Brian Reay wrote:
I don't have an axe to grind here, I'm not in the business nor pro or
anti either DSTAR or DMR (I do have a DMR radio). I'm just trying to
understand where things are going.

Me neither. I am not QRV on any of the digital voice modes, as I consider
the voice quality of the typical codecs too low.

However, when looking at the state of the network here it is clear that
the initial deployment was on D-Star but it has largely been overtaken
by DMR. Especially now that free software is available to run the network
and there is no dependence on MARC and its policies anymore.

Fusion is a failure. Yaesu has failed to provide usable firmware for
the first repeater, and "to fix that" they have released new hardware,
essentially leaving those that bought the original kit in the cold.

As a result, people are now ripping out the controller hardware and
converting them to plain voice repeaters using a working controller.

On 19/02/2017 01:29, Rob wrote:
Brian Reay wrote:
I don't have an axe to grind here, I'm not in the business nor pro or
anti either DSTAR or DMR (I do have a DMR radio). I'm just trying to
understand where things are going.

Me neither. I am not QRV on any of the digital voice modes, as I consider
the voice quality of the typical codecs too low.

I resisted for some time but decided to try DMR. I did try DStar using
other people's radios and have never been impressed.


However, when looking at the state of the network here it is clear that
the initial deployment was on D-Star but it has largely been overtaken
by DMR. Especially now that free software is available to run the network
and there is no dependence on MARC and its policies anymore.

I would say DMR will 'win' here, mainly due to price I suspect.


Fusion is a failure. Yaesu has failed to provide usable firmware for
the first repeater, and "to fix that" they have released new hardware,
essentially leaving those that bought the original kit in the cold.

We have some Fusion boxes but it seems like madness for Yaesu to go for
another system.



As a result, people are now ripping out the controller hardware and
converting them to plain voice repeaters using a working controller.


If you mean analogue, I've not heard of that here.

73
Brian
G8OSN/W8OSN

Brian Reay wrote:
Fusion is a failure. Yaesu has failed to provide usable firmware for
the first repeater, and "to fix that" they have released new hardware,
essentially leaving those that bought the original kit in the cold.

We have some Fusion boxes but it seems like madness for Yaesu to go for
another system.

Sure, but what really nailed is is their failure to implement it.
The repeater firmware and associated network application sucks, updates
have been promised for a long time and every time they were postponed,
and finally a new repeater appeared to solve the problem.
Most people here feel that they were lured into buying a cheap repeater,
understanding that Yaesu did this to promote sales of mobiles and portables,
and not knowing that they only did this to dump unusable hardware before
releasing a new type.

As a result, people are now ripping out the controller hardware and
converting them to plain voice repeaters using a working controller.


If you mean analogue, I've not heard of that here.

Usually analogue, but I have seen a tweet about multimode use as
well (MMDVM).

https://twitter.com/KC2VRJ

On 20/02/2017 16:26, Rob wrote:
Brian Reay wrote:
Fusion is a failure. Yaesu has failed to provide usable firmware for
the first repeater, and "to fix that" they have released new hardware,
essentially leaving those that bought the original kit in the cold.

We have some Fusion boxes but it seems like madness for Yaesu to go for
another system.

Sure, but what really nailed is is their failure to implement it.
The repeater firmware and associated network application sucks, updates
have been promised for a long time and every time they were postponed,
and finally a new repeater appeared to solve the problem.
Most people here feel that they were lured into buying a cheap repeater,
understanding that Yaesu did this to promote sales of mobiles and portables,
and not knowing that they only did this to dump unusable hardware before
releasing a new type.

I wasn't aware of that, I confess to not following the progress of
Fusion, or lack of it, in detail.


As a result, people are now ripping out the controller hardware and
converting them to plain voice repeaters using a working controller.


If you mean analogue, I've not heard of that here.

Usually analogue, but I have seen a tweet about multimode use as
well (MMDVM).

https://twitter.com/KC2VRJ



Interesting.



73
Brian