Just Sharing This Dual Band DMR ham radio

John

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Myself and another licenced local ham have just bought the Retevis RT3S dual band handheld as our first venture into digital Tx/Rx and have to say what a great bit of kit it is for the price. Quite a steep learning curve re: programming and channel use but looks like it's going to be interesting.
Any others out there gone the digital route lately
 

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Got a link?

Not been active for years, but it keeps crossing my mind to get going again.
 

John

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Lazarus

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[Yorkshire]Affordable price![/Yorkshire] :D
 

Channel Hopper

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Lazarus

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John

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I'm a bit out of touch, but I'd imagine all you need for these is a Novice Licence.



Same here, i need a refresher course on how the licence & callsign system work these days.

**- If any other hams are reading this - we are in need of a current Code Plug for the Retevis RT3s DMR for the Midlands or North Notts area if anybody can oblige please.
 

PaulR

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Same here, i need a refresher course on how the licence & callsign system work these days.
There are currently three levels: Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced. Each of these levels has a different prefix to identify the level: M6---, 2x0--- and M0---. The first two levels are gained by attending courses and taking a small exam at the end which is marked by the course tutor.

The Advanced is slightly different; you don't have to attend a course (but it helps!) and then there is an externally marked exam at the end which can now be taken either on-line or traditionally using a paper mark sheet. If you take it on-line then you will know your result almost immediately but paper based ones are posted off and you learn the result a week or two later.

One thing that surprised me was that when you go through the levels is that you can actually keep your previous callsigns and, presumably, use them if you want to. I find it hard to think of a reason to do so but there you go. Quite different from oh-so-many years ago when I passed my morse test and gained my Class A licence. My old Class B went into limbo somewhere and, when my wife recently passed the Advanced licence test, found that it wasn't available for her to take over so he had to apply for a "normal" M0.

All licences are for life now with no fee to pay BUT you have to validate them every five years or less. This can be done on-line or, if you must, by telephone. Ofcom are quite helpful on the phone it has to be said.

If any other hams are reading this - we are in need of a current Code Plug for the Retevis RT3s DMR for the Midlands or North Notts area if anybody can oblige please.
There are but I have absolutely no idea!
 

Channel Hopper

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I had a look on the RSGB site earlier, which directed me to the Ofcom registration page, but the info really isn’t clear on costings/exam requirements. It did however confirm that the local amateur group (not that one) is based in Surbiton and handles the test paper marking.

They meet this Wednesday and whilst I am not a paying member I donate kit to them in exchange for sitting in at the odd monthly sessions when I am in the area.

I’ll ask the pertinent questions if I can get there.
 

PaulR

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To expand slightly on my last post (and keeping it off-topic!) my wife passed her Foundation level some 7 years ago and her Intermediate level a year later. She has tried a few times since then to get her Advanced. Several times using the Bath distance learning course and then, most recently, a weekly course organised by a club nearly 40 miles away from us. There are quite a few clubs which organise Foundation and Intermediate courses (including ours) but many fewer that can offer the Advanced level.

I have to say that we struck lucky with this course. We tried another one a similar distance away in a different direction but didn't take to it. The one we tried next (which we ended up attending) was much better as we didn't have to share the room with kids, families and other passing bodies. The subjects were also explained better with discussion rather than simple reading through.

I originally started by just driving my wife there the first couple of times so she would know where the place was but I found that I was enjoying being there and hearing what an amateur is expected to know nowadays and so ended up attending nearly all the course as well. They were a friendly bunch (my wife enjoyed the company as well) and it was interesting to see if I still deserved my licence by taking the same tests as the tutees at the end of each evening. I'm pleased to say that I still do. I did learn a lot that wasn't tested in my day, in fact wasn't even around in my day!

My wife was really worried about taking the exam and was convinced she would fail and she was really pleased when she found out she had passed. The one fly in the ointment was that the callsign she wanted (when she found she couldn't get my old one) wasn't available. Both her M6 and 2E0 callsigns used her initials and someone else had already taken the M0 equivalent (how dare they!) but we eventually found a variant that she was happy with. I'm very proud of her doing this. The jump in the level of difficulty between the Intermediate and Advanced is very much greater than the jump between Foundation and Intermediate. It hasn't been easy for her.
 

Lazarus

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^^^^^

I take it that the top-tier Licence has long since dispensed with any requirement to demonstrate aptitude in Morse?
 

PaulR

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Correct.

I think that the foundation level still has to show knowledge of Morse without actually memorising anything. That may have gone by now though.

FWIW the Advanced level syllabus is undergoing a full review with some items being withdrawn and newer items (e.g. SDR receivers and transmitters) being added in. It'll be another couple of years before it gets out of the consultation stage though.
 
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