One of the first things that many new radio amateurs do is to purchase a handheld radio, like the BTECH UV-5X3 (right), to talk with their friends on a local repeater. After programming the radio, they're often able to hear the repeater, but not access it. When this happens, the first question out of their mouths is, “Why can't I hit the repeater?” This is such a frequent problem, that there's even a question (T2B04) on the Technician Class exam that...
One of the things that many newcomers to FM and repeater operation fail to do when programming a radio is to program the CTCSS tone properly. There's even a question on the Technician Class exam that addresses this issue, question T2B04: QUESTION: Which of the following could be the reason you are unable to access a repeater whose output you can hear? ANSWER: All of these choices are correct Improper transceiver offset The repeater may require a proper CTCSS tone from your...
In some situations, the 5W output of a handheld transceiver just doesn't cut it. You may be too far away from a repeater to hit it consistently, or you may want more range for simplex operation. One solution to this problem is to get a mobile radio with more output power. Mobile radios, such as the BTECH UV-50X2, have an output power of up to 50 W. Some mobile radios are even higher-powered. A 50 W radio, especially when used with...
One of the cool features of BTECH's DMR-6X2 is the built-in GPS receiver. When enabled, it gives you your latitude and longitude, height above sea level, date, and time of day. And, if you're moving, it will even tell you how fast you're walking or driving. To enable the GPS receiver manually: Press (Menu) to enter the main Menu. Page down and select GPS. Select GPS On/Off. Select GPS On to turn the GPS receiver on. This can also be done using...
According to the FCC, the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is “a licensed radio service that uses channels around 462 MHz and 467 MHz. The most common use of GMRS channels is for short-distance, two-way voice communications using hand-held radios, mobile radios and repeater systems. In 2017, the FCC expanded GMRS to also allow short data messaging applications including text messaging and GPS location information.” GMRS licenses are available to individuals for short-distance, two-way communications that facilitate the activities of licensees...
Whenever you transmit on a digital channel, the BTECH DMR-6X2 sends not only what you said, but also your Radio ID (also sometimes called your DMR ID). This allows stations who are receiving your transmission to know who's transmitting. Likewise, when you receive a transmission, you're also receiving the Radio ID of the station transmitting. That ID is shown on the radio's display, along with the talk group. In addition, the BTECH DMR-6X2 can also display the name and callsign of...
A helpful feature of the BTECH DMR-6X2, especially for amateurs using a new repeater, is Digital Monitor. Sometimes called “promiscuous mode,” Digital Monitor allows you to hear all of the activity on a particular repeater, no matter what time slot a talk group is on or what color code a repeater might use. Simply put, Digital Monitor allows you to use a repeater even if you do not know how it is configured or what rules the repeater has in...
By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU Now that you know the lingo, it's time to build a simple code plug. (If you haven't read the blog post, Build a DMR-6X2 Code Plug: Learning the Lingo yet, please do so.) The first thing that you need to do is to download the customer programming software, or CPS. You'll find the CPS for the DMR-6X2 here on the BTECH website. The download includes Includes a USB driver, the latest firmware for the DMR -6X2, and the CPS software. You'll...
By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU Because DMR radios have so many features, it stands to reason that programming them can be complex, much more complex than programming analog FM transceivers. To help you make sense of this complex topic, we'll be running a series of posts on DMR and how to program and use the DMR-6X2, BTECH's dual-band VHF and UHF radio with both DMR (Tier I and II) and analog capabilities. In this post, we'll define some of the terms used...
By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU A couple of days ago, I got my hands on a BTECH DMR-6X2, a dual-band DMR and analog handheld radio. Designed for both amateur and commercial usage, the DMR-6X2 is a true, dual-slot DMR radio compatible with DMR Tier I & 2. It features a large, bright 1.77" color TFT display and can store up to 4,000 channels, 10,000 talk groups and 150,000 contacts. The first thing I did was to set it up to access an analog repeater...
