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The South West Cluster (SWC) comprises a group of DMR repeaters. networked together and spanning the south west of England. I have referred to it in previous posts but the best source of practical information I have been able to find is, unsurprisingly, the SWC’s own website:

http://thesouthwestcluster.co.uk/

In this post, therefore, I’d just like to add a few notes arising out of my own experiences in setting up my radio (an Anytone D878UV Plus) to work with the SWC and my subsequent use of it on this network.

SWC and/or FreeDMR

SWC is the network; FreeDMR (slightly modified) is the software used, on a cloud server, by the SWC to link its repeaters together, to provide more talk groups and to extend, via the Internet, its communication range beyond the combined RF coverage of the SWC repeaters.

It is up to repeater keepers, individually or collectively, to choose which software package, if any, to use in support of their repeaters. Likewise for individuals setting up gateways (including hotspots). In the UK, at the time of writing, FreeDMR supports the SWC, DV Scotland Phoenix and a handful of individual repeaters.

FreeDMR, like Brandmeister, has worldwide aspirations; the SWC originally did not. FreeDMR provides lots of worldwide talk groups but the SWC documentation implies that it restricts itself to FreeDMR’s UK talk groups (plus the Isle of Man), including those of the DV Scotland Phoenix network. In fact, using DoD (see below), it is now possible to link to any FreeDMR talk group. Navigate to FreeDMR’s own Website to find the full list.

Dial on Demand (DoD)

DoD is the SWC’s version of FreeDMR’s “Dial a Talk Group”. The only difference is that SWC has modified the software to do it on TS1 rather than TS2. This is simply because the SWC has traditionally used TG 9 (local) as the default on TS1, whereas other networks have tended to use TS2 for TG 9 and FreeDMR followed that precedent for the standard software. Note that DoD enables a user to link a single SWC repeater’s local TG 9 (on TS1) to an alternative talk group made available by the FreeDMR server. DoD does not work on TS2, which always allows communication across the whole SWC, involving all of the linked repeaters, via TG 950 only.

Operationally, just follow the instructions in the SWC documentation, linked to above, and DoD should just work. Here are a few points, though, in case it doesn’t…

If you’re using an AT D878 radio, there’s an undocumented shortcut to initiate Manual Dial. Just long-press the 0 button. Having done that, make sure you see “Private ID” (not “Talk Group ID”) at the top of the dial screen. To toggle this, press the # key. Enter the numeric ID of the required TG then press the PTT key. Do not “select” the ID in between these steps.

The DoD procedure, described on the SWC web site, involves making a brief, silent private call, through the repeater, using the dialled number as its destination. During the call setup, the FreeDMR software picks up this number and makes the link to the TG with that numeric ID. It then sends you a voice acknowledgement of what it has done and ends the private call. If you do not subsequently hear any current voice traffic, or if you cannot start a QSO yourself, check the manual dial, private call hold time in the radio’s code plug. It should be no more than a few seconds. Your radio must have reverted to group calling on TG 9 by the time you want to receive or transmit voice, following DoD, because all SWC RF voice communication on TS1 takes place using TG 9. Remember that it is the FreeDMR server, not the repeater, that provides the link to the dialled TG.

Although it is possible to use a preset value from the radio’s contact list for DoD, instead of manual dial, I don’t do this for various reasons. It doesn’t save many keystrokes and I tend to remember the numeric values of TGs I use regularly.