The W7CIA VHF/2-meter repeater is a low level open repeater, located approximately 3 miles south of Cascade, Idaho (e.g. 60 miles due north of Boise). The W7CIA repeater provides coverage along the highway 55 cooridor, from south of Smith's Ferry (i.e. mile marker 85) to McCall.

TIP: If you are unfamiliar with DMR, please see the DMR PRIMER page for an introduction to DMR and references to additional DMR introductory information.

W7CIA VHF/2-Meter Repeater Access Parameters
CALL SIGN	DMR MARC ID	COLOR CODE	TX ADMITTANCE	DYNAMIC TALK GROUP SLOT	STATIC TALK GROUP SLOT	QTH	Input MHz	Output MHz	MODE	Timeout Timer Minutes
W7CIA	311602	1	Color Code Free	1	2	Cascade	146.360	146.960	DMR	10

Why Hytera Was Chosen: A number of people have asked why Hytera was chosen over Motorola. Since Motorola customer programming software is a subscription service, there would be an on-going charge simply to be able to maintain programming of the repeater. No such subscription charge exists with Hytera. Pirating software is not an option, legally or ethically. Motorola may very well be a viable choice for other repeater owners / operators if the subscription fee is not objectionable to them, or if they have a business relationship with Motorola that negates the cost of the subscription. Given a very balanced comparison of Motorola and Hytera repeater specifications, and Hytera's more favorable retail pricing when compared to Motorola, Hytera simply made the most economic sense.

Because of DMR's implementation of digital voice technologies, including Forward Error Correction (FEC), DMR may offer a 25% to 30% greater coverage foot-print than standard analog FM technology. This gain largely occurs because DMR provides the equivalent of a full-quieting signal (i.e. no noise) where the analog signal falls into the noise floor as the signal becomes weaker. It is realized that the majority of DMR activity in the USA is centered on 70cm UHF, but 2m VHF provides nearly a four-fold increase in coverage foot-print when compared to 70cm UHF, so the combination of DMR and VHF makes sense when considering coverage performance.

TIME SLOT 2 IS RESERVED FOR LOCAL TRAFFIC USING TALK-GROUP 311602 ONLY. USE OF ALL OTHER TALK GROUPS, OR THE USE OF PRIVATE CALL FEATURES, ARE RESTRICTED TO TIME-SLOT 1. ANY USER THAT OPERATES WITH ANY TALK GROUP OTHER THAN TALK GROUP 311602 ON TIME SLOT 2 MAY FIND THEMSELVES SUBJECT TO A CFR TITLE 47 PART 97.205(e) EXCLUSION.

For those wishing to add the W7CIA VHF DMR Repeater to their DMR code-plug, the following programming parameters should be employed:

DMR Code-Plug Parameters
CHANNEL	CHANNEL NAME	TALK GROUP TYPE	TIME-SLOT	TALK-GROUP	COLOR CODE	TIME OUT
1	VC PRI PRIMARY LOCAL	STATIC (W7CIA, N7IBC, W7ELE, K1BMW)	2	311602	1	180
2	VC SEC SECONDARY LOCAL	STATIC (W7CIA, N7IBC, W7ELE, K1BMW)	1	311603	1	180
3	BM ID 3116	DYNAMIC	1	3116	1	180
4	BM MT 3130	DYNAMIC	1	3130	1	180
5	BM NV 3132	DYNAMIC	1	3132	1	180
6	BM OR 3141	DYNAMIC	1	3141	1	180
7	BM TX 3148	DYNAMIC	1	3148	1	180
8	BM UT 3149	DYNAMIC	1	3149	1	180
9	BM WA 3153	DYNAMIC	1	3153	1	180
10	BM ZONE 7	DYNAMIC	1	31097	1	180
11	BM TAC 5	DYNAMIC	1	8955	1	180
12	BM SNARS 31328	DYNAMIC	1	31328	1	180
13	BM SOCAL 31066	DYNAMIC	1	31066	1	180
14	BM NORCAL 31068	DYNAMIC	1	31068	1	180
15	BM ARES-ID 31160	STATIC	1	31160	1	180
16	BM EMCOM 9911	STATIC	1	9911	1	180

NOTE: When this page differs from the Brandmeister W7CIA / 311602 page with respect to static time groups, the Brandmeister W7CIA / 311602 page will take precedence.

