Code Plug Programming

Manual

You will need a valid Amateur Radio License and a DMR Subscribers ID
number to operate this radio.
(intentionally left blank)

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Table of Contents

Let’s Get Started – The precursor to building your Code Plug ................................ 4
Upgrading your Firmware (Step 5) .......................................................................... 5
Start building your Code Plug (bottom of) .............................................................. 5
Adding a Contact ............................................................................................... 9
Adding a Channel ............................................................................................ 11
Adding a Zone ................................................................................................. 14
Adding “Parrot” to your contact/channel list [ a needed test utility] .................. 15
Notes and Observations .......................................................................................... 17
Where to go on the Internet to find all things DMR ................................................ 18
A sample of the BCFMCA DMR / MotoTRBO System informational Page .............. 19

PLEASE NOTE THIS MANUAL IS INTENDED TO BE PRINTED AND USED IN

CONJUNCTION WITH YOUR TRANSCEIVER AND A LARGE FORMAT
MONITOR…UNLESS YOU HAVE A DUAL-MONITOR SET-UP, OR A SUPER WIDE-
SCREEN AND CAN FIT THE MANUAL AND CODE PLUG PROGRAMME ON IT
AND STILL READ THE FINE PRINT! 😊

The Author –Gary W. Skett, VE7AS

Challenged by my Grade 11 Electronics Teacher in 1969, if I got my ticket, he’d give me an A+ grade! It took me
a school year to get my code up to speed and learn everything to pass the 3-hour exam, but I got it in my
graduating year. VE7CBR was my first call sign and I’ve never stopped learning and experimenting with radio
since. I made a career out of electronics and radio, then computers, sales, then corporate training and night
school instruction at various colleges. I started teaching Ham radio classes around 1981 and continue to this
day. It never gets old, always something new to try, new technologies, new bands, new modes, and always the
thrill of QSOs with stations all around the world. I still enjoy a CW contact, working the world on PSK31 and FT8
of late. Retired since August 2017, I still keep my ham radio hobby in the forefront of my life…
And now, a somewhat new mode, digital radio, which is becoming more popular now that we have inexpensive
radios and the infrastructure in place to explore, what I believe to be, the future of radio communications. In
your purchase of a Digital Mobile Radio handheld, you are joining the pioneers in discovering a new mode of
reaching out to the world through amateur radio...

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Acknowledgments
Having been in the hobby for almost 50 years, not any other mode of operation has presented such a challenge
as this digital mode. It is, without question, an alien concept to most and unless you came from the land-mobile
work environment, a mode unlike anything you have ever experienced. DMR is not amateur radio! DMR is a
radio mode made for commercial & industrial use. We as hams are trying to make it work like radios made for
hams by hams. Do not expect it to function like C4FM or D-Star—DMR is a whole new experience!
What I think confuses most of us is the jargon or buzz-words used in the commercial land-mobile industry and
the Chinese-to-English translations of the poorly written manuals and crude programming software. Together
with the conflicts, contradictions, and misinterpretations, a ham [newbie or veteran] is faced with a somewhat
daunting task of making his/her new digital radio connect through the nearest digital repeater. And I repeat;
DMR was not ever designed to work for amateur radio! We are trying to force it to be just like radios we are
comfortable using, so to avoid being totally frustrated with this mode and radio configuration, forget what you
think you know about DMR and start with a fresh perspective.
Somewhere along the way, the rumour spread that making a code plug [programming your digital radio] was
beyond most hams’ comprehension or skill level. Let me assure you, it is not. What is confusing is trying to
figure out what NOT to touch or type into the software given to you from your reseller or manufacturer.
DMR, IMHO, requires hams with a good deal of patience, and a modicum of experience in modern radio,
menu-driven radios, and programming software. Not to say it cannot be learned, my new friend Brad
VA7BWX has only been a ham since March of 2018 and he jumped in head-first to learn how to make his first
DMR work, so if Brad can do it, so can you! [Big *smile*, eh Brad?] But above all, you need patience—this
will not be a quick operation!
You should, at some point, read up about the mode and its history, as well as get help from people who have
already gone through this process. In the following pages, I hope to have collected enough of this information
for you, to enable you to make your own code plug and get on the air at least in your immediate radio
neighbourhood and start to get familiar or comfortable with this relatively new mode for Ham Radio.
I am grateful to the many hams whose contribution, directly or indirectly, introduced me to this new mode of
digital radio and without their suggestions, sharing of their experiments or experiences, my journey to
enlightenment would have been much longer.
Many thanks to Brad, VA7BWX for his depth of knowledge in the subject matter, and for his many, many,
many, many, many e-mails about the Baofeng radio. 😊 He saved me many hours, perhaps days of research
and experimentation in finding out what was needed to get on the air.
To my friends Joe W7BWA, Bruce VE7BSM, Earl VE7QJ, Geoff VE7KA [BCFMCA] for their suggestions,
directions, and comments, and especially to Bill VE7IKX [Fleetwood Digital] who lent me all his Baofeng and
Wouxun DMR models to program and enjoy as I journeyed into the strange realm of Digital Mobile Radio.
I should also like to thank the authors of the many papers, articles, and books about DMR. Authors such as
John Burningham W2XAB who appears to have many guides and presentations when “Googled,” Dave Casler
KE0OG [on YouTube] and the folks at Radioddity who also have provided a lot of valuable research material.
I need to mention that I do not know “everything” about DMR [yet] and at the time of making this code plug
manual I am still struggling to find out what all the settings do in the operation of a DMR handheld. “The
journey continues,” as they say…

