RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Capacitor value
Actually I've been working on and off on a series of component pages... caps were first, then I was going to do resistors and pots, then who knows... At some point I was going to do bench tools (i.e. hand tools, soldering irons, etc.), then I was going to attack test equipment... what you need as raw basics. If anybody wants to help, feel free Mike WA6ILQ At 04:35 PM 02/21/07, you wrote: Hi Mike, I happen to be on the computer when the question was posed. I remembered the chart and sent the message immediately. It seemed that hours went by before my post ever appeared. Other newer posts were asked and answered, so I don't know why there such a lag time before my message got through. Other times my questions and replies seem very fast. Hope you didn't spend much time on the chart. I checked the database and you are not on moderation so it should have been immediate. As always we appreciate your efforts to help us all. I have a lot of time as I'm unemployed, and feel that info should be shared, not hoarded. If anybody knows of a computer geek or land mobile tech position in the southern california area I'm looking. 73 JIM KA2AJH Mike WA6ILQ
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors)
There is one SMALL problem with your Hypothesis. RF is transmitted by Electrons. Light is transmitted by Photons. Science has a rather good handle on Electrons but Photons are still not fully understood!!! Apples Oranges!! August W8MIA -- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, skipp025 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The advantage of a dark antennas is how snow and ice might melt off it faster... and most of all how you can't easily see a black mobile whip on your car so it tends not to get tampered with as much. s. Roger Grady k9opo@ wrote: At 12:39 PM 2/21/2007, Steve Bosshard \(NU5D\) wrote: Regarding a clean and shiny antenna, we had a discussion at coffee. The preposition was that radio waves and light have many similarities, ie., wavelength, reflection, Fresnel behavior, and so forth. Using these similarities, a mirror reflects light, and a dark surface absorbs light, so, wouldn't a shiny antenna reflect incoming signals while a dark colored antenna absorbs signals? This may only apply to receiving antennas - hope I can get this idea to market before the April 1 edition of QST.. .. .. de nu5d Cute idea. However... How do you know aluminum that's shiny or black at visible light frequencies is still shiny or black at radio frequencies? Maybe RF black is visible day-glo orange, or pea-soup green. Or maybe it would absorb light so well as to be invisible. I think this would make a good April 1 article. I haven't written one for our repeater club newsletter for a few years, maybe it's time for another. Assuming you don't mind if I borrow your premise. As I think about it a vague sense of deja-vu is forming. Maybe there was an April Fool's article years ago somewhere about invisible antennas? Roger Grady K9OPO
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Wacom WP-641 cable type and lengths
Thank Eric! I'll give them a call. -Sean -Sean Sean, Contact Telewave for information about your Wacom duplexer cables. Telewave duplexers are very similar in construction to the Wacom units, and Telewave has the technical data to support and/or modify Wacom cavities. Go here: www.telewave.com for contact information. Ask for the Amateur Radio sales person, and explain that you need the cable lengths for your Wacom duplexer. Be aware that you cannot simply make cables that are a specific fraction of the wavelength at your RX and TX frequencies, because part of the total length is the length of the coupling loop hidden inside the cavity. 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 11:29 AM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Wacom WP-641 cable type and lengths Hi All, I have access to a WP-641 factory tuned to the ham band, but someone removed and misplaced the interconnect cables. Does anyone have a WP-641 that they could take the measurements from? I am also in need of the type of cable used. I think Wacom used RG-223/U. Thanks, Sean
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Johnson PPL 6060 manual needed
Do tell, do tell. Are there other mods need to pull them down that far? 73, Robert --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, JOHN MACKEY [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: are you saying a 45-470 MHz PPL6060 will work in the 420 MHz range? -- Original Message -- Received: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 09:25:10 PM CST From: Mike - W5JR (f/k/a N5FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Johnson PPL 6060 manual needed I've run one of those as a repeater for about 25 years now. It saw service in a very active linked repeater network for the first 10 of those years. I've moved it down to the 420 range for a link, and now
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors)
W8MIA wrote: There is one SMALL problem with your Hypothesis. RF is transmitted by Electrons. Light is transmitted by Photons. Science has a rather good handle on Electrons but Photons are still not fully understood!!! Apples Oranges!! August W8MIA Details, details... -- Jim Barbour WD8CHL
Re: [Repeater-Builder] FS Dual Junction isolators High Band
