Updating my Pi-Star MMDVM hotspots as of July 2026

 Updating my Pi-Star MMDVM Hotspots as of  July 2026.

I had to upgrade the Kernel to get the latest image installed.

now Kernel is 6.12.75+rpt-rpi-v6

Pi-Star  version is 4.3.7

Dashboard is 20260501  (1st May 2026)

Once installed I found the  DMR and P25 tabs were not coming up and 

showing RED instead of GREEN so I ran the Update function on each Hotspot, 

while watching I noticed some fixes go in and also a later Dashboard 

which is 20260623, now everything starts up and get the GREEN indicator

and I started receiving traffic from DMR and P25 sources respectively.

I configured the first DMR Hotspot for the new VK-DMR IPSC3 network, 

but after a day or two I noticed I not hearing much activity, just TG505 

traffic, which confirmed from monitoring the VK-DMR IPSC Heard List.

Then I configured another of my Hotspots against the VK-DMR IPSC2 network, 

since then I now receiving the normal TG's that I had configured as STATIC 

on IPSC2. 

Currently I can monitor traffic from IPSC3 and IPSC2 Networks simultaneously.

I also configured two of my Hotspots for P25 TG10400 and TG10700 talkgroups.

9cm microwave band Test Beacon from VK1

 

Dimitrios Tsifakis via groups.io <dtsifakis=gmail.com@groups.io>	Jun 14, 2026, 11:12 AM
to VK-Microwave

Hi all,

This beacon is mainly of interest to the ACT members.

The 9 cm beacon is finally on air! The nominal frequency is 3398.8 MHz, the beacon power output was measured to be +15 dBm past the final filter. Out of this power I expect about +10 dBm to make it to the HPOL antenna. The beacon transmits 12 WPM morse code that includes the callsign (VK1SV/B) and the approximate location (QF44).

Its stability should be superior to previous beacons I have put on air, however there might be a small offset from the nominal 3398.8 MHz operating frequency. Using an (uncalibrated) SDR, I see it at 3398.80045 MHz (450 Hz higher than the nominal freq). YMMV.

This may be a beacon that can only be heard from mountaintops, but in any case, reception reports, positive or negative, are always welcome.

73, Dimitris

PS, I have obtained a 10 W 3.4 GHz amplifier from aliexpress but haven't powered it up yet. It cost me about $40 from memory. This could be used to bring the beacon to a watt or so of output power in the future. A discussion including some measured data about this amplifier can be found here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/rf-microwave/10w-rf-amplifier-3400-3800-mhz-from-aliexpress-reverse-engineering/

VK2XB- Indy - truck mobile missing from APRS

 When I occasionally  look around on APRS, I often spot Indy VK2XB mobile somewhere in his big rig (semi-trailer truck), but I havent had time to look around for past 6months, except for my own travelling between new home  in Yass Valley and back to Sydney and have been doing that each week for a few months.

Anyway, back to VK2XB,  I had a look on APRS to see where he travelling and I noticed he hasnt been on APRS since January. I thought, oh I hope nothing bad happened. I did some searches and spotted an article in March on Brisbane Radio Society but not much else. 

VK-DMR Network Loop example

 Here is example of a 'network loop' within the VK-DMR Network,  you can see one hotspot latching onto any nodes that have their Node defined as Public instead of Private, you can see this in the Pi-Star configuration when setting up DMR mode. Unfortunately I was rebuilding my MMVDM node with latest Pi-Star image and it so happens the Public vs Private settings was set to default of Public, hence my node latched on VK3MJR's hotspot and would not let go, even though I then changed my Node to Private, so it was too late, its stuck.

From the VK DMR hotspot dashboard I could see where my node suddenly was, along with several other people's hotspot. All I can do is power down the hotspot for some time and hopefully it will get released by VK3MJR's node. Will see if I can contact owner and get him to fix his hotspot configuration.

Sunday 6metre FM Nets

 Whilst listening  to the Westlakes ARC Net and broadcast on VK-DMR TG3802 talkgroup starting at 8.30am local and broadcast starting at 9am local, the callback mentioned the 6metre net starting  at 10am which it did, as I could hear it on the VK2RSN repeater 53.625 MHz

Then tonight I heard the Blue Mountain ARC 6metre start at 8pm on VK2RBM repeater 53.875 MHz 

Good to see some groups making good use of 6metre repeaters

Linux Mint upgraded to 22.3

 recently I did the upgrade of my old ASUS laptop from Linux Mint 22.2 to 22.3 successfully.
The upgrade tools get easier to use each time.
As I said in the past, if you got an old PC or Laptop that is too old and slow for MS Windows, then recycle it and install a flavour of Linux on it for a new fast, lease of life.

