Doug, Which ebay sound interface do you recommend for app_rpt, and is there a good site showing the mods necessary for the conversion of said usb device? Tim
On Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 9:50 AM, Doug Bade <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Al; > You may want to look into the Allstar Link project or similar that are > based on Asterisk as the core system. A $10 sound interface from ebay can be > used as the "controller" in connection with a receiver, transmitter and a > PC running the sw which can be downloaded as a self installing ISO CDrom > image..It does run Linux as the core... it also provides international > linking capacity besides repeater functions. > > I currently use Intel Atom 330 based motherboards for the site computer.. > and it will run 4 repeaters with 4 usb sound interfaces at once.. IF you go > the expensive route.. you can buy a prebuilt interface device called a URI > from a company called DMK Engineering ( ham pricing available) .. sub $100 > each.. and have 5 wires to connect to the tx and rx to make a repeater... > that will connect in the exact same places most repeaters use for any other > analog controller.. I use rack mount Supermicro atom 330 based board kit *Item > #: *N82E16816101262 from Newegg.. at $279.00 plus 1GB Ram plus HD plus a > URI... will be less than $500.00 out the door and you can add 3 more URI's > to link ( or not as they are each standalone) 3 more repeaters or remote > bases ( yes you can hook up most any HF radio with remote control ) which > can be controlled by the users... for just the cost of the URI's as the sw > will support many repeaters.. limited by the DSP audio streaming/ processing > of the motherboard as USB Sound devices transfer DSP largely to the OS.. CPU > Load goes up with each additional repeater..I currently run 3 machines for 3 > different clubs on one Computer at the site... This sw has connection > capability to Echlink as well as IRLP besides the AllStar Link network.. BTW > any computer with USB and ethernet, in the P4 or better realm can easily run > 4 or more URI's... > I CHOOSE to use1u rackmounts at the site.. so pay a little premium to do > that.. > > There is also a UK ham, Jonathan G4KLX, who has coded a software package to > use these same URI devices as well as several other sound interfaces called > "pcrepeatercontroller" it is it's own yahoogroup.. He makes both windows and > linux distributions of the application. Windows is fairly easy to set up.. > Linux is more "standard" for internet linked systems but is harder to set up > with his stuff at this time ( If you are Linux centric it helps a lot) ..I > have written a howto for installing and building the software on CentOS 5.4 > that is fairly 101 level ... Jonathan also writes a DStar repeater version > that converts a FM modulated radio ( 9600 Packet ready) or Eq into a > standalone Dstar repeater ( needs 2 radios to repeat :-) ) > > I am currently setting up and testing a DStar URI based installation on my > Mastr III UHF station.. which came from 403-430 and I moved to 440-450... > Mastr II stations with FM modulators probably will do equally well as that > was the platform in Mastr II for EDACS which was a waveform very similar to > Dstar... albeit 9600 baud instead of DStar 4800.. I will be working on > documenting that down the road.. but want to get my MIII running first..It > is converted.. just need to connect the URI. I am analyzing and deciding > where to connect as MIII is a little more complex then MII :-) > > Jonathan, the author, has an item on his todo list to merge the 2 apps onto > one so it would be a dual mode analog and Dstar repeater... both apps launch > at the click of a mouse... just one at a time now.. the same connections are > shared for both.. He is also working with the DStar network guys and can > connect his repeater software based box's to other Dstar repeaters and > gateways through the open source network stuff currently being built... > > > Doug > KD8B > > > > Al Wolfe wrote: > > > > The other day some of us were discussing replacing the controller in one > of our local repeaters. It is presently an NRHC-4. While throwing ideas > around someone suggested why not just use an old PC and sound card. Then we > > could add bells and whistles as needed. This got us to thinking that maybe > this might be a good idea. Then someone said why reinvent the wheel. Why > not > see what others have done first. So, I'm asking what are your experiences > with this concept? What programs are available? Other than some stability > issues with Windoz, what are the pitfalls? > > Thanks, > Al, K9SI > > > >
