MB6BK is a 24/7 multimode digital voice gateway based in Bracknell, Berkshire. The gateway coverage includes the town of Bracknell and western Ascot and extends out to approx 6 miles from Bracknell.
Frequency 144.850 Mhz
You will find the online dashboard here: http://mb6bk.ddns.net:82/
FOR DMR
The frequency is 144.850 Mhz, color code 3, slot 2 (although either slot should work). The DMR node is connected using the MMDVM DMRGateway link so access to both the Brandmeister, DMR+ and XLX950 networks is possible. The network you wish to use is user selectable.
The default gateway connection is to DMR reflector 4400 on both Brandmeister UK and DMR+.
Brandmeister connections will be heard on TG9.
DMR+ Connections will be heard on TG8.
XLX950 is heard on TG6.
To connect to a new reflector you must send a Private Call to the reflector you want. IT MUST BE A PRIVATE CALL!
For Brandmeister use the regular reflector number, so for Reflector 4400, use 4400. Brandmeister reflectors are returned to the Gateway on Talk Group 9 and you should then use TG9 to connect through the Brandmeister Reflector.
For DMR+ add a “8” in front of the reflector number. So for 4400 on DMR+ use 84400. DMR+ connections will come back to the gateway as Talk Group 8 and you should then use TG8 to connect to the DMR+ reflector.
To connect to XLX950 Module E send a Private Call to 64005.
For reception of both Brandmeister and DMR+ I recommend using a receive group list (rx contacts list) which contains both TG9, TG8 and TG6 for any channel you set up for MB6IBK or use a radio with Promiscuous mode enabled.
Please don’t hog Reflector 4400 as this ties up every hotspot and repeater connected to this. Once you establish a contact on 4400 please move off to one of the chat reflectors such as 4401, 4402 etc.
There is a 10 minute timeout, so the gateway should return to the default reflectors and talkgroups after 10 mins of inactivity on the RF side.
Click here for DMR codeplugs for the TYT MD380 and MD2017 radios.
PLEASE DON’T HOG REFLECTOR 4400
Most repeaters and Gateways link to reflector 4400. 4400 is meant to be used as center of activity for establishing a contacts or brief conversations. If you want a chat then you can move off on to a different reflector such as 4401 or 4402 for a chat.
While it may appear that having a chat on TG235/Reflector 4400 does no harm as overall it’s not very busy there are a few things that you really, really need to consider.
When you use TG235/Reflector 4400 you are keying up dozens of repeaters and gateways across the network, on Brandmeister that’s currently around 60 repeaters and public gateways in the UK. On a repeater this ties up a time slot and may prevent others that you can’t and won’t hear from accessing other talkgroups linked to that same time slot on that repeater.
On a multimode repeater or gateway it ties the repeater/gateway to DMR and prevents it from being used for other modes. So if you’re having a natter on 4400 you lock out Analog/C4FM/Fusion/P25 and DStar users from being able to use any of the mutimode gateways or repeaters linked to 4400. As these are users on different modes you won’t ever hear them on DMR so you can’t tell that you are locking them out and they have no way of breaking in to your conversation to try to get their call in. This isn’t really fair. There are plenty of user activated talkgroups and refelectors that can be used if you want to have a prolonged chat. A user activated talkgroup will only key up the repeaters or gateways that the users are directly connected to. This then allows other users to use the rest of the network or different modes uninterrupted.
MB6BK is a multimode gateway. If someone is chatting on 4400 it completely ties up the gateways. It is almost impossible for anyone else on DMR to then be able access the gateways to switch them to a different reflector and unless there is a break in the conversation longer than 20 seconds is impossible for a C4FM user to connect to the gateway. That isn’t really fair on local user of the gateways as a couple of people in, for example, Scotland chatting about a local issue are selfishly preventing others from accessing a multiude of local gateways up and down the country, not just on MB6BK.
It’s not uncommon to hear 2 or 3 people waffling for 30 minutes or more on 4400. Often these are stations that know each other and they treat 4400 as though it’s their own private frequency. They don’t leave gaps, so no-one else can get a word in edgeways. If you want to have an extended chat about beer, thongs, mankini’s or whatever, do so by all means. But use the talkgroups set aside for exactly that.