I am interested, sent you a PM. --- Mark [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have 4 pcs Antenna Specialists (remember them?) ACJ-2401 J2 dual junction isolators. They don't like to tune down to the ham bands so not of use to me. They came from a VHF tx combiner. Pictures upon request (or they look just like the ACJ-2601J2 440 isolators that were in many of the AS catalogs). Shipped via Priority Mail $60 CONUS. Paypal etc all ok. Mark N2QT 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#news
[Repeater-Builder] FS Rack mounted RCA power supplies
I am trying to clean out some of my equipment. I have three rack mounted power supplies. These are TAC 400 rack mounted 12 volt supplies at approximately 20 amps. They are linear supplies and heavy. Prefer pickup in Houston area. I can supply pictures on request. $50.00 each. Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors)
yes and no. Here is more info that you probably wanted to know... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon 73, Jon KD5SFA -Original Message- From: Gary Schafer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Feb 22, 2007 10:17 AM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors) Are not radio waves and light waves both electromagnetic waves? Are not all electromagnetic waves made up of photons? 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Repeater- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of W8MIA Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 1:29 AM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors) There is one SMALL problem with your Hypothesis. RF is transmitted by Electrons. Light is transmitted by Photons. Science has a rather good handle on Electrons but Photons are still not fully understood!!! Apples Oranges!! August W8MIA -- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, skipp025 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The advantage of a dark antennas is how snow and ice might melt off it faster... and most of all how you can't easily see a black mobile whip on your car so it tends not to get tampered with as much. s. Roger Grady k9opo@ wrote: At 12:39 PM 2/21/2007, Steve Bosshard \(NU5D\) wrote: Regarding a clean and shiny antenna, we had a discussion at coffee. The preposition was that radio waves and light have many similarities, ie., wavelength, reflection, Fresnel behavior, and so forth. Using these similarities, a mirror reflects light, and a dark surface absorbs light, so, wouldn't a shiny antenna reflect incoming signals while a dark colored antenna absorbs signals? This may only apply to receiving antennas - hope I can get this idea to market before the April 1 edition of QST.. .. .. de nu5d Cute idea. However... How do you know aluminum that's shiny or black at visible light frequencies is still shiny or black at radio frequencies? Maybe RF black is visible day-glo orange, or pea-soup green. Or maybe it would absorb light so well as to be invisible. I think this would make a good April 1 article. I haven't written one for our repeater club newsletter for a few years, maybe it's time for another. Assuming you don't mind if I borrow your premise. As I think about it a vague sense of deja-vu is forming. Maybe there was an April Fool's article years ago somewhere about invisible antennas? Roger Grady K9OPO Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums communities. Links Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums communities. Links
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors)
I posted the comment about shiny antennas totally tongue in cheek and not to be taken seriously. A coating of aluminum oxide should have practically no effect on antenna performance. As far as particles vs waves, seems like some theory fits particles and other theory fits wave theory (Planks and Maxwells?) - I can get more info from our oldest son, AD5RN if needed - he is studying that kind of stuff down at Texas AM.. Steve NU5D
Re: [Repeater-Builder] 1953 Motorola BaseRadio for 6meters
Whoa there pardner! Useless? Don't know 'bout 'dat. It keeps the local electrical co-op very happy, even at idle current!! hi. Neil? Jump in anytime! Happy to have the input. R. On Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:06:53 -0500, Ken Arck [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 06:38 PM 2/18/2007, you wrote: Hello WA6KLA??? It seems like this would be a good time for Neil Mckie to jump in give advice here. No one knows more about the old useless Moto gear! ---I was wondering what happened to Neil myself. I haven't seen (heard from) him since December Ken -- President and CTO - Arcom Communications Makers of the world famous RC210 Repeater Controller and accessories. http://www.arcomcontrollers.com/ Authorized Dealers for Kenwood and Telewave and we offer complete repeater packages! AH6LE/R - IRLP Node 3000 http://www.irlp.net -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/ Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[Repeater-Builder] OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area
The number of active ham repeaters in my area is way, way down in comparison to levels of 10 years ago. It isn't uncommon to monitor a repeater frequency and hear no traffic for weeks. Some clubs individuals have just walked away from coordinated pairs. However, there are a few repeaters that have remained active, although certainly not to the extent they were in the past. Interestingly, even though traffic is way down, there's still a waiting list in my area for coordinated pairs on all bands. Questions: 1) Has there been a decline in traffic and the number of active repeaters in your area? 2) If so, what do you feel the primary cause is? 3) What can be done to generate renewed interest?
