Part 1: SMSGTE - Texting using your DMR/APRS Enabled Device - Starting from the Ground Up

Hello! 

So. 

As a precursor, this was inspired by my experience trying to set up my DMR Enabled radio to send SMS messages using the SMS Gateway Service. Please know:

• I am in no way associated with SMSGTE.org (other than a regular user). I just figured I'd document my process to provide another way for those interested to follow.
• This is using the AnyTone AT-D878UVII Plus, so it IS ABLE to receive messages to the radio. It is my understanding that the previous models do not support Rx APRS. 
• I do not have any other models of DMR radio, so I currently can't offer any kind of step by step on anything other than the AT-D878UVII - sorry! Not saying that won't change, but it's what I have to offer at the moment.
• That being said, I'll do my best to make it as broad and specific as possible? (I realize what I just said... lol)

Important Links for this process:

• SKIP TO PART 2 - THE SMSGTE INSTRUCTIONS
• SMSGTE: https://smsgte.org/
• Brandmeister: https://brandmeister.network/
• AT-D878UVII Firmware Update: https://powerwerx.com/help/firmware-anytone-d878uv
• Programming Software for D878UVII: https://powerwerx.com/help/software-downloads#programming
• This site also has the drivers needed for the computer to recognize the radio. Newer versions of windows will do it automatically but it's here if you need it
• DMR ID Registration: https://radioid.net/register#!
• DMR Repeaters Near You: https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/niche/index.php?mode=DMR
• How to setup a Talk-Group, Contact, etc.: coming soon! Google has a lot of resources too. Here's a video I used to get mine going
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYSht87NF1c

First. Setup your DMR Radio. (If you've already completed this, still review it to make sure you haven't missed a step. Otherwise move on to Step 2 HERE)

1. The first thing you need to do is to set up the DMR features on your radio. Right now there aren't really any screenshots so I'll do my best to be as descriptive as possible. I'll add media in the future. Get your stuff ready:
1. Radio (Anytone AT-D878UVII Plus) charged up and ready to use.
2. Programming Cable (It will be a USB to Dual-Pin, mic plug style cable. Mine came with one)
3. CPS or Computer Programming Software for the AnyTone Radio
1. What I've got and used is the Windows-based software. I primarily run on Mac and I'm experimenting using CHIRP and other Mac-based software, but this rundown is the windows option. Use the link above to download and install.
4. Visit RepeaterBook to find your local DMR Repeater. There's a good chance that your local repeater also supports DMR, but don't count on it. Make sure to use this site to find one. You can also try looking it up on APRS.FI and using their map, but it can be a bit confusing.
2. Once you've got all your stuff, starting with the radio turned off (this prevents accidentally transmitting anything WHILE plugging it in etc.), plug it in using your programming cable (USB to computer, Mic plug to radio). 
3. Open up the CPS Application and let it boot up.
4. Turn on your radio and let it boot up.
5. With CPS Open, find "SET" in the menu bar at the top, click it, find "Set COM" and click it.
1. This is going to let you tell the computer/software which USB device is the radio since it's kinda generic on the computer's end. If you have other USB devices plugged in, I recommend unplugging any unnecessary devices until you know which COM Port your radio is. There are other ways to check for it, I don't know what they are, sorry. I'll add something later once I research that part.
2. You'll select the listed COM Port - mine is COM3. Click on COM# (# is a placeholder, just substitute whatever number you're shown in there) and then click on "Ok" button.
3. Now your computer knows that COM# port is your radio!
• Tip: you're going to have to set this each time you unplug your radio from the computer, so you're going to get used to doing this.
6. Once your COM Port is set, you'll want to read all the settings on the radio right now and then save a copy of it. This is known as a Virgin File - it's the base, non-messed up version of things. This way if you completely screw things up you can revert back to this file and start fresh. 
• IF YOU ARE NOT STARTING WITH A BRAND NEW RADIO, BE AWARE. Doing this step will download what's on the device when you read it. So if it's already got channels, Talk Groups, etc. setup on the radio, it's going to read those and transfer them over. That's totally ok, just don't expect to see blank/default options everywhere.
• This step is also not *required* but highly recommended. I didn't do it and I really regret it. It would have saved me so much time - just like the time I put together an Ikea shelf without the instructions....
1. Ok. Step one of reading what's on the device. With the radio plugged in, turned on and the COM port set, find "Program" in the menu bar at the top of the screen, click it, find "Read from Radio" and click that.
2. It's going to ask you to confirm if you want to read from radio, click yes. If everything is set correctly, you're going to see a progress bar. If there's an issue, it will tell you. The most common issue is that the computer can't "see" the radio, so you'll need to check the COM port, make sure it's set correctly, the plugs are plugged in securely, the radio is on, etc.
3. You'll let the computer finish reading the data - it shouldn't take too long if it's a "Virgin File" - and you'll get another alert when it's done telling you it's done.
4. You'll click "ok" on the alert and now you should be on what looks like a channel list, with 1 or 2 default channels.
5. Step 6 done!
7. Now that you have a Virgin File, find "File" in the top menu bar, click it, find "Save" and click that. Now name the file something like "Virgin File DATE" and then save it somewhere on your computer as a backup. The name doesn't matter and where you save it doesn't matter, as long as you remember where it's saved and what it's called.
8. With the Virgin File saved, immediately go back to the "File" menu option, click it, find "Save As", click it, and then save ANOTHER copy called something like "Radio Setup DATE" and save it somewhere. This is the file you're going to edit and use from here on out.
1. Tip: remember, the virgin file is just a "back up copy" to be used in the case of an emergency.

