nine o 'clock at night. 00:04:34.500 --> 00:04:37.060 That's because we're going to be on German time 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:41.160 and, uh, we'll be coming to you live from WRTC. 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:45.439 Ed Durant, DD5LP will be our engineer on hand 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.100 to bring some people to us to interview and talk 00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:54.089 to and take calls from. and two over in Germany 00:04:54.089 --> 00:04:58.430 at WRTC next week. So again, special time 8 a 00:04:58.430 --> 00:05:02.569 .m. next Thursday instead of 9 p .m. So I'll 00:05:02.569 --> 00:05:05.149 be back with Cory and we'll talk about system 00:05:05.149 --> 00:05:08.329 fusion right after this word from Tower Electronics 00:05:08.329 --> 00:05:12.870 right here on HamTalk Live. Hey honey, have you 00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:17.769 seen the PL259s anywhere? No, I haven't. Come 00:05:17.769 --> 00:05:23.089 on kids, let's go. There's just one place to 00:05:23.089 --> 00:05:26.389 go for all of your connector needs. Tower electronics. 00:05:26.449 --> 00:05:30.850 Tower electronics. A giant warehouse of connectors 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:33.850 and adapters for every occasion. Thousands to 00:05:33.850 --> 00:05:36.209 choose from in every shape, size, and color. 00:05:36.410 --> 00:05:39.149 And they have antennas, soldering supplies, cables, 00:05:39.410 --> 00:05:42.149 meters, and more. Where do you go if you want 00:05:42.149 --> 00:05:44.509 to buy a connector at a fraction of retail cost? 00:05:44.629 --> 00:05:48.509 Tower electronics. Tower electronics. Tower electronics. 00:05:48.910 --> 00:05:51.149 And this weekend only, take advantage of our 00:05:51.149 --> 00:05:54.089 Special liquidation sale. Buy nine solder -type 00:05:54.089 --> 00:05:57.430 PL -259s. Get the tenth one for just one penny. 00:05:59.990 --> 00:06:05.290 They make great Christmas presents. And what 00:06:05.290 --> 00:06:07.589 better way to say, I love you, than with the 00:06:07.589 --> 00:06:12.579 gift of a PL -259. TOWER ELECTRONICS! TOWER ELECTRONICS! 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.920 TOWER ELECTRONICS! Hi, I'm Scott Cole, KB9 AMM, 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.040 President of TOWER ELECTRONICS. I like the company 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:22.740 so much that I bought it. TOWER ELECTRONICS, 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:25.720 coming to a hand fest near you, or online at 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:29.959 PL -259 .com. And we're in the yellow pages under 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:33.300 amateur radio connectors. My, wherever did you 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:37.180 get that lovely PL -259? TOWER ELECTRONICS, PL 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:44.089 -259 .com. or call 920 -435 -2973. Do we sell 00:06:44.089 --> 00:06:47.850 PL259 connectors? It's not the amount of power, 00:06:48.290 --> 00:07:05.569 it's the size of our tower. Thanks to Scott and 00:07:05.569 --> 00:07:07.970 Jill at Tower Electronics for bringing the show 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:12.290 to you again tonight. Coming up this weekend, 00:07:12.509 --> 00:07:14.670 they'll be in South Milwaukee at the Oak Creek, 00:07:14.689 --> 00:07:18.970 Wisconsin ham fest on the 7th. And then next 00:07:18.970 --> 00:07:23.110 month, August 5th, Berryville, Virginia. August 00:07:23.110 --> 00:07:26.939 11th, Huntington, West Virginia. and then August 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:29.420 18th and 19th, they'll be at Huntsville, Alabama, 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:34.579 but you can visit them anytime at PL -259 .com. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.220 Well tonight our guest is Corey Sickles, W -A 00:07:38.220 --> 00:07:41.740 -3 -U -V -V. He's from Uniontown, Pennsylvania 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:46.360 and was first licensed as a novice in 1974. Today 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:48.980 he holds an extra class license and is active 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:53.040 on HF plus many of the VHF and UHF bands. He 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.600 has worked as a television producer to create 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.000 broadcast, marketing, fundraising, documentary 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.850 and instructional programming. as well as providing 00:08:01.850 --> 00:08:05.670 broadcast engineering and communications consulting 00:08:05.670 --> 00:08:08.790 services. He's written many magazine articles 00:08:08.790 --> 00:08:13.110 and columns over the years for various CQ magazine 00:08:13.110 --> 00:08:16.110 publications and for the past few years he's 00:08:16.110 --> 00:08:19.350 written digitally speaking a monthly column for 00:08:19.350 --> 00:08:23.990 the Spectrum Monitor magazine. Corey is the Western 00:08:23.990 --> 00:08:27.910 Pennsylvania ARRL section's public information 00:08:27.910 --> 00:08:30.709 coordinator, and he's a member of the Gloucester 00:08:30.709 --> 00:08:34.230 County Amateur Radio Club, W2MMD, the New Jersey 00:08:34.230 --> 00:08:37.809 QRP Club, Gloucester City Amateur Radio Club, 00:08:38.029 --> 00:08:44.049 NJ2GC, Uniontown Amateur Radio Club, W3PIE, the 00:08:44.049 --> 00:08:50.090 Monongila wireless association, W8MWA, the Strait 00:08:50.090 --> 00:08:53.169 Key Century Club and Vintage Computer Federation 00:08:53.169 --> 00:08:56.269 as well. And it can often be found on one of 00:08:56.269 --> 00:08:59.529 the many reflectors, talk groups, or rooms on 00:08:59.529 --> 00:09:04.269 digital voice radio. So, Corey, thanks for joining 00:09:04.269 --> 00:09:07.389 us on the show tonight. My pleasure, Neil. Thank 00:09:07.389 --> 00:09:12.350 you. And I think I messed that up, too. Was it 00:09:12.350 --> 00:09:18.049 Monangela? Monongalia Monongalia now you have 00:09:18.049 --> 00:09:20.289 you have to tell the story you told me about 00:09:20.289 --> 00:09:24.929 the name as the legend goes the Intent was that 00:09:24.929 --> 00:09:29.029 it was supposed to be Monongahela County like 00:09:29.029 --> 00:09:32.429 Monongahela River Monongahela Valley in Pennsylvania 00:09:32.429 --> 00:09:36.009 But the court clerk apparently did not know how 00:09:36.009 --> 00:09:39.950 to spell Monongahela He's not aware that she 00:09:39.950 --> 00:09:41.909 was spelling it incorrectly. So she sent the 00:09:41.909 --> 00:09:47.350 paperwork in as Monongalia And the name, of course, 00:09:47.629 --> 00:09:51.970 stuck once the proceedings were filed. Well, 00:09:51.990 --> 00:09:57.529 there you go. So, wonderful, wonderful things 00:09:57.529 --> 00:10:01.230 there. Well, anyway, here on the show, we've 00:10:01.230 --> 00:10:06.179 done D -Star, we've done DMR. We haven't done 00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:09.799 