CAT Controllers While I can not speak for the any of the CAT controllers other than the CAT-1000 I must tell you that that the CAT-1000 is the Cadillac of controllers. While it has its faults (few) it has far more features and pluses! It is true that programming it by radio (DTMF) is slow and if you do miss one character you will have to start over. I have been using these controllers on my 2M and 70cm repeaters. I can control the heat/cooling of the cabinet as well as several other items at the site using this controller. For the programming I use the $70 software and Windows XP on a Laptop. The file transfer is slow since it is at 4800 baud. But I only transfer the files needed and not all 8. Oh yes! They really need to update it and get away from the old school Texas instruments voice! I do use a DRV on the one repeater for the IDs and other voice messages instead of the voice chip, but that's another $199. In the early days I used a DTMF coder program for the PC. I would type the DTMF in it and then play them back over the radio to program it. It worked well, but I have since lost the program and never looked for it on the internet.
There are few Great, a few good and some not so good controllers on the market. I have played with different ones over the years and I still prefer the CAT-1000. I do have to admit that they are pricey, they are a lot harder to program by radio, but they are still the Cadillac of controllers. Kenneth P. Cook Jr., W8DZN President, Bucyrus Amateur Radio Club Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Crawford Co., Ohio ARRL VE, ARRL Registered, Certifiied Instructor/Examiner for ECOMM Levels I, II and III. -----Original Message----- From: DCFluX [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 3:29 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Repeater Controllers [some text removed] Controllers to stay away from: I've tried ICS a time or two and didn't really like it. I have an ICS linker and it is a pain to program. kinda buggy too, When you change the CW ID speed the inter character spacing still stays at about 10WPM, Very humorous. Gonna replace it with a NHRC-4 when I get around to it. CAT-300's have good autopatches, but that is about it. Their software is buggy too. Known to skip letters in the voice ID's unless they re-wrote it, and it is still that same old school texas instruments voice from the speak and spell days. Also they will not release their coding wanting approx $100 to send eproms for a upgrade. I have heard If you have a friend with a "DX" version you can clone its prom and change out the clock module and swap a jumper to transform a plain 300 to a 300DX. Programming is a pain, if you forget one charector you have to start over on a ID string "Keypad data error", unless you pony up the $60 for the programming software. I have no experience with their other controllers though, so take a chance! CES, Need I say more? Middle of the road: ACC RC-850's are just plain cool! But generate alot of RFI. Plus the company is out of buisness so it is a act of congress to find one living and breathing and if it breaks, it ususally stays broken unless you wan't to spend the $250 to send it to "The Guy". Programming is fairly easy with the message editior and most of the commands work without ABCD touch tones. It is back to the speak and spell days unless you have a functioning DVR, but on the plus side it can generate DTMF tones in the courtesy tone generator, you will spend countless hours driving your local channel cops insane as you play hip hop DJ and change CT's just cause you can! Remember: These are my opinions only and you should not base your buying decision soley on them. Yahoo! Groups Links Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
