I bought one of Al's early release controllers and have had it in service for six months or so now. He was nice enough to replace my first firmware with an updated version to fix a bug or two, although whatever he fixed had not caused me any problems.
My repeater is interfaced into EchoLink, and I documented my interface and sent a schematic and writeup along to Al to post on his web site when he has a chance. I am using the CTCSS decode in the PSE508 controller to control access to both the repeater and EchoLink, and works like a charm. I was able to pull the GE decoder out and go with just the PSE508. He has another neat option in the PSE508-2 which allows in-band linking to EchoLink or IRLP. He encodes CTCSS and has the option to terminate the encode as soon as a user unkeys, so the ID and squelch tail/bubble up are not transmitted to the linked system. This is one of the few controllers to offer this option. I have an old Zetron 38A on a repeater with an inband link using this trick and works like a charm. 73 - Jim W5ZIT Nate wrote: You also forgot to mention Al Psion's "GE card cage" controller too -- it's a NEAT product for a stand-alone GE MASTR II station-based repeater. He's already put out a few different versions of firmware and has some nifty ideas for that controller up his sleeves too. Recently an e-mail I sent him lead to a very nice phone conversation about how an IRLP node might be linked into his controller, and while it'd take some effort, Al was more than willing to offer up ideas and point out things about the controller on the schematic that I hadn't noticed in passing. I can say wholeheartedly that Al is definitely another "good guy" to have building controllers in our hobby, and if I ever find enough time to finish up my personal "backyard" repeater, it'll probably have one of Al's controllers in it -- I don't need anything fancy, and of course, I'm a big MASTR II fan... just because I'm more comfortable with them than anything else... so Al's controller in a card slot will probably do "just fine" for what I'm looking to do. Hopefully, I can return his thoughtfulness and document anything I come up with that works well for hanging IRLP off the station with his controller in it. - WY0X ________________________________________________________________________ Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail -- 2 GB of storage and industry-leading spam and email virus protection.
