Updating my Pi-Star MMDVM hotspots as of 14th September 2026

 Updated my Pi-Star MMDVM hotspots as of 14th September 2026

Done the latest upgrade to my Pi-Star RPi MMDVM hotspots

Pi-Star version upgraded from 4.3.7 to 4.3.8

Dashboard upgraded from 20260623 to 20260911 (11th September)

running on Kernel 6.12.75+rpt-rpi-v6

Both P25 and DMR hotspots running fine, nil issues.

This time better than 4.3.7 install, as when I created image for 4.3.7,

is that it didnt work, got the RED coloured tabs instead of GREEN, plus

it didnt recognise my radios talking to it, but issues fixed once 

I forced Update and it downloaded fixes, to make the hotspots work again.

Current monitoring VK-DMR IPSC3, FreeDMR AU, ZL IPSC2, P25 TG10400 and 

TG10700 and of course Brandmeister.

Ham Radio Ireland

Ham Radio Ireland

spotted comments from Richard VK2SKY, 

what caught my attention was mention of the Galway VHF Group, some of my ancestors came from Loughrea, Galway,  Michael Connolly and wife Maria Griffin, emigrated with their family to Australia, settling in Terranora, south of Sydney, during the potato famine.

so here is blog for the group back in Ireland

Galway VHF Group

access to their online newsletters

Ham Radio Ireland ~ Galway VHF Group

and their Facebook page

(20+) Ham Radio Ireland | Facebook

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.

P25 TG10700 Activity as of 19th Jan 2026

 P25 TG10700 Activity as of 19th Jan 2026

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.

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.

Orana Region Amateur Radio Club Repeaters

 Repeaters of Orana Region Amateur Radio Club

I was listening to a local from Dubbo on DMR talking about the repeaters they manage

VK2RRT Condobolin,  146.900 MHz -600 KHz 

VK2RCD Dubbo, 146.725 MHz -600 KHz, currently has Echolink running node- 973817

VK2RCC Coonabarabran,  146.800 MHz -600 KHz  requires 91.5 input tone

VK2RDD Dubbo,  439.950 MHz -5 MHz   DMR only.

XLX Reflectors for VK & ZL as of 23rd August, 2025

 XLX Reflectors for VK & ZL as of 23rd August, 2025

here are some of the XLX Reflectors, looking at them, they are now all XLX, replacing the older XRF,DCS reflectors. Note- some are purely DStar, some are multi-protocol

XLX014 AU multi-protocol
XLX087 AU VK3AGK Ballarat  DStar
XLX129 NZ Hamilton 
XLX299 NZ BM530 and multi-protocol
XLX432 AU  VK3JED   Multi-protocol
XLX500 AU BM DMR & multi protocol
XLX530 NZ Taupo ARC
XLX750 NZ DVNZ multi-protocol
XLX751 AU multi-protocol

XLX820 AU VK4 DStar
XLX824 AU VK4 DStar
XLX903 AU VK2YI  Dstar
XLX940 AU VK2YM  DStar
XLXVMM NZ  DStar
VK4TUX  gone

Brandmeister Network Activity Viewer - hose.brandmeister.network

 This is a reminder of a Brandmeister tool website to give you a  live snapshot of current/recent activity on the Brandmeister DMR Network. You can you use the dropdown icon on right hand side to allow you to choose the view based on a region or country. In my example I am looking at EU and AU regions, you can select one region or multiple. If you click on the desired talkgroup you can monitor it, which is good tool to test if you transmitting or not. Choose a region and you can select & deselect it.  This website has been updated compared to how it originally looked.  Now it sticking purely to the required data and less graphics, to get more on your screen.

https://hose.brandmeister.network

Brandmeister talkgroup 530 ZL National Call

On Brandmeister DMR, one of the talkgroups I monitor is TG530, I keep hearing this strange white hash sound and bits and pieces of conversations and its randomly occurs,  including some drunken americans talking jibberish, I just never bothered to stop and try to figure what it was, I usually turn down the volume until it goes away again. 

This time I stopped to pay more attention, took note of the ID  and realised it was only one ID involved 530047, looked it up on the Brandmeister website, it comes up as ZL2AWW, showing two hotspots, then I  monitored the Heard list, its all sorts weird things going on, as if it tied to a gateway and a cluster in USA, strange behaviour for a ZL Call channel.

Its odd, with squeals and artifacts of digital transmissions and bits of one sided QSO's, sometimes maybe hear both sides and one american I recognise on several occassions comes up with some slurred words, god knows what he saying, I guessed he is pissed. Then I  realised it was coming from WW TG91

The two hotspots have different SSID's, and showing different frequencies, so I dont think the hotspots are relaying to each other, but at 600kHz away, and if operated in close proximity to each other they may interfere with each other. So it looks to be bleedthrough from one hotpot 53004721 txing locally, being received by the second hotspot 53004701 and it is broadcasting to TG530

update on P25 TG10700 as of 12th May, 2025

 I suddenly spotted some new callsigns appeared on P25  TG10700 today,
that is good, some new people playing with P25.