Dynamic talk-groups (i.e. push-to-talk talk-groups), residing on time-slot 1, are available to stations directly using the W7CIA DMR repeater with DMR Tier II equipment.

Dynamic talk-groups on time-slot 1 may be scheduled to operate as static talk-groups to coincide with specific NET activiies.

Note that the BM prefix in the channel naming indicates that the channel is routed to the BrandMeister network.

NOTE: Dynamic talk-groups are advisory. Technically, it is possible to program any talk-group into your radio's code-plug file and use it. There are no technical restrictions applied by the repeater or the BrandMeister network with respect to dynamic talk-groups. However, the repeater trustee recommends that operators adhere to using the talk-group listing above in as much as is practicable.

Information on the W7CIA repeater that is published on BrandMeister can be viewed by clicking here.

Station operators are requested to limit their use of high-volume traffic talk-groups, such as California statewide 3106 or USA Nationwide 3100. If you need to use a high-volume talk-group, please limit that usage to making a call and then move to a talk-group with lower traffic volume.

The following observations regarding interfacing through the accessory connector may be of interest to others:

• Using the Customer Programming Software, a GPIO pin can be programmed to provide either an active high or active low signal, triggered from a Voice or CTCSS/CDCSS detector. This signal appears to function only in association with Time Slot 1. This signal can act as a COS signal to a repeater controller, and allows an analog connection (such as an analog FM link radio) to be interfaced to the repeater. There is not option in the Customer Programming Software to select a time-slot dependent source for this signal.
• Audio on the accessory connector can be routed to/from either Time Slot 1 or Time Slot 2, but given the limitations of the COS signal above, it is only practical to use Time Slot 1.
• The Customer Programming Software provides several options when determining whether repeat audio or externally keyed audio has priority. The options include:
  • Repeat audio has priority
  • External PTT audio has priority
  • First come - first serve
  The W7CIA repeater is programmed to give repeat audio priority over external PTT (i.e. 33cm link) audio.

IMPORTANT

Because GPS / APRS data requires the use of a time-slot, and have the potential to cause interference to other users (including the potential to subscribe to a different dynamic talk-group), users should disable automatic GPS data beaconing (i.e. beaconing based on time intervals or distance intervals). Transmission of GPS data associated with either Push-To-Talk (PTT) activity or manually transmitting GPS data are allowed as this occurs under the control of the operator and will not present a risk of interference to other operators.

NOTE: Images for the RD-982 Repeater customer programming software below, have not been updated to indicate the GPS data forwarding configuration change. This notice will be removed when the images are updated.

After running the Hytera RD-982 repeater for several months, there are several issues that have been encountered that could easily be addressed by changes to the operation of the repeater firmware, and, in some cases, would also require changes in the Customer Programming Software. Each of these issues is discussed individually below, along with a proposed solution, and a customer work-around (if available). The proposed solution is not necessarily the only solution, but provides a reference point for discussion.

• AUTOMATIC RECOVERY OF NETWORK SERVICES

  ISSUE:

  Loss of IP connectivity to a Master Server.

  A separate article had been posted on how to implement the IP reset device with an Arduino, Real Time Clock and W5500 Ethernet board. There has been a complete re-write of the code for this device, and a migration from an Arduino Pro Mini to a SparkFun Red Board. The migration to the SparkFun Red Board was required when it was discovered that the SPI signal levels on the Arudino Pro Mini are only within specification if a USB adatper is attached to the board. The SparkFun Red Board has built-in USB support and does not suffer from out of specification SPI signal levels. A re-write of the article and posting of code is pending. This article will be updated with further information when the updated article is available.

  
  

  This issue occurs with the BrandMeister Amateur Radio network, and after extensive data collection, appears to be related to expiration of the DHCP lease and assignment of a new WAN / Public IP address to the DSL Modem/Router. It is apparent that the firmware within the RD-982 repeater does not monitor the public IP address. It is not known exactly how the RD-982 firmware behaves during reset / BOOT, but it is known that a reset / BOOT of the RD-982 always results in re-establishing communications between the RD-982 and the BrandMeister network. The root cause of this issue lies in using internet services that use DHCP. Further, those services, a DSL subscription provided by Frontier Communications, have been observed to assign a new address, using DHCP, where network activity is occuring at 5-minute intervals. From an external observational perspective, it is as if Frontier Communications has a 0-time, or very near to zero time DHCP lease expiration time.

  Refer to the block diagram above for physical network topology information.

