We’re on Brandmeister talk group 3126 statewide Michigan tonight for the DMR Tech Net on Monday, February 5th from 7:30pm ET – 8:30pm ET, with a discussion about the Open Spot 4 hotspot . Tom N8TJ will go over and explain the Open Spot 4 and answer your questions. We’re curious if you use the Open Spot 4 (or a previous version), your opinion of it, and any issues or recommendations you have.

On February 14, 2022, Tom N8TJ and Dana KCØMYP started the DMR Tech Net to explore the many features, advantages, and benefits of DMR. Our first show began at 8:00pm ET and lasted 15 minutes before the Michigan One DMR net started at 8:30pm ET. Since that first show, Stan WB8QJZ joined with his vast experience, followed by new DMR users (and soon to be a bagpiper) Steve KC8WXM, Brian KE8NJT, and Brad KE8WNV. We just added longtime ham, Rick AD8KN (formerly WA3TUU), to the DMR Tech Net team.

Join us as we demystify and have fun with DMR (Digital Mobile Radio)!

The DMR Tech Net team is branching out and starting a new monthly show on Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month from 8pmET-9pm ET.

On Tuesday, February 20, we will be going over upgrading to the WPSD interface for your hotspot.
On March 19, we will have Robert Bretzman K4WZV, one of the founders of the TGIF network, to discuss and answer questions about why TGIF is, in his opinion, the best DMR network/mode to use.
We have extended an invitation to BrandMeister admin Corey Dean N3FE to discuss his network with us and answer your questions on a future Zoom broadcast of the DMR Tech Net.
If you have a topic or issue you would like discussed, let us know.

We’ll share the Zoom login details shortly so stay tuned!

We’re also in communication with Chip Cuccio WØCHP to come back on the DMR Tech Net to explain (and answer the questions you have about) the WPST Pi-star dashboard and the M17 Network. Due to family issues, he’s been unable to join us, but when time permits, we’ll move our weekly topic back so we can hear from him.

You can always chat with the DMR Tech Net team on TGIF talk group 31268, the DMR Tech Net channel!

If you have a comment or a DMR topic idea for the DMR Tech Net, please share it with any of us. Send an email to: steve@dmrtechnet.net, stan@dmrtechnet.net, tom@dmrtechnet.net, dana@dmrtechnet.net, brian@dmrtechnet.net, or brad@dmrtechnet.net. If you want to subscribe to this newsletter, send an email to subscribe@dmrtechnet.net.

Here are the Michigan DMR nets we know about.
Please join in & participate with them.
If you know of other Michigan DMR nets, please let us know.

Saturday:

7:00pm Arrow DMR Net on BrandMeister talk group 3126
7:30pm DMR Trivia Net on TGIF talk group 31268

Sunday:

6:30pm UP Net on BrandMeister talk group 31268

Monday:

7:30pm DMR Tech Net on BrandMeister talk group 3126
8:30pm Michigan One DMR Net on BrandMeister talk group 3126

The DMR Tech Net team is helping Dustin N8RMA with NCS duties on the Michigan One DMR net on Monday nights. If you would like to join in our schedule of Net Control Station operators, send an email to dana@dmrtechnet.net. Here’s the upcoming list of substitute NCS’:

Feb 5 Steve KC8WXM
Feb 12 Rick AD8KN
Feb 19 Brad KE8WNV
Feb 26 Allan KD8VJD, Ron AC2UL, and/or Bob KB8DQQ
Mar 4 Steve KC8WXM
Mar 11 Brad KE8WNV
Mar 18 Dustin N8RMA
Mar 25 Tom N8TJ
Apr 1 Randy N8YUI, Steve KC8WXM, & hopefully Dustin N8RMA for the Michigan One DMR net’s 5^th anniversary show!

Introducing the openSPOT4

openSPOT4 Pro

The openSPOT4 Pro is our latest battery powered, portable, standalone digital radio internet gateway (hotspot) designed mainly for amateur radio use. You can talk with others on digital radio networks by using an openSPOT4 Pro, Wi-Fi internet access, and your digital transceiver.

Our team has completely redesigned both the hardware and software, with a multicore CPU and a completely new Wi-Fi module, which means both the web interface and update downloads are blazing fast. The built-in battery has a larger capacity, and the device can work much longer than our previous battery-powered models thanks to the new hardware and optimized software.

The openSPOT4 Pro extends the feature set of the openSPOT4 with onboard transcoding hardware:

The openSPOT4 Pro has the best voice quality in cross mode operation

You don’t need a transceiver for the Pro! Use the free SharkRF Link app on your computer or phone to talk.

