DStarHotSpotSetup

Mutiple Modes for Digital Voice

Hams tend to favor their first DV or Digital Voice mode, be it D-Star, DMR, Fusion, P-25 or one of several others out there. But with the availability of new modems and access point devices and associated software, we've found we don't have to make a choice -- we can access any or nearly all of the Ham DV modes.

Many of us do this by purchasing several radios, and there are now many shack photos showing a lineup of 3 or 4 different DV mode HTs. Others simply get an AMBE3000 device such as the NW Digital Radio ThumbDV and use it with multi-mode software like BlueDV by PA7LIM.

For a peek at what's going on, here are slides from a Multi-Mode presentation at the 2017 Pacificon Hamfest. Featured speaker was Jim KI6ZUM (designer of the ZUMspot multi-mode radio board).

For hardware recommendations, see my MoenComm page (I used to sell DV products myself and now am free to recommend others' products). For software and Pi images, I list a few recommendations below, several of which support Multi-Mode:

DV Software

MMDVM software by G4KLX allows setting up higher-powered multi-mode hotspots or full blown hilltop repeater/gateways. In addition to the popular DStarRepeater and ircDDBGateway, G4KLX has created gateways for the other supported modes including DMR. In fact, if you want dynamic access to multiple DMR networks (e.g. BrandMeister, DMR+ and XLX), the DMRGateway is for you.
Also check out the BlueDV software apps by David, PA7LIM. These are excellent Graphical apps that run on a variety of platforms including Android, Linux and Windows. They can convert your pc, tablet or phone with internet connection into a multi-mode device to access the various digital voice networks. BlueDV can work with modems and radio boards like the DVMega and MMDVM, but also with AMBE devices like the ThumbDV, whether plugged into a pc/tablet/phone or available on the network on an AMBE Server.
Note also that DVMEGA provides multi-mode firmware that works with G4KLX MMDVM software and BlueDV.

Pi Images - These images get you started fast. Here are my favorites:

W6KD D-Star Commander (D-Star) uses G4KLX software with some very nice add-ons
Pi-Star (Multi-mode) provides preloaded multi-mode software with an off-the-chart graphical console using your browser.
KB5RAB (Multi-mode) perfect if you enjoy using Linux
WesternDStar (D-Star) is provides a basic Linux platform with G4KLX and other apps pre-loaded.