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Let’s Get Going Shall We?
Before we dive head-first into making your new DMR work, you will need to get ready for the experience.
All the following is based on one DMR repeater here in North Vancouver, B.C. [Mt. Seymour] and its links to
Whistler Mt., New Westminster and the Pacific Northwest MotoTRBO network throughout Washington and
Oregon. You will have to research your own local repeater systems for the nearest DMR repeater, and get their
frequencies, colour codes, Slot-times [also referred to as time-slots, repeater slots, time-slot 1 and time-slot 2,
or TS1 and TS2] and what talk groups are linked to those specific digital repeaters. Once the initial systems
are programmed into your code plug, then you can begin to find which national and international talk groups
and/or reflectors you want to add to your lists. This may take you several days or weeks to “grow” your
contact and channel lists.
If you do not have any DMR repeaters within RF reach, then you will also have to learn about, install and
program any one of the many “RF Hot Spot” devices on the market today. I will not cover these in this
manual—you’re on your own for this one my friend…but choose wisely, don’t go cheap or you will be
disappointed.
I’ll assume you have unboxed your radio, assembled it and have placed it in its charger. This will take a
few hours, and you need to do this as you will have the radio on for hours at each sitting. Leave it
charging overnight, so it’s ready for a full day tomorrow… You should get a good night’s sleep too, as
you probably won’t sleep well until the radio is fully operational… LOL.
While you are waiting for the radio to charge, start with the following;
Step 1 – Scan your Amateur Radio License or take a smartphone photo of your framed certificate—You may
need to send it along with your ID# registration to verify that you are a legitimate ARO.
Step 2 – You will need to apply for a subscriber’s number or ID#. This is necessary for any DMR, as it
associates [links] your call sign with what the digital networks need to activate or turn on a digital repeater and,
in some cases, turn on a Talk Group associated with that repeater. No license, no ID#. No ID#, no operate on
DMR!!
Go here http://www.dmr-marc.net/ read what they have to say. Then go to https://www.radioid.net/# click
continue and then Register to begin the process [after you agree to their terms]. In some systems, you will have
to send a JPEG file of your scanned license OR with www.RadioID.net you will have to have already
established a QRZ.COM account, for them to verify your call sign. If you don’t have a QRZ.com account [and
why not!?], then they will ask for visual verification. Your registration may take up to 36 hours to process.
You will receive an e-mail with the 7-digit ID#, which is yours for life!
If you only operate one DMR at one time, you only need one ID# which you can share with all your DMR
radios. If you want other hams to operate your other DMRs, then that ham must apply for his/her own
ID#. You can’t fudge this, and you can’t make up fake ID#s, the system is designed to only recognize
registered or assigned numbers. You are also not permitted to get multiple ID numbers for the same call-
sign.
If you are in the Pacific Northwest, you might want to join this group http://www.pnwdigital.net/index.html as
these people manage most or all of the talk groups or DMR networks accessible from the Vancouver B.C. and
Washington State DMR repeater network.