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area
Computers and the internet, cell phones, satellite radio, iPods, and now the ease of getting your very own amateur CB callsign, so you can chat with all your good buddies. I can guarantee that if the coordinating body starts asking questions about all these idle repeaters, they'll instantly become busy for a few weeks. No one wants to give up their nice quite, private frequency pair. Bob M. == --- Tony L. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The number of active ham repeaters in my area is way, way down in comparison to levels of 10 years ago. It isn't uncommon to monitor a repeater frequency and hear no traffic for weeks. Some clubs individuals have just walked away from coordinated pairs. However, there are a few repeaters that have remained active, although certainly not to the extent they were in the past. Interestingly, even though traffic is way down, there's still a waiting list in my area for coordinated pairs on all bands. Questions: 1) Has there been a decline in traffic and the number of active repeaters in your area? 2) If so, what do you feel the primary cause is? 3) What can be done to generate renewed interest? Don't pick lemons. See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area
In a message dated 2/22/2007 11:40:17 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The number of active ham repeaters in my area is way, way down in comparison to levels of 10 years ago. It isn't uncommon to monitor a repeater frequency and hear no traffic for weeks. Some clubs individuals have just walked away from coordinated pairs. However, there are a few repeaters that have remained active, although certainly not to the extent they were in the past. Interestingly, even though traffic is way down, there's still a waiting list in my area for coordinated pairs on all bands. Questions: 1) Has there been a decline in traffic and the number of active repeaters in your area? 2) If so, what do you feel the primary cause is? 3) What can be done to generate renewed interest? 1) Yes 2) Cellular phones, internet 3) Probably nothing short of natural or terrorist caused disaster that obliterates terrestial communications. The reason for the waiting list for coordinating pairs even in the presence of declining repeater usage is because there is generally no requirement for a repeater to maintain a threshold activity level after coordination. Implementing such a requirement to retain coordination would undoubtedly free up pairs, but man, it would get ugly. BRBRBR**BR AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area
On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 19:36:50 -, Tony L. wrote: 3) What can be done to generate renewed interest? Everyone else gave good answers for #1 and #2. As for #3, link as many repeaters as you can. We have 4 UHF machines linked 24/7 (see link below) and also have Echolink and IRLP available. What a blast! The uptime for the system would easily exceed all the individual repeaters put together. Why? Larger audience. The chances of putting out your call and having someone actually there to reply is much greater. Just my $0.02 worth... Tedd Doda, VE3TJD Lazer Audio and Electronics Baden, Ontario, Canada www.ve3tjd.com (personal) www.eraradio.ca (Linked repeater system)
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area
Hi, There has been no decline in repeater use here. As a matter of fact it's getting busier than ever. After next week I suspect there will be even more traffic. I hold a TECH NET on our local machine one a week. It's usually handled as a round table. works extremely well. 73 David R. Henry LME Licensed Master Electrician Amateur Radio W2DRH Member ARRL Accredited Instructor - Original Message - From: Tony L. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 2:36 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area The number of active ham repeaters in my area is way, way down in comparison to levels of 10 years ago. It isn't uncommon to monitor a repeater frequency and hear no traffic for weeks. Some clubs individuals have just walked away from coordinated pairs. However, there are a few repeaters that have remained active, although certainly not to the extent they were in the past. Interestingly, even though traffic is way down, there's still a waiting list in my area for coordinated pairs on all bands. Questions: 1) Has there been a decline in traffic and the number of active repeaters in your area? 2) If so, what do you feel the primary cause is? 3) What can be done to generate renewed interest? Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. Links
[Repeater-Builder] 220 repeater receiver recommendations?
