After being mostly inactive (other than the ALERT club meetings) for the last 5+ years, I started getting interested in Digital after seeing folks talking about DVAP for D-STAR. During my research I found there was also a mode called DMR that allowed private calls and group calls based on commercial systems. I also learned there was a D-STAR and DMR repeaters about 4-5 miles from me easily accessible via an HT. Part of the reason for my inactivity was there were no analog repeaters in my city. Also, during my research I found out about Raspberry Pi hot-spots, a new advancement in the hobby that made things feel new again and I was totally hooked.
November 10th, 2018 I was on the air with my Radiodddity GD-77. I started getting on the repeater and having a great time. Later, I added an Openspot and a ID-51 to my gear. The last piece was a Nano-Spot that had wireless built in and I could take my hotspot mobile.
I verbalized my thoughts and showed off my Nano-Spot mobile setup in this video:
DMR:
ID: 3101393 (DMR Private Call)
Alabama Talk Group: 3101 (DMR-MARC Network or Brandmeister)
ALERT-K4NWS: 31013 (Brandmeister Network)
Alabama Link: 31010 (Brandmeister Network)
Central Alabama: 31015 (Brandmeister Network)
D-STAR:
Direct via (UR/To): KV4S
Gateway: KV4S B
Alabama Reflector: REF058 B
KV4S 