Interference across 6metre band in Frenchs Forest area,

 Interference across 6metre band in Frenchs Forest, NSW area

Over last couple months the interference has become worse across 6metre band, more noticeable, whilst scanning the 6metre FM repeater segment, I did a sweep from 46-60 Mhz  and found there is wide band signal covering 52.500 to 57 MHz, the signal strength varies from s5 to s9 across that segment.
I suspect it radiating from Northern Beaches Hospital, possibly some piece of medical scanning equipment.
If scan across  the band with a narrow band receiver, it just seems like white noise, but the signal strength meter shows there is something there. 

This happened a few years ago and I tracked it to the hospital.and suddenly it went away.

UPDATE: 19 Feb 2026
I spent some time doing  better sweep, due to hearing some sort of buzz sound opening the mute on a repeater output frequency. Superimposed on that buzz sound is a click at approximately 1 per second rate, noted in the morning, afternoon and night at times when I checked. I swept from 46 to 60 MHz, these are the frequencies I noted the buzz sound on.
 these following frequencies were weak s0 but clearly audible :
50.030  50.060 51.280 51.870 52.140
these following frequencies were strong ie. s5 to s9 :
52.440  53.080  53.640  53.690  54.240  54.280  54.840  55.500  56.050  56.090
these following frequencies were weak s0 but clearly audible :
57.270  57.310  57.900  58.470  59.110  59.680  59.720

Overall, the raised S-meter was from 52.500 to 57 MHz,  where as the narrow bandwidth buzz sound is heard from  50MHz to 60MHz

23cm activity from VK3 this morning 26th January, 2026

 The VK3's having a cracker of a morning on 23cm SSB

Canberra Region and Wagga Region repeaters

 I was just checking out the repeaters for Goulburn and Southern Highlands ARC (GaSHARC) recently, as they have an extensive repeater network  from Yass - Goulburn - High Range, which led me to check out the Canberra and Wagga club's repeaters as we visit Canberra and Junee and also Tumut from time to time.

Both CRARC and WARC  have their own extensive repeater networks which are outlined on their respective websites.

Next time I out Junee way, I'll get to try out the WARC 6metre repeater VK2RBE,
I also noted CRARC still showing their 6metre repeater for Mt.Ginini as planned, so fingers crossed it that it gets finished and commissioned one day

Repeaters - Wagga Amateur Radio Club

Repeaters – CRARC

6metre repeater status in and around Sydney and NSW that I know of, as of 25th January, 2026

  6metre repeater status in and around Sydney and NSW that I know of, as of 25th January, 2026,

53.625 VK2RSN, Mt.Sugarloaf, Newcastle, operational, requires 91.5Hz tone

53.650  VK2RMP, Maddens Plain, Illawarra,  operational, requires 123Hz tone

53.675  VK2RMB, Terrey Hills, off-air

53.700  VK2RGN, Goulburn, off-air

53.725  VK2RAG, Somersby, Central Coast, operational, requires 91.5Hz tone, linked to 23cm rptr

53.800  VK2RCN, Port Macquarie operational

53.825  VK2RBE, Bethungra operational

53.850  VK2RWI, Dural, operational

53.875  VK2RBM, Blue Mtns, operational, requires 91.5Hz tone

52.525  FM Simplex - still plenty activity, particularly Sunday morning after ARNSW broadcast from Dural

P25 TG10700 Activity as of 19th Jan 2026

 P25 TG10700 Activity as of 19th Jan 2026

Goulburn and Southern Highlands Amateur Radio Club - Sunday night 80metre Net

 I discovered  another interesting net, from reading the GaSHARC blog and Facebook pages and noted that they have a 80metre Net held each sunday night starting at 8.30pm local, on 3.615MHz. I had a listen tonight, I had s5 noise floor, so I could hear the Net Controller fine at s9 but the rest of them was difficult copy.

The club also have a set of repeaters across Yass (VK2RYS) - Goulburn (VK2RGN) and High Range (VK2RHR)

I just happened to hear VK2RGN 147.925   in Sydney the other night during a big burst of tropo, there was also VK2RPM 146.700, Bega VK2RFS 146.750 and VK1RGI 146.950 all accessible from Sydney. 

They also have three DMR repeaters, I can see two of them active on the VK-DMR Repeater Dashboard, being VK2RGN and VK2RYS

There is supposed to be APRS iGates at VK2RYS, VK2RGN and VK2RHR but I only see VK2RHR active on APRS.fi. There was also supposed to be a P25 rptr at Yass I thought, as I knew about a Qantar needing a PSU.

Bridging the Highlands: The Goulburn and Southern Highlands Amateur Ra
(20+) Goulburn and Southern Highlands Amateur Radio Society (GASHARS) | Facebook
The Wireless Institute of Australia

WIA VHF/UHF Field Day Contest dates for 2026

 WIA VHF/UHF Field Day Contest dates for 2026

Summer: 1st full weekend of January: 3rd-4th
Times: 0100 UTC Saturday through 0059 UTC Sunday (0400 / 0359 in VK6).

