Announcements on TG0 using NXDN

ON3EF

Hi,

Trying to get an Icom IC-F4162DT working with an Openspot 4

The problem is listening to talkgroup 0. Whatever i try to do announcements are not being heart. I have to push the monitor button to hear them. Not a problem for switching etc but i won't hear an announcement when the Openspot looses connection.

BER/Autocall is ok.
Squelsh is set up as it should (when i choose "squelsh off" i can even hear 'TG B' when linked to 'TG A' only not 'TG0')
TG0 is in my talkgroup ID list.
...

Any ideas please?

grtz
ON3EF

Tyrbiter

Is TG0 in your Rx Group List?

ON3EF

Hi,
There is no real RX list in NXDN. Still, if i make a channel with talkgroup 0 attached to it we could call that an RX list. Even then the announcents cannot be heard.(led turns green and i can listen to them by pressing the monitor button). I was in contact with a sysop of a bunch NXDN repeaters and he told my that TG0 should ne be used. I dont know if there is a setting to choose another TG for these announcements.

Tyrbiter

Sorry, I thought you were talking about DMR, I have no NXDN knowledge.

One for SharkRF perhaps?

HA2NON

NXDN spec allows using TG 0 as it is a valid NXDN group ID. Voice announcements are sent to TG 0. Your transceiver should be able to open the squelch for calls to TG 0. Also some NXDN transceivers like Kenwood lets you use RX group lists so multiple TGs can be received for one active channel.

ON3EF

HA2NON

Does the Openspot also send a talker alias when sending announcements? It seems that the problem arrises when devices send a talker alias.

ON3EF

TG 0 is in my list and when choosing SQL type "off" all signals should be audible. Even then the announcements cannot be heard.

Tyrbiter

Radio firmware update needed perhaps?

ON3EF

Maybe... but commercial devices are a hell it seems.

HA2NON

Yes, but you can turn it off on the Settings page, NXDN settings.

ON3EF

HA2NON

Thank you for your answer my friend.

On settings>nxdn there is only:

Radio Access Number (RAN):
Echo ID:
Default cross mode destination ID:
Default cross mode source ID:

So nothing realy about "talker alias"

Hopefully this setting is somewhere else

ON3EF

HA2NON

Would you please be more precise where this setting is and how it is called? I tried all i could find regarding NXDN talker alias but was not able to find such setting. I ended up doing a factory reset but no avail

HA2NON

Sorry, my mistake. Sending the talker alias can't be disabled. Your transceiver should work without issues even if it does not support this feature as it is sent according to the NXDN specification.

ON3EF

HA2NON

Then i have a problem it seems. If the other party has talker alias enabled in takes more than a minute to open the squelch. Works fine with WPSD and Pi-Star though. This is a real shame. 🙁

HA2NON

We plan to add a checkbox to the NXDN settings to disable sending the talker alias in the next beta firmware.

ON3EF

HA2NON

Amazing, thank you!

HA2NON

Beta firmware v71 has been released https://www.sharkrf.com/products/openspot4/changelog/beta/

ON3EF

HA2NON

Helllo Norbert,

First of all: sorry for the late reply!

I will install ASAP and report back. FYI: in the mean time we did plenty of tests on a reflector with only NXDN radios, no crossmode. With Pi-Star and WPSD it doesn't seem to matter if newer radios have talker alias/over-the-air alias is enabled or not. The older radios keep on working. Only on the OpenSpot we have this problem. So it seems to be something in its firmware. Very curious now.

few questions:

If i want to go back to stable i need to mail you, right?
Are the OpenSpot 2 and 3 also able to install this beta?

greets,
Phil

ON3EF

HA2NON

Hello Norbert,
We tested the new settings. With "generate talker alias" disabled we finally hear the OpenSpot announcements but sadly it did not fix the other problems. Other station cannot be heard when their radio sends talker/over-the-air alias. Are there any other ideas left (as MMDVM/Pi-Star/WPSD don't have the problem)?

73
Phil

HA2NON

You can revert back to the stable firmware if you follow the recovery procedure described on the Troubleshooting page: https://manuals.sharkrf.com/openspot4/en/troubleshooting.html#page-top (Recovery procedure is at The device does not turn on section).

We won't add new feature to the OS2 and OS3 anymore as they have been discontinued several years ago.

ON3EF

HA2NON

Ok, thanks!