At 06:24 PM 03/07/07, you wrote: >On 3/6/07, Kris Kirby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Every user radio in my commercial fleet has the TOT set for 30 > seconds. In > > > my mind, that's more than enough time to get any important > message across. > > > Unfortunately, many Hams think otherwise... > >Many hams think otherwise, because it's HAM radio -- not commercial. :-) > >I can't think of how you'd conduct a typical ham radio Net with 30 >second timers without sounding rediculous.
The 146.82 repeater in Los Angeles has been on a 30 second timer since the late 1960s. 30 seconds is longer than you think - you can get a lot of info across in that much time if you think before you start talking. >Just telling the members of whatever organization is meeting what the >organization is, how to contact them, and any announcements would >certainly take longer than that. Who says you can't unkey occasionally? > > That's not a bad idea. I'd probably want to set it at 120 seconds; one > > of the repeaters I grew up using had a 4-minute timer. > >We've used 3 minutes on our machines for a very long time... most >folks are used to it. We have a "Net mode" on repeaters that host >Nets that extends the timer out further and leaves the transmitter >keyed full-time. > > > I program most of my radios for 300 seconds or five minutes, just in > > case of stuck keys. > >Sometimes in a big ragchew where lots of questions are being asked or >a complex topic being discussed, I've hit the 3 minute timer myself... >and my radios are programmed to unkey in 3 minutes, so it's a race >between the controller's view of "3 minutes" and my radio's. Grin. Been there. That's why my radios are set for a few seconds less than the controllers. >In my view, the only purpose of the timeout timers in a properly built >repeater (capable of 100% duty-cycle 24/7) is to allow everyone to >have a turn... there's no technical reason for a timeout timer on a >repeater that's properly monitored and maintained. Interference and >accidental key-downs without an ID dictate a 10 minute timer, but >that's about it... So true. >If the repeater isn't built for 100% duty-cycle, it's not ready to do >our primary mission of emergency communications -- but that's just my >view... Totally agree. To me, burning in a new repeater includes flipping the "Force PTT" switch for at least 72 hours. If it's someone elses buildout that doesn't have one, I add it, or use a rubber band on the local mic PTT. >Nate WY0X Mike WA6ILQ
