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.

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

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

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

P25 Activity as of August 2024

 here is a bit of a list of known and active P25 TalkGroups  primarily from a VK/ZL perspective, but includes the main Overseas TG's and their dashboards (where applicable)

TG4 - VK4TUX  is defunct, long gone.

TG445  SuperMag AU - p25.supermag.fishersaudio.com.au  - defunct, its gone

TG530  ZL (NZ)   - zldigitialreflectord.hopto.org  - defunct, its gone

TG5057  VK7HSE  45.248.50.37  XLX505  dashboard is there, but no P25 port anymore

TG5205 CCARC VK2RAG  5205.p25dvm.com  - not configured

TG10100 World Wide  - is active

TG10101 TAC1 - no activity seen

TG10102 TAC2 -no activity seen

TG10201 USA -is active, but not that busy

TG10202 USA - no activity seen

TG10400  VK - pacificp25.repeaters.info  -  is active

TG10401 VK WICEN - pacifictac1.repeaters.info  and p25wicen.repeaters.info  - activity is scarce

TG10403  Pacific TAC3  - China stations

TG10403  Pacific TAC4  - Taiwan

TG10700  AU - active, but dashboard has gone

TG10750  AU Secondary  - defunct, its gone.

TG50525  VK Bridge  50525.p25dvm.com and tg505.repeaters.info  - very active, linked to VK3network

TG50535  VK Multimode  Link    p25to50535.vkradio.com   -  defunct, its gone

TG50536 FreeStar VK  p25.tg5036.vkradio.com    defunct, its gone

TG53099  ZL Bridge  (NZ)  203.86.206.49  (XLX750)  operational, but no P25 port anymore

 

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

DMR Node count for VK & ZL

 I have taken stat count of nodes in the past, this time I have written it down, but a couple years ago,  I found the numbers were much the same for VK-DMR versus Brandmeister nodes, in terms of VK activity, what I recall was around the 240-250 mark and looks much the same again today.

here is the count as of today, 22nd April 2024 for VK and ZL

VK-DMR :  Hotspots 242, Repeaters 56, Total=298.

BM  (VK): Hotspots  269, Repeaters 11, Total=280

ZL DMR+ : Hotspots Total=55 

BM (ZL): Hotspots Total=32

NOTE in ZL, repeaters don't have distinctive callsigns like VK does.

This is not a comparison of what is best, each type of DMR network does a different job, they are configured and operate differently, it is all about experimenting and learning, regardless of using one or both DMR modes and same goes for experimenting with other digital modes within the hobby.

another DMR network

 

I discovered there is another DMR network out there,  this one called FreeDMR, looks to be based out of the UK. It has talkgroups for Australia 505 and 5050  and for New Zealand  it has TG530. It is aimed at opensource development and experimentation.

FreeDMR – Open Networking. Reaching out to the World.

Invalid radioID with dmr and p25

 Here is a news item excerpt  from the Brandmeister.network webpages,  this is important as I have also seen a few VK callsigns running invalid RadioID's  on the BM network. As the message states, you need to register and obtain a  valid RadioID number from RadioID.net that matches your callsign, otherwise the network administrators will block you.

Brandmeister DMR Network Update for VK & ZL as of 14 Feb 2023

 Brandmeister DMR Network  Update for VK(Australia) & ZL(New Zealand) as of 14 Feb 2023

Talkgroups:

95 VK-ZL Chat

98 Echo Test

505 VK Call Channel

530 ZL National Call Channel

5050 XLX500G Reflector

5051 VK1 Chat

5052 VK2 Chat

5053 VK3 Chat

5054 VK4 Chat

5055 VK5 Chat

5056 VK6 Chat

5057 VK7 Chat

5058 VK8 Chat

50510 XLX510-D Reflector

50521 Illawarra ARS chat

50525 P25 Bridge & VK3 Allstar Repeater Network

50526 CCARC VK2RAG

50531 VK3 chat1

50533 Southern Peninsula ARC (vk3)

50539 Next-Gen 

50566 WICEN

50590  VK2HK-2-ROOM Wires-X

50591  VK2GP-ND Wires-X

50592  VK3KAY-ROOM Wires-X

50593  XRF740-C Reflector

50594  VK2RFG-ROOM

5059742  XRF740-C Reflector

5301 ZL1 Chat

5302 ZL2 Chat

5303 ZL3 Chat

5304 ZL4 Chat

53020  ZL XLX626A Reflector

53021  ZL  IFROAR Reflector

53029  ZL XLX299X Reflector

53050  ZL  XLX751 Reflector

53060  ZL  Taupo ARC

53099  ZL XLX750 Reflector

and the official Brandmeister TalkGroup list  Talkgroups | BrandMeister

and the Pi-Star Brandmeister TG List  BrandMeister Talkgroup List - pistar.uk

Timeslots ? BM repeaters run with Slot1 and Slot2 Linked, Hotspots run in DMO (Direct Mode Operation)