First and a half. Now that you've got the base radio stuff setup and you're safe to move forward, let's do the DMR prep. 

1. Before we can set the DMR settings on the radio, you're gonna need the information to input, otherwise you won't be able to get far. You'll need:
1. DMR ID
2. Your local DMR Repeater information (Tx and Rx Frequencies, Slot Numbers, Talk-Groups, Colors, etc.)
3. Brandmeister Profile Setup (this is important for SMSGTE, otherwise it's not needed)
2. Sign up for DMR ID (if you already have one, skip this)
1. Go to: https://radioid.net/register#!
2. Agree to the terms and conditions, click the register button.
3. The next screen will ask for things like your Call Sign (required), email, location, etc. Complete this info and get to the confirmation screen.
4. Once you've completed this portion, you've completed your DMR ID REQUEST - you won't get one immediately. The fine people at radioed.net will confirm your info and then email you once you've been assigned it. This takes a bit, so it's smart to do first and then do all the other stuff while they set you up. You can't really do any DMR stuff without it though, so you're gonna need to do it eventually. Feel free to move on to the next step while waiting for the confirmation.
1. ONCE YOU'RE CONFIRMED. You'll get an email telling you you're good to go - there'll even be a link you can click that will take you to your ID Profile page. Click it and you'll see your info! It'll be a 7 digit number (usually) with your callsign next to it. This is your "DMR Phone number" essentially (not what it's called, just what I call it). It'll be used to contact you specifically when using DMR.
3. While your DMR ID is being confirmed OR after you've got your DMR ID, go to RepeaterBook or some reference for your local repeaters (APRS.FI works too).
1. You're going to want to find the repeaters in your area. More specifically, you're going to want the DMR repeaters. The link shown above will let you look for only DMR repeaters in a specific area.
1. There are some caveats here. There are two types of DMR Networks: Brandmeister and DMR-MARC. They're setup a little different from each other, so while a lot of things relate, not everything will. THIS SETUP DETAILS USING A BRANDMEISTER DMR REPEATER.
2. When you find a DMR Repeater near you, view it's "info". Important things to look for and jot down:
1. Transmit Frequency
2. Receive Frequency
3. Is it Brandmeister or DMR-MARC (if it isn't listed, please research it a bit more. You can usually google the station ID and find out which one it is)
4. Offset (usually built in to the Tx and Rx frequencies anyway)
5. Color Code
3. The things listed in #2 are only needed for the SMSGTE setup - I'll give you the rest of the info later (TalkGroups, Time slots, etc). If you want to set up OTHER talk groups, feel free to use the rest of the information show to piece it together from there or use another DMR setup tutorial. It'll give you the TG Numbers for things like local chats, country wide chats, Parrot TG numbers, etc.
1. Also know that in general, "other" talk groups will be setup on Time Slot 1. This NOT ALWAYS THE CASE so please research it before assuming. Same for connection types and color codes.
4. Now that you have the repeater information, you can get in to the programming software and set your programming file.

First and three-quarters. Now that you have all the prep info, we can setup the programming profile from earlier with your base DMR info. Once we have that set we can setup the more specific SMSGTE DMR info.

1. Go back into the CPS. You should be, by default, on the "Channel List" screen. If you look to the left, you'll have a menu that is tiered. If you click on the box with a plus sign in it next to a menu option, it should open up a bunch of options. In that menu, find "Digital" and click on that little box to expand the menu.
2. In the menu that shows up, find "Radio ID List" and click on it. The screen on the right side should change and show you a spreadsheet looking layout. Double Click on the first row of that layout (doesn't matter which box, just make sure it's the first row). This will open a new window for you.
3. In the new window, you'll have the option to enter some information. What we're putting in here is basically the identifying info that the DMR side of the radio will reference when doing digital/DMR stuff.
1. Radio ID: this is the ID number that you got from radioid.net. If you don't have one, please don't enter random numbers. Take this number assignment as seriously as your callsign - you don't want to accidentally use someone else's ID. 
2. Radio ID Name: Here you can enter more customized text. I recommend just using your callsign.
3. Click "Ok"
4. You'll now see the information you entered saved in that first row.
5. There are multiple rows because technically you can enter multiple Radio IDs for multiple setups, etc. that's more advanced than we're wanting here and honestly I don't know any of that. Again, google is your friend in the instance you want to add more!