Our group is in need of replacing the receiver on our 220 box and I wanted to solicit some opinions from the group. Our current receiver is a Spectrum using 3rd overtone crystals. We are looking at the following: 1. Spectrum receiver using 5th overtone crystals. 2. Hamtronics R302 Synthesized receiver. http://www.hamtronics.com/r302.htm 3. Hamtronics R100 crystal receiver. http://www.hamtronics.com/r100.htm 4. Hi-Pro R4V http://www.hiprorepeaters.com/Receivers.htm What are you using and are you happy with it? Would you buy any particular one again? Why or why not. Thanks a bunch! Ken KE6N
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors)
The first page of your reference tells the story; The word light is defined here as electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength; thus, X-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet light, infrared light, microwaves, radio waves, and visible light are all forms of light. In modern physics, the photon is the elementary particle responsible for electromagnetic phenomena. It mediates electromagnetic interactions and makes up all forms of light. 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Repeater- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of KD5SFA Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 12:04 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors) yes and no. Here is more info that you probably wanted to know... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon 73, Jon KD5SFA -Original Message- From: Gary Schafer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Feb 22, 2007 10:17 AM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors) Are not radio waves and light waves both electromagnetic waves? Are not all electromagnetic waves made up of photons? 73 Gary K4FMX -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Repeater- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of W8MIA Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 1:29 AM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors) There is one SMALL problem with your Hypothesis. RF is transmitted by Electrons. Light is transmitted by Photons. Science has a rather good handle on Electrons but Photons are still not fully understood!!! Apples Oranges!! August W8MIA -- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, skipp025 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The advantage of a dark antennas is how snow and ice might melt off it faster... and most of all how you can't easily see a black mobile whip on your car so it tends not to get tampered with as much. s. Roger Grady k9opo@ wrote: At 12:39 PM 2/21/2007, Steve Bosshard \(NU5D\) wrote: Regarding a clean and shiny antenna, we had a discussion at coffee. The preposition was that radio waves and light have many similarities, ie., wavelength, reflection, Fresnel behavior, and so forth. Using these similarities, a mirror reflects light, and a dark surface absorbs light, so, wouldn't a shiny antenna reflect incoming signals while a dark colored antenna absorbs signals? This may only apply to receiving antennas - hope I can get this idea to market before the April 1 edition of QST.. .. .. de nu5d Cute idea. However... How do you know aluminum that's shiny or black at visible light frequencies is still shiny or black at radio frequencies? Maybe RF black is visible day-glo orange, or pea-soup green. Or maybe it would absorb light so well as to be invisible. I think this would make a good April 1 article. I haven't written one for our repeater club newsletter for a few years, maybe it's time for another. Assuming you don't mind if I borrow your premise. As I think about it a vague sense of deja-vu is forming. Maybe there was an April Fool's article years ago somewhere about invisible antennas? Roger Grady K9OPO Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums communities. Links Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums communities. Links Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. Links
[Repeater-Builder] Circulators FS
(4) M/A Com VHF Single Circulators (153.00 Mhz range) Mod# XH-419-6Q1T $25.00 Ea. (1) M/A Com UHF Triple Circulator Mod# G-4005 $25.00 (1) M/A VHF Combiner Mod# H-4103-2 Plus shipping from 60134 Contact me off list if interested at N9MEP at AOL dot Com Thanks Gerry BRBRBR**BR AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.
[Repeater-Builder] Re: 220 repeater receiver recommendations?
Hi Ken, You're goint to get a lot of opinions regarding the quality of various receivers and a mention by a lot of sold customers to seriously consider using a converted commercial radio... the popular conversion being something like a GE or Motorola Radio. I'm not sure if I get the reason why you worry about using a 3rd or 5th overtone crystal in your receiver. Are you experiencing some issue with the injection scheme or an image from the adjacent TV Channel allocation? We've just had an Icom IC-RP2210 repeater receiver die and parts are no longer available. I've ordered a replacement R302-6 receiver from Hamtronics to drop into the box. I've heard a few negative reports about the Hamtronics Synth Equipment in the last few months but I'm willing to try one for myself. Since the repeater transmitter is still synth I wanted to allow the receiver to be reprogrammed when and where desired. I'm well willing to trust trying a Hamtronics Receiver because I've never really had a bad unit from them. Not only have I built and used a lot of Hamtronics gear.. but I've been using Jerry's vhf projects since the 1970's. My only beef would be to tell Jerry to get off the $%*(@ speaker phone when I call him. I bought a Hi Pro 220 repeater transmitter and receiver about two years back and it just keeps on playing rock solid. My only issue might be the whacky way Maggiore (and a lot other brands) treat (or doesn't treat) the receiver repeat audio. Seems like Spectrum has one of the better repeater receiver audio interface circuits. So read what other have to report... ask a lot more questions and get out your check book. cheers, skipp skipp025 at yahoo.com Ken Harrison [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Our group is in need of replacing the receiver on our 220 box and I wanted to solicit some opinions from the group. Our current receiver is a Spectrum using 3rd overtone crystals. We are looking at the following: 1. Spectrum receiver using 5th overtone crystals. 2. Hamtronics R302 Synthesized receiver. http://www.hamtronics.com/r302.htm 3. Hamtronics R100 crystal receiver. http://www.hamtronics.com/r100.htm 4. Hi-Pro R4V http://www.hiprorepeaters.com/Receivers.htm What are you using and are you happy with it? Would you buy any particular one again? Why or why not. Thanks a bunch! Ken KE6N
RE: [Repeater-Builder] 220 repeater receiver recommendations?
