VK2RBT at Wyangala Dam now operates either as a VK-DMR or FM analog repeater.

Its way of activating and prioritising which mode to use is by first-come-first-served and “you snooze, you lose”. Interaction between the two modes and how neighbourly they’ll behave is not yet understood but expect some gaps and lost transmissions.

The repeater is a purpose-built commercial unit designed to handle DMR and Analog but not simultaneously. Users of the repeater will need to compromise. This is why the analog tail of the repeater is slightly longer than normal so that users can maintain priority before the repeater drops and begins accepting and transmitting data from the VK-DMR network. But beware the currently set 180 second TOT and the audible “pips” when there is an impending timeout.

The first thing to ensure is that your ANALOG radio is set for 91.5Hz CTCSS full encode AND decode, because you are no doubt going to get blasted by the digital transmissions coming from all directions if 91.5Hz receive decode is not configured on your analog setup. You may also need to specifically set your radio to define the squelch to be set by CTCSS and not by carrier squelch.

  • The way to keep an eye on any DMR traffic and if your next analog key-up is going to get snuffed out, is to watch your signal strength meter or activity LED before PTT’ing. But if you feel like keying up anyway just for the hell of it, then do so! It’s all experimental.
  • You will also need to set the analog side to 12.5KHz bandwidth because the repeater does not do 25KHz at all. If you use 25KHz, the repeater will chop in and out because of over-deviation.
  • The repeater’s CW ident is set to ID without any sub-tone so you’ll only catch a glimpse of it unless you’re open on carrier squelch.

You can either set up one radio dedicated to analog and another for DMR or you can program the two different modes into different memories on a single radio. If you’ve got one of the better Alinco’s with Main and Sub bands, then it’s possible to monitor both alongside each other on the one radio.