Showing posts with label Icom/Kenwood NXDN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Icom/Kenwood NXDN. Show all posts

NXDN Simplex?

NXDN Simplex?

I think I know the answer to this question but is it possible to have 2 Kenwood NX Portables programmed on a simplex channel but also be NXDN Digital quality without going through a Nexedge repeater?

is it possible to have 2 Kenwood NX Portables programmed on a simplex channel but also be NXDN Digital quality without going through a Nexedge repeater?


Simplex NXDN Calling Channels

NEXEDGE vs TURBO

Was wondering if anyone has any field testing with both and how they compare to each other?

I use both Mototrbo and Nexedge everyday.
Voice quality goes to Mototrbo
Nexedge portables really like to de-sense each other
Would much rather use CPS vs KPG111d
Nexedge wins hands down in multi-site systems until Mototrbo Connect Plus is released
Mototrbo repeaters running Capacity Plus can handle 4x what NXDN can
Nexedge is cheaper!

Kenwood NEXEDGE, Icom IDAS, and NXDN are all more or less identical terms for the same CAI. I will use NXDN because it is easier to type.

Bandwidth: NXDN is inherantly a true 6.25 bandwidth. TURBO is 12,5 but by using TDMA time sharing infrastructure has two voice channels per 12.5 to acheive equivelent spectrum useage, except in simplex where only one voice channel is used per 12.5. There may be future 'enhancements' that allow one entire voice transmission to be contained in a 6.25 envelope but it will require an overhaul of their hardware as well. The 'equivelancy' term was added to future FCC standards by Motorola over the objections of the rest of the industry, and fueled by lobbying and campaign contributions, all according to Motorola's business model.

Voice quality: Highly subjective to the listener's ear. Remember that the purpose of the exercise is to transmit intelligible voice, not High-Fi music. Diffrerent persons transmitting, or the simple amount of metallic dust stuck to the speaker cone will make one sound better than the other. Overall a wash, however both are better than the latest incarnations of P25 and exponentially better than analog.

Building a NXDN amateur radio repeater

Building a NXDN amateur radio repeater

I have designs on setting up a very local NXDN repeater sometime next year. IDAS repeaters aren't that expensive, and I have access to rooftop space at a local apartment highrise. It would be nice if I could convince an owner of one of the seemingly 4000 unused 70cm repeaters in this city to convert.

So far, I've met a lot of nice dudes in ham radio, but a lot of guys seem to be very rooted in the distant past. The only moves made towards digital in the area seems to be NHARC converting a 2m and a 70cm repeater to DSTAR, and the CMU guys have a mixed mode analog/P25 70cm repeater on the air. To put it lightly, I don't believe DSTAR has a future. After seeing the possibilities, I also believe that analog FM will be extinct in 20 years. NXDN and TRBO are superior to P25 and DSTAR, and will be the digital modes of the future.