[General Questions and Answers] clewis.it:
Hello everyone. I've been playing with this phone for about 4 months now. So far, I love it. Got my amateur radio license, got my DMR ID, and have been (somewhat) active on the air. But, there are definitely some improvements to be made.

The stock antenna is a bit more fragile than I anticipated. After dropping it a few times, the plastic cover came off. The next drop ended up breaking the antenna element off. A bit of superglue around the side kept it in place until I got a replacement. I guess I am a bit clumsy. So, I replaced it with a retractable antenna. It works well, but the longer length means it gets caught on stuff more often. And I got tired of it poking me in the side when it was hung on my pocket. Plus, I wanted to easily connect an external antenna when I'm in my truck, so I got a BNC adapter and flexible stubby antenna. This is so much better because even if it gets caught, it doesn't put any stress on the antenna. And, the signal hasn't changed when compared to the stock or retractable antennas.

The small length of the text fields in the Intercom app kind of irritates me. So, I went into the sqlite database to make some changes. It's funny, because the app perfectly supports the longer fields. I don't know why the manufacturer insisted on making them so short for data entry. It's so much nicer to have "ISS Space Station Repeater" than just "ISS".

Interestingly enough, the Intercom program was designed to do so much more, but those features are not available in our version of the app. DMR slot selection is in the database, but has no effect on the program. I tried adjusting the Mic Gain and Volume values, but no effect in the program. I haven't tried much of anything else. I'm going to have to find out which other phones have this Intercom program and see what their database entries look like.

I did try editing the frequency manually. I set the frequencies for a 2-meter repeater in my area. when I switched to that channel, the program allowed it. Even better, it was receiving! I set another channel for the weather frequency in my area, and it worked also (once I figured out which one it was). Now, since my new antenna is a dual-band version, I decided to try transmitting. Hit the PTT, gave my callsign and . . . nothing. It acts like it is transmitting, but I get no tail from the repeater, and no response from anyone. I don't know if this is a hardware limitation or a software limitation. But, I did notice that if I key up and release very quickly, just enough to start transmitting so the indicator goes red, it will turn green for a fraction of a second upon release. Again, don't know what this means, hardware issue or software lockout.

I also tried a 220Mhz repeater, but the signal is intermittent and the audio is very low. Again, not sure if this is because my antenna isn't designed for that frequency, or if the repeater doesn't have good coverage in my area. The 10m and 6m frequencies I entered are also accepted, but I never received any signal. The linked repeater network in my area doesn't have any repeaters in those bands, and I don't have any radios that use those frequencies, so I don't know if anyone is talking on those repeaters.

Next on my list is to find someone in my area with a dual band radio and see if they can pick me up in close proximity. I'm assuming it will not, but it's worth a try. And to get someone with an Atom XL to send me screenshots of their DMR entries.