Noting:  I upgraded my P25 MMDVM hotspot recently to PiStar 4.1.10  and dashboard 20250429

P25 Repeaters for Sydney and surrounds - as of 11th February, 2025

 P25 Repeaters for Sydney and  surrounds

VK2RCG GPT Sydney City 438.200 MHz now standalone

VK2RNS Asquith (Sydney North) 439.975 MHz standalone

VK2RHP Horsley Park, (Sydney south west) 438.1375 MHz  TG10700

VK2RMB Terrey Hills 438.175 MHz  is standalone

VK2RWK Kurrajong, 439.825 is standalone

VK2RWS Berowra 438.275  w/ -5.4MHz  (WICEN rpr) - unknown status

VK2RWH Nelson Bay 439.625 standalone (WICEN rptr) - unknown status

Non-operational or redeployed :

VK2RHR High Range - being repaired

VK2RGN Goulburn - off air.

VK2ROT Paddington, off air, possibly gone
VK2RWI Dural - now a VK-DMR rptr
VK2RHT Chatswood - now a VK-DMR rptr
VK2RAG Somersby - gone, redeployed
VK2RCF Carlingford - gone
VK2RLE Heathcote - gone

Central West NSW Repeater Update - December 2024

 Central West NSW Repeater Update - December 2024

NSW Central West FM Analogue Repeaters:

VK2RCW repeater 147.200 MHz with +600kHz input, no CTCSS tone required. Recently repaired.

VK2RDX repeater 146.650 MHz with -600kHz input, 91.5Hz CTCSS tone is required.

VK2RKG repeater 146.900 MHz with -600kHz input, no CTCSS tone required.

VK2ROA repeater 147.100 MHz with +600kHz input, no CTCSS tone required.

VK2RCW repeater 439.300 MHz with -5MHz input. Off Air.

NSW Central West DMR repeaters :

VK2RAO Orange 438.725 MHz with -5.0 MHz input VK2RBT Wyangala Dam/Cowra area 438.825 MHz multimode DMR & analogue FM, 9.1.5HZ required

VK2RDD Dubbo 439.950 MHz with -5.0 MHz input

VK2RDX Mt.Bindo/Oberon area 438.150 MHz with -7.0 MHz input

VK3GWY digital gateway still missing.

 

I still looking around to see if anyone talking about why the VK3GWY gateway disappeared which tied BrandMeister DMR TG 50525 with P25 TG50525 and NXDN TG50525 and YSF 06015

while looking around I stumbled onto the VK3RBA 70cm digital repeater dashboard connected to Brandmeister DMR Network, from the dashboard we see BM TG505 TS1 and a local TG9 TS2, I will keep this in mind for the next time I visit Ballarat.

What I noticed from this dashboard is P25 and YSF showing as Not Linked.

vk3rba-d.vk44.net

VK3GWY disappeared

 the VK3GWY gateway seems to have disappeared, I haven't heard the VK3 network activity on Brandmeister DMR, P25, NXDN and YSF networks, not hearing the daily and weekly nets held on the VK3 network.
I noticed it disappeared off the various dashboards and checking Brandmeister dashboard it looks to be 26 days ago, so that is around the 14th September.

DMR Stats and Dashboards

 here are the dashboards again plus Matt VK2FLY's Statistics pages for VK-DMR

IPSC2 Dashboard Index (vkdmr.com)  VK-DMR Repeater List

IPSC2 Dashboard Index (vkdmr.com)  VK-DMR Hotspots List

IPSC2 Dashboard Index (arec.info)  ZL DMR Repeaters and Hotspots List

VKDMR Information - From VK2FLY  VK-DMR Information page from VK2FLY

VKDMR Information - From VK2FLY weekly stats for VK-DMR  from VK2FLY

Digital Multimode Reflectors

 I am more interested in the Reflectors for DMR & P25,  most are centered around D-Star, here are some :

XLX

XRF

P25ref by G4KLX

NXDNref by G4KLX

alternative P25ref by DG9VH

alternative P25ref by M0VUB

code bases are found on GitHub

 

here are some Nets to listen to on DMR in VK/ZL, as of 13th May 2024

VK3XEM's Welfare Net, Mon to Fri 10am AEST, runs on the VK3 AllStar Network, but accessible from Brandmeister DMR TG 50525, also P25 TG 50525 and I think also on NXDN TG50525.

VK3KK Round Table Net, Wed 8pm AEST, same network as above, on the VK3 AllStar Network, but accessible from Brandmeister DMR TG 50525, also P25 TG 50525 and I think also on NXDN TG50525.

ZL Digital Net, Friday night, 8pm NZT, 6pm AEST, on  VKDMR TG 530 ZL Call Freq

Westlakes  Net, VK2ATZ  Sunday morning from 8.00am AEST on VKDMR TG3802 linked to Brandmeister TG5052

Westlakes Broadcast, Sunday morning 9.00am AEST on VKDMR TG3802 linked to Brandmeister TG5052

VK7 WIA / REAST Broadcast, Sunday morning 9.30am AEST on VKDMR TG5

VK-DMR Net, Tuesdays 0900z on VK-DMR TG505

BMARC Monday night net 19.30pm AEST and Thurs 19.30pm AEST via Brandmeister TG50520

 Port Stephens Net Thurs nights 19.30pm AEST VK-DMR TG3809 & Brandmeister TG5109

P25 Activity as of 6th May, 2024

 looking at some of the P25 Activity  around as of 6th May 2024,

TG10100

TG10201

TG10700