  PROPOSED SOLUTION:

  This issue could be prevented if the RD-982 were installed with internet networking services that uses a fixed IP address. In the absence of a fixed IP address, a method or recovery in a DHCP addressing environment would require detecting when the public IP address changes and then trigger a reset / RE-BOOT of the RD-982 to restore network services.

  Detection of a change in the public IP address can be performed by issuing an HTTP query to checkip.dyndns.org and comparing the reported public IP address to a previously stored acquisition of the public IP address, then responding to a change in public IP address by issuing an RD-982 reset and storing the new public IP address. Alternate sources of obtaining the public IP address can be had by implementing a PHP web-page and having that page return the value of the HTTP_CLIENT_IP environmental variable (or alternate environmental variable as apporpriate), using the PHP getenv function.

  CUSTOMER WORK-AROUND:

  An embedded microcontroller implements the very recovery described immediately above. An Arduino Pro Mini microcontroller, interfaced to a DeadOn RTC break-out board and a W5500 Ethernet module (which is connected to the same Ethernet HUB as the RD-982 repeater) is used to perform an automated recovery without intervention by the system operator. The RD-982 repeater will be automatically reset under the following circumstances:

  • Ten minutes after a power-up event, giving the upstream router sufficient time to boot and acquire internet services.
  • Once per day, at 5:30 AM.
  • Whenever a change to the public IP address of the repeater is observed

  Additionally, a DTMF controlled RESET is wire-OR'ed to support remote user reset of the repeater by DTMF command (restricted to a Time Slot 1 channel).

  
  

  Note that the Customer Programming Software data must be configured to support an external RESET of the RD-982, with the RESET function assigned as an active low signal on GPIO4 (i.e. pin 3 of the 26-pin accessory connector).

  
  

  These repeater reset facilities are intended to provide sustained connectivity with the BrandMeister network while avoiding having to have direct physical interaction with the repeater to sustain these services, and at minimal cost (e.g. approximately $40).

  
  

  To view a complete article that describes the IP Reset module, including source code, GNU Free Software license, schematic and parts list, please click here.

  
  

• RADIO ID LIMITS

  ISSUE:

  The RD-98X series repeaters and Customer Programming Software support applying ranges of radio ID numbers to enable access to the repeater or repeater network services. One would think that the contents of these lists could also be structured to exclude a specific radio ID.

  It is known that Brandmeister is against such exclusions. It is also known that FCC part 97.205(e) specifically provides for such exclusions. This item is not here for philosphical debate, to determine if a network policy should take precedence over an FCC regulation, or the merits of that FCC regulation, but simply intends to address the technical defficiences of a feature that already exists. As it currently exists, the feature is unusable on Amateur Radio.

  The RD-98X Customer Programming Software assumes a linear ordering of radio ID values, with fairly small integer values. All well and fine for a finite sized commercial radio network with a limited number of client radios. Amateur Radio's requirements, in this case, far exceed the needs of most commercial configurations. Amateur Radio networks, such as Brandmeister, overload the radio ID value to represent both a geographical region, and a unique ID within that region. Individual radios primarily use a 7-digit integer value for the radio ID, where the four most significant digits indicate the geographical area and the least significant three digits indicate the unique radio ID within the geographical area. For example, the individual ID for W7CIA is 3116004, where 3116 indicates a geographical area within the state of Idaho and 004 is the unique radio ID within that geographical area. The Hytera CPS implements a very rigid structure to radio ID inclusions, using a linear block struction with very small integer values, with limited ranges of values within each block, and is wholly inadequate for any network where large integer values are used for radio IDs.

  PROPOSED SOLUTION:

  Inclusion ranges should simply contain two fields, comprised of a starting ID value and an ending ID value. Any radio ID that falls within the inclusive range of the starting ID value and the ending ID value should be granted access. Such an implementation would not exclude ID values based on the size of the integer radio ID value.

  With such an implementation, an exclusion could be encoded by including the full range of ID values above and below the radio ID to be excluded. For example, if 3116048 were to be excluded, a minimum ID of 0 and a maximum ID of 3116047 in the first entry, followed by a minimum ID of 3116049 and a maximum ID of 9999999 in the second entry, would support such an exclusion.

The above observations ane recommendations were published on 3 February 2017, updated on 24 May 2017, and are based on Hytera RD-982 Firmware Version A7.06.04.000 with radio version D7.06.02.004. Each of these issues could be resolved by software update as each is rooted in software behavior.