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Step 3 – I’ll assume Fleetwood Digital, have sent you a link to where you can download the CPS (Computer
Programming Software) for your specific DMR, in this case, the Baofeng DM-1801. If it hasn’t arrived you
can go to; www.fleetwooddp.com go to the DMR radio page, click on the DM-1801 and when it takes you to
the radio spec page, near the very bottom is the link to the software. Be aware that when getting documents or
software directly from Baofeng Radio they may only be in Chinese, but most will have a menu option to change
it to English—4th menu item from the right on the very top of the CPS window. Also, be aware that Baofeng
can’t make a decent manual to save their lives! There is a 99-page mini-manual in the box and it’s in
Chinglish—getting better, but you still won’t be able to read it with a straight face! 😉
FYI: Bill updates the Fleetwood files on a semi-regular basis, so there may also be a link to download the latest
software/firmware for the radio. Collect all your DM-1801 information and programs into one folder—it may
do this anyway as you unzip or uncompress your RAR folder. You can work from that folder directly.
Step 4 – At this point, go to your local repeater association’s web site or the sponsor’s web site and
download/print all their information on their DMR repeater network. This is where you’ll find all the settings
you’ll be needing to program into your code plug, as well as what Talk Groups [TG] are linked to the DMR
repeater. It’s your starting point for a simple starting code plug. A sample is provided at the end of this
manual.
It might also be the time to watch a few YouTube videos about your radio. Please keep in mind, this will be
like watching the blind instruct the blind. Most YT videos are made by people who shouldn’t be doing this sort
of thing… I would like to recommend a bunch of them, but I can’t. Most of them are out-of-date, not entirely
correct, especially for your new DMR. And most are the vloggers “opinion” rather than straight fact. And as is
all too common, a lot of assumptions are made and therefore a great deal of detail is missing from all the
instructions given online. If I must give you one example, anything that Dave Casler KE0OG does is better
than just about everyone else—IMHO.
Ok, it’s the next day, you are up and have a whole pot of coffee next to you, your radio is fully charged, you
have plugged your DM-1801 USB 2.0 cable into your PC or laptop and you are ready to go! Right? I’m
running a desktop PC with Windows 10 and two monitors, so I won’t be discussing anything Apple or R-Pi
related.
NOTE: Use a Baofeng DMR compatible cable. They may look the same as others but function differently.

If you don’t need to upgrade the firmware, go to Step 7.

Step 5 – If you have the firmware update
Steps 5folder from
and 6 are Fleetwood,
Firmware open or unzip it. You may have to put the
upgrade
extracted BIN and EXE files in yourinstructions
virus protection programme’s exclusion
and at the time of writing this list or it may not like it and not
allow it to run. Plug in your programming cable,was
manual there butno
don’t turn the
firmware radio just yet. Click on the desktop icon
updates
“1801 Firmware Download.” Locate andavailable
made enter theforDM-1801 (CSV)-V02.01.bin file in the using the “open file”
the DM-1801.
button in that window.
If this changes in the future, these
Step 6 – Press and hold the PTT and the SK1 [the
instructions will one above the PTT] buttons as you turn it on and if done
be re-instated.
correctly, the display will go dark, and the LED on the top of the 1801 will alternate red/green--indicating it’s
ready in update mode. Click the “download file of upgrade” button and let it run, uninterrupted. When it says
it’s done, turn off the radio for a few seconds and turn it back on. You are now ready to proceed.
Step 7 – Launch your CPS from the shortcut icon on your desktop. Turn on your radio and
listen for the Com Port acknowledgment sound or beep. If no sound, cycle the radio power, it
should capture a comm port.

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 1) Click on Program and then READ or do a CTRL R. The LED on the top of your 1801 will blink RED
when reading your radio.
2) Double click on the BF-1801 icon in the treeview to open the radio’s menu. Right-click on BF-1801 and
select Expand All. Before you do anything, perform a “File save” and call it “Clean CP” which
becomes your CPS starting point, should you ever need to start from square one.
Refill your coffee cup, make a sandwich and tell everyone not to disturb you for the next few days hours!
Please note: For whatever reason or no reason, your 1801 switches from English to Chinese—the code plug
English stays English, but the firmware language reverts to Chinese, you will have to navigate the radio’s menu
to change it back to English only.
To do this, follow these steps;
1) Push the MENU button and scroll down [press  3 times] until you see a wrench icon and press
the MENU button again. Select option 1 [Radio Set in English] and then press the  to menu item 18
[Language] and the top option should be English. Press MENU one more time to change it all back to
English. The next time you save a copy of your code plug, make sure your radio is displaying all
English, and you should not have this issue again.
We are now going to go through all eight main folders in the TreeView and all their subfolders and fill in what
we want to turn on, turn off, and never touch.
Step 8 – Filling in your Code Plug—One step at a time... The
mystery of the all-powerful CP [Code Plug] is nothing more than
creating, modifying or customizing this menu-driven radio using
the CPS you are now in. The key point here is that you don’t need
to concern yourself with a good portion of the options. If I don’t
explain it or put a definition to any option, then it’s NOT
important at this time. One day, when you become the Yoda of
DMR and your DM-1801 radio, then you might want to play with
the settings—but be aware of what your DMR repeater or hot spot
needs to function—don’t delete, turn on or off options just because
you don’t know what it does or doesn’t do!
We’ll start from the top and work our way down…
1) Double click on the
Basic Information window
to display the contents
[left]. We can’t do a thing
with fields that are greyed
out.
However, for your radio to
be Canadian Compliant,
change the frequency
ranges to 430 - 450 and
144-148 if it is different.
Close this window when you’re done.