meaning  that you do not need to specify a TimeSlot number (1 or 2) for use with the Brandmeister Network TalkGroups.

VK-DMR Network updates - January 2023

 Begin forwarded message:

From: "VK3TE via groups.io" <vk3te=bigpond.com@groups.io>

Subject: Re: [VK-DMR] Changes to the VK-DMR Network

Date: 29 January 2023 at 10:11:55 am AEDT

To: <VK-DMR@groups.io>

Reply-To: VK-DMR@groups.io

Good Morning All

For Hotspots this will have NO Impact to you as you set your TG’s that you want to listen to.

The Link from the Repeater Server to the Hotspot server to pass the TG’s will NOT change

So what ever is on the IPSC2 Repeater server will still pass the TG’s to the Hotspot Server

 

The Phase 2 all you will have to do is move the TG 380x to TS 1 Now and the same to reprogram your Radio for TG 380x to now use TS 1 (Time Slot 1)

 

Now for your Promiscuous Mode, we keep telling you that your Hotspot could hear another TG, and with your Radio is programmed to Promiscuous Mode it will jump to this TG, and if your Hotspot hears another different TG it will jump to this TG and your radio will follow and you do not know what you could be listening too, this happens a lot when listening to the TG 5 Broadcasts, and you then try to talk back to the person and you are now on a different TG.

 

This has been reported many times and even watching the VK-DMR IPSC2 Hotspot and Repeater Dashboards many of these promiscuous mode users are on the wrong TG when trying to talk back

 

As this is your choice we keep telling Amateurs that Promiscuous mode is not a good practice

 

You should be setting the TG for RX and TX for each channel you have programmed to your Radio, as the Hotspot just listens to what it is set to, and will follow what your Radio is sending to your Hotspot.

 

Anyway the Phase 2 of Changers will be coming to make it easier for all to use moving forward and the TG 8 for each Region will be removed and replaced with a New Set of Fixed TG’s and the TG 10008 to 90008 that is TG 8/1 to 8/9 will be replaced with a all New Set of TG’s you will need to check on the VK-DMR Network Web Site at https://vkdmr.com/

 

Peter Brennan

VK3TE & VK4SPB

DMR status updates as of 3rd January 2023

Status update on changes for VK-DMR and Brand Meister networks  for VK (Australia) region.

Using DMR – VK DMR this is link to VK-DMR Supported TalkGroup listing.

 Note : VK-DMR is still gatewayed to Brandmeister equivalent TG's

VK-DMR  TG's 3801, 3802, 3803, 3804, 3805 & 3807 all on TS2  gateway respectively to

Brandmeister TG's 5051, 5052, 5053, 5054, 5055 & 5057 as respective State TG assignments

IPSC2 Dashboard Index (vkdmr.com)  VK-DMR Repeater dashboard, currently 57 repeaters connected.

IPSC2 Dashboard Index (vkdmr.com) VK-DMR Hotspot dashboard, currently 268 hotspots connected.

Note: VK-DMR now has some gateways into the Fusion Repeater network.

Repeaters | BrandMeister Brandmeister Repeater dashboard, currently only 11 licensed repeaters in VK, being VK2RAY, VK2RCM, VK3RAH, VK3RBA, VK3RHD, VK3RSV, VK3RUT, VK4RDB, VK6RDM, VK6RLM &  VK7RCR

Hotspots | BrandMeister Brandmeister Hotspots dashboard, currently 252 hotspots connected.

LastHeard | BrandMeister Brandmeister dashboard  "Last Heard" list of user activity.