Cool. Now that is set, let's setup the TalkGroup! See the Tip below for a little more info on how Digital/DMR works.

Tip: 

DMR/Digital works differently than Analog does. You will use a typical frequency (70cm, 2m, etc) with an offset for Tx and Rx, but this info stays the same no matter what who you want to talk to. Now you're thinking, "Duh. That's how this radio thing works. Enter the CTCSS Tone and call it a day." That's all good, but on Analog with a tone you are then limited to who can use the channel and when. DMR/Digital is similar but then allows you to expand how many people can talk on that channel. 

Digital has something called a TalkGroup (TG) or Contact which helps split up the frequency ten-fold, but also doesn't tie up the frequency and allows for more freedom (more experienced HAMS, if I explained that wrong, I'm sorry. Please kindly let me know and I'll word it better!). The TG or Contact will direct your traffic using the Brandmeister or DMR-MARC network to the right place after connecting to the repeater, allowing virtually an unlimited number of people to connect and send traffic.

"Sounds like a repeater. Ok?" It gets better. Those Contacts or TalkGroups stay the same not matter which repeater you're connected to. So if I connect to my digipeater in SoCal and send traffic to the North America TalkGroup, anyone across the country who happens to be monitoring that same TalkGroup can hear me and respond. So it's like a normal repeater but with more opportunities. The Brandmiester.network website will show you all the talk groups that are available - there's thousands - and they're all accessible by one person, on one frequency with a DMR enable radio. Super cool.

"So you mentioned something about TalkGroups?" Yes! Let's get the right one set up for SMSGTE.

1. In that menu on the side, click on Contact/Talk Group under "Digital".
2. You'll see a very familiar layout - double click on the first blank row to edit it!
1. Here we're going to specify the parameters needed to make the connection to the talkgroup we want. Remember, these are generic. You can use these TalkGroups on ANY DMR capable repeater. The only caveat here is the Brandmeister vs. DMR-MARC issue I mentioned above. You can't use Brandmeister talk groups on a DMR-MARC setup digipeater.
1. You'll Name the TG. I put in DMR APRS to remind me that it's the digital APRS setup.
2. Call Type. Private vs. Group. The majority of TalkGroups will be "Group" which will allow you to pretty much talk in a net format. Private creates an individualized connection between you and the TalkGroup. I recommend using Private Call for the DMR APRS TalkGroup setup, individual contacts and for any Parrot setups (it's ok if you don't understand why I'm talking about a bird - you'll see why in a bit).
3. The TG/DMR ID is the field where you'll enter the TalkGroup number or the DMR ID for the individual you want to create a contact card for.
1. SMSGTE uses the DMR APRS TalkGroup to relay information, and right now only works in the USA and Canada. They have a setup that allows for use in other countries, but I'm not versed in that. I'll update once I've researched it bit!! 
1. USA- 310999
2. Canada - 302999
2. Enter the 6 digit code for your country in this field
4. Leave the Call Alert alone and click "Ok".
2. Once you've saved your Talk Group contact, you'll see it listed on the screen. If you want to add other TalkGroups, rinse and repeat! If not, you're almost ready to move on to the SMSGTE setup.
3. Before moving on, do yourself a favor and follow the steps above but this time add something called the PARROT TalkGroup.
1. This is a "test" group setup across the Brandmeister network that allows you to see if you're connecting to the digipeater correctly. Basically you'll key your mic, allow it to connect, speak your callsign, unkey the mic and let it send. You'll get a "Parroted" transmission - basically what you said earlier, just repeated back to you. If that works, you're connected! If you don't hear anything back, you may not be close enough to the repeater, have a wrong setting, etc.
1. This will be titled BM PARROT, a Private Call, and an ID of 9990.

First and seven-eighths. Now that is set, you'll enter the station info for the DMR repeater you found above. This will save it as a channel on your radio to make it easier to select in the future. 

