Post : The Cacophony of Digital Voice Continues (Part 1)
URL : http://www.k0nr.com/wordpress/2016/1...tinues-part-1/
Posted : October 22, 2016 at 2:20 pm
Author : Bob K0NR
Categories : DMR

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It wasn't that long ago that I commented on the state of digital voice on the
VHF/UHF ham bands: Digital Voice Balkanization (
http://www.k0nr.com/wordpress/2015/1...balkanization/ ) . We
have three main competing (incompatible) standards in the running: D-STAR (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-STAR ) , DMR (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_mobile_radio ) and Yaesu System Fusion
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Fusion%E2%84%A2 ) (YSF). At a high
level, these three formats all do the same thing but there are significant
differences in implementation (See Comparison of Amateur Radio DV (
http://www.charlottedstar.org/Compar...Radio%20DV.pdf ) by
Roland Kraatz W9HPX.) All three of these are (arguably) open standards,
allowing anyone to implement equipment that supports the standard. However,
the reality is that D-STAR is still largely an ICOM system (with Kenwood
joining the party ( http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/4074.html ) ),
YSF is mostly a Yaesu system and DMR is...well, DMR is not deeply embraced by
any large amateur radio equipment supplier. Instead, DMR is promoted heavily
by Motorola for the commercial market via their MOTOTRBO (
http://www.motorolasolutions.com/en_.../mototrbo.html
) product line. Another big factor is the availability of DMR radios from
some of the low cost providers in the ham market: Connect Systems (
http://connectsystems.com/amateur.html ) , Tytera MD-380 (
http://www.buytwowayradios.com/produ...d-380-vhf.aspx ) . Baofeng
has also announced a DMR radio but it has some potential shortcomings (
http://www.va3xpr.net/baofeng-dm-5r-...and-dmr-radio/ ) .

D-STAR has a clear head start versus the other DV standards and is
well-entrenched across the US and around the world. DMR and YSF are the late
comers that are quickly catching up. To put some numbers on the adoption of
DV technology, I took at the digital repeater listings in the August issue of
the SERA ( http://www.sera.org ) Repeater Journal. SERA is the coordinating
body for Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. This is a large region that includes
rural and large urban areas, so perhaps it is a good proxy for the rest of
the country. I just considered the listings for D-STAR, DMR and YSF
repeaters, some of which are set up as mixed-mode analog and digital
repeaters.
D-STAR 161 39%
DMR 136 33%
YSF 121 29%
Total: 418 100%
SERA Repeater Journal - August 2016
I was definitely surprised at how the DMR and YSF numbers are in the ballpark
with D-STAR. Of course, we don't know for sure how many of these repeaters
are actually on the air or how many users are active on each one. Still,
pretty impressive numbers. (And I did not bother to count the analog FM
repeaters but those numbers are way higher, of course.)

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