the SALOP & Borders DMR CLUSTER
*** IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON CHANGES TO THE CLUSTER CONFIGURATION - 25 JULY 2018 ***
Cluster is now on SLOT 1 / TG 75 linked to 23575 for hotspot access
The Salop & Borders DMR Cluster is a small group of UHF repeaters covering Shropshire, Staffordshire, Hereford & Worcester, Gloucestershire and the Welsh borders. The cluster currently consists of four repeaters; GB7GT located near Ludlow, GB7CC on Cleeve Common near Cheltenham, GB7BJ in Malvern and GB7WD in the Black Country. GB7BX and GB7OZ are off-air.
The convention used across all repeaters in the Cluster is:
Repeater timeout is set to 180 seconds and reflectors / dynamic talkgroups on Slot 2 drop out after 15 minutes.
It is possible to configure your radios for roaming on Slot 1 / Talkgroup 75, so you can automatically move between repeaters without changing channel.
It is important to note that the Salop & Borders DMR Cluster is an independent collection of repeaters that are NOT centrally controlled or funded. There is no club or group to join, no annual membership fee and no politics. The individual keepers have invested their own time and money, and rely totally on your goodwill and generosity to help keep them running.
The Salop & Borders DMR Cluster is a small group of UHF repeaters covering Shropshire, Staffordshire, Hereford & Worcester, Gloucestershire and the Welsh borders. The cluster currently consists of four repeaters; GB7GT located near Ludlow, GB7CC on Cleeve Common near Cheltenham, GB7BJ in Malvern and GB7WD in the Black Country. GB7BX and GB7OZ are off-air.
The convention used across all repeaters in the Cluster is:
- Slot 1 / Talkgroup 9 for local contacts on the same repeater
- Slot 1 / Talkgroup 75 linked between all repeaters in the cluster
- Slot 2 / Talkgroup 9 for reflector access to the wider Brandmeister network
Repeater timeout is set to 180 seconds and reflectors / dynamic talkgroups on Slot 2 drop out after 15 minutes.
It is possible to configure your radios for roaming on Slot 1 / Talkgroup 75, so you can automatically move between repeaters without changing channel.
It is important to note that the Salop & Borders DMR Cluster is an independent collection of repeaters that are NOT centrally controlled or funded. There is no club or group to join, no annual membership fee and no politics. The individual keepers have invested their own time and money, and rely totally on your goodwill and generosity to help keep them running.
We have temporarily suspended the PayPal MoneyPool used for donations - in the short term please contact the individual keepers to make any donations for the upkeep of your local repeater.
Salop cluster ... now with added brandmeister!
Here is a brief introduction to reflector access on Brandmeister … we are still looking for a stable and workable configuration that works for all the repeaters in our cluster, so this is likely to change from time to time.
External access to the Cluster is now also available on TG 23575 which connects hotspots and other stations using the Brandmeister network.
There are no fixed or ‘static’ talkgroups configured, all access to the wider Brandmeister network is via user activated ‘reflectors’ which are setup by placing private calls to specific ID's on Slot 2 / TG 9 …
So, at the very least, all you need to do is add another channel to your radio which is setup for Slot 2 / TG 9.
A private call is simply a transmission made to a specific DMR ID, there are a number of special DMR IDs used for reflectors, the common ones are listed in the table below. On some radios it is possible to enter the DMR ID using the keypad, whilst others will require you to create an entry in the digital contacts list.
Useful reflectors are:
4400 – UK wide
4407 – Wales
4410 – South West
4418 – West Midlands
4419 – East Midlands
4420 – WiresX
4426 – AllStar
4000 – Disconnect current reflector
5000 – Report the current connected reflector
9990 – The Brandmeister Parrot
All repeaters are linked by default to the West Midlands reflector (4418) on SLOT 2 / TG 9.
All the current Brandmeister reflectors should work, you just need to activate them by making a private call.
Once you have successfully made the private call, there is a voice announcement, let the call drop and then just use TG9 as normal.
If there is no RF access to the repeater for 900 seconds (15 mins) the reflector is automatically disconnected and Slot 2 / TG9 reverts to its default.
To test your radio, use the parrot reflector … simply make a private call to 9990 on either slot 1 or 2 and it will record and play back your transmission.
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Here is a quick (very quick) tutorial on how to setup your new TYT, Retevis or Radioddity radio for the Salop Cluster ...
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Salop Cluster / Brandmeister FAQ's
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Still confused by DMR? There are two great (and free!) eBooks for you to download. W2XAB has written an excellent eBook on how to get started, click here. It's a little US-centric but nevertheless a good primer. In the UK, Chris 2E0UCW has created "The Dummies Guide to DMR in the UK", which you can get from here.
For more information on wider use of DMR by the amateur radio community in the UK, click here; for information on the specific networks, you'll find BrandMeister here, Phoenix here & here, Northern Cluster here and the Southwest Cluster here. These sites are not endorsed or recommended by Salop-Repeater and you visit at your own risk :-)
To register for an ID or simply to check the DMR user and repeater database, click here.
For general information on amateur radio and the RSGB, click here.
For anything else to do with repeaters, beacons, gateways, red-tape and unnecessary hurdles we have to jump-over in the UK, click here and abandon all hope ...
For more information on wider use of DMR by the amateur radio community in the UK, click here; for information on the specific networks, you'll find BrandMeister here, Phoenix here & here, Northern Cluster here and the Southwest Cluster here. These sites are not endorsed or recommended by Salop-Repeater and you visit at your own risk :-)
To register for an ID or simply to check the DMR user and repeater database, click here.
For general information on amateur radio and the RSGB, click here.
For anything else to do with repeaters, beacons, gateways, red-tape and unnecessary hurdles we have to jump-over in the UK, click here and abandon all hope ...
DMR DIGITAL VOICE repeaters
Please check the RSGB ukrepeater.net web site for the latest news and status information; alternatively click on the call signs above to go direct to the specific status page for each repeater.
© Salop Repeater 2015 - 2018