BridgeComSystems SkyBridge Max User manual
SkyBridge Max
Quick Start Guide
Dear Amateur Radio Operator,
Welcome to the BridgeCom Community! We are so lucky
to have a customer like you!
Join our BridgeCom Facebook group to be part of an
active community with over 15,000 members that love to
answer technical questions:
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We want you to be successful, so we are including our
SkyBridge course in BridgeCom University for FREE!
https://www.bridgecomuniversity.com/
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Account Registration and Setup
Before you begin, you will need:
1. A DMR ID
a. Register for one at https://www.radioid.net/
2. A BrandMeister account
a. Register for one at: https://brandmeister.network/
b. The account type should be: Personal User
Account
c. Under “Anti Spam” the answer to the question,
“What is the wavelength of the UHF band in
centimeters?” is: 70
d. After registering with BrandMeister, you will
receive an initial confirmation email within a few
minutes. Be sure to check your spam folder if
you haven’t received anything in your inbox.
e. You must click the link in the email to begin
the registering process.
f. It takes a certain amount of time for
BrandMeister staff to approve your newly
created account. Once it has been approved, you
will receive an additional email indicating that
your account is active.
g. Once your BrandMeister account is active, log in
to it, and in the upper right corner of the screen,
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click on your callsign. This will open a menu,
and next, click SelfCare.
h. Scroll down to the section labeled Hotspot
Security and type in a simple alphanumeric
string that you will easily remember. Then click
the Save Password button. A popup will appear
to confirm the setting of this password. You will
need this password later when setting up your
SkyBridge, so be sure to remember it.
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Note: You may also use other DMR networks with your
SkyBridge after registering with them. However, we do
not currently offer direct support on this.
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Initial Setup
1. Screw the included antenna into your SkyBridge
and plug one end of the provided Ethernet cable
into the RJ-45 port on the side. Plug the other
end into your network switch/router. The
SkyBridge needs an active network connection
with internet access to fully boot.
2. Plug the power brick into the wall, plug the large
end of the USB-C cable into the power brick,
and plug the small end of the cable into your
SkyBridge. After displaying a brief splash
image, your SkyBridge will display
initializing… for several seconds.
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3. The screen on your SkyBridge will now populate
with information. Note the IP address displayed
in the upper-left corner. On a computer or
smartphone connected to the same local network
as the SkyBridge, type this number into your
internet browser.
4. You will be directed to the dashboard page as
shown below. Click Configuration.
5. You will likely be prompted for a username and
password. Enter pi-star as the username and
raspberry as the password.
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6. If entered correctly, you will be directed to the
configuration page. It is recommended to run an
update before configuring. Do this by clicking
Update at the top of the screen. You will be
taken to a page with a console output window
that will automatically perform the update. Wait
until the text indicates that updates are finished.
Scroll to the top of the page and click
Configuration.
7. Many of the settings have been pre configured as
part of the stock SkyBridge setup and do not
need to be adjusted. However, there are settings
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that need to be configured for each individual.
Enter the following:
Under General Configuration:
a. Node Callsign: Your callsign
b. DMR/CCS7 ID: Your DMR ID
c. Radio Frequency: If using a different
frequency, set to the simplex frequency you
are using
Under Location and Hotspot Info Settings:
d. Town and Country are self-explanatory.
Latitude: A positive value indicates North,
and a negative value indicates South.
Longitude: A positive value indicates East,
and a negative value indicates West.
e. URL: By default, this is set to your QRZ
page. If desired, you can change this to an
alternate webpage.
Under MMDVMHost Configuration:
f. DMR Mode is turned on by default. If you
are not using your hotspot for DMR, turn
this off.
g. Turn on the other digital modes that you will
be using. We do not offer direct support on
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setting up other digital modes, but there are
great resources on the internet that provide
guidance on doing this.