System Fusion, so tonight I wanted to cover System 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:12.700 Fusion a little bit, so tell us about System 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:17.600 Fusion and what it is and how it works. Okay, 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:22.019 System Fusion is one of five different digital 00:10:22.019 --> 00:10:24.960 voice with DV methodologies that Hams are able 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:29.500 to use in North America. There is D -Store and 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:34.990 DMR you mentioned, there's also P25, NextDen 00:10:34.990 --> 00:10:41.090 and XDen, which was a cooperative effort between 00:10:41.090 --> 00:10:46.970 Icom and Kenwood. Icom markets it as IDAS and 00:10:46.970 --> 00:10:53.190 Kenwood as NextEdge, no T. And essentially you 00:10:53.190 --> 00:10:55.529 have three of those that come to us from Land 00:10:55.529 --> 00:10:58.710 Mobile World. Only D -Star and System Fusion 00:10:58.710 --> 00:11:04.070 were designed by Hamz, for Hamz. P25 goes all 00:11:04.070 --> 00:11:09.590 the way back to 1990, D -Star 2004, DMR 2006, 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:15.970 and then in 2014, System Fusion gets its full 00:11:15.970 --> 00:11:19.370 release. When it first came out on the market, 00:11:19.409 --> 00:11:22.129 people were very curious about what it was and 00:11:22.129 --> 00:11:25.769 wondering why Yesu decided to create something 00:11:25.769 --> 00:11:28.470 completely different instead of going with some 00:11:28.470 --> 00:11:30.210 other things, and there were a lot of rumors 00:11:30.210 --> 00:11:33.200 and stuff. I was probably one of those people 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.860 as well that wondered what they were doing and 00:11:36.860 --> 00:11:39.840 at that time all they had was just the the FT1 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:44.360 DR portable on the market and They had I you 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:46.419 know, I'm sitting there. I'm curious and I waited 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:49.580 a little while Before I took a trip to the hip 00:11:49.580 --> 00:11:52.279 to see if I wanted to play around with one of 00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:55.659 these radios And when they announced the the 00:11:55.659 --> 00:11:58.860 mobile radio and the repeater was coming I figured, 00:11:59.139 --> 00:12:01.100 okay, they've gotten serious about this. I may 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:05.740 as well see what it was like. And a friend I 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:08.559 talked into doing the same thing and I, because 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:10.460 you know from toy walkie talkies, you're gonna 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:14.179 have two to make them any fun. We each bought 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:17.720 one. And we were heavy D -Star users in South 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:21.379 Jersey. We used to have a eight county D -Star 00:12:21.379 --> 00:12:25.240 network. As a matter of fact, that was... Really 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:28.639 quite nice it now today. It is a system fusion 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:32.919 network But when we first heard the audio from 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:38.659 fusion our our technical analysis was wow We 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:41.379 were very impressed with quality of audio So 00:12:41.379 --> 00:12:44.080 one of the things with fusion is that it is very 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.779 high quality video It is extremely easy to configure 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:53.120 the radios Extremely easy to configure repeaters 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.539 and networking In a way, it's kind of the Macintosh 00:12:57.539 --> 00:13:01.299 of the digital voice world, and that there's 00:13:01.299 --> 00:13:04.659 a lot going on behind the scenes, but as a user, 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:07.720 you really don't have to be involved in all of 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:13.259 the moving parts with it. And probably the genius 00:13:13.259 --> 00:13:16.259 move that Yesu did with System Fusion was the 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:21.500 inclusion of analog, whereas other methodologies 00:13:22.789 --> 00:13:27.830 Would include analog on a local basis with the 00:13:27.830 --> 00:13:30.049 icons implementation of these store They decided 00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:33.750 to go digital only Which meant that most of their 00:13:33.750 --> 00:13:36.529 repeaters went UHF because a lot of clubs didn't 00:13:36.529 --> 00:13:40.309 want to give up their two meter You know sort 00:13:40.309 --> 00:13:45.490 of intercom, you know, happy club member FM connections 00:13:45.490 --> 00:13:51.200 Nobody loses that analog They get digital and 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:56.759 they get to hold on to that throughout the product 00:13:56.759 --> 00:14:00.100 line and the infrastructure. So not only do you 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:02.460 have a mix of analog and digital possible on 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:05.799 the same repeater locally, you have it in interconnected 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:10.059 repeaters. We have wireless nodes through the 00:14:10.059 --> 00:14:13.259 Wires X system that we see. I'll talk about that 00:14:13.259 --> 00:14:16.720 in a little while. Both digital nodes and analog. 00:14:17.129 --> 00:14:20.769 and there are hybrid rooms with the two intermingle. 00:14:20.809 --> 00:14:24.149 Now, certainly the analog audio isn't as crisp 00:14:24.149 --> 00:14:28.529 and clean as digital, but you can still intermingle 00:14:28.529 --> 00:14:31.269 those things together. So that in a nutshell 00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:35.309 is really it. It's high quality audio, ease of 00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:38.970 use and configuration, and full on supportive 00:14:38.970 --> 00:14:44.389 analog. Okay, now you talked a little bit about 00:14:44.389 --> 00:14:48.700 that. The Fusion has a little higher audio quality 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:53.259 than some of the others. How do you go about 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:57.500 trying to really tell the difference in all of 00:14:57.500 --> 00:15:01.220 these? They all do some things that are similar, 00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:05.580 yet they all have some advantages and disadvantages. 