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Under the Basic Configure folder, double-click on General Settings to open this window.

2) Enter in your call sign for the Radio Name and your 7-digit Radio ID number.
3) TX Preamble is a delay when sending text messages to eliminate the first few words of your message
from being missed at the receiving end. No harm in leaving it in the default value for now. The same
goes for the RX Lower Battery warning beep.
4) Monitor Type is Open Squelch.
5) Private Call, TX inhibit, and Disable All LED are left is un-checked—we don’t use these in ham radio.
6) Program Password is not necessary—it’s a commercial requirement.
7) We should not use VOX, it will be disabled in other menu options so you can leave this value alone.
8) Up & Down Channel Mode should be set at “Channel.”
9) Leave the Alert Tone window as you see it above.
10) In the Battery Saver window, leave as is to allow the radio to enter battery-saving mode when idle.
11) We don’t use Lone Worker mode in amateur radio, leave it.
12) No need to play with the Talkaround or Scan settings currently, leave those as well.
a. NOTE: The scan feature does not appear to work—or at least a few of us using Baofeng radios
think this is for analogue repeaters or simplex frequencies only. Scan in a DMR sense doesn’t
scan TG, just the main DMR repeaters and if you only monitor one repeater, there is nothing to
scan!
Close this window and double-click on the “Menu” folder.

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 Change to 10

Change to Name

In this window, you are going to pretty much leave it alone for now. Basically, this window allows you to
field select these options or features from the radio via the Menu option and keypad.
a. You might want to set the Menu Hang Time to 20 seconds until you’re comfortable with
navigating the menus from your keypad. 10 seconds is just too fast for us old folks!
b. Change the Channel Display to Name so the TG name shows up on your radio display.
c. Backlight to 10 after you have finished playing with it, as it drains battery life on Always on.
Close this window and double-click on Buttons.
Here is where you can designate the “soft” buttons on the radio to perform various functions. For the time
being, we’ll set three of them
as they are handy to use right
away. You can play with
these settings later!
2) Long Press Duration
should be 1000 [ms]

3) Side Button 1 [SK1],

the button just below the
PTT button on the radio, I
set to Zone Select for the
short press, and Monitor for
the long press.

4) Side Button 2 [SK2], the button under SK1 and the PTT button, I set to Battery Indicator for the short
press and unassigned for the long press—because there is nothing else you really need to use in the pull-
down menu! Again, these are for commercial use, hams don’t use these features.

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5) TK is a mystery button, the manual doesn’t indicate where it is or what its primary purpose is, so leave it at
None for now.

6) The numbered buttons [ 1 to 6] are not filled in as they aren’t necessary to get you on the air. You can
play with those later.

Close this window, skip the Number Key Assign folder [not used] and double-click on Boot Item.

1) Select Char String from the pull-down menu.

2) In-Line one, perhaps enter your name or radio model number.
3) In Line 2 enter your call sign.
4) Leave the Power On Password blank. This really isn’t necessary. If
you enter a PW and forget it, you’ll have to re-load your CP!
Close this window when you are done.
There is nothing to do inside the DMR folder or the Signaling Basic
sub-folder, so skip to the Digital Contact folder.

If you double-click on that folder, up comes a table-based input window (above) and you want to click
“Clear” so we can make our own list of digital contacts.

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When this comes up, double-click on Contact 1 (in the TreeView)
and this window to the left pops up;
1) Enter BC 1 for the Name and 3027 for the Call ID.
Then your TreeView will start to build a list of contacts.

2) From the table window click “Add” 8 more times to create

Contacts 2 to 9.
3) From the TreeView, double-click on Contact 2 and add BC 2
for the Name and 103027 for the Call ID and close the
window.
4) Repeat this step for as many TG in your DMR repeater
group. In my example here, I’ll enter the top 8 TG in the
VE7RAG list (again, using the example at the end of the
manual).
I’ll end up with this table and TreeView;

5) TAC Channels are used for ragchewing or long conversations as it’s discouraged to use a main TG
for anything other than initial contacts and very short exchanges of information. More about TAC
channels in the Notes and Observations section at the end of this manual.

