A recent project I started on, was upgrading/replacing my DMR hotspot.
I bought a cheap pre-built one on Amazon several years ago and it finally reached a point where new updates of WPSD, (“a next-generation digital voice software suite & distribution for amateur radio use, enjoyed by many thousands of hams around the globe”) were not supported anymore. WPSD is an alternative to “pi-star.” WPSD and pi-star, are basically open source software that allows you to interface with a Raspberry Pi connected to a MMDVM board, and communicate with the world via various digital modes.
For my project, I bought a new Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (4 GB), and an Aursinc MMDVM Duplex Hotspot Module Dual “hat” for it, along with a new USB-C charging system. Connecting all the parts together was pretty straight forward. The MMDVM sits on top of the Raspberry Pi, by connecting to the GPIO pins. It was pretty much plug and play, hardware-wise. I probably spent more time on installing and setting up the software.
These are the parts I went with for my new hotspot:
- Amazon.com: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (4GB) : Electronics
- Amazon.com: AURSINC MMDVM Duplex Hotspot Module Dual Hat V1.5.2 with 0.96 OLED Display Support P25 DMR YSF NXDN DMR Slot 1 + Slot 2 for Raspberry Pi, Pi Zero (with OLED)
- Amazon.com : Raspberry Pi 15W USB-C Power Supply US - Black : Electronics
I also used a 128 GB MicroSD card I had laying around for disk space. I formatted it with WPSD (the Debian 13 “trixie” version). I had to configure all my settings again, like my DMR ID and my call sign again. It wasn’t too bad. Thankfully, I backed up my settings on my other hotspot via the web interface for WPSD before shutting it down.
But, it seems to be working well now! I’ve been able to get the newer version of WPSD (Debian 13 “trixie” based) running on it successfully. The nice thing about it being a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, is that it has a built in ethernet port. So, I can hard wire it into my home network for better performance than relying on Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi would work, but it could cause additional latency to the networks I want to connect with.
Personally, I use the “cross repeater” function on my hotspot. I set up my DMR hotspot to communicate via DMR between my AnyTone 878 UVII Plus radio and the hotspot, and then use the “DMR2NXDN” on the hotspot to connect to an NXDN instance. I tend to listen and talk on the Pride Radio Group digital network. They have a network of Allstar, DMR, D-Star, IRLP, M17, NXDN, P25, and System Fusion, all connected together. It’s really impressive. They are mostly based out of Australia but they have some hubs/connection-points in the U.S. too.
73, K8VSY
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