00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:09.399 So how do you just walk us through all of those 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.240 and kind of compare, okay, what does this one 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:18.169 do that that one doesn't? Okay Any of these by 00:15:18.169 --> 00:15:22.610 the way I consider to be a very nice improvement 00:15:22.610 --> 00:15:29.250 over digital the fried eggs and You know civil 00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:33.450 yeah issues and things like that You don't have 00:15:33.450 --> 00:15:36.330 with with digital. It's it's there or it's not 00:15:36.330 --> 00:15:39.570 there one of the things that is nice to have 00:15:39.570 --> 00:15:43.509 in the different methodologies is forward error 00:15:43.509 --> 00:15:47.970 correction where basically you are looking at 00:15:47.970 --> 00:15:52.049 something that dissipates and can correct errors 00:15:52.049 --> 00:15:54.610 if you have any dropouts while you're in motion 00:15:54.610 --> 00:15:58.470 so that you don't get artifacting and things 00:15:58.470 --> 00:16:01.629 like that. Those have been called things like 00:16:01.629 --> 00:16:06.850 R2D2 or Turkey Talk. You know, it's that sort 00:16:06.850 --> 00:16:10.490 of thing. And heard some of that on HF this afternoon. 00:16:10.809 --> 00:16:13.429 Apparently somebody was using a remote station 00:16:13.429 --> 00:16:22.309 and it is like, uh, you know, WB. Yeah. Well, 00:16:22.909 --> 00:16:27.129 sometimes those things will happen. Um, the advantages 00:16:27.129 --> 00:16:30.710 of certain things. One thing, let me, let me 00:16:30.710 --> 00:16:34.129 again, break it down a little bit. The part 90 00:16:34.129 --> 00:16:38.750 or the land mobile. methodologies. P25, DMR, 00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:42.590 and NexDim are designed for environments where 00:16:42.590 --> 00:16:45.809 users are not supposed to be making on -the -fly 00:16:45.809 --> 00:16:48.970 changes to the radio. You have a radio officer 00:16:48.970 --> 00:16:53.389 typically or somebody skilled and assigned those 00:16:53.389 --> 00:16:56.690 tasks to configure all the radios together and 00:16:56.690 --> 00:16:59.870 that sort of thing so that everybody knows what 00:16:59.870 --> 00:17:02.789 you know channel 3 is and that sort of thing. 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:06.059 PAMs, of course, see the world differently, and 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:07.680 we want to stick our fingers into everything 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:12.180 that we can. With DSTOR and Fusion, you can do 00:17:12.180 --> 00:17:17.099 that. And also, those two methodologies pass 00:17:17.099 --> 00:17:20.859 call sign information, whereas the others pass 00:17:20.859 --> 00:17:24.940 a subscriber ID number. There's no call sign 00:17:24.940 --> 00:17:28.920 really there. So, if you want to get into a network 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.660 situation, you have to have a subscriber ID that 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:34.160 needs to be a unique number. And that's one of 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:36.480 the things you either have to register for, plan 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:41.380 for, in advance of configuring the radio. You 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:45.119 may have heard the term code plug. This comes 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.960 from the LMR world. Really, it's a set of configurations 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:51.380 and memories and things like that. We would, 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:55.789 you know, just look at it. and your call sign 00:17:55.789 --> 00:18:01.269 being there with I'm going to dance around a 00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:03.529 little bit but I have a nonlinear mind so it 00:18:03.529 --> 00:18:09.230 kind of works that way. All of these use a technology 00:18:09.230 --> 00:18:14.509 called C4FM or continuous four -character FM 00:18:14.509 --> 00:18:17.990 modulation. Anyone who's played with RIDI in 00:18:17.990 --> 00:18:20.869 the past knows you had two tones mark in space 00:18:20.869 --> 00:18:24.930 and kind of think of those as a C2 FM if you 00:18:24.930 --> 00:18:28.970 wanted to with four tones again, there is better 00:18:28.970 --> 00:18:33.930 error correction and Integrity to the data packets 00:18:33.930 --> 00:18:37.910 going down the line The one exception to C4 FM 00:18:37.910 --> 00:18:43.150 is D star which uses GMSK Gaussian minimum shift 00:18:43.150 --> 00:18:51.430 keying All of them are single Sing yeah single 00:18:51.430 --> 00:18:58.650 signal except for DMR, which through time domain 00:18:58.650 --> 00:19:02.849 or time slicing in 30 millisecond slices back 00:19:02.849 --> 00:19:06.049 and forth, it allows for two slots. It's the 00:19:06.049 --> 00:19:09.569 little brother of a methodology that's used in 00:19:09.569 --> 00:19:14.309 Europe called Tetra, which uses four slots that 00:19:14.309 --> 00:19:19.150 fits within a 25k audio bandwidth, analog audio 00:19:19.150 --> 00:19:24.130 bandwidth. DMR fits within 12 and a half. System 00:19:24.130 --> 00:19:26.990 Fusion is 12 and a half. D -Store and Nexten 00:19:26.990 --> 00:19:29.410 are 6 and a quarter, at least in the way that 00:19:29.410 --> 00:19:33.650 they are implemented in the amateur radio. So 00:19:33.650 --> 00:19:37.390 the advantage of DMR is that you have this possibility 00:19:37.390 --> 00:19:40.069 of holding two conversations through the same 00:19:40.069 --> 00:19:45.190 repeater at the same time. However, mind me that 00:19:45.190 --> 00:19:49.210 DMR comes to us again from Land Mobile. It originally, 00:19:49.289 --> 00:19:53.809 as specified, allowed up to 15 repeaters. This 00:19:53.809 --> 00:19:57.549 is a pretty big pallety. It's not so big when 00:19:57.549 --> 00:19:59.670 you're trying to connect dozens or hundreds of 00:19:59.670 --> 00:20:02.170 repeaters together worldwide in the world of 00:20:02.170 --> 00:20:06.910 amateur radio. Having just a few channels on 00:20:06.910 --> 00:20:09.430 slot one and a few channels on slot two also 00:20:09.430 --> 00:20:12.690 works land mobile, but if you get into high traffic 00:20:12.690 --> 00:20:15.809 areas and you set up in those code plugs, which 00:20:15.809 --> 00:20:18.259 again, You've got to go back to a computer if 00:20:18.259 --> 00:20:20.660 you want to change some things around. Stuff 00:20:20.660 --> 00:20:22.880 works great if, let's say, you're on the repeater 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:25.059 on a slot one talk group and I want to be on 00:20:25.059 --> 00:20:28.799 a slot two, we coexist quite nicely. But if I 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:31.180 also want to use a slot one talk group, then 00:20:31.180 --> 00:20:36.099 I have to wait just as I would with these others. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:39.359 So sometimes it's an advantage, sometimes it's 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:45.420 not. What has propelled DMR? In in recent years 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:49.519 is a less expensive way of networking and an 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:54.000 influx of very very inexpensive and sometimes 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:59.400 Sometimes that do work as expected and sometimes 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:04.359 the don't There have been a number of hits and 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:06.619 a number of misses along the way they are getting 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:09.759 better with those things but still You're basing 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:14.940 something on You know borrowing from something 00:21:14.940 --> 00:21:19.039 else. When I talk about quick configuration with 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:22.099 the radio, if I buy a new Fusion radio, be it 00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:24.859 a portable or mobile, I first turn it on, it 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:27.980 will ask me for my call sign. I punch that in 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:31.819 with the pad or can move the VFO knob around 00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:35.440 and select. And once I have entered my call sign, 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:39.119 that is all I need to do to be digital ready. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:45.480 on both a local and a network level type of communication. 00:21:45.980 --> 00:21:48.579 So I don't know that it gets any simpler than 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:51.660 that, you know, using the call sign as your unique 00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:58.240 identifier. Okay, well, yeah, let's talk a little 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:01.480 bit here before we go to break. If somebody does 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:05.319 want to get on a system fusion repeater, what 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:08.759 are they going to need? Okay, if the repeater 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:12.000 is already there, they simply need a system fusion 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.119 radio. Now, that's for digital. I'll back myself 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:18.079 up for a moment. If they want to get on that 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:20.440 repeater and it's operating in automatic mode 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:24.839 select, then they can carry on a normal analog 00:22:24.839 --> 00:22:28.059 conversation on that repeater just fine. But 00:22:28.059 --> 00:22:32.119 if they want to go digital, then there are digital 00:22:32.119 --> 00:22:36.009 radios from Yesu. They have, at present, eight 00:22:36.009 --> 00:22:39.529 models in the lineup. There are four which are 00:22:39.529 --> 00:22:43.369 considered basic feature models. Two mono -banders, 00:22:43.589 --> 00:22:49.470 the FTM3200 for VHF of two meters, the FTM3207, 00:22:49.589 --> 00:22:53.009 which is UHF, 70 centimeters. Then there's the 00:22:53.009 --> 00:22:57.430 FTM7250, which was, I think, first shown at Dayton 00:22:57.430 --> 00:23:01.569 this year. It's a dual -bander, 50 watts each 00:23:01.569 --> 00:23:05.500 band. It's kind of as if The 3200 and 3207 had 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:08.900 a baby. You would have ended up with a 7250 as 00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:12.559 an offspring. And then a portable radio, the 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:16.779 FT70, which when my wife became licensed last 00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:20.180 year, that was the first radio that I got her. 00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:23.660 And she keeps that in the car and likes it. She 00:23:23.660 --> 00:23:26.740 likes the simplicity of it and easy to talk and 00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:28.799 nice and rugged. When you get into the more advanced 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:32.910 radios, you have a... sort of a shack -in -the 00:23:32.910 --> 00:23:36.930 -box radio, the FT -991A, which goes from 160 00:23:36.930 --> 00:23:42.529 to 10, plus 6, 2 meters and 440. All mode, including 00:23:42.529 --> 00:23:47.410 fusion. Nice visual display with plenty of eye 00:23:47.410 --> 00:23:50.430 candy in the way of a pan adapter, waterfall, 00:23:51.549 --> 00:23:55.509 things like that. And it also is nice if you 00:23:55.509 --> 00:24:00.500 like digital modes like FT -8, JT -65. in that 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:03.759 it has a USB port that you can just directly 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:07.400 connect into your laptop without need for buying 00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:12.420 an external audio adapter for things, set levels. 00:24:13.059 --> 00:24:16.220 So a lot of the keyboard digital enthusiasts 00:24:16.220 --> 00:24:21.539 like that. In the mobiles there's the FTM100 00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:26.359 which is a dual band single VFO radio and the 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:31.930 FTM400 which is a dual band, dual VFO. Both of 00:24:31.930 --> 00:24:35.210 those have APRS capabilities also, very nice 00:24:35.210 --> 00:24:38.049 APRS feature set, although it's easier to implement 00:24:38.049 --> 00:24:42.109 on the 400 because it is dual VFO. And then we 00:24:42.109 --> 00:24:47.470 get to the FT2DR portable, the grayscale touchscreen, 00:24:48.329 --> 00:24:55.829 dual VFO, dual band, and APRS, and also, excuse 00:24:55.829 --> 00:24:59.319 me, with the camera microphone. An optional accessory 00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:04.279 the company sells you can transmit pictures Which 00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:08.099 a number of sky warning groups have found is 00:25:08.099 --> 00:25:16.079 a nice thing to do Okay, so if you're Still on 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:19.119 analog you can do analog if you're on digital. 