Definitely not a fan of DMR. I have one DMR portable, for one specific use, so it spends most of its time in a pelican box. I also have DSTAR and Fusion radios which are used more frequently, because they're more user friendly. The Fusion radios are by far the easiest to program and to use, plus there's a local Fusion repeater in town. I do have a multi-mode hotspot, but I don't use it very often. My thinking is the hotspot relies on external infrastructure, so in the event the internet goes down, so does the hotspot. I verify it's operational once in a while, but it's not a critical part of my preps. It's good to impress newbies, but there are many other apps that do internet comms without a radio, i.e., zello, whatsapp, etc. I think the only reason DMR became popular is the price of the radios.
If you're happy with DMR, that's great; there's a lot of folks that seem to like it. It seems to me, DMR activity is concentrated up in the northeast US, while much of the DSTAR is down in the South U.S. and of course there are many exceptions. There is a mix of modes everywhere and I'm guessing that sooner or later, a manufacturer is going to come along with a radio that does DMR, DSTAR and Fusion all in one package. However, manufacturers are in business to make money, so if they can suck you into their system, you become so dependent that you stay with one particular brand/mode because it'll cost too much to change to a new one (Motorola is famous for this). I worked professionally in radio, and did work with DMR radios, and from my experience, the DMR equipment seemed to be overly complicated. I can think of at least one radio seller/distributor that focuses on DMR, and has an on-line "university" to teach the intricacies of DMR, which illustrates the complexity of the mode. One way to judge a radio... with a new radio, is it necessary to read the manual to start a QSO ? If the answer is yes, then the radio is overly complcated. Plus, in most cases, a computer is required to pre-program the radio for use. For critical communications, I stick with the KISS principle, and DMR doesn't fit in the equation. Sorry for the rant on DMR, If you like it, awesome, more power to you!
