Compatibility between Yaesu's C4FM and Motorola "MOTOTRBO"

The Yaesu C4FM and MotoTRBO are not compatible. The Yaesu is C4FM FDMA while the TRBO is 2 slot TDMA. The Yaesu product is essentially a P25 digital type radio.

We have groups of folks here in Central Florida that are using both P25 and TRBO and having a lot of fun. I use both myself in amateur and professional capacities (I'm a field tech for the local Motorola shop here in Orlando). We also have a fairly active D-Star following here as well, but I also thought the cost was a bit prohibitive. I personally enjoy the TRBO operation. Using the IP Site Connect mode, there is world-wide coverage via FM repeaters. Plus, unlike D-Star, there are several manufacturers now producing TRBO/DMR radios, so prices are coming down. A company called Connect Systems is now offering a DMR radio for under $200.

Making Private Calls

There are actually four types of calls on DMR: "Private", group, All-Call, and Data calls (Text Messaging).

The general feeling of most network operators in the Amateur networks is to discourage "Private" calls because they tie up time slots and other users will not know why.  If you really feel you want a "Private" call use your cellphone. The use of All-CALL is also discouraged except for emergency type use. Data calls (Text messaging) uses very little bandwidth and works fine locally but may not work across the bridges unless they are configured for it.

A repeater operator can also implement RAS (Restricted Access to System) with Key Authentication and keep all the Non-Mototrbo radios from using the system (as they do not support this technology), this will also keep non-authenicated radios from listening to group calls on the RAS enabled repeaters. RAS also allows the repeater operator to lock out individual user IDs, or only allow access to authorized user IDs.

In Canada, encryption is allowed in amateur radio unlike the US.

"Private" calls are not really private, my radio has the option of allowing me to hear ALL calls on a time-slot.

DMR / D-STAR Gateway

The Germans have done it again!

From the folks that brought us the ircDDB network, we hear from Hans-Jürgen Barthen, DL5DI, that there is now a gateway between D-STAR (DCS Gateways) and Hytera DMR Repeaters using the AMBEServer with either the DV3000 or ThumbDV™.  This gateway is in use at a handful of DMR repeaters in Germany and Austria with systems soon to be implemented in Sweden and Switzerland.
You can download executables for the gateway and combine with the AMBEServer to create your own gateway. The software does D-STAR callsign to DMR radio ID mapping and transports audio between networks using the Hytera API.
Another step toward Universal Digital Radio from the community of amateur radio developers using products from NW Digital Radio.

Dstar vs Dmr rx only

You can make your own minds up from this, my icom 5100 is rx via raspi the dp3600 is rx via gb7mb both work great , I would have done fusion also but not a sausage on it up here ..a dead mode

Toronto on the DMR network of 130+ repeaters

It's great to have Toronto on the network of 130+ repeaters now. Our growth has been very strong over the last 3 years. We are in 11 countries now with over 2200 users. We expect Italy to be online very soon. We're offering something that is very new and innovative at http://dmr-marc.net. If you want to join us, we're a tech savvy crew and we have some real neat tools to make sure our network is very reliable and efficient. We only require the MOTOTRBO repeaters since we want to commonize the architecture to a compatible top level and achieve the highest reliability so that our volunteer staff doesn't have to spend hours troubleshooting issues. However, Since DMR is an international standard, you can use several mobiles and portables from Motorola, Vertex Standard, Tait, Kirisun, Hytera, Simoco, the Harris radios that are made by Hytera, and other smaller Chinese startup DMR manufacturers. Do some digging as Dave suggested and you will find the radios are sold by tiers. Some radios lack features and are dirt cheap. Some have all the bells and whistles and cost more. I've seen DMR radios go for as low as $200 new and as high as $625 new, depending on what features you get and from what distributor. XPR8400 Repeaters are less than $2000 USD and contain all you need to get on the network aside from a duplexer and antenna Do your homework and talk to someone who has a TRBO system on the air and ask them what they think. Don't just take our word for it. 73.

DMR just my opinion

DMR is great. I can drive across the state of Michigan and be in coverage of the 12 linked 

DMR repeaters, the radio will 'roam' from site to site without changing channel!
comparing prices d-star is NOT cheap either

DSTAR HT's : id51a $640, IC91 $540, IC92AD $555, ID31 (monoband) $300
DSTAR Mobiles: IC-2820H $944, ID1 $950 ID880H $500
compare that to the price of motorolas DMR's
DMR HT's: XPR7550 $700, XPR6550 $629, SL7550 $700
DMR Mobiles: XPR4550: $550 XPR5550 $600
Also motorolas xpr3500 series is a cheaper DMR radio line with less features then the 6550/7550's

Its true moto makes you Buy CPS, Hytera i think is FREE.

My Opinion

INHO DMR is an answer to a question nobody asked. It's very, very expensive, it's radios are only available in single band configuration at a time when a majority of new radios sold are at least dual banders and they have no amateur radio embellishments that are built in like D-Star. Both technologies use the AMBE vocoder and thus have to pay license fees to Digital Voice Systems, Inc., who holds the patent, and that's what keeps the cost high. The D-Star protocol was developed as an open standard by the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) and as such, is much more in tune to what hams want in a radio system. Because DMR systems are marketed solely as commercial systems, they have almost nothing of such embellishments and such things are add-ons and modifications designed by various amateur groups that must be added to TDMA radios. D-Star has most of such things already, for about the same cost as the single band DMR radios. So why spend about the same amount for a radio that only does a small portion of what D-Star already does? With D-Star you can talk to hams in Nigeria. You can't do that with DMR.

Canadian DMR C-Bridge Launches

On February 23rd, Canada took it’s first step toward the creation of a national amateur radio DMR network with the launch of the first inter-provincial DMR networking server. This server, known commonly as a “c-Bridge”, which is manufactured by Rayfield Communications, will serve as a network hub for Canadian amateur radio DMR repeaters, allowing them to reliably link to one another and to the larger DMR-MARC global network using the Internet. The Canadian c-Bridge is located in Montreal and is currently supporting several DMR repeaters in Ontario and Quebec, including the VA3XPR digital DMR repeater located in downtown Toronto.