HamRadioNow 364: ICOM Stuns, Kills DMR (a comedic click-bait headline)

No, ICOM is not killing (or stunning) DMR.

The source of our comic consternation is an ICOM blog post by Ray Novak N9JA titled Is Your Digital Repeater Ham Friendly? In that article Ray warns about some features in the digital radios designed for an un-named commercial service (cough dmr cough) that can be used against the unwary operator (stun, kill, monitor) and have no place in the amateur radio service. We agree, but find Ray's treatment of the subject somewhat opaque, heavy-handed, and less than helpful. But what the heck - we're clearly not above a click-bait headline ourselves. We take the opportunity for a discussion of DMR and D-STAR with HamRadio 2.0's Jason Johnston KC5HWB.

Jason Johnston KC5HWB, Ham Radio 2.0 ​

This episode leads off with a note from ARRL HQ responding to our Force of Two episode, and sort of concludes with a look at a recent episode of CBS's NCIS that calls us indispensable dorks (and worse, we're told. We didn't watch the whole thing).

A few more details, and audio listen/download, on the HamRadioNow.tv web site.

​

 

Really. Is that the only way to get someone to watch ?

At least you are honest.

 

But sometimes it just doesn't pay to be honest, No Thanks.

 

They also used handles: "What's your handle? - 'rick o shay' " Not using real names - Obviously, no research done on actual ham radio operations.

 

hamfest season is over and the double HH [hamfest hobo] doesnt have anything else to do! at least we dont have to look at his donation jar!

 

Most hams, have disabled the stun/kill function in their tyt radio's

 

DSTAR, DMR, P25.

None of our popular digital radio platforms are immune to RF protocol attacks, such as man-in-the-middle, spoofing, factory-back-door, etc.
None. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Stupid "We're-Immune-to-Hacks" boasting by any mode warrior surrogate is simply an invitation to the dark side of the force.

It's doubly stupid when that kind of invitation to "Come Hack Me!" is from a senior level employee at a company.



Let's face it, DMR will win the ham UHF/VHF digital radio mode war, just as surely as it is on its way to winning commercial VHF/UHF worldwide.
It's just a matter of time.

Anybody remember Sony BetaMax vs VHS?
DMR is VHS.

If Icom was smart, they would put DMR as a second mode in every new DSTAR radio.

 

I still have both. Neither have been hacked.

My Hi-8 is still working too.

 

My thought is, why have all the different modes in the first place?
Is one mode more efficient than another? I got into DStar, and have yet to try DMR.
I'm not on DStar much because currently there are no DStar repeaters near me.
There are some analog repeaters and for the most part you hear nothing for days except
repeater IDers, temperatures at the repeater site, the time, and even a welcome message.
The thing that's important to me is, when I key my radio, will my YL hear me?
For that, I don't need fancy DMR talkgroups, specialzed programming, DStar or other
fancy modes. As long as my YL can hear me, that's what works, and that's what I'll use.
Scotty said in the Search for Spock, the more they complicate the plumbing, the easier
it is to stop up the drain. It's true. Do you want to spend time in an emergency learning
how to add a new codeplug or learn something new your radio can do because a new
piece of firmware come out? KISS folks. I check the DStar and analog repeater lists
every 3 months. If something changes, I update but that's about as complicated as it gets.
I guess I miss the days of a simple analog repeater. Dependable, reliable, and easy to use.

 

Sometimes you do not want her to hear you. You should turn all of your radios off before leaving home.

New tech is good for tracking your spouse. To bad everyone else can too.

 

Video of a typical example of digital radio susceptibility to over-the-air attacks.
Video shows white-hat pentesting of P25 Denial of Service Attacks using a toy device.
Most P25 units can be pinged by the hacked toy device, without the user of the P25 knowing.
Repetitive pings can drain target's battery, cause drop outs in comms, provide for rdf geopositioning, etc.



It is very likely that DSTAR is prone to similar attacks.

 

Just like AM won over CW and SSB won over AM, yawn!

 

Unless these hacks can crash or corrupt the radio who cares? I suppose battery wasting is a bit of a DOS.

Encryption is verboten with amateur radio. Everything must be open anyway. If you want secure, use a different medium.

 

Yes, Really.

But we have 364 episodes online, and of them I've done the 'click-bait' thing 4 or 5 times. So no, it's not the only way.

And now, an explanation for all who don't share my sense of humor:
It's just having a little fun with and for the audience, a parody of what a few sites (none of them ham radio that I know of) do to lure an audience under false pretenses, mostly to get the 'click' and make some money.

And now, Arvin explains HamRadioNow's economic structure:

Arvin, Chief Financial Officer​

HamRadioNow is viewer supported. The videos are not monetized on YouTube. We don't make a penny from your click. And there are no advertisers to impress with view counts. If someone really likes the shows, they take the time and trouble to send a little money. Or now and then... a lot. For the past few years we've collected about $7000/year in contributions, plus varying KICKSTARTER funding for doing the TAPR DCC ($12,000, $8,000, $0000, $6,000 in the four years we've run them. The $0 year failed to meet the goal, but we produced the videos anyway, and we didn't do a KICKSTARTER this year).

Most of the money goes to recurring expenses, equipment and travel. What's left over goes to Gary as a *cough* 'salary'. He'd quit in a minute if someone made him a better offer. -Arvin (click) the Pig PØRK​

Thanks to all who have help keep us on the air.

Can anyone tell me why the piggy bank's name is 'Arvin'?

73, Gary KN4AQ

 

I’ll take a stab at it...ARVIN....

(A)mateur
(R)adio
(N)ews
(I)nteresting and
(N)ovel

You do good work Gary....at least you’re making a contribution to this great hobby. GL.

Randy
KA4AQM