Ken first of All I noticed You stated Our group, so I would assume You have others kicking in to the Cost, I do not and I had Scott build Me up a 220 Repeater System, He did it in the process of Building a house and Moving All I had to do was Program the Controller, Hook up the Amp, Power Supply Duplexers, and Ant, I have never had any Problems for over a Yr. I live in N/W Ind and get gets Cold Below Zero and the Repeater is in a non heated area, Last Mo. it started sounding a little Distorted on weak Signals, I E- Mailed Scott and Explained the Problem, and He told Me to Adjust the Receive Element it had Drifted and Finally settles Down, I set it back on Freq it was Low now Everything is Working Great, So Not only do You get a Great Product But alsoSupport after the sale, If I had a Club paying dues I would have another one built and if Something went Wrong just Switch them out , No down time You can have it custom built the way You want it and I wanted all kind of unnecessary stuff S-Meter, Disc Meter Lights, Etc. and was told that was just more stuff to go Wrong keep it Simple . More info here http://www.repeater-builder.com/custombuilt/index.html Good Luck Happy Repeater Building Don KA9QJG
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Whiskers
On 2/21/07, Kevin Custer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If you hit it hard enough, it would have fixed itself without taking it apart. Nate knows how hard you have to smack it to break the whiskers off, don't you Nate? grin Actually I've never done it myself... just knew it was an option -- one of those crap, the repeater's down and I don't have time to work on this options. I hate those. (GRIN) I think if I were presented with info that someone had done it to one of our systems I would start immediately into the cussing stage... but not at that person, more that I'd know we would have to find another VHF and go swap it... and there's a LOT of screws in a station to take out to do that swap... and I *always* seem to lose at least one of them... The swap is easy -- if you show up with a receiver already aligned... but if you don't have extra ICOM's with the crystals already in them you usually can only do a rough alignment on with whatever closest crystal set you have. Once you're done keeping track of all the darn screws in a dark room at a site, dropping at least three of them on the floor and hunting for them... then after getting it all put back together -- then you still have to align the darn thing... In all, a multi-hour project, that's still worth doing... just to get the stupid casting out of there that's causing all the grief... Heck if you bang on the casting to fix it, you're probably going to whack the thing hard enough that you might have to go back through the helical alignment anyway. Since all of our repeater sites are quite a drive from home (mountains), the whole prospect sounds not fun, no matter how you slice it. I visited a friend in Indianapolis last year after Dayton and he said, Want to go to the repeater site?' He wondered why my initial reaction was Huh?... of course, the repeater site is on a huge tower only 3 miles from his house... you drive over, open the gate, open the door and do whatever you need to. Must be NICE! I'd have our re-connectorize everything project crossed off my list if our sites were that easily accessible... a couple of hours over a couple of months of Saturdays... and it'd all be done... Digital photos are a lifesaver for us, when we remember to shoot them... now was that a male or a female DB-9 on that What kind of clamps are holding that antenna again??? Ahh... right here in the photos... Of course, on my last three site trips to one of our sites, I either couldn't find or didn't take the [EMAIL PROTECTED](^#@ digital camera... and as I'm pulling out of the site in the Jeep I remember... and the cussing starts again... So ... Fred's right... all good projects start with cussing. :-) Nate WY0X