The following information was obtained from a pdf file that contains the RD-98X revision 3.5 service manual for the UHF version of the repeater. The accessory connector is a D-SUB 26-pin type. A DSUB 26-pin connector, compatible with the RD-982 accessory connector, can be ordered from DigiKey. No connector is provided with the repeater when purchased.

PIN	NAME	DESCRIPTION
1	NC
2	GND
3	DB26_GPIO4	GENERAL I/O INTERFACE WITH FUNCTION DEFINED THROUGH THE CPS
4	SWB+
5	NC
6	AGND
7	TXAUDIO	EXTERNALMIC SIGNAL INPUT, SUBJECT TO CPS SETTINGS
311603	RXAUDIO	RX FILTER / FLAT AUDIO OUTPUT, SUBJECT TO CPS SETTINGS
9	GND
10	D+	WHEN THIS PIN ISUSED FOR USB, USB OF MM10
11	GND
12	DB26_GPIO2	GENERAL I/O INTERFACE WITH FUNCTION DEFINED THROUGH THE CPS
13	ACC_IO2	ACCESSORY IDENTIFICATION PIN (NOT DEFINED)
14	PROM IN	NOT DEFINED
15	ACC_IO3	ACCESSORY IDENTIFICATION PIN (NOT DEFINED)
16	DB26_PTT_IN	PROGRAMABLE INPUT PIN (PTT BY DEFAULT) VALID FOR LOW LEVEL, CONFIGURABLE VIA CPS
17	GND
18	PF_DET	NOT DEFINED
19	D-	WHEN THIS PIN IS USED FOR USB, USB OF MMP10 WILL BE DISABLED
20	DB26_GPIO3	GENERAL I/O INTERFACE WITH FUNCTION DEFINED THROUGH THE CPS
21	GND
22	DB26_GPIO5	GENERAL I/O INTERFACE WITH FUNCTION DEFINED THROUGH THE CPS
23	DB26_GPIO6	GENERAL I/O INTERFACE WITH FUNCTION DEFINED THROUGH THE CPS
24	SLOTA_AUDIO	1. AUDIO OUTPUT OF RX SLOT A, 2. SELECT DIGITAL MODE VIA THE CPS
25	SLOTB_AUDIO	1. AUDIO OUTPUT OF RX SLOT B, 2. SELECT DIGITAL MODE VIA THE CPS
26	RSSI	RSSI INDICATION OUTPUT (RESERVED)

Note that the text description on pin 10 appears to be incomplete, which is how it appears in the original pdf file. Both pin 10 and pin 19 pin descriptions are paired, and refer to disabling the USB interface on the 10-pin front panel connector.

A review of the RD-98X schematic shows all of the GPIO pins terminated to +5V with a 10KΩ pull-up resistor. When configured as an output, the GPIO pins are driven by a saturated transistor, with the collector buffered to the pin using a 470Ω resistor. When configured as an input, the pin drives a 33kΩ resistor in series with a 10KΩ resistor that is internal to an MUN5214DW1T1, and drives the base of the MUN5214DW1T1 transistor, which has a grounded emitter. The internal transistor also has a 47KΩ resistor from the base to emitter. With this termination, an input pin that is not connected to any external circuit should have a quiescent high state at 4 volts.

The CPS provides the following options for programming the function of the GPIO pins:

PIN	NAME	OPTION
12	DB26_GPIO2	None Ext Mic PTT Carrier Detect CTCSS/CDCSS Detect Repeater Knockdown Channel Steering 1 Channel Steering 2 Channel Steering 3 Channel Steering 4 Telemetry VIO 1 Telemetry VIO 2 Telemetry VIO 3 Telemetry VIO 4 Monitor Reset Major Alarm Minor Alarm Major & Minor Alarm Voice Detect Repeater Disable Launch High Power Voice or Carrier Detect Voice or CTCSS/CDCSS Detect Remote PTT Detect Contact Select 1 Contact Select 2 Contact Select 3 Contact Select 4 Tx Slot Switch
20	DB26_GPIO3
3	DB26_GPIO4
22	DB26_GPIO5
16	DB26_PTT_IN	None Ext Mic PTT Repeater Knockdown Reset Repeater Disable Launch High Power
23	DB26_GPIO6

The CPS also provides the following pin reference:

The following images illustrate how to program the Hytera RD-982 to participate on the BrandMeister network, using Hytera Customer Programming Software version V8.0.09.007.NA2.