Supports D-STAR® cross modes: use your D-STAR® transceiver to access DMR, C4FM, NXDN® networks, or your DMR, C4FM, NXDN® transceiver to access D-STAR® networks

Supports call audio playback on the web interface

Supports 10 configuration profiles

openSPOT4

Note before purchase: both the openSPOT4 and openSPOT4 Pro can do cross modes, however, D-STAR® cross mode operation requires the Pro version of the openSPOT4, which you can purchase below. Read more about this here. Transceiver functionality of the SharkRF Link app can only be used with the Pro version.

The openSPOT4 is our latest battery powered, portable, standalone digital radio internet gateway (hotspot) designed mainly for amateur radio use. You can talk with others on digital radio networks by using an openSPOT4, Wi-Fi internet access, and your digital transceiver.

Compatible digital radio protocols and networks

DMR (BrandMeister, DMRplus, DMR-MARC, Phoenix, XLX, TGIF and others)

D-STAR® (DCS, REF/DPlus, XRF/DExtra, XLX)

System Fusion®/C4FM (FCS, YSFReflector, XLX)

NXDN® (NXDNReflector)

P25 (P25Reflector)

POCSAG (DAPNET)

APRS® messaging and location data forwarding (APRS-IS)

Supports cross modes* (example: talk with your D-STAR® transceiver on DMR, and with your DMR transceiver on D-STAR® networks).

See the product specifications here.

Beer and transceiver are not included in the box.

Key features

Built-in Li-ion battery with up to 30 hours of operation**

Built-in transcoding hardware* for the best voice quality in cross mode operation

Built-in Wi-Fi and radio antenna

Built-in beeper with audible status tones

Free SharkRF Link app for computers and phones for easy web interface access. You can use the app as a transceiver with the Pro version!

Web-based easy and fast Quick Setup

Call audio playback on the web interface*

No additional hardware required, works out of the box without a computer

USB-C charge cable included in the box

Use even in your vehicle with extreme fast bootup and USB power supply tolerance

User manual available online

2 year warranty*** with official support in email / community forum

Web interface for configuration and monitoring

Create your own private radio network using our open source server application

* Hardware transcoding and call audio playback on the web interface is only available in the openSPOT4 Pro. The list of openSPOT4 and openSPOT4 Pro cross modes can be found here.
** The length of the battery discharge time is affected by the device’s operation mode (transmitting or receiving, or cross mode is used), traffic on the connected Wi-Fi network (even if the traffic is not to/from the openSPOT4), Wi-Fi signal quality, web interface is opened.
*** The battery and the USB-C charger cable have only one year long warranty period (70% battery end of warranty capacity).

Available spare parts

Battery Replacement Kit (instructions)

Please kindly note that the Battery Replacement Kit is non-returnable. Replacing the battery has to be done in an ESD safe environment with professional equipment.

https://www.sharkrf.com/products/openspot4/

SharkRF Link app

Besides the sharkrf.link webpage, we’ve released a downloadable and free SharkRF Link app which lets you open the management web interface of your SharkRF devices based on their UIDs, and you can also use the app as a transceiver (see supported SharkRF devices and download links on the product page).

https://www.sharkrf.com/2022/11/19/sharkrf-link-app/

Reviews For: SharkRF OpenSpot IV pro

Category: Interfaces, Radio to computer, amp, rotor, coax switch, internet

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Review Summary For : SharkRF OpenSpot IV pro
	Reviews: 9	MSRP: $319 + shipping
	Description: Multimode transcoding hotspot
	Product is in production
More Info: https://www.sharkrf.com/products/openspot4/
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
2	5	9	4.6

WD1V

Rating:

2023-09-17

XMIT with No Radio

Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.

SharkRF OpenSpot IV pro lets you use your computer, tablet, or phone for Voice over IP to enable DMR, D-Star, Fusion, etc. with no radio. Check their web page to download free app.

https://www.sharkrf.com/products/openspot4/

AB9PM

Rating:

2023-08-07

Great item

Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

I have the Open Spot 4, not the Pro version. Out of the box I found it very easy to use, and program. It is a common sense menu for whatever reflector you wish to join. I use the YSF reflectors.

My main purpose was to use this in the car with my phone, so that when repeaters went quiet I had another option to listen to, and make contacts. It covers all areas of my 1.2 acres with full quieting sitting on my desk, and in the car it is great, no connection issues. I like using the Open Spot so much, I pulled my Wires-X cable out of the radio, and use nothing but the Open Spot.