Under DMR Configuration:
h. For normal use with DMR, DMR Master
should be set to DMRGateway.
i. BrandMeister Master should be set to the
following:
●Western US:
BM_3103_United_States
●Central US:
BM_3102_United_States
●Eastern US:
BM_3104_United_States
●Other locations: Set this to a server
to the closest geographic location
to you. You can find the location of
the servers on the BrandMeister
website.
j. BM Hotspot Security: Set this to the
password that you set in step 2h in the
Account Registration and Setup section of
this quickstart guide.
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k. BrandMeister Network ESSID: If you are
using multiple hotspots that you want to
treat independently, this allows you to use a
single DMR ID to accomplish this. If this is
the only hotspot you plan on using, leave
this set to None.
l. Enable and configure the other DMR
networks you plan on using. BrandMeister is
currently the largest DMR network, and
currently the only network we offer direct
support on configuring. Information on
configuring other DMR networks can be
found on their respective websites.
m. DMR Color Code: Unless you are using a
code plug configured to a different color
code, leave this set to 1.
n. Node Type: In most cases, this should be set
to Private. If you want to share this hotspot
with others, you will need to enter a
comma-separated list of all the DMR IDs in
the DMR Access List box and click Apply
Changes. Then you can set the Node Type
to Public. This precaution is put in place to
prevent network loops.
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o. Click any of the Apply Changes buttons.
After several seconds, the screen will
refresh.
p. Click Dashboard at the top of the page.
This will take you to the main dashboard
page. If everything is configured correctly,
DMR and DMR Net should now be green
as shown below.
i. If DMR Net is red, there is likely an
invalid DMR ID entered.
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ii. At the bottom of the page, if the entry
under DMR Master is red, there is
likely a mismatch between your
BrandMeister hotspot security password
(set in step 2h in the Account
Registration and Setup section of this
quickstart guide), and the password you
entered (step 7j in this section of this
quickstart guide). Revisit these steps to
be sure the passwords match.
q. You are now ready to perform a Parrot test
and make contacts!
i. A Parrot test is not necessary, but it
verifies that everything is set up
correctly, and that audio quality is
desirable. To perform a parrot test,
simply initiate a private call to ID 9990
on timeslot 2 with your radio. If you
purchased a code plug or a Plug and
Play Package from us, a channel for this
is already built in.
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Proper Shutdown Procedure
The SkyBridge is a computer with an OS running on it.
Therefore, simply pulling the power plug without
properly shutting it down may cause file corruption.
1. Follow steps 3-5 in the Initial Setup section of this
quickstart guide to log in to your SkyBridge.
2. Click Power at the top of the page.
3. Click the button under Shutdown and wait 60
seconds before unplugging your SkyBridge.
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WiFi Configuration
The SkyBridge can be configured to connect to the
internet through a WiFi connection. To set this up, follow
the steps below.
1. Follow steps 3-5 in the Initial Setup section of this
quickstart guide to log in to your SkyBridge.
2. Scroll down to Wireless Configuration and click the
Configure WiFi button.
3. If the WiFi connection is active, and the SkyBridge is
within range of it, click the Scan for Networks (10
secs) button. This will take 10 seconds to scan for
available networks nearby. Click the Select button
next to your network name. This will cause a network
to appear at the top. If configuring your wireless
network manually, click the Add Network button to
manually type it.
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4. Be sure the Country Code matches your country and
enter the password for your WiFi connection in the
PSK field. Once this is complete, click Save This
Network.
5. This will store the network. To connect to it, you will
need to reboot your SkyBridge and unplug the
Ethernet cable while it is rebooting so that it will use
the WiFi connection. To do this:
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a. Scroll to the top of the page and click Power.
b. Click the button under Reboot.
c. A message will appear indicating that your
Hotspot is rebooting.
d. Note that your IP address will change once
connected to the WiFi network, so you will need
to look at your SkyBridge screen to determine
the new IP address. You will be able to log in to
your SkyBridge from a computer connected to
the same WiFi network as the SkyBridge. (This
includes your smartphone if using it to supply a
WiFi connection.)
6. Repeat steps 1-4 in this section for each WiFi
network.
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