Slot, talk group and reflector usage on BM

[slimgym]

I'm comfortable with the user protocol on Phoenix; TG"s have a priority swayed towards local, you migrate to UA TG's on the fixed slots. It is rigidly fixed but simple to understand.

But on BM to me is less clear and I've not found much documentation to illustrate its usage. I'm currently in Johannesburg, two BM repeaters I can access, and I have successfully connected a reflector to S2 and chatted on TG9 to a UK colleague who has done the same, so that works as intended.

The repeaters on the dashboard show the following TG's.

ZU9RVC on slot 1 has TG 204, 2350, 3100 and on slot 2 it has the SA talk group 655.
ZS5TJ on slot 1 has TG 91, slot 2 TG 6556, 655.

At the avoidance of upsetting anyone though ... can either slot be used for reflector use, and is there a preferred slot? I think I saw S2 preferred, however this then blocks out the local TG's which may be more of interest to others than the TG's on S1.

Would an SMS sent via this repeater make is way to my colleague in the UK (it didn't seem to 'send'').

I read that private calls work too, for the sake of testing I tried it and the repeater accepted my call but my colleague did not get the audio (he had previously accessed the repeater and slot already).

Many thanks

[CW-2E0UCW]

The general layout is for TG9 S2 to be used for reflectors and TG9 S1 for local comms. Repeater Keepers decide what TG's are "static" on their repeater - in theory you can key in any TG you want as they are all accessible as User Active.

You shouldn't upset any of the locals - DMR is not a busy network out there - they have more space and less restrictions for HF is popular especially as their properties are a lot bigger than ours here.

[slimgym]

Thanks for replying. TG655 has some use; I didn't want to rain on their braai with incorrect assumptions, no matter how easy going people are here

Does that mean they could key TG655 on S1 and it would route traffic to S1 if I were using the reflector via TG9 S2?

[CW-2E0UCW]

In theory, yes - they could use any slot.

An out there, as long as the braai stays alight, it doesn't matter if it rains.

Info on BM and exactly how it works is sketchy as it was to be an "open network" but then as problems popped up different countries and keepers adopted their own routines.