The only issue I had was handing off the home WIFI and going to the cell phone WIFI. After watching a You Tube video, they suggested using the same name and password as your home WIFI on the phone, and it then works seamlessly. Another person suggested resetting the Open Spot after leaving home, but I am traveling in the car and don’t like to fiddle with some device while I am already on a state Hi-way.

Having it switch seamlessly is just the greatest thing. I can have the menu for the Open Spot sitting on my phone’s internet page quite easily.

I now have two sitting on my desk, one on one frequency for YSF reflectors, and one on Brandmeister DMR on another frequency. I have my radios programmed to scan between them looking for the next contact. I have them set to transmit at 5 milliwatts, as it was covering my entire village, and the cow pastures around it for quite a distance.

Great device, will there be another openspot 4 in my future?????

K4GTE	Rating:	2023-04-03
Outstanding Hotspot			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Outstanding unit, easy to configure. As others have stated, if you’re having issues with it, it’s most likely your wifi/internet connection.

WM4RB	Rating:	2023-04-03
Love mine			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
No problems at all. Easy setup.

KO4XJ	Rating:	2022-11-29
Works GREAT!			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After using a few Zumspot for several years I decided to purchase the OS4 PRO and while it’s cost is an investment, so is most ham gear, I’ve decided it was well worth the investment. My use is different than maybe others. I work nights and carry my HT (ID51+2) and it’s nice to carry the OS4 without even noticing the weight. As far as setting up, it’s a breeze and after learning the setup, changing reflectors and profiles is a snap. Speaking of speed, it boots up and connects before you know it. All the cross mode audio reports have been very good. If I wanted to criticize something, I would like a better dashboard, more towards the pi-star layout. Buy the SHARKRF dashboard works like it’s suppose too. Great product.

KQ4EGC	Rating:	2022-11-28
Easy to use, hassle free, great compatibility			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was able to setup the device in minutes super easily and jump onto Yaesu YSF Reflectors with ease on both my ICOM ID-52A and my Yaesu FT5D. Both the iPhone app, SharkRF Link, and web interface both worked well and look great. The interfaces offer loads of options and configurations for fine tuning your experience while also keeping things super simple to just plug in with power, set up, select a digital room, and go. I am super pleased with my purchase and would definitely recommend these devices.

W9AC	Rating:	2022-11-14
Upgraded From SharkRF OpenSpot 2			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having owned an OpenSPOT 2, network setup was very easy. Audio quality is much improved with the OpenSPOT 4 Pro. That in and of itself was worth the upgrade price.

W4HTP

Rating:

2022-11-13

Pro 4 works good, but support lacking

Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

I have owned an OpenSpot since 2016. It still works just fine. I was interested in updating because of the OpenSpot Pro 4 Wifi, internal battery and cross-mode with several DV modes inc. D-Star. I just felt like my OS from 2016 was a bit dated. The OpenSpot 4 Pro was on sale, so I jumped on it. The delivery was amazing – ordered on Sunday, it shipped from Estonia on Monday and I had it by 4 PM on Tuesday – yes, the next day!

I was familiar, so setup was a breeze. I worked through some of the new features and created 6 profiles that are switchable from the radio. All was well. I was very happy; even though the battery life is nowhere near advertised. You’ll get maybe 10% of the advertised battery life if actually in-use. 30 hours – fat chance.

Recently an app was released called SharkRF Link. I installed it on my Android phone and PC. The ability of the app to function as a transceiver was enticing. However, there were connection issues. I wrote support and was told to turn on Beta updates. That fixed the app connection issue, but created a problem with the profiles causing a boot-loop. Pro tip – Always turn on the feature to boot to Profile #1 and keep that profile very clean as a failsafe.

I wrote support again and they couldn’t duplicate the boot-loop problem. The correspondences from SharkRF are minimalist – very lacking in detail or even friendliness. They then told me to use the recovery app to get back to the Stable version. Well, that caused a bigger problem in that all the profiles I had backed up would not restore because they were created in the Beta – I had to re-created all my profiles and now the Brandmeister API would not work and still doesn’t. Support showed no care for the cascading problems or still unresolved BM API issue.