00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:23.400 Those are the ones that that you can use for 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:26.880 fusion so We're going to take a break and when 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:29.599 we come back we're going to open up the phone 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:34.279 lines here and check Twitter and Skype and See 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:36.940 what questions you all have and again that phone 00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:40.119 number is eight one two net ham one eight one 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:42.920 two Six three eight four two six one if you have 00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:46.160 a question for Cory We'll be back right after 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:48.200 this word from the National Voice of America 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:51.559 Museum of Broadcasting right here on ham talk 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:54.450 live The National Voice of America Museum of 00:25:54.450 --> 00:25:57.950 Broadcasting, located in Westchester, Ohio, just 00:25:57.950 --> 00:26:00.750 north of Cincinnati, is only two minutes off 00:26:00.750 --> 00:26:04.730 I -75. The museum is the former home of the Voice 00:26:04.730 --> 00:26:08.369 of America Bethany Relay Station. Tours are now 00:26:08.369 --> 00:26:10.910 available every Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 00:26:10.910 --> 00:26:13.970 4 p .m. Eastern Time. You can see the control 00:26:13.970 --> 00:26:18.259 room. a 200 ,000 watt transmitter, and the most 00:26:18.259 --> 00:26:21.180 comprehensive collection of inventions by the 00:26:21.180 --> 00:26:25.279 iconic Powell -Crosley Jr. Also on display is 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:29.119 a huge antique radio exhibit and R .L. Drake's 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:32.119 personal collection of most every Drake amateur 00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:35.940 rig ever made. This is a unique opportunity to 00:26:35.940 --> 00:26:39.140 see amateur radio in action and have a chance 00:26:39.140 --> 00:26:44.240 to get on the air from WC8 V .O .A. Admission 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:46.900 is only five dollars a person. The museum is 00:26:46.900 --> 00:26:50.420 located close to historic W .L .W .A .M. and 00:26:50.420 --> 00:26:53.500 tons of shopping and restaurants. Take a trip 00:26:53.500 --> 00:26:57.000 to the V .O .A. Museum or visit us online at 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:05.420 voamuseum .org. C .Q. C .Q. C .Q. You're listening 00:27:05.420 --> 00:27:12.079 to HamTalk Live with Neil Rapp. Join the conversation. 00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:15.920 Call us on voice with Skype at HamTalk Live or 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:20.420 give us a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:41.109 -638 -4261. Now, here's more HamTalk Live! Ham 00:27:41.109 --> 00:27:43.490 talk live is on the air every Thursday night 00:27:43.490 --> 00:27:46.549 at 9 p .m. Eastern time right here at ham talk 00:27:46.549 --> 00:27:49.269 live comm and be sure to check us out on Facebook 00:27:49.269 --> 00:27:53.369 Twitter and Instagram And it's time for your 00:27:53.369 --> 00:27:55.390 calls now So if you have a question for Cory 00:27:55.390 --> 00:27:58.589 give us a call at 812 net ham one that's eight 00:27:58.589 --> 00:28:02.970 one two six three eight four two six one Or you 00:28:02.970 --> 00:28:05.809 can Skype us at ham talk live or tweet ham talk 00:28:05.809 --> 00:28:08.390 live and again we will pick a call of the night 00:28:08.390 --> 00:28:13.380 and give away some prizes here this summer. So 00:28:13.380 --> 00:28:16.920 we will give away something here later on. And 00:28:16.920 --> 00:28:19.339 Corey was going to talk about what if you don't 00:28:19.339 --> 00:28:23.059 have a fusion repeater, but there's a familiar 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:27.119 voice from my past that has called in. And his 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:30.680 name is Neil too. So Neil Sly, welcome to HamTalk 00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:34.259 Live. Hey, Neil. Thank you very much. I appreciate 00:28:34.259 --> 00:28:37.859 it. Yeah. Put your call sign out there again, 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:44.700 it's been too long. It's still KC9, CJL. CJL, 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:47.839 that's it. Okay. I knew the first part and I 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:51.500 couldn't remember the end of it, but Corey used 00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:54.660 to live here in town several years ago and it's 00:28:54.660 --> 00:28:57.539 good to hear him here tonight, but we're talking 00:28:57.539 --> 00:29:00.640 about system fusion. So why don't you go ahead 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:03.710 and ask your question. Yeah, you know, I think 00:29:03.710 --> 00:29:05.789 maybe you've already alluded to it, but you know, 00:29:05.890 --> 00:29:08.829 as Corey alluded to earlier, it's no fun if you've 00:29:08.829 --> 00:29:10.750 only got one walkie -talkie and you can't talk 00:29:10.750 --> 00:29:13.470 to anybody else on the other end. And so, sort 00:29:13.470 --> 00:29:15.529 of, you know, my main complaint about system 00:29:15.529 --> 00:29:18.890 fusion has just been there doesn't seem to be 00:29:18.890 --> 00:29:21.650 that many systems around. Maybe it's just a geographical 00:29:21.650 --> 00:29:24.329 thing, a regional thing, but it seems to me like 00:29:24.329 --> 00:29:27.250 the system fusion repeaters are expensive when 00:29:27.250 --> 00:29:30.490 you contrast that to DMR wherein maybe there's 00:29:30.490 --> 00:29:34.130 a higher Sort of barrier to entry technically, 00:29:34.349 --> 00:29:36.809 you know things like codeplugs exist for a reason 00:29:36.809 --> 00:29:39.430 That's because it's difficult to program DMR 00:29:39.430 --> 00:29:42.470 radios But my understanding is that a DMR repeater 00:29:42.470 --> 00:29:44.829 equipment would be a little less expensive than 00:29:44.829 --> 00:29:47.849 say System fusion repeater equipment. I was just 00:29:47.849 --> 00:29:50.309 wondering you know what his take on that was 00:29:50.309 --> 00:29:55.839 Okay, and hi other Neil. How are you? Yeah, actually 00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:58.380 you gave me a perfect segue into talking about 00:29:58.380 --> 00:30:00.759 repeaters because during the break I was mentioning 00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:05.539 to Neil that we haven't really discussed that 00:30:05.539 --> 00:30:11.019 part yet. So when the first radios came out and 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:14.799 there wasn't a repeater and then there was and 00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:18.279 the production repeater was a beta machine first 00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:23.359 to help get really product awareness and things 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:26.680 like that with clubs that wanted to try something 00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:31.700 new and be progressive with digital voice. The 00:30:31.700 --> 00:30:35.119 DR -1X, which was the first production repeater, 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:40.160 came out and many, many have been sold. It is 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:43.559 in fact the most popular methodology in North 00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:46.640 America. I can't speak for the whole world, but 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:48.900 some idea of what's going on in North America. 