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Close this window for now and double-click on “GroupList 1” inside the RX Group List folder.
We are now going to make to lists, one for
TS1 TG and another for TS2 TG.
1) From the list in the Available
column, Add Local Net 1, PNW 1, I-5-1,
WASH 1 and TAC310 to the Member
column. All these share TS1 (Time Slot 1) on
VE7RAG.

2) Label the Name whatever you need

it to be. In my case, I’ll call it the TS1 Group.
3) Right-click RX Group List and Add another group list—I’ll call this TS2 Group.
4) Move BC 2, PNW 2 and WASH 2 to this group and close this window.
Your TreeView should look like this;
Every contact must be assigned to an RX Group List or you will never hear it. You
can group them in whatever order or list of your choice.
Local/Provincial/State/Repeater… whatever you need to make it understandable to
you in the distant future. There are no rules here, it’s all very personal—whatever
works for you is the order of the day.
When done, close that folder and
double click on System 1 in the
Emergency System folder. We don’t
use this in amateur radio, so disable it
[Alarm Type] and close the folder.

We are not going to get into canned Text Messages currently. It should be relatively self-evident what this is
for when/if you want to explore sending text messages over DMR. These are short one-liners, never intended
for complete conversations—remember you are sharing 30-millisecond bursts of digital audio around the
network, so you must practice saying a lot with the least amount of words! How well do you know you Q
codes? LOL.
Next, double click on the Privacy folder.
1) We don’t use this in amateur radio, so change the Privacy Type to None and close the folder.
2) Same with the DTMF folder, leave it completely alone.
It might be time to take a break, get some fresh air, eat your sandwich and drink more coffee—we have a lot
more to do! Don’t forget to save your code plug under a new name and then save it every hour or so, just in
case…You don’t want to re-type all that you’ve done so far!
We are going to Skip the Zone folder for now, we must build the Channel list first. If you expand the
Channel Information folder, you’ll notice 32 pre-made channels and if you double click on the first one, labeled
Channel 1, it will open that Channel window. If you have not done so by now, close the HelpView Window at
the bottom of your monitor to get more display room for the Channel window.

11
So, let's start entering our first Digital Channel.
a. Select Digital for the Mode if it is not already the default.
b. The Channel Name [in our example] is the TG BC 1.
c. Rx Frequency for VE7RAG UHF is 443.40000, click the >> to the right of that field box and
change the 3 to an 8 (Tx Freq. is a +5 MHz. offset, so 448.40000)
d. Scan List is None for now because “scan” doesn’t work the way we are used to thinking “scan”
works—I’ll explain later. Squelch is set to Normal. You only have 2 choices—Normal and
Tight. The power level is always High unless you are using a Hot Spot device, then it must be
set to low.
e. Admit Criteria is set to Always unless otherwise instructed by the repeaters’ sponsor or managing club.

f. The next 4 ticky-boxes are left empty. Allow talkaround only if you want to be able to talk on the
output of the repeater, should the repeater go down for any reason. This is basically what analogue hams refer
to as a “simplex” QSO.

In this “Digital” window we link the contact list with the Rx Group
and Channel list. We are going to do the TS1 group of contacts
first and then TS2 group afterward, as this will allow us to use the
copy and paste function and save a few keystrokes.

For the first TS1 entry;

1) Privacy is OFF, we are not allowed to have private
[encrypted] conversations in amateur radio.
2) Rx Group List is TS1 Group
3) Colour Code is set to 1 [from the repeater info page]
4) The Emergency System should be set to None, as we don’t
use this feature in ham radio.
5) Contact is BC 1 from the pull-down menu if it isn’t already
displayed.
6) Same for Repeater [time] Slot, it should show a 1.
7) The next 4 ticky-boxes are left empty. Close the window.

Next, we are going to use copy and paste for remaining TG on TS1.
1) Right-click on BC 1 in the TreeView and click Copy.
2) Paste this to Channel 2 through to Channel 9 so we don’t have to type in more than a new Name and
Contact from the pull-down menu.
3) With Channel 2 window open, change the Name and Contact to “LocalNet1”. The Name you type in,
the Contact you select from the pull-down menu. That’s it! Do that for all your TS1 contacts—there is
five in the TS1 group.

