Introduction to the MMDVM Hotspot

A ham radio digital hotspot consists of a raspberry pi and a hat the connects to the GPIO pins called the MMVDM "Multi Mode Digital Voice Modem" as in DMR, YSF, P-25, NXDN ect
It's connection to the Internet can be either WiFi or network cable such as a CAT-6, powered by a raspberry pi power supply and encased in either a custom built case 3d printed or an acrylic case made by C4Labs. You can buy the parts and build your own with a ton of choices on Amazon or eBay There are some prefabricated hotspots out there but they usually come at an inflated cost, there is however a small business that sells them at a fair price CQ Radios Simo is a good guy with excellent products.

After building or buying a hotspot you'll need to configure it, if you buy from a vendor they may set it up for prior to shipping but if not you will have to do it, You will need a good quality mirco SD card with at least 4GB up to 32GB is okay. You will need to download the pi-star os and write it to the SD card using Balena Etcher or other image witting software.
Once you have the image loaded onto the SD card you can also drop a WPA file with you WiFi SSID and PSK using the pi-star WiFi builder so when the device boots up for the first time it will auto connect to your home network.

Booting up the hotspot for the first time you will first need to get pass the connecting to wireless networks, if for some reason that fails you can connect your wireless device directly to the hotspot using the AP "Auto Access Point" where the hotspot sends out it's own SSID "pi-star" address bar, type either http://pi-star or http://192.168.50.1 then configure the WiFi credentials and reboot the device. Note: It will take awhile depending on the device you may have to wait for it to connect.

Once you're logged into the device the first step after configuring the wireless connection is to change the default user name and password from pi-star / raspberry to something you'll remember, it doesn't have to be super encrypted secret squirrel just something simple that you can remember.

Now the fun part configuring your device.

MMDVMHost Configuration

Select Simplex or Duplex

Select the mode DMR / D-Star / P-25 ect.

MMDVM Display Type: if LED screen is an option usually OLED 2 or 3

General Configuration

Host name: default is pi-star do not use .local in the name if you want to change I recommend leaving this alone

Node Call sign: Your call or it will not work

CCS7/DMR ID: your DMR user ID you got from Radio,net

Radio Frequency: (438.800) is default and usually ok (434.000 or 439.000) are both good choice avoid 446.550 it's over populated

Latitude: & Longitude: to show your location

Town: & Country:

Your DMR network access password called a "Hot Spot Password" set with your DMR network account like BrandNiester or TGIF ect.

Your preferred hotspot frequencies (438.800) is default and usually ok (434.000 or 439.000) are both good choice for duplex or simplex avoid 446.550 it's over populated

URL: usually your QRZ page use this https://www.qrz.com/db/your call

Radio/Modem Type: usually "STM32-DVM MMDVM_HS -Raspberry Pi Hat (GPIO)

Node Type: either public or private if you want to share access to your hotspot you would select public but the need to add the DMR user ID's that have access after selecting public a new box underneath will allow you to add multiple users

APRS Host Enable: Your device will send out APRS data for your hotspot it will appear on APRS.fi maps

APRS Host: if you live in North America use noam.aprs2.net

System Time Zone: set to your time zone so the dashboard shows the logs in your time

Dashboard Language: defaults to UK English and that's fine

DMR Configuration

DMR Master: You have some options you can select a BrandMeister server close to you or you could select "DMR Gateway" which will allow you to add additional network like TGIF set using the expert advance configuration settings more about that later

Hotspot Security: your DMR network access password aka hotspot password

DMR ESSID: Your CCS7/DMR ID: your DMR user ID you got from Radio,net

DMR Color Code: Pick a color code for your device

DMR EmbeddedLCOnly: Leave off unless you run into performance issues

DMR DumpTAData: Turn on to send GPR / APRS data

Mobile GPS Configuration

MobileGPS Enable: Turn on to support APRS data from the device not your radio

GPS Port: Leave it alone

GPS Port Speed: Default 48000 is fine

Wireless Configuration

Here you can refresh / reset / configure your wireless setting including do a scan to search for your home network SSDI

Auto AP SSID: do not mess with this

Remote Access Password: here you need to change from the default login pi-star password from raspberry to something new this is a new requirement from pi-star and DMR

Note: after you have successfully connect the device to your home network turn off auto ap as it ois an unsecured access point people can use to infiltrate your network

If you run into issues use my MMDVM Troubleshooting Check List to find a solution

If you want to run more than 1 DMR network enable DMR Gateway and add this script

Screen shots

As a side hustle I configure MMDVM pi-star hotspot as well for usually around $50, I can make you a complete plug and play without the expensive chargers
that you will pay Bridgecom $80 per hour or others.

What's included?
The following applies to DMR radios made for ham use and MMDVM pi-star devices only
    • Personal one on one instruction
    • Get you registered with RadioID.net to obtain your DMR user ID, or get the old one validated so you can use BrandMeister
    • Multiple DMR network registration / validation and password setup
    • Adding the BrandMeister talkgroup manager to your pi-star dashboard
    • Program your DMR radio with my custom code plugs, debloating your current plug, removing unnecessary talkgroups and zones, renaming talkgroups, clean up
    • I have custom talkgroups list that include 6 & 7 digital talkgroups that are not listed or labeled by BrandMeister or anywhere else
    • pi-star hotspot configuration, adding additional DMR networks using DMR Gateway for TGIF, AmComm, QuadNet, FreeStar, System-X, XLX, BrandMeister, etc
    • Helping you with basic computer skills required for DMR code plugs and CPS software operation
    • Tech support via email, messenger, telephone, SMS text, remote PC, on the air using my AllStar node, Echolink node, my BrandMeister DMR talkgroup
    • Personal how to videos custom made for you and your setup
    • Tech Support should you run into any issues with the work I have done for you

Basically what I do is get you on the air with a working hotspot configuration and code plug for your radio, I have many happy individuals who are now on the air and enjoying DMR

Checkout this cool Hotspot map find other hotspot user around your area

A note about the WPSD dashboard developer and his attitude