00:30:49.299 --> 00:30:55.000 And if you look at a nice website called repeaterbook 00:30:55.000 --> 00:31:01.559 .com. You can find maps and listings for states 00:31:01.559 --> 00:31:05.740 and provinces and search by niche modes and things 00:31:05.740 --> 00:31:09.640 like that for all of this. What Yesu did with 00:31:09.640 --> 00:31:14.180 the DR -1X was they offered it at a pretty significant 00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:20.309 discount. This was a $1 ,900 repeater MSRP. And 00:31:20.309 --> 00:31:22.869 if you were a beta tester, you were able to buy 00:31:22.869 --> 00:31:27.269 one for $300. If you came in after that wave, 00:31:27.410 --> 00:31:30.049 it was discounted to $500, and then it became 00:31:30.049 --> 00:31:34.549 $600, I think after some currency fluctuation. 00:31:35.690 --> 00:31:39.990 And when the DR2, which is an improved design 00:31:39.990 --> 00:31:43.849 over the DR1, second receiver, you can actually 00:31:43.849 --> 00:31:48.089 transmit on a secondary frequency, another antenna. 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:53.000 Over -the -air control with a control operator 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:56.240 whitelist Quite a number of different features 00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:58.299 to it. It's more intelligent than what the DR1 00:31:58.299 --> 00:32:02.880 had They offered a trade -in program which has 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:06.500 been renewed and is in effect until the end of 00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:11.059 this year I understand That if you want to purchase 00:32:11.059 --> 00:32:16.099 again at discount a dr2x The company gives you 00:32:16.099 --> 00:32:22.390 $600 in trade -in for your DR1X. So at worst 00:32:22.390 --> 00:32:24.910 you're breaking even and at best you pick up 00:32:24.910 --> 00:32:27.230 a couple hundred dollars along the way depending 00:32:27.230 --> 00:32:31.589 upon how early of an adopter you are. So now 00:32:31.589 --> 00:32:35.490 the company's taking in all these DR1X's and 00:32:35.490 --> 00:32:41.009 what they're doing to continue more growth is 00:32:41.009 --> 00:32:46.049 they're refurbishing them at the California and 00:32:46.049 --> 00:32:52.519 they are... offering them as the DR -1 XFR or 00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:56.920 factory refurbished for only $400. The amazing 00:32:56.920 --> 00:32:59.640 part to me was that they're offering it with 00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:02.960 a three -year warranty just as if it were new. 00:33:03.799 --> 00:33:07.900 So yes, you can build out of a couple of mobiles 00:33:07.900 --> 00:33:13.920 and an MMDVM type board, power supply, things 00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:16.950 like that. You can build a repeater, and I've 00:33:16.950 --> 00:33:19.410 done it. I've actually home -brewed some system 00:33:19.410 --> 00:33:24.829 fusion repeaters very inexpensively, but my technical 00:33:24.829 --> 00:33:28.089 skills go back several decades. It doesn't sound 00:33:28.089 --> 00:33:30.829 like I'm old, but for something that has a three 00:33:30.829 --> 00:33:37.349 -year warranty, $400 is hard to beat. That's 00:33:37.349 --> 00:33:39.549 very interesting. My understanding was just sort 00:33:39.549 --> 00:33:43.049 of very simple from the outside looking in. DMR 00:33:43.049 --> 00:33:45.670 was cheap. The others are really expensive, but 00:33:45.670 --> 00:33:48.490 that doesn't seem to be the case here at all 00:33:48.490 --> 00:33:55.990 no videos the mono banders and the FT 70 portable 00:33:55.990 --> 00:34:00.970 are all under $200 again with you know long warranties 00:34:00.970 --> 00:34:05.910 like that the The 7250 I think street price is 00:34:05.910 --> 00:34:09.570 around 270 but don't quote me on that check with 00:34:09.570 --> 00:34:13.360 your favorite dealer and see So, you know, for 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:16.219 what you're getting, those are inexpensive items 00:34:16.219 --> 00:34:20.039 as well. You know, if you look at a good DMR 00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:22.400 dual band portable right now, you're into that 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:25.099 same money as what the FT -70 is. But I think 00:34:25.099 --> 00:34:29.039 there's some equity there as far as that. And 00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:31.719 the FT -70 is something that I can program on 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:36.260 the fly. Again, my wife, Debbie, as a notably 00:34:36.260 --> 00:34:39.039 new ham, it's pretty easy for her to pick it 00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:43.070 up and just, you know, move around. She travels 00:34:43.070 --> 00:34:46.590 to West Virginia every day for work, across the 00:34:46.590 --> 00:34:49.090 Mason -Dixon line from where we live here, and 00:34:49.090 --> 00:34:51.630 they have a different PO tone than what we use 00:34:51.630 --> 00:34:53.469 up here, and if she needs to make those changes, 00:34:53.570 --> 00:34:56.329 it's pretty easy for her to do things on the 00:34:56.329 --> 00:35:01.829 fly if she needs to. Yeah, absolutely. That was 00:35:01.829 --> 00:35:04.309 my only question or comment. I'm a huge fan of 00:35:04.309 --> 00:35:06.429 the Spectre Monitor. I love your column as well. 00:35:06.650 --> 00:35:09.090 I love the magazine as a whole, and thanks very 00:35:09.090 --> 00:35:11.349 much for taking the call. Oh, thank you very 00:35:11.349 --> 00:35:13.670 much. Appreciate it. Thanks for calling, Neil. 00:35:13.909 --> 00:35:16.170 Appreciate it. All right. Thanks, everybody. 00:35:16.329 --> 00:35:18.829 I'll talk to you guys soon. All right. Yeah, 00:35:18.829 --> 00:35:21.610 we're always other Neil. That's how that works. 00:35:22.070 --> 00:35:24.110 So that reminds me of a place I used to where 00:35:24.110 --> 00:35:27.190 I was quarry and we had the anti quarry and the 00:35:27.190 --> 00:35:31.650 anti quarry. Wow. OK. And then then to confuse 00:35:31.650 --> 00:35:35.789 things more, we both worked at the same church 00:35:35.789 --> 00:35:39.289 and we both worked in the media area. So. It 00:35:39.289 --> 00:35:41.989 was Neil and the other Neil, so yeah, it was 00:35:41.989 --> 00:35:45.250 kind of crazy. But if you have a question like 00:35:45.250 --> 00:35:49.090 the other Neil, and then I'm the other Neil when 00:35:49.090 --> 00:35:55.710 he's talking, it's 812 -NATAM -1, 812 -638 -4261. 