The only change made to the settings was to increase the time-out timer period to 600 seconds, or 10 minutes.

The Basic settings must include setting the Radio ID to the repeater's DMR-MARC assigned ID. Please note that the Group Call Time[s] field has been set to 1.0 seconds, based on a query of what users of Motorola repeaters are using. The value of this field is not properly depicted in the image below.

A single Digital Channel is programmed to support connection to the BrandMeister network. It is important that the IP Mult-site Connect pop-up menu have the Slot1 & Slot2 menu item selected. No contacts need be programmed, and the digital channel should have the Tx Contact Name set to None. This channel will be used as the default channel.

Although an Analog Channel is not required, it may be useful to perform repeater service and diagnostic tasks where analog test equipment may be the only equipment available.

A Mixed Channel is not necessary but was programmed to support experimentation with this feature.

The Digital Channel, Analog Channel and Mixed Channel are added to the memory zone.

The CW ID is set to the call sign of the repeater.

The W7CIA repeater a hardwired CAT-5 connection to a DSL Router/Modem. The IP address of the repeater is acquired using DHCP. All other settings within the Basic Setting and IP Connect Configuration follow the BrandMeister wiki page. The specific page on setting up the Hytera RD-98x series repeaters can be viewed by clicking here.

Note that some users of Hytera RD-98x series repeaters have experienced issues in setting the Network Authentication Key to an empty field. The recommended work-around is to write the programming file to the repeater using a non-empty Network Authentication Key, then clear the key and re-write the programming file to the repeater.

Also observed with the Hytera RD-982 repeater is that the IP address, acquired via DHCP, may be acquired after a substantial delay after powering up the repeater. Be patient. If an address is not acquired after one-minute has elapsed after power-up or programming, verify the network settings. It may be necessary to disable DHCP in order to be able to set the Gateway IP address before re-enabling DHCP.

If you are considering a purchase of a Hytera RD-98X series repeater, and need a reference repeater file to examine with the Hytera Customer Programming Software to help make a pre-purchase evaluation, the code plug file for the W7CIA repeater (sans call-sign and DMR-MARC ID) can be downloaded by clicking here.

Hytera recommeds going through your dealer to obtain firmware updates. However, we have had success in going directly to Hytera to obtain updates by informing them that our dealer recommended contacting Hytera directly.

An important consideration, when purchasing the programming cable for the Hytera RD-982, is whether the programming cable supports firmware updates. There are two options that support firmware updates:

• The firmware on the RD-982 can be updated using the PC37 programming cable in conjunction with the Palm Microphone. The microphone PTT is involed in getting the repeater into firmware upload mode. In this coniguration, both the PC37 and the Palm Microphone must be purchased.
• The firimware on the RD-982 can be updated using the PC47 programming cable. This cable does not require the use of a Palm Microphone to get the repeater into firmware upload mode. A switch is provided on the PC47 cable, which is used to place the repeater into firmware upload mode.

To view a copy of the Hytera RD-982 firmware update instructions for the version 8 firmware, please click here.

Please do not contact us to obtain Hytera RD-982 firmware updates. This page is presented to provide information, and we will be happy to answer questions to the best of our ability, but we will not provide services that should come from either a dealer or the manufacturer.

Once the repeater appears on the BrandMeister repeaters page, it is necessary to conatct the administrator of the BrandMeister Master server that is being used to request that admin access be added to the repeater trustee's BrandMeister account. A list of administrators can be found by clicking here. Once granted, the repeater trustee can then edit the information page for the repeater, set up static talk groups, and setup clusters (which allow local talk groups to be shared among a defined set of peer repeaters).

You can monitor your repeater's participation in the BrandMeister network by using the Brandmeister Last Heard page. Instruction on constructing a filter in your web-browser, to limit the displayed traffic to just the repeaters, individuals, or talk-groups that you wish to monitor, can be found by clicking here.

Users of the W7CIA repeater can usually be found on the Idaho ARES 31160 Talk-Group. If you are placing an RD-982 repeater on the air and need to make a contact on the Brandmeister network for testing purposes, you can usually reach W7CIA, N7IBC, N7BMH, K1BMW or W7ELE on this Talk-Group.

Please be sure to listen first, after activating the Idaho ARES 31160 Talk-Group on your repeater, to ensure that no Idaho ARES activities are being conducted prior to making a call.