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Band Pass Duplexer Tuning
On 2/22/07, fxbuilder [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I didn't have a load on the 3rd port when I tuned it. I only have 1 dummy load. I can add an antenna to the 3rd port though I know that would less than ideal but better than nothing I suppose. I have found some schematics for the pads and will be working on that this weekend. On a side note anyone know what the sensitivity should be on my uhf Mitrek when it is tuned correctly? A low level but noisy signal seems to break squelch at .5mv (assuming I'm reading my old tube Navy generator correctly) and full quiet seems to be around 5mv. Is this close to what it should be? It just doesn't seem to have great ears. Could be the nearby hills are just heavily blocking the antenna. Finding a good location that doesn't cost my first born is tough in this area. Craig I'm not a Motorola guy, so I have no idea what the factory spec of the Mitrek receiver sensitivity is... but... For repeater service using older radios, it's pretty common to need a pre-amp to get maximum receiver performance. But your original posts were that you were tuning a small flat-pack style duplexer for this project -- it may simply not have enough rejection. Are you doing the sensitivity tests with the transmitter on or off? You could be fighting good old fashioned desense. A couple of the articles here in the RB site might be useful: http://www.repeater-builder.com/antenna/deaf.html (The link to Remec/Wacom in that article goes to someone else now... since Wacom was acquired... and the link goes to a redirect that leads to a company in Lynchburg who does other types of filters, looks like...) http://www.repeater-builder.com/rbtip/preamps.html ( I disagree with a statement in this article... If you have the ability you can probably construct a preamp that will more closely suit your needs than can be found commercially. -- Chip Angle at AngleLinear gets rave reviews from many repeater owner/operators, and a lot of us use Advanced Receiver Research's pre-amps without undue headaches... which are both commercial products. They both suit a lot of people's needs! GRIN... ) I'm also not quite sure about this statement talking about using the pre-amp after the duplexer and before the receiver... : Again, since we are not making up for a great deal of loss, we do not need a great deal of gain. This example works great in UHF systems but likely shouldn't be tried on 2 meters. Off the top of my head, I can think of more than five VHF systems here locally that do this with fine results...? Different clubs, different techs. Some have bandpass filtering, some don't... Kevin might explain what he was thinking there...? But anyway... check for desense before anything ... if you have that going on, making the receiver hear better will only make it worse. (GRIN) Nate WY0X
[Repeater-Builder] Re: 220 repeater receiver recommendations?
Thanks for the recommendation, Don. Though I'm sure a MastrII would be a great conversion for 220, we (in the group sense) want to try to save some of our money to get a remote base setup going on our repeater, too. Our small savings would be wiped out to replace the entire repeater, in spite of it being handy to have a complete spare should there be a problem in the future. Thanks, Ken --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Don KA9QJG [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Ken first of All I noticed You stated Our group, so I would assume You have others kicking in to the Cost, I do not and I had Scott build Me up a 220 Repeater System, He did it in the process of Building a house and Moving All I had to do was Program the Controller, Hook up the Amp, Power Supply Duplexers, and Ant, I have never had any Problems for over a Yr.