00:35:55.789 --> 00:35:59.510 Give us a call. We'd love to take your questions 00:35:59.510 --> 00:36:02.769 here, and you can also tweet us. We're at HamTalk 00:36:02.769 --> 00:36:06.929 Live there, and you can Skype us too. If you'd 00:36:06.929 --> 00:36:08.789 rather use that instead of a telephone, you can 00:36:08.789 --> 00:36:14.789 use HamTalk Live there on Skype. Now, you were 00:36:14.789 --> 00:36:17.840 getting ready to talk about You know, what if 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:20.360 you don't have one of these repeaters? So now 00:36:20.360 --> 00:36:23.280 we found out about some of these options that 00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:25.679 are maybe a little cheaper than people thought 00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:29.980 for repeaters. So what if you don't have one 00:36:29.980 --> 00:36:34.739 in your area? Okay. You know, and certainly it's 00:36:34.739 --> 00:36:37.280 easy to swap out one repeater for another one. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:40.320 If you have an older analog repeater, you can 00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:42.139 replace it with this thing. It's only two rack 00:36:42.139 --> 00:36:44.579 units high. It doesn't take up all that much 00:36:44.579 --> 00:36:48.489 space. If it's a new repeater that you're looking 00:36:48.489 --> 00:36:51.570 to put into an area, you know, I always like 00:36:51.570 --> 00:36:54.670 to look around and say, do I really need repeater 00:36:54.670 --> 00:36:57.969 in this area? During the 70s, it was sort of 00:36:57.969 --> 00:37:01.329 a, you know, everybody, every club and every 00:37:01.329 --> 00:37:04.090 individual seemed to want to have their own repeater. 00:37:04.630 --> 00:37:08.789 And we ate up a lot of spectrum that way. With 00:37:08.789 --> 00:37:12.989 going back to those days, it was pretty easy. 00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:16.980 with a wink and a nod or maybe a case of beer 00:37:16.980 --> 00:37:19.500 or something like that to know somebody that 00:37:19.500 --> 00:37:22.199 had access to a tower and you could put up a 00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:25.460 decent antenna, some hard line and you or one 00:37:25.460 --> 00:37:27.639 of the members of your club can climb that tower 00:37:27.639 --> 00:37:32.000 and you know life was good. Today to get access 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:35.880 to a tower you need typically insurance, a professional 00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:40.139 tower climber and somewhere along the way the 00:37:40.139 --> 00:37:43.340 company that owns the tower Is making money off 00:37:43.340 --> 00:37:47.079 of it and then good money from a lot of clients 00:37:47.079 --> 00:37:49.820 and when you approach them as an amateur radio 00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:53.780 club They really don't see you as this wonderful 00:37:53.780 --> 00:37:57.159 public service Somebody else that you paying 00:37:57.159 --> 00:38:01.739 rent on a tower So pragmatically there are times 00:38:01.739 --> 00:38:04.840 where it becomes fiscally difficult. It's not 00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:08.230 about the cost of the repeater or even the duplexer, 00:38:08.409 --> 00:38:10.130 you know, the hard line and things like that. 00:38:10.130 --> 00:38:13.789 It's the ongoing expense of a repeater somewhere. 00:38:14.630 --> 00:38:20.150 So enter the Wires X networking scenario, which 00:38:20.150 --> 00:38:23.610 allows you to network repeaters, first of all, 00:38:23.710 --> 00:38:26.369 remotely. You do not need to have an internet 00:38:26.369 --> 00:38:30.170 connection up on top of the hill at the end of 00:38:30.170 --> 00:38:34.409 a muddy road to be able to network that repeater. 00:38:34.409 --> 00:38:37.380 You can do it remotely. down in the valley in 00:38:37.380 --> 00:38:39.460 the safety of your home or office or anywhere 00:38:39.460 --> 00:38:42.579 you have a nice, you know, internet pipe. If 00:38:42.579 --> 00:38:44.940 you don't have the wherewithal to set up that 00:38:44.940 --> 00:38:47.199 repeater, one of the problems I just discussed, 00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:52.460 a Wires X node can provide you connections to 00:38:52.460 --> 00:38:59.820 Wires X rooms and you can select which one you 00:38:59.820 --> 00:39:05.039 want to have active through the keypad on your 00:39:05.039 --> 00:39:08.360 radio. If you have a radio like the FDM -400, 00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:11.900 it's a nice visual color display there. If you 00:39:11.900 --> 00:39:15.880 have one of the mono -banders or the FT -70 portable, 00:39:16.420 --> 00:39:18.900 you just enter the numeric code for that room 00:39:18.900 --> 00:39:21.860 or node. And many of these things that I'm talking 00:39:21.860 --> 00:39:26.719 about you can find off of Yesu's website, Yesu 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:30.699 .com, and look for some of the system fusion 00:39:30.699 --> 00:39:35.429 things there. A node... requires anything such 00:39:35.429 --> 00:39:40.849 as a FTM 100 or a 400 radio to be your node radio. 00:39:41.409 --> 00:39:44.650 Usually the 100 is used because it's less expensive 00:39:44.650 --> 00:39:47.550 and you're going to use it just as that node 00:39:47.550 --> 00:39:51.389 radio while the node's active. There's an HRI 00:39:51.389 --> 00:39:55.570 200 node interface which goes between the node 00:39:55.570 --> 00:39:59.469 and your computer. The computer can pretty much 00:39:59.469 --> 00:40:03.630 be a fast wind book which are very inexpensive. 00:40:04.090 --> 00:40:07.909 I've picked up a number of them in the 70, 75 00:40:07.909 --> 00:40:11.050 dollar range. And they have everything you need. 00:40:11.190 --> 00:40:12.889 There's a touch screen on those so you don't 00:40:12.889 --> 00:40:15.750 have to worry about keyboard and mouse. It has 00:40:15.750 --> 00:40:19.469 all the IO ports that are necessary. And that 00:40:19.469 --> 00:40:22.550 can run the Windows, I'm sorry, the Wires X software 00:40:22.550 --> 00:40:25.889 on a Windows platform. And that takes care of 00:40:25.889 --> 00:40:29.949 your Wires X node. This is one of the areas so 00:40:29.949 --> 00:40:32.170 that you don't have hidden transmitter syndrome 00:40:32.170 --> 00:40:35.030 where instead of the least amount of power, I 00:40:35.030 --> 00:40:37.869 do suggest you have all the radios set for higher 00:40:37.869 --> 00:40:41.170 power so that other folks in your neighborhood 00:40:41.170 --> 00:40:44.829 can hear that somebody is using the node and 00:40:44.829 --> 00:40:47.869 not step on them. There is a node configuration 00:40:47.869 --> 00:40:51.829 where you can have two radios functioning something 00:40:51.829 --> 00:40:55.250 like a crossband repeater. It's very popular 00:40:55.250 --> 00:40:59.230 in Japan. where you have a population living 00:40:59.230 --> 00:41:04.630 in high rises and many wires, X nodes that connect 00:41:04.630 --> 00:41:06.969 AMs throughout the country there. And we see 00:41:06.969 --> 00:41:08.869 this in a lot of metro areas. We're also seeing 00:41:08.869 --> 00:41:15.829 it in rural areas, more suburban, things like 00:41:15.829 --> 00:41:20.070 that. And again, the cost is not that much, and 00:41:20.070 --> 00:41:22.869 the coverage is usually what some people are 00:41:22.869 --> 00:41:25.679 after, and it gives them that connectivity for 00:41:25.679 --> 00:41:31.300 things. One