1. On that menu on the left side, click on "Channel" under the Public menu option.
1. Double click on the first row (or first empty row) and a new window will pop up.
2. Channel Name: Free text, whatever you want to call the channel. I recommend something like "EDOM APRS DIGI". A phrase that references which repeater I'm using, APRS to remind me that it's APRS specific (you can't transmit anything else on this talk group) and DIGI to let me know that it's not an analog connection.
3. Enter the Receive and Transmit Frequencies.
4. Channel Type: D-Digital
5. Transmit Power: High
6. Tx Permit: this is specific to your local repeater. Always is an acceptable default unless told otherwise (this setting basically dictates how and when you can transmit when someone is also transmitting so there's no stepping on each other)
7. Move to the right side at the top and find DMR MODE, set it to Repeater.
8. In the Digital Box, you're going to click the button right under "contact" and this will bring up a new window. You should see a grid and the TalkGroup you created in the previous step listed there. You'll double click on the name shown and it'll select that as the TalkGroup. Now, when you transmit on this channel, the radio knows to connect to this frequency and use that TalkGroup as your final destination.
9. Radio ID: select the option you set earlier
10. Color Code: This will be specified when researching your local digipeaters. It will usually specify something like "Use Color Code 1 and Time Slot 1 for all other connections". Don't assume or guess at it because it could cause problems in the future.
11. Slot: same as color code - make sure to use the one specified.
12. Leave everything else as is and click the "ok" button.
13. You should now see your channel set in the list! 
2. To setup the Parrot Talkgroup to test if you're connected to the repeater!
1. Follow the steps shown above. Because the TalkGroup number is universal, you can use this for any digipeater you're connected to. You'll just need to create a channel with that frequency and attach the BM PARROT TG Contact Card you created earlier.
1. So instead of selecting the DMR APRS card, select BM PARROT. You'll also want to follow the steps listed on the repeater's page. They usually are very specific on how to connect to the Parrot group.
3. Zones. If you do not put your channel in a Zone, you won't be able to use it. So please don't skip this step!! This allows you to group channels together for easier access.
1. In the menu on the left side of the screen, click on "Zone".
2. Double click on the first empty row and complete the information requested
1. Name your zone: I usually use APRS as a name and then throw all my APRS channels there (remember, you need a separate channel with the TG Card attached for each repeater you want to connect to)
2. Find the APRS Channels you created in the list on the left side. Click each channel to select it and then click the right facing arrow button between the two white areas. You'll see that channel move from left to right
1. If you set up a Parrot Channel, you should move that to this zone too, it'll make life easier
3. Click "ok" when you've moved all your channels over.
4. Other settings we need to take care of! We're almost there. Keep with me!
1. Find "Tool" in the top menu bar and click it.
2. Find "Options" and click that!
1. You'll now see a list of items with check boxes. Click to check:
1. GPS
2. APRS
3. Analog APRS Rx
2. Click the Ok button
3. This just toggled the features from Off to On - if you don't do this nothing you've done so far will work!
5. Last thing! Go to File in the menu bar and click save. This will save the file we created earlier so you don't have to input this all again in the future!
6. Your radio should already be plugged in, turned on, COM port set, and ready to go from reading it earlier. If you skipped to this point, do that.
1. Find "Program", click it and then click on "Write to Radio".
2. It will confirm if you want to write to radio, you'll say "Ok".
3. You'll see a progress bar and once it's done the radio will start to reboot.
4. Let the radio reboot and you're good to move on to the actual "Send a text message" portion of things!

Tip: 

Time slots and color codes. So just like Analog has tones that can be played while transmitting to help organize traffic on frequencies, digital has Time Slots and Color Codes. Time Slots breaks a frequency in to two groups and is station owner designated. So many digipeater owners will choose to have a set of talk groups for local chatter, etc on Time Slot 2 while leaving everything else on Time Slot 1. This is mainly for organizational purposes (it's much more technical than that, but this is my understanding as of right now). Color Codes work much like CTCSS tones - it stems from an organizational system that Motorola setup a long time ago and was adopted in to what we now know as DMR. They ARE color coded, but we refer to them using numbers 1-15. Long story short, don't guess at these or assume which code or time slot you should be using.

First and nine-tenths. Test your digipeater connection and setup SMSGTE!

1. On your radio select the APRS zone
1. You can do this by clicking the menu button, selecting "Zone" and then selecting "APRS"
2. Turn the slightly larger knob on the radio (the left one) until your "BM PARROT" channel is selected.
1. This has selected the frequency for your digipeater, and has prepped the Parrot TalkGroup, so when you press the PTT button it'll direct you to the right area.
3. When you're ready, press the PTT button and hold it. The radio will chirp and the screen will say connecting. Once it's connected, it will chirp again and the screen will say Connected. At that point you're free to talk - say your Callsign and then let go of the PTT button. If everything is set correctly, you'll get a confirmation screen and in a few seconds you'll hear your voice come back out through the radio.
1. If this doesn't happen, either your settings are wrong or it can't reach the repeater. You'll have to troubleshoot from here to figure out what's up.
4. If you connected to the Parrot TG, you're ready for SMSGTE!

Click HERE to view PART 2 - SMSGTE Instructions for Anytone AT-D878UVII Plus.