12
 4) Repeat steps 2 & 3 for TS2 TG as well, and besides changing the Name and
Contact, you need to select TS2 for the Rx Group List.
When that is done, your TreeView should look like this

Wasn’t that fun?!?! Easy-Peasy Lemon Squeezy!! Now, who said making a code plug
was difficult? Well, a single-fingered typist may not like all this input, but you my
neophyte DMR maven and padawan learner are well on your way to Jedi status!
We need to finish this task off by making a channel for TAC310. The only complication for this is to find what
time slot the repeater operator puts it in. In VE7RAG’s network, it’s been put in TS1, so that is what my
Channel 9 will turn into; TAC310 in TS1 Rx Group and Repeater Slot 1 as well. It may be different in your
area, so you’ll have to check to verify where it links to. When it doubt make one channel using TS1 and
another TS2, and just see which one gets you contacts!
Now, let’s put it up a notch and create some Analogue channels in your dual-band handheld.
1) Again, double click on Channel 25 [I want to leave 10 to 24 for more digital TG] to open the Channel
window. This time the MODE is Analog.
2) Pick your favourite analogue VHF or UHF repeater and enter in the Rx Frequency. In my case VE7RMR
VHF, so I need to enter 146.800 for the receive, click >> then change the 6.800 to 6.200. Note: There are
no “offset” options in DMR, so yes, you must do this manually.
Leave all the greyed-out selection boxes as you find them.
1) Enter the call sign of the repeater in the Name field, a space, and end with either VHF or UHF so
you know what band it’s in.
2) Admit Criteria is Always.
3) Scan List to SCAN V
4) The next 4 ticky-boxes are left empty.
5) Now, go down to the open Analog window
and set the Tx Tone [CTCSS Encode] from the pull-
down menu to enter the correct CTCSS tone to open
your repeater. In my case 156.7 is selected.
6) TX Signaling System to Off—we don’t use
this in amateur radio.
The same goes for any analogue simplex frequency.
Please note that entering digital simplex frequencies
requires you to set up a Group All digital Contact, place it in an Rx Group and make a Channel for it. In this
case, you may want to create a separate Zone and/or Rx group for simplex.
Let’s do a digital simplex so you get the picture;
1) Add a Group Call Contact by right-clicking on Digital Contact.
2) Name would be 446.500 [a standard digital simplex—1 of 4]
3) TG or Call ID is 99 [herein lies a problem, you can only use 99 once, the CPS won’t let you use any ID
more than once… And I must admit, I can’t find [yet] anything online to work around this. I’m thinking
I could use 98, 97, 96 etc. in sequential digression, but this needs more research. Apparently, I’m
informed very few hams use digital simplex and revert to VHF/UHF analogue instead!

13
 4) Double-click on Channel 31 [in my example] and enter 446.500 for the Name, Tx Frequency and click o
>> to put that into the Tx Frequency field.
5) Admit Criteria is “Always,” and the scan is None.
6) In the Digital window, Privacy off, Rx group is TS1, Colour Code is 1 as is the Repeater Slot [Time].
Emergency system is None if it isn’t already selected.
Well, we are almost done!! Having fun yet? Your TreeView should look something
like what’s on the left here.
The last thing we need to do to finish your code plug is create a few “Zones.” These
are ‘groups’ of talk groups or channels created by you and is just a method to better
organize your many, many contacts.
1) In the Zone folder, double-click on ‘Zone 1’ to open that window.

7) Give it a name, for example, I’ll use TS1 which we’ll put all the Time Slot 1 TG
associated with the VE7RAG DMR repeater.

8) Next right click on Zone Information and add a zone for the TS2 TG. Only 3 for me to put in
there.

9) Another Zone for Analogue repeaters and simplex and one

more for the digital simplex [if needed].

Save a copy of your new CP [Code Plug] and now it’s time to upload
[write]to the radio!
1) Make sure the cable is plugged into the radio and computer, turn the radio on—make sure the volume
control is at least halfway toward full volume.
2) Go to Program at the top left of the screen, click, hold, drag the pointer to write and let go. Or use CTRL
+W.

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 3) The LED on the top of the radio will blink green. This will take a minute.
4) When it’s done, turn off the radio, unplug the cable from the radio and start to breathe again. You’re
done! But don’t quit your CPS yet, we’re not quite finished with it.

3) Turn on the radio, turning the on/off/volume knob at least a quarter turn, and take delight in seeing your
name and callsign greet you. You should hear a 4-tone self-test completed beep—music to your ears! It
likes your CP so far!