thing that people ask is, where is 00:41:31.300 --> 00:41:34.239 this all going? We have five different methodologies 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:38.059 that can be played with. They're going to be 00:41:38.059 --> 00:41:42.860 one that stands out. I don't know that technically 00:41:42.860 --> 00:41:47.179 one is going to beat out the others. I think 00:41:47.179 --> 00:41:51.190 market demands are going to do that. That looks 00:41:51.190 --> 00:41:54.510 good for stuff like system fusion. But what's 00:41:54.510 --> 00:41:57.570 really nice is in these networks that have been 00:41:57.570 --> 00:42:02.610 set up, wires X and some other thing, group bridges 00:42:02.610 --> 00:42:07.369 and things like that, I can use a, let's say 00:42:07.369 --> 00:42:12.889 an FTM 400 fusion radio in one of these networks 00:42:12.889 --> 00:42:15.650 with something like, this is an open standard, 00:42:16.130 --> 00:42:19.679 along with all of the others. An open spot a 00:42:19.679 --> 00:42:23.940 zoom spot I'm leaving product names out and they 00:42:23.940 --> 00:42:25.920 don't mean to it's just there are so many of 00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:28.880 them on the market that you can have as personal 00:42:28.880 --> 00:42:32.619 points of presence or hotspots on your own and 00:42:32.619 --> 00:42:36.019 With these I find myself talking to somebody 00:42:36.019 --> 00:42:39.460 who has a DMR radio and on my display instead 00:42:39.460 --> 00:42:42.699 of a call sign I will see their subscriber ID 00:42:42.699 --> 00:42:48.500 or a D star radio can pop up or a p25 And within 00:42:48.500 --> 00:42:51.980 the networks you now have this concept to steal 00:42:51.980 --> 00:42:55.500 from the Star Trek world of the universal translator. 00:42:56.340 --> 00:43:00.039 So now you're looking at what do I want in the 00:43:00.039 --> 00:43:04.539 way of audio and what do I want my terminal radio 00:43:04.539 --> 00:43:07.599 experience to be? Do I want something with a 00:43:07.599 --> 00:43:10.500 color touch screen or am I happy with something 00:43:10.500 --> 00:43:15.880 that just has 32 channel talk group combinations 00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:18.800 set up that doesn't have a display at all. Those 00:43:18.800 --> 00:43:21.059 are different possibilities that are there from 00:43:21.059 --> 00:43:24.360 one of the extremes to the other. And I think 00:43:24.360 --> 00:43:30.099 with these bridges and rooms and connectivity 00:43:30.099 --> 00:43:33.440 that we have within the networks, I don't know 00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:35.500 that it's going to be all that important that 00:43:35.500 --> 00:43:39.539 there be just one standard. And I often tell 00:43:39.539 --> 00:43:41.380 people, it's not a religion, you don't have to 00:43:41.380 --> 00:43:44.190 pick just one. Somebody asked me the other day 00:43:44.190 --> 00:43:47.070 how many digital voice radios I have, and I said, 00:43:47.110 --> 00:43:49.829 well, I have something for every methodology 00:43:49.829 --> 00:43:54.150 that's arrived. And I started to count, and it 00:43:54.150 --> 00:43:59.130 became embarrassing when I got to 30. And I thought, 00:43:59.309 --> 00:44:03.250 wait a minute, how did I buy this many radios? 00:44:03.369 --> 00:44:06.349 When did I get this many radios? Why did I buy, 00:44:06.349 --> 00:44:08.300 you know. But of course, you know, do I, did 00:44:08.300 --> 00:44:10.679 I knew, do I need another radio? Well, of course 00:44:10.679 --> 00:44:13.800 you do. It's ham radio. And, and that's what 00:44:13.800 --> 00:44:15.599 has happened between a collection of mobiles 00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:19.500 and portables. I have 30 radios that cover T 00:44:19.500 --> 00:44:30.019 25 next in DMR D star and fusion. Wow. So now 00:44:30.019 --> 00:44:33.280 with bridges, you might be able to sell some 00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:38.380 of those, right? And then you can buy more. That's 00:44:38.380 --> 00:44:41.260 right. That's right. Because nobody's standing 00:44:41.260 --> 00:44:45.739 still, you know, all this all this stuff. Wow. 00:44:47.119 --> 00:44:50.760 Well, Corey, we're just about out of time here. 00:44:50.820 --> 00:44:54.579 So we want to finish things up. But I appreciate 00:44:54.579 --> 00:44:58.679 you coming on and, and giving us a good technical 00:44:58.679 --> 00:45:01.579 comparison of all of these different technologies 00:45:01.579 --> 00:45:05.739 and of course focusing on system fusion tonight 00:45:05.739 --> 00:45:09.940 and making people a little more aware of what's 00:45:09.940 --> 00:45:12.539 going on out there. Absolutely. It's been my 00:45:12.539 --> 00:45:16.019 pleasure. Thank you for having me on. All right. 00:45:16.159 --> 00:45:19.420 Well, thanks for doing that. We appreciate it. 00:45:21.059 --> 00:45:25.880 That's our guest, Corey Sickles, WA3UVV. And 00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:30.829 I guess our call of the night goes to... The 00:45:30.829 --> 00:45:35.190 only call of the night, that's Neil Sly, KC9CJL, 00:45:35.230 --> 00:45:40.510 and tonight's prize is a BM -17 dual side headset 00:45:40.510 --> 00:45:44.750 for EMCOM from Heil Sound. So Neil, I'll get 00:45:44.750 --> 00:45:48.510 with you and get that shipped out to you, and 00:45:48.510 --> 00:45:50.969 congratulations on that. And all summer long 00:45:50.969 --> 00:45:54.489 we'll be giving away various items from Radio 00:45:54.489 --> 00:45:57.369 Waves and from Heil Sound, so congratulations 00:45:57.369 --> 00:46:02.210 to you on that. get that out to you. So that 00:46:02.210 --> 00:46:05.750 is a wrap for this week's edition of HamTalk 00:46:05.750 --> 00:46:09.710 Live. Thanks to Corey Sickles, WA3UVV, and everyone 00:46:09.710 --> 00:46:11.889 out there in cyberspace for listening and calling 00:46:11.889 --> 00:46:14.449 in. And I'll invite you back next Thursday. But 00:46:14.449 --> 00:46:18.550 remember, it's a special time, 8 a .m. Eastern 00:46:18.550 --> 00:46:23.289 Time, 1200 Zulu, when Ed Durant, DD5LP, will 00:46:23.289 --> 00:46:26.010 bring us some of the organizers and competitors 00:46:26.010 --> 00:46:29.190 live from the World Radio Sport Team Champions. 00:46:29.070 --> 00:46:33.590 Hotel in Wittenberg, Germany just before the 00:46:33.590 --> 00:46:37.090 opening ceremony so you and I will have a chance 00:46:37.090 --> 00:46:41.550 to talk to all of them with Ed's help and so 00:46:41.550 --> 00:46:44.789 we hope that you will call in for that as well 00:46:44.789 --> 00:46:47.409 and for a list of all of our upcoming guests 00:46:47.409 --> 00:46:51.989 be sure to visit HamTalkLive .com and if you 00:46:51.989 --> 00:46:54.309 like our show please leave us a review on iTunes 00:46:54.309 --> 00:46:56.690 or wherever you listen that just helps people 00:46:56.690 --> 00:47:00.420 find us a little bit faster. So for now, this 00:47:00.420 --> 00:47:04.300 is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying seven three, seven 00:47:04.300 --> 00:47:09.019 five, and as always, may the good DX be yours.