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The journey Step 5 of 10

Digital Voice - The Internet Shortcut

Bypass RF complexity! Connect to worldwide ham networks through internet-linked systems. Perfect for apartment dwellers, antenna-restricted locations, or exploring before buying HF equipment.

💡 Why Digital Voice Now? Learn advanced modes without expensive HF setups. Great bridge between VHF operations and eventual HF upgrade path.

🥜 Peanut - All Networks in One

The cheapest way to try digital voice

Digital voice rooms over the internet with no radio at all. Good for hearing D-STAR, Fusion and DMR without buying a set for each. It reaches D-STAR, Fusion (YSF), DMR, NXDN and M17 rooms, plus rooms for SSTV images.

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Where it runs

Android, Windows, macOS and Linux. The author’s own page still carries a November 2024 note saying there is no iPhone or iPad version and a beta is in progress - check before planning around an iPhone.

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What you need first

A licence and a Peanut code, requested at register.peanut.network. Free; that page says the request can take up to 48 hours.

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SSTV image rooms

Dedicated rooms for sending and receiving pictures

📡 EchoLink - Internet Repeaters

1

License Validation

Upload license photo to echolink.org/validation

2

Wait for Approval

Checked by hand. EchoLink publishes no turnaround time, so start this well before the net you want to join

3

Download & Connect

Use your callsign (no suffix) to login

Finding nodes: node numbers live in the EchoLink directory, which needs your validated login — no public list exists for us to copy, and a wrong number is somebody else's station. Search there by callsign. Our Internet Radio page lists the VU node callsigns that appear in this site's own repeater directory and net schedule.

📡 DMR - Digital Mobile Radio

What DMR gives you

Worldwide talkgroups through a hotspot or a repeater, and a radio you can also use on your local VU repeaters

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Pi-Star Hotspot

Your own DMR gateway at home

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BrandMeister Network

Worldwide talkgroups & linking

TDMA Technology

2 conversations on 1 frequency

🚀 Getting Started with DMR

1

Get DMR ID

Register at radioid.net for your unique DMR ID

2

Choose Your Path

Hotspot (Pi-Star) or DMR radio + repeater access

3

Program Codeplug

Set up talkgroups, timeslots & color codes

4

Join Talkgroups

Connect to worldwide conversations!

Which talkgroups? They are added and retired often, so a number printed here would be wrong before you read it. Take the current list from BrandMeister, and listen to one on Hoseline before you programme it — a busy talkgroup and a silent one look identical in a codeplug.

🌐 More Digital Voice Options

🌐 BlueDV

Another PA7LIM creation for D-STAR and DMR access with AMBE hardware support.

Visit BlueDV →

📡 pi-star Hotspot

Run your own digital hotspot with Pi-Star (MMDVM) for home use.

Learn Pi-Star →

🎵 M17 Project

Open-source digital voice protocol - the future of digital ham radio.

Explore M17 →

Not licensed yet, or not ready to install anything? You can listen to real receivers in a browser today — no licence, no account.

🔗 Internet Radio — what each system needs

WebSDR, KiwiSDR and Hoseline for listening; EchoLink, Peanut and AllStarLink for transmitting, each with what it actually asks of you.

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