Minnesota DMR Networks

DMR repeaters in Minnesota are split across three networks: Brandmeister (BM), K4USD (K4) and Legacy MNDMR (MNDMR). What’s important to understand is that each network operates independent of one another. This means if you’re using a K4USD repeater on talkgroup 3127 (Minnesota State) someone else on a Brandmeister network repeater who is also using talkgroup 3127 (Minnesota State) will not hear one another — again, they’re separate networks even if users are using the same talkgroup numbers.

If you’re using a hotspot to connect it will depend what network you’re connected to via your hotspot dashboard. If you’re hotspot is on BM you’ll be carried on BM repeaters, etc.

Below is a map of Minnesota DMR repeaters and they’re corresponding frequencies and color codes.

Talkgroups And Minnesota DMR Repeaters

Of course, the whole point of getting onto a DMR repeater is to talk to other hams, and you do that by visiting a talkgroup, which enables one-to-many communication, sort of like a conference call or a chat room. Anything transmitted to a talkgroup is transmitted to everyone listening to (linked to) that talkgroup.

In DMR, repeaters using static talkgroups are linked together in network configurations that are decided by the repeater administrations, which can’t be changed by individual hams. Static talkgroups are where the repeater administrator chooses which talkgroups the repeater will broadcast any time there is traffic. Brandmeister repeaters also allow hams to temporarily ‘subscribe’ to specified dynamic talkgroups. Dynamic talkgroups are any talkgroup on the network that you key up by pressing your PTT button. The repeater will open up that talkgroup for 15 minutes and then close it after 15 minutes of inactivity. The only network in Minnesota which allows dynamic talkgroups across its network are Brandmeister repeaters.

_{The content on this page is from amateur radio notes by Toshen, KE0FHS – It’s been modified under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.}