Ultimately, support wrote to tell me they analyzed my Profiles, found the bug and suggested I install another Beta v30. Really? I want a reliable, stable device. They know in detail the problems and wasted time their v29 Beta caused. They didn’t apologize or show any sympathy for the troubles or that the BM API still won’t work – they tell me to install Beta v30. Pfft

In conclusion, the OpenSpot 4 Pro works great if there are no issues. If you have issues, don’t have high hopes for personable service from SharkRF or that they will resolve ALL the problems caused by their advice. Buy the OpenSpot with your fingers crossed. If all goes well, you will love it. YMMV

K7NG

Rating:

2022-09-12

Pricey, but I’m learning it’s probably worth it.

Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.

I had a very nice hotspot that worked fine except for a few idiot-syncrasies, but it would no longer update Pi-Star (Chinese clone Pi-less-than-Zero inside). I was away from radio & hotspots for about a year and the market had changed… I got an OpenSpot 4 Pro for a variety of reasons.
There is a learning curve to getting an OpenSpot() up and running the first time. However pretty soon the way it worked started making sense and I found it was not only fairly easy to work with but gave me a sense that the designers had thought of almost everything.I was a little put off by the fact that there is no provision for an external antenna (neither radio nor WiFi) but I can go anywhere in the house with the hotspot tx power turned down to a milliwatt, no trouble. I guess it didn’t need that external antenna after all. Same thing with wi-fi, anywhere in the house and the wi-fi throughput stays right up there.Once I got my mind right as far as the SharkRF software goes, I found (so far) that the OpenSpot is easier to deal with than the PiStar hotspot I’d had before. (That’s right folks, this is NOT running on PiStar).It’s designed to run off an internal battery or powered from a supplied USB-C cable. The internal battery lasts a good long while with the tx power at 1 mW and the indicator light down to 1/2 brightness. All interfacing with the unit is via the HTML application for your PC. The application will tell you if a firmware upgrade is lurking.

It does lots of digital modes, more than I have any interest or intent of using.

I got the OpenSpot 4 Pro for a few extra dollars because I have specific needs that are addressed by the Pro version but not by the standard model. Probably most people could go with the standard version.

openSPOT4 and openSPOT4 Pro user manual

This user manual is for the stable firmware version v55. It’s updated with new information when a new stable firmware is released.

The PDF version is available here, however we recommend using the online manual, as it gets updated when a new stable firmware is released.

Company names and products in this manual are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective company.

D-STAR® is a registered trademark of Icom Inc.
System Fusion® is a registered trademark of Yaesu Musen Co., Ltd.
NXDN® is a registered trademark of JVC Kenwood Corp. and Icom Inc.
APRS® is a registered trademark Bob Bruninga, WB4APR
MMDVM® is a registered trademark of Shenzhen HKCNMA Co., Ltd.
iPhone® is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc.

Support information

The openSPOT4 is designed to be very simple to use, but if you have questions, feel free to ask them in email. You can also seek help in our community forum.

Please note that we don’t have official support on other platforms like Facebook.

Package contents

The openSPOT4 package contains a USB cable for charging its battery. You will need a web browser on a computer, tablet or mobile phone for setting up the openSPOT4 through its web interface, but after that, the device can work standalone.

https://manuals.sharkrf.com/openspot4/en/

Topics for future DMR Tech Nets:

Go back over the Digimon feature to explain what it is, how and why to use it.
Private calling on your DMR radio. How to set it up on your equipment.
What’s involved with being a NCS (Net Control Station)?
Do you contribute to the DMR networks/modes you utilize? Why or why not?
Firmware and software radio updates.
Hot Keys. What are they, why use them, and how to set them up.
DMR tips. Like what Steve KC8WXM mentioned to better (and faster) utilize DMR features.
Adding or changing DMR channels via keypad programming.
How to update your DMR digital contacts via https://radioid.net/
Asking check-ins what they know now that they didn’t know when they started with DMR that would be helpful to other beginners (Elmering).
A timeline to get started of essential things to do with DMR and why.
Which DMR radio do you use the most & why?
Proper DMR practices & procedures to use on-air.
DMR text messaging
Advanced features of the Anytone 878 handheld and 578 mobile radio.
Going over the different DMR networks (Brandmeister, TGIF, M17, DMR+, YSF, etc).
Useful radio accessories to use with your DMR equipment.
Unique names used instead of the amateur radio alpha codes.
Antennas for handheld, mobile, and home radios.
Logging software.
QSL cards Do you send them out?
Repeaters, hotspots, or both? Which do you use and why?
WPSD hotspot dashboard.
APRS & GPS setup and usage.
Custom call signs.
What are your predictions for the DMR world in 2024?
What networks and talk groups do you use, and why?
What features do you wish your DMR radio had?

https://dmrtechnet.net/