So what is the new digital mode M17? It sounds like a gun at first, however I am sure you if you google M17 Ham Project you will not be a red flag to the police.
At the time of writing this, M17 is said to be a new digital radio protocol which is still in development, however currently available. It was first started in 2019. The M17 Working Group is a team of several people from around the world, but headed up by Wojciech (SP5WWP) in Poland.
As per their website, they have said that teh desire of the M17 project is to provide:
- an Open-Source community
- freely available and modifiable digital radio protocol
- open hardware designs
M17 uses Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) instead of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). FDMA in our case, allows for two 6.25kHz simultaneous links to be established on one 12.5kHz channel. It supports APRS however is not compatible with DMR. DMR is built for profesional use, and can be used for Ham operators, but can be clunky especially when it comes to writing code plugs.
There is more information available at this M17 website.
A lot of people have been talking about this project and you can see the current reflector list on this site. Maybe it is something you should try?
More information will be available as this project continues. I would value your comments on this project, does this sort of thing excite you or raise more questions than answers?
If you want to read other similar articles, here are some below:
- Solar Data & Propagation
There are several website that tell you what bands are open in your area. Most people paste them on their QRZ page, but there are… - HamAlert
It has been a while since I have completed another update, but I have a lot in the making. A broken finger has kept me… - M17
So what is the new digital mode M17? It sounds like a gun at first, however I am sure you if you google M17 Ham… - DudeStar
Here is a free windows program that will connect your PC to: DMR Yaesu Fusion DStar M17 P25 NXDN You can do all this without… - Easy Radio Rack
Sometimes we try and build things and a lot of time abs money on our radio racks but have you thought outside the square? A… - Hotspot Fixing Packet Loss with AutoCal
The thing with digital communications, it can be extremely complicated. It only takes one tick box to be ticked incorrectly to take your station off… - OpenSpot from the Start
I have spoken to a few people who have felt a bit overwhelmed setting up their OpenSpot from the start. In saying that, I have… - Treehouse
An unusual name, but a catchy name no less, just like Peanut that was written by the same person, David PA7LIM. If you like Peanut, then you will like this project also. This project, like Peanut, includes some amazing coding and thinking.… - DROID-Star
After talking to a friend just to the north of me, he told me about the app DROID-Star for Android. As I only have apple… - SMS via Radio or Hotspot
One of the most underutilised by very cool feature that comes with some digital networks is the ability to send and receive SMS messages. You… - Portable Hot Stop with Battery Pack
The new OpenSpot3 has come out with an internal battery. You might ask why? Well there is two common issues that is mostly raised with… - BlueDV Windows 10 GD-77
I found it hard to find useful information on how to run the OpenGD-77 hotpot mode with Windows 10. At the time of writing this, there is a lot about this topic using a pistar and even android or ISO, but not much with Windows 10. This is my experence with BlueDV and Open GD-77 using a Windows 10 PC.… - Australian DMR RepeatersThere are several DMR networks around the world, and more and more start all the time. The Australian DMR network currently covers the entire country…
- Basic Antenna Fundamentals
A good friend of mine, Mike VK5ZC, put the information below together and asked me to put it on my web site. He has spent a lot of time putting it together with pictures and videos, so I encourage you to have a good read.… - The History of Ham Radio
A good friend of mine, Mike VK5ZC, put the information below together and asked me to put it on my web site. He has spent a lot of time putting it together with pictures and videos, so I encourage you to have a good read.… - USB Device Error PL2303HXA
I went into the device manager and found the error, my cable no longer worked. This same issue happened to a USB Card reader also.… - Amateur Radio NetsA list of Radio nets we have gathered from web pages around the world, as well as friends etc.…
- The Radio Box
How do you stop a hand held radio from falling and being damaged? Do you sometimes put the radio down on a bench or desk… - WizNet DMR
The WizNet DMR app is still in beta testing, and at the time of writing this, you have to not only have a currently have… - Orion Push to Talk
Orion is an app that isn’t really known in my world, perhaps because it isn’t available on all platforms, or because it does transmit your… - Using an Android TV Box for Ham Radio
If you want to get onto Digital Radio for less (way less) than $100, then you may be interested in this. I have Apple equipment,…
VK3TBS 