1) Press the button below the PTT button to open the zone select feature and select a zone. Do the
same for B VFO.
2) You can now use the and  keys to select what TGs you have in that zone.
But how to do you know if it works? You can sit all day and not hear anyone, but if you monitor one of the
TAC channels, you’ll have a better chance to hear someone. TAC310 is common all-over North America [and
Europe], TAC 311 to 319 less so, but eventually, you’ll have them all programmed into one or more of your
repeater networks.
There is, of course, a “test” channel you can program into your radio. We’re going to use a “Parrot” TG
available from the BrandMeister DMR network and linked to just about every DMR network around the world.
With the repeater I’m using, Parrot 9998 works, although Parrot test channels start with a Call ID from 9990 to
9998, you’ll have to find one that is linked to your local DMR repeater or network.
Plug your radio back into the computer, go to your CPS and;
Create a Digital Contact [Group Call] with the Name of ‘Parrot 98’. Call ID is 9998. Close that window.
Create a Digital Channel, Parrot 98 for the Name, enter in the frequency of the repeater Parrot resides—it may
not be on the repeater you are going through. Once you are on the air, you can ask [just about] anyone how to
contact the local Parrot test server.
CC [Color Code] is the same as the repeater you’ll be using, Emergency System is None, Contact will be
‘Parrot 98’, I’m sure you have this all down pat by now? The Time-Slot may be different, again that
information will be given to you. I found it faster by asking on air, rather than searching on Google for Parrot
Information. There is another test site too, but I haven’t got it to work here yet, so I didn’t want to include it in
this manual.
Close the window.
Next, make sure your Rx Group List and the Zone
Lists you are using for Parrot have that contact in
the right column for those lists… Or they won’t
work.
Save a copy and then WRITE
your change to your radio. It will
tell you when it’s done.
When done, turn off the radio,
unplug the USB cable and turn
the radio back on again. You’re ready for a test.

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After selecting the appropriate Zone, find and select Parrot 98. Press the PTT and Parrot 98 will [should] appear
on the top line and if selected should come back with the “acknowledgment” chime to tell you, you were
successful in contacting the parrot test.
Speak clearly into the mic—don’t yell and don’t whisper! “This is <your call>
testing…” Let go the PTT and in 3 or 4 seconds the repeater it will “parrot” your
phrase back to you. You can hear what your signal and audio sound like. Thus, the
purpose of the test… Good to do this when on RF before you annoy someone on a
local, national, or international TG or reflector. I notice a lot of lonely hams use Parrot
to talk to themselves when no one listening wants to strike up a QSO…😉

You are done my friend!! Close the CPS, saving the file, and go for a beer,
you deserve it!!
Your Treeview should look something like the picture on the right. Now with this
simple, one repeater code plug, I have access to dozens of Talk Groups, reflectors, and
TAC channels. A good start. Since I can get into this repeater with the DM-1801 via
an RF signal, there is no need for a HotSpot device.
Now I realize I have not mentioned sending text or data messages, APRS or GPS. Let’s
just leave it with saying this DM-1801 can send text messages, but that is an
operational issue and beyond the scope of this manual. Find a friend with an 1801 and
buy him/her a coffee… Less stressful than trying to interpret the paper manual! 😉

NOTES:

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Notes and Observations while using the DM-1801
I could not get my version to scan any digital channel. It appears Baofeng DMR scan only analogue FM
repeaters or simplex frequencies. Programming SK1 or SK2 is necessary to turn on/off scan. Also need to
put all your analogue frequencies into the SCAN list at the bottom of your TreeView.
Baofeng radios do not do Promiscuous Mode nor Roaming currently.
This first edition of the Code Plug manual was made January 26, 2019, for the DM-1801 model using
V1.03.0 software. Baofeng is constantly upgrading the firmware and software, so check where you bought it
from time-to-time for updates.
Some versions can have the radio’s Frequency Range [in the Basic Information window] changed from
factory default to what they should be to comply with Canadian regulations. Keep in mind that if an
Inspector should find you operating a radio outside the Ham bands or using a non-compliant radio, you can
be fined, lose your license and have the radio confiscated. Yes, the rumours are true, the FCC in the USA
and ISED here in Canada are actively checking dealers for compliant radios. Note; Don’t buy radios from
Amazon, or US sources, they will not be Canadian compliant!
If you annoy a manager of a talk group, reflector or network, they can and will turn off your ability to use
said system – thus the advantages of digital radio with a registered ID# Yeah! No more pirates or annoying
people on the network! They can do the same with your HotSpot device too if it’s causing problems. Don’t
test on a nation/international-wide network!!
On the surface, you aren’t really encouraged to ragchew, as some forget DMR is world-wide in its reach.
One chap held up an entire USA-wide network with his “testing” for over an hour before he was denied
access. That is what TAC channels are for. There are a lot more rules and ethical conduct required to
remain amicable, benevolent, or non-annoying.
TAC channels 310-312 are meant for short QSOs as North Americans are considered “guests.” If you really
need to talk longer, it is suggested you use TAC 313 to 319.
Don’t forget to charge your radio overnight, and if you are a talker [ragchewer] then buy an extra battery!
Don’t always blame the radio… It may not be the radio or your CP if it does not seem to work as you
imagined it should. This is digital radio after all and you are sharing 30ms bursts of data over 2-time-slots
on any given system. The quality changes with an increase of people wanting to talk, the RF power used,
the RF path, the HotSpot used, the Vocoder employed [changes analogue to digital audio], and several
factors not under your control. You’ve done all you can by making sure your CP is perfect. So get the
current information for the settings needed. Remember, it only takes one error in your CP to make the
whole radio not work!
Like the early days of repeaters and repeater clubs [circa the 1970s], you are once again asked for
membership fees, today referred to “donations.” As you can imagine, this DMR equipment, a commercial-
grade system, is not cheap to purchase, set-up and maintain. I suggest you don’t be your usual stingy or
obsessively frugal self and open your pocketbook for some of these clubs or people who have financed the
hardware, the website and keep it all running. Support the main system or repeater you use daily—A
donation is usually a one-time occurrence.
When creating a channel for PARROT, some systems ask for this to be a Private Call contact and some [like
in my area] say it should be a Group Call contact in TS1. Make sure you use the correct settings, or it won’t
work. Please keep in mind that others on the same system may be able to hear you “test.”

