Transmission1

DMR is such a vast thing to understand mainly because of the amount of talk groups there is. Then understanding BrandMeister and the Phoenix networks.

I understand GB7NS is on the Phoenix Network so BrandMeister talk groups wont work when using them on a Phoenix repeater, maybe that is why I never hear TG91 coming through on my DMR radios but I will get HubNet TG23526 just fine for example.

As I've been looking more into it, there is even more to learn on the simplex side, besides the digital simplex frequencies, there are also the talk groups TG 9 for Phoenix and TG99 for BrandMeister but this don't make sense because they are.... well simplex so I am a bit confused with that one. Surely you would only need one talk group for simplex channels or no talk group for simplex? Color Code 1, Slot 1.

Simplex would be a good place for me to start...

With simplex DMR, you can forget all about Pheonix, Brandmeister, FreeDMR or whatever. They play no part in simplex. The convention on simplex is Colour Code 1 and Talkgroup 9. Timeslot doesn't matter - Can either be 1 or 2. Timeslot is only of relevance when using a repeater, which "keeps time" by broadcasting the timing signals that differentiate TS1 and TS2. In a way, Colour Code and Talkgroup are not needed, other than that they need to be something to make it work. You can't ignore them. even on simplex, they are a carry over from DMR's commercial origins. In a simplex context, both can be likened to CTCSS or DCS on an analogue system. Get them wrong and you will hear nothing. Whilst Colour Code only has 16 permutations, Talkgroup has millions. So combined, many (millions times) more codes than CTCSS or even DCS. But in simple(x)s!

Thanks. I've come along way in a small amount of time learning more and more about DMR each day and having a hot spot makes life a lot more easier when it comes to programming my radios and with the radios like the PD785's plus others I have... they have plenty of Zones to play with so I can make repeater Zones and Zones for the hotspot plus a simplex Zone which I had already put into them previously just need to update things in the code plug and add more talk groups and zones.

StormShadow wrote: 27 Jan 2026, 23:07 Thanks. I've come along way in a small amount of time learning more and more about DMR each day and having a hot spot makes life a lot more easier when it comes to programming my radios and with the radios like the PD785's plus others I have... they have plenty of Zones to play with so I can make repeater Zones and Zones for the hotspot plus a simplex Zone which I had already put into them previously just need to update things in the code plug and add more talk groups and zones.

It's great fun. For me, the setting up bit is the best. Glad you got into it. The TGIF network is worth looking at as well