Winter: 3rd weekend of June: 20th-21st
Times: 0100 UTC Saturday through 0059 UTC Sunday (0300 / 0259 in VK6).

Spring: 3rd weekend of September: 19th-20th
Times: 0100 UTC Saturday through 0059 UTC Sunday (0400 / 0359 in VK6).

The Wireless Institute of Australia

VK2MB-6 30metre APRS Gateway Heard List

 

and the last time I used HF APRS was back in April 2025, most traffic via VK2MB-6  VK5ZX-4 and VK5ARG-3 gateways. The big gap in middle due to faulty dc power cable plug on back of FT857D

Upgraded my Linux Mint laptop to 22.2 "Zara"

 I finally upgraded my Linux Mint laptop,  I keep reminding myself to do it, but never get around to it. It has been on 21.3 for quite some time, I doing the patches regularly, but stopping to upgrade is another thing. I upgraded in the recommended steps, 21.3 to 22.0, 22.0 to 22.1, then 22.1 to 22.2 "Zara", each step proceeded with its snapshot for safety. All went well, no side effects or issues detected. The Linux Mint 22.2 built on Ubuntu 24.4 LTS. It works great, nice and fast on my old ASUS N550JK laptop.
This is a great time to remind those about to throw away their old laptop or PC because of Windows 10 now being unsupported, (as of 14th October) that you can recycle those old PC's and laptops giving them another lease on  life by installing a flavour of Linux O/S replacing the old Windows 10.
You have nothing to lose,  Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint to name but a few for you to try. I use mine mainly for browsing, WSJTX and Arduino IDE.

Microwave activity 18th October, 2025

my activity is from Buff Point, near Budgewoi on NSW Central Coast, aiming across Lake Budgewoi, it proved the point that can definitely get back into Sydney from here on 23cm FM, so would be easy on SSB and WSPR

 

Alternative DMR Networks for VK & ZL as of October, 2025

 Alternative DMR Networks for VK & ZL (Australia & New Zealand)

Apart from the VKDMR Network (DMR-MARC)   and  Brandmeister DMR Network, there are some other alternate DMR based networks, providing servers in Australia and New Zealand, these are :

Digitial Voice DMR Australia (DVAU) Network    https://dmr.dvau.au/

Digital Voice DMR New Zealand  (DVNZ) Network    https://dmr.dvnz.nz/

the DVAU and DVNZ are experimental networks working together.

VKFreeDMR Network Australia    https://www.vkfreedmr.org/

FreeDMR Network New Zealand    https://freedmrnz.dvnz.nz/

The two FreeDMR networks are associated with the FreeDMR network   https://www.freedmr.uk/

They all have their own dashboards so you can see activity, and similar structured talkgroups.

6metre Transequatorial DX 50.313 FT8 as of 1st October, 2025

 some good 6metre Transequatorial DX today on 50.313 FT8 as per vkspotter.com

Brandmeister DMR TalkGroups for VK & ZL as of September, 2025

 Brandmeister DMR TalkGroups for VK & ZL as of September, 2025.
Here are some  talkgroups for Brandmeister DMR network, some bridged to VK-DMR Network, some are some gateway ports setup by clubs and groups going to different networks, usually DStar.

505  National Calling Talkgroup for VK
5050 >> XLX500 G Reflector
5051 bridged to 3801 VK-DMR
5052 bridged to 3802 VK-DMR
5053 bridged to 3803 VK-DMR
5054 bridged to 3804 VK-DMR
5055 bridged to 3805 VK-DMR
5056 bridged to 3806 VK-DMR
5057 bridged to 3807 VK-DMR
5058 bridged to 3808 VK-DMR
50520 >> BMARC Net Monday 09.30utc
50521 >> IARS Chat
50525 bridge to P25 and NXDN Networks
50526 >> CCARC
50529 >> XLX500
50566  WICEN
50590  >> VK2HK Wires-X
50591  >> VK2GP Wires-X
50592  >> VK3KAY Wires-X
50594  >> VK2RFG 
505205  >> XLX500
5052110  >> XLX500

ZL TG's :
530  >> XLX299
5301  ZL1 Regional
5302  ZL2 Regional
5303  ZL3 Regional
5304  ZL4 Regional
53020  was used  for XLX626
53021  >> IFROAR  (Rotarians)
53029  >> XLX299 X
53050  >> XLX751
53060  Taupo ARC
53085  >> XLX299 >> AllStar Bridge
53099  >> XLX750

VK-ZL-Pacific:
95

Dashboard | BrandMeister

VK-DMR and P25 Activity for VK & ZL as of 25th September, 2025

here is some screenshots to show some of the typical activity on VK-DMR and P25  talkgroups covering VK & ZL,  recently noting a few ZL's appearing on P25 mode which is  good, as the P25 gateways and talkgroups for ZL had basically faded away or turned off.

VK-DMR

 

P25 TG10700

P25 TG10400

P25 TG10401   Note: this is APAC/WICEN TG, but being used by stations from China.