Ribbit Digital Text VHF/UHF Ham Radio Tactical Communications

[Tom VA3TS]

[Rob_Walker]

Thanks for the post Tom.

Although I am not solid on DRM, I see its benefits in emergencies.  But what if the repeaters are down or our hotspots at home that rely on the Internet are down? Without power we are pooched.  I guess it's all a matter of trying to minimize the deficiencies in our emergency systems.

I picked up an interesting Cellular/HF/DMR HT a while back to share with you.  I haven't played with it a lot while my mouth is recovering from surgery.

RFinbder B1+

The HT requires no codeplugs which is one of the biggest obstacles to getting into DMR.  A codeplug is a set of instruction you compile and sent to your device that tells you where everything is (talk groups) and how to get there by local hot spot or digital repeater.  GBARC does not have a digital repeater..  Unlike the Anytone HT, you do not have to program all the repeaters and Talk Groups (TG) into this.  If you want to get onto DMR and talk to a local DMR TG, across the world, or local, it can all be done with this one unit.

The selling feature on this HT is it will do DMR across the cellular network.  If you have digital repeaters in your area it will work with those.  If you have a hotspot at home, it will also work with them.  If you are on the road and no digital repeaters are in your area, it will do DMR using cellular.  As a matter of fact, it also serves as a cellular phone.  I noticed driving from Owen Sound to Waterloo, there were many areas without DMR communication.

You can use Echo Link from this as well {attachment=266].  There is an up to date repeater list based on your GPS location.  If you want to broadcast your location, it will do APRS.  It is quite an interesting device

[Rob_Walker]

I have another two 2 cents I wanted to add.  DRM is the most rapidly expanding digital network over Fusion or TGIF.  If you are in remote areas in Grey and Bruce counties where people can't hit repeaters, DRM is the next obvious choice outside of cell phones.

I also think (personally), the idea of emergency preparedness in North America is a bit of a joke.  I do not think amateur radio should be absolving ourselves in the name of community service for emergency preparedness.  This may have worked in Turkey, but at the club level we should be concentrating on interests that motivate us at a local level.

[Tom VA3TS]

I guess the thing that caught my eye is the price point, something all hams can get on board with . Most have a handheld and almost all have a cell phone, even an old one from the junk-box might work, together a cost effective option. It looks like something called a remote server is needed, price on that and how to hooks it to the repeater I don't know.

[Richard VE3OZW]

I like it but unfortunately only available for Android phones but they have a beta for iOS.  Once it comes out, I will try it out.  It would work on the repeater the same as simplex.  It is just a burst of data that should transition the same through the repeater and be picked up on the other side.  When it comes out for iOS, we will give it a try through the repeater.

[VE3WI Dave]

A presentation on Ribbit by W4CKX is listed on the schedule for the 25-26 March Virtual Ham Expo.  It's probably the same talk as the RATPAC talk Tom posted, so maybe no need to spend the $15US :-)

73
Dave, VE3WI

[Rob_Walker]

The nice thing about it is if there are no repeaters around, it will automatically use the cellular network.

Concerning the cost, yes pricy and something I would not swing for unless I was a die-hard DRM user.  However, there are lots of good deals around the $800 range.

[Rob_Walker]

A presentation on Ribbit by W4CKX is listed on the schedule for the 25-26 March Virtual Ham Expo.  It's probably the same talk as the RATPAC talk Tom posted, so maybe no need to spend the $15US :-)

73
Dave, VE3WI

My understanding with the Ribbit network, you have to have a local Ribbit server (Raspberry Pi) installed on your local repeater (internet required) for retrieval of stored and synchronized text messages across the Ribbit network.  Your cell phone will get the text message out through the cell network, and I believe you can receive a text message across cellular, but it gets trickier when you want to sync data or retrieve archive messages.

73 Rob

[Rob_Walker]

I guess the thing that caught my eye is the price point, something all hams can get on board with . Most have a handheld and almost all have a cell phone, even an old one from the junk-box might work, together a cost effective option. It looks like something called a remote server is needed, price on that and how to hooks it to the repeater I don't know.

Yes and no, we all have cells and HTs.  Just a reminder, I'm not a DMR junkie so I'm only open to exploring.  There are big talk groups (TG) like World Wide and North America as well as TGs for Canada.  They become a very busy and a concentrated part of the hobby.  I don't do a lot of talking these days but it is interesting to listen to people from around the world or around North America.