Monitoring DMR without a DMR Radio (for free)

I recently purchased myself a Radioddity DB25-D radio – primarily for it’s built-in GPS and APRS features – but it also supports DMR. I was not planning to use this, but I ended up visiting the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club HQ and there was Brian K6BPM who planted a seed and got me investigating DMR.

Fortunately with DMR, a majority of the “hotspots” or DMR repeaters are also internet-connected and acts as gateways for transmissions. My local repeater happens to support the BrandMeister Network. The BrandMeister Network provides a webapp calls Hoseline which allows you to monitor DMR talkgroups using a web browser (for free!)

If you explore the Brandmeister Hoseline Application and want to listen to a very active talk group, I recommend the Talk group 91 “World-wide”. It should only take a minute or two at any time of day and you should hear someone talking or attempting to make contact on 91 World-wide. You can find a full list of Talk Groups on the Brandmeister Network website.

There are plenty of other less active, and more specialized talk groups for regions, and clubs as well as individuals. Monitoring these talk groups using readily available equipment and the Hoseline application is a great way to get started with DMR. I want to eventually explore using my Radioddity DB25-D radio to transmit on APRS over DMR, but for now I’m mostly just listening…