BrandMeister Talkgroup List - pistar.uk this provides the full list of Brandmeister TG's worldwide, for VK refer to 505x and 505xx TG's

That was interesting comparing VK-DMR versus Brandmeister devices in VK (Australia)

57 x VK-DMR repeaters, compared to 11x Brandmeister Repeaters, 

whereas hotspots is pretty similiar with 268 on VK-DMR compared to 252 on Brandmeister.

Keeping in mind the structure and usage is quite different between VK-DMR and Brandmeister  networks. Each network serves a different purpose, don't try and compare one as being better than the other.

VK-DMR is repeater oriented, linking groups of repeaters in various combinations, but with no PTP TG's, whereas Brandmeister is not repeater focused, but has individual repeaters, but primarily is supportive of PTP connections and multi-mode gateways, including digital to analogue.

Improving receiver performance for Pi-Star MMDVM hotspots

 Since on the subject of my Pi-Star MMDVM hotspots, here is a tip for improving  the receiver performance if you running multiple hotspots of even a single hotspot in a high RF  environment.

Remember these MMDVM hotspots and even the other hotspots like OpenSpot have a simple wide-band receiver which can be easily overloaded, one thing I noticed when running my MMDVM in P25 mode was that  I was getting a lot of artifacts on my transmissions from my Motorola handheld when I operated in the same room or nearby rooms to my hotspot, it was much better when I operated from outside my house or other end of the house. First I thought don't use the little attached external antenna, but even when using just the onboard cct board antenna I could still overload the receiver up close  and I also noticed that when my DMR hotspot was transmitting I was getting errors on P25 receiver, even though the two hotspots operate almost 20MHz apart, I had all my hotpots running off the same USB power adaptor and I could get different behaviour by moving them around.

I decided to try some ferrite core clipons on the USB cables,  this was because I realised I could hear the USB power adapter noise getting into my HF receiver and it varied as I moved the hotspot position around, so I added some big clip-on ferrite cores and wrapped the USB cable through the hole a few times and experimented for best and minimum  effect on HF, I cleaned up all the noise. I was not quite sure who was the main culprit, so I added the multi-turned ferrite end of the cable closest to the hotspot. 

Later and purely by accident,  I was playing on P25 and noticed I not getting the errors I was previously getting, as normally I could not run my Motorola handheld in close proximity without getting artifacts on my transmissions, I also noticed the DMR hotspot now not de-sensing the P25 hotspot. This proved the hotspot receiver was picking up RF via the USB power connector, from this I made sure all my hotspots had a either toroid or big chunky ferrite clipon (14mm ID) with several turns of USB cable and fitted as close to the hotspot power connector as possible,  Now I can operate ether either DMR handheld or P25 handheld in reasonably close proximity to the hotspot without interfering (desensing)  with the reception of opposing hotspots. I also added smaller 3.5mm clipon ferrites at the power adaptor end of the USB cables.

It was a win-win situation, I reduced noise affecting my HF receiver radiating from hotspots and USB power adaptor and improvement of receiver performance of my hotspots by reducing receiver desense from other hotspots RF entering via USB power cables and localised RF from handheld transceivers. In terms of the MMDVM boards, if operating in a high RF environment, you are better not to use the external antenna, just use the on-board cct antenna. Only use the external antenna if operating out on low noise floor environment like a farm. Also if you running multiple hotspots, try to separate them from each other, the further the better, remember even with mW transmissions, the signals are still flattening each other's receiver front end at close proximity.

Pi-Star version for MMDVM hotspot as of 8th April, 2022

 Pi-Star version for MMDVM as of  8th April, 2022

I have updated my Pi-Star MMDVM nodes to Pi-Star v4.1.6 and Dashboard 20220401 (1st April 2022),

nothing noticeably different for me, as I just run DMR and P25 on my hotspots.

PI-Star for MMDVM hotspot update

 current versions of Pi-Star for MMVDVM  is  4.1.4 and Dashboard is 20210517

Pi-Star for MMDVM updates

 I built up another two Pi-Star MMDVM's with Single HAT JumboSpots,

I grabbed the latest image file for Raspberry Pi  for version 4.1.4,

I noted the later  Raspberry Pi kernel is 5.10.11+,

comparing that to the last image  which was probably 4.1.2  has kernel 4.19.118+

which I have on my original VK-DMR hotspot,  so I will backup the config

for it and burn the latest 4.1.4  PiStar image onto the SD card.

Also noted latest dashboard as of today (13th Feb 2021) is 201210212

Pi-Star Downloads - pistar.uk