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 Where to go on the Internet to find all things DMR…
I would love to be able to recommend specific sites or YouTube videos that explain everything perfectly! There is no
such animal. As you are aware, anything from the Internet is usually dated or obsolete and only partially correct or
making assumptions that miss what you really wanted to know. Please keep in mind that all the presentations, and
documents on the Internet today will not explain everything, and don’t reflect the radio in your hand today, and usually
are more opinion or critique than helpful.
As a career adult educator, I would highly recommend you don’t take anything you find [on the Internet] as absolute or
100% correct. Collect the data, watch the videos and make up your mind as to what is relevant or not. Find a friend or
associate who has the same radio, gone through the learning curve and can properly show you what you need. DMR is a
part of the hobby where getting together with local hams with similar interests in DMR would be the best learning
situation possible. You can find a ton of these talk-groups on the air too, but again, some people simply should not
profess to be experts if they can’t properly pass on their information in a clear and succinct manner.

Videos on YouTube;
Anything that Dave Casler https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaBtYooQdmNzq63eID8RaLQ does is useful.
As a fellow instructor, I find him easy to follow and able to explain himself well and the subject material he
features on his video channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpm2agmlvFI is a video presentation from John Burningham W2XAB who
also publishes books and PDF documents about DMR. A bit slow, [and dated] but worth the 14 minutes.
You can get a PDF of John’s presentation here;
https://www.google.com/search?q=John+Burningham+W2XABandoq=Jandaqs=chrome.0.69i59l2j69i65l2j69i5
7j69i60.2278j0j7andsourceid=chromeandie=UTF-8
His booklet [in PDF format] can be downloaded from here;
https://www.google.com/search?q=John+Burningham+W2XABandoq=Jandaqs=chrome.0.69i59l2j69i65l2j69i5
7j69i60.2278j0j7andsourceid=chromeandie=UTF-8
If you Google DMR radio, you’ll get a lot of commercial-level “sales” brochures or websites targeting
commercial users or potential users. After all, this system was designed for that market!
https://www.jeffreykopcak.com/2017/05/10/dmr-in-amateur-radio-terminology/ by Jeffrey Kopcak K8JTK has
an article/glossary on this web site that can be printed and offers just enough of the jargon to start off with.
www.baofengradio.com is the only true company website. Every other variation is an attempt to steer you away
to another company’s sales site. There are plenty of authorized retailers and resellers, but no true Baofeng factory
representative in North America. Pay attention to where you are looking.

http://www.dmr-marc.net/ and/or http://www.va3xpr.net/dmr-marc-canada/ is where to go to get information on

their networks. https://www.radioid.net/#! Is where you go to get your DMR Registration number or ID#. It
has a complete database of ID#s too, a handy list to find your friend’s ID# or how many DMR hams in your
area. https://brandmeister.network/ as well as https://www.bridgecomsystems.com/collections/mv-dmr offer
reference
https://www.bcfmca.bc.ca/dmr.php and many like this are ham organizations or clubs that are into DMR and are useful for
local hams to find out about your hometown network access, wherever you are. I used this to make my first code plug
[and this manual].

If you find a particularly useful web site, please send the URL to me at [email protected]

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