DMR, Prior Lake Repeater

The DMR Repeater in Prior Lake described below, has been deployed to Faribault, MN. The following information is still a good reference point for me. More details on the Faribault, MN DMR Repeater can be found here

Jan 28th 2016, Prior Lake, MN

The N0AGI Prior Lake, MN DMR Repeater is On-The-Air running the recently acquired new Motorola MotoTRBO SLR5700 repeater.

Over the last 2 weeks or so today (as of Jan 28th 2016), I have been considering replacing my Yaesu Fusion DR-1X repeater w/ a Motorola MotoTRBO DMR Repeater. During the course of this exploration, I was considering MTR3000 and SLR5700. MTR3000 is a 100W and SLR5700 is a 50W – both continuous duty cycle repeaters. I was speaking w/ a few HAMs who have experience in DMR repeaters, few have owned these and have installed and setup these for their clubs or their own sites. My QTH is not on a hill top (relatively speaking), therefore, I was hearing that a 100W repeater might not be such a usable investment. Also, considering this will be all digital, a 50W out was suggested to be a good approach.

I then spoke w/ W2XAB – John Burningham to discuss a few more Q&A; following this, I went and ordered a new SLR5700 from K1DMR – Ken Bryant. Additionally, I had also ordered an open box, XPR4550 base radio for my shack.

As of this late evening, Friday Jan 29th 2016, the DMR repeater is on the air; the Fusion repeater DR-1X is taken out consequently. I will be putting the Fusion back up on the air once I get my 2nd UHF coordination or my 1st VHF coordination – but, more importantly, after Yaesu determines a good plan to their firmware situation.

This page attempts to detail this project as I move this further along. You will find pictures and a series of videos.

73s, N0AGI

DMR Links:

Learning DMR from Amateur Radio standpoint
- A good place to start learning about DMR from an Amateur Radio standpoint. Follow this guide by W2XAB
- W2XAB also did a short presentation at the last year’s HAMVENTION – video on YouTube
- Another good introductory video on YouTube
The Minnesota DMR discussion and distribution group
- The Minnesota DMR Enthusiasts – MNDMR
C-Bridge Link
- The N0AGI Prior Lake DMR repeater is linked to the W2XAB’s K4USD C-Bridge
  - Traffic Watch here
  - Peer Repeater Watch here
  - Network Stats here
How I got my DMR rig at Amateur Friendly DMR price point
- So, most of us DMR enthusiasts are aware that quality rig can get pricey. And, yes, we’ also know that if one’s looking for a “starter kit”, one can get into it w/ a decent price. But, we also know, quality we get what we pay for; I have soon realized after double spending, to invest in quality rig.
- After much exploring and talking to several folks, I started looking for Motorola DMR rig at decent price point. That is DMR at amateur radio price point.
- I had pinged Ken Bryant (K1DMR)., he’s a HAM to start and a Motorola dealer next; He gave me (and others) some good deals on Motorola equipment. Please feel free to ping him at his site here. You can reach him at :
  - 706 896 0000 . email@kenbryant.net
  - disclaimer : I don’t have any personal interest in his business 🙂 I am only sharing this because, I think he’s a good honest guy and wants to help us hams get a good deal on Motorola gear
My YouTube DMR links
- N0AGI – DMR Playlist
DMR CodePlugs Links:
- Follow the DoER-CoOp landing page for the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, St.Paul Minnesota) region codeplug link
DMR – MARC (Motorola Amateur Radio Club) Register:
- go to DMR-MARC site to register your own DMR Radio or DMR Repeater
- DMR Repeater Map

Credits :

Thanks to the following good friends who helped in my DMR exploration efforts (in no particular order).

W2XAB – John Burningham – for educating pointers on DMR C-Bridge, DMR Amateur Platform
KE0NA – Dave Ventura – for persistent evangelism of DMR and ongoing codeplug effort (blog)
N0BVE – Don Rice – for handing me my first DMR HT to explore
K1DMR – Ken Bryant – for giving me a good deal on my DMR gear
W0XL – Joe Zwirn – for his kind help in my Bp/Br Duplexer