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area
On 2/22/07, Tony L. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Questions: 1) Has there been a decline in traffic and the number of active repeaters in your area? Reading everyone else's comments, I'm almost embarrassed to say this but... Our activity level in our club has been going up here in Denver. Especially on our wide-coverage VHF standalone rag-chew machine. Usage of our large VHF/220 linked system is flat or down a little. Usage of our autopatch is -- nil. Usage of our IRLP links... high. The UHF machines have always sat quiet most of the day, but seem to have a little activity once in a while, with the exception of the high-coverage UHF machine that has EchoIRLP on it. That one's getting a work-out... but it covers easily from Cheyenne, WY (we've had mobiles use it from 5 miles East of Laramie, WY) to the ridge-line between Colorado Springs and Denver to the south, and virtually the entire population of the Denver Metropolitan area, minus Boulder, CO... it's shadowed into there. 3-4 million people in the coverage area of that one machine -- probably 20-25 regular users. I always use that machine to call other tech-heads I've met through IRLP, the IRLP Convention in Las Vegas a few years ago, and other out-of-towners who've moved away or whatever... that want to keep in touch via IRLP. Another local ham calls the Vancouver area virtually every day on it... and there's a rowdy bunch up there... who are fun to talk with. (We have such a high density of good well-set-up IRLP enabled repeaters around here, that when people leave Denver for good... moving, job change, etc... they set up IRLP nodes where they move to, so they can call back here and say hello once in a while. You get used to having it available to you.) 2) If so, what do you feel the primary cause is? New hams and content. Some hams tend to only participate in the regularly scheduled Nets on the big linked VHF system -- there's a Net just about every night of the week, with various special interests running each one. The new hams are on the air and rag-chewing, and just as interested as I was when I started in the early 90's. http://www.w0cra.org/info/nets.html I daresay (and have said it on the air too) that our club's repeaters wouldn't be very interesting without those groups using them. We enjoy having them around! We would be pretty dead without 'em. As far as the rag-chew goes... it gets mighty crazy on our wide-area VHF system... almost to the point of too crazy... and we've always kinda let it go there... as long as it stays legal and relatively sane... Hams with any desire to have an orderly and simple conversation, usually walk away from their rigs shaking their heads when they listen to that system... and once in a while I have to send out notices to people to back off of certain topics, etc... (We pride ourselves on being a system that FAMILIES can use, so no matter what the FCC says... sexual innuendo and topics are generally in poor taste no matter how you slice it... always assume kids are listening.) The doubling has been so bad that a new phrase popped up this last year... (people don't wait for the courtesy tone at all on that system, which grates at my nerves, but whatever...)... people key up, say a few words, say check for double, unkey and then continue. Kinda funny. Sometimes people turn it into a personal zinger.. Check for Nate... Ha... Many local older hams HATE how that repeater sounds and came complaining to me when it was down a year ago -- begging us to put it back on the air since the ragchewers had migrated to their repeaters. People sometimes call it the trash repeater, but I've heard REAL trash repeaters in Los Angeles... and it's definitely NOT that. So... I laughed quietly to myself all the way to the PA replacement... WE HAVE ACTIVITY... their machines sit quiet... and dead... most of the day. (So yes... overall activity is probably down... but not our systems!) That repeater is not for the faint of heart, or the easily annoyed... but it's almost always active... which in turn ends up being a continuous advertisement for the club... New hams buy a new inexpensive VHF radio, hit scan, hear activity there, find out it's our club, and then they look up our info, find we have plenty of other repeaters also... and join. Whether everyone likes it or not, that machine attracts all the newbies. And we work hard to foster a welcoming attitude (even slowing down the speed of the discussion, and the doubling... LOL...) when we hear a new voice or callsign. In fact, as club President I monitor over there almost all the time -- just to break in and welcome newbies. Because that's where they are... We also go out of our way to send a paper letter of welcome to every new person we hear. I can't take any credit for that part -- we have a couple of GREAT volunteers in our club that handle that. 3) What can be done to generate renewed interest? It's all about content... if you don't have groups
[Repeater-Builder] 2 pin molex connector spectra speaker
Anyone know what the part number is for the 2 pin molex connector for the spectra speaker cable? I'm looking for the speaker side, either the Molex or Motorola part number will do. Thanks in advance, Bruce WB6ARE
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors)
--- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, W8MIA [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There is one SMALL problem with your Hypothesis. RF is transmitted by Electrons. Light is transmitted by Photons. Science has a rather good handle on Electrons but Photons are still not fully understood!!! This having been said does anyone have an understanding of Smoketrons and how they propagate;) Apples Oranges!! August W8MIA -- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, skipp025 skipp025@ wrote: The advantage of a dark antennas is how snow and ice might melt off it faster... and most of all how you can't easily see a black mobile whip on your car so it tends not to get tampered with as much. s. Roger Grady k9opo@ wrote: At 12:39 PM 2/21/2007, Steve Bosshard \(NU5D\) wrote: Regarding a clean and shiny antenna, we had a discussion at coffee. The preposition was that radio waves and light have many similarities, ie., wavelength, reflection, Fresnel behavior, and so forth. Using these similarities, a mirror reflects light, and a dark surface absorbs light, so, wouldn't a shiny antenna reflect incoming signals while a dark colored antenna absorbs signals? This may only apply to receiving antennas - hope I can get this idea to market before the April 1 edition of QST.. .. .. de nu5d Cute idea. However... How do you know aluminum that's shiny or black at visible light frequencies is still shiny or black at radio frequencies? Maybe RF black is visible day-glo orange, or pea-soup green. Or maybe it would absorb light so well as to be invisible. I think this would make a good April 1 article. I haven't written one for our repeater club newsletter for a few years, maybe it's time for another. Assuming you don't mind if I borrow your premise. As I think about it a vague sense of deja-vu is forming. Maybe there was an April Fool's article years ago somewhere about invisible antennas? Roger Grady K9OPO
Re: [Repeater-Builder] 2 pin molex connector spectra speaker
Yeah; speaker side- #480319-0 (Mouser # 571-14803190) pins- #60618-1 (Mouser #571-606181) harness side- #480318-0 (Mouser #571-14803180) sockets- #60617-1 (Mouser #571-606171) Check Mouser's website or catalog for the other pin and/or socket contact sizes available. These fit 24-18 ga. but there are others. The connector series is known as Mate-N-Lok. Gary bforestal wrote: Anyone know what the part number is for the 2 pin molex connector for the spectra speaker cable? I'm looking for the speaker side, either the Molex or Motorola part number will do. Thanks in advance, Bruce WB6ARE Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. Links
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Shiny antennas (Black, Chrome and Salmon Colors)
I lived in Bryan/Collage Station for a while and never did find out what animal husbandry has to do with electronics ;) Check with your son and let me know. --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Steve Bosshard \(NU5D\) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I posted the comment about shiny antennas totally tongue in cheek and not to be taken seriously. A coating of aluminum oxide should have practically no effect on antenna performance. As far as particles vs waves, seems like some theory fits particles and other theory fits wave theory (Planks and Maxwells?) - I can get more info from our oldest son, AD5RN if needed - he is studying that kind of stuff down at Texas AM.. Steve NU5D
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Johnson PPL 6060 manual needed
Posted by: JOHN MACKEY mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Re%3A%20Johnson%20PPL%206060%20manual%20needed[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://profiles.yahoo.com/jmackey_usa_netjmackey_usa_net Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:26 pm (PST) are you saying a 45-470 MHz PPL6060 will work in the 420 MHz range? Absolutely!! I've moved many an EFJ to 420 operation - 558, 559, 6060. And some of them began life as T-Band units, 470-512 MHz. In the RX, use high side injection xtals. Matter of fact, use your existing 440 or 450 xtals to test with. The radio will hear a signal -21.4 MHz lower than your current freq. You may have to add a 1/4 turn to each coil in the multiplier helical. In the front end, use a 1/4 turn for 427-433 range and a half turn for the low end. We used regular house wire, 10 ga I think for the 558/559 units, formed around the proper sized drill bit. Tack solder it to the end of the existing coils. They tune right up. Sometimes, 1/4 inch longer screws is all it takes. If they are T-Band, use more coil. On the TX, some padding in parallel with caps in the multipliers is needed to bring them in range, especially if TX'ing low. It is easy to get a doubler acting like a tripler, so be sure to have a spectrum analyzer on hand to verify what freq the RF is on. Same is true for the amplifier stages. Two of the helicals in the 6060 casting are for TX and may need the coil extension trick like the RX side. They make good 420 full duplex link radios, similar to a modified MVP. - mike - w5jr
[Repeater-Builder] Re OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area
Tony, et al. 1) Yes 2) I believe one of the main causes it that there are just too many repeaters! This causes fragmentation of the users. Case in point: Here in Champaign County, IL, there are presently three UHF machines and two VHF machines. There have been at least three other two meter machines that have been turned off and their coordination turned in. In 1974 there was one repeater. Everyone monitored it and used it. Everyone knew everyone. Newcomers were welcomed and elmered. A call at any hour of the day or night would likely get an answer. Then ESDA decided they needed their own repeater because the main one was too busy. This siphoned off several users. Then an RTTY repeater was put on the air. More users disappeared. Then a 440 machine came on line and more fragmentation occurred. Then another 440 system was installed. Then the students at the university club had to have their own system. A couple of garage repeaters came on line. Each of these repeaters has fragmented the user base. Each system has its own bunch of followers who seldom interact with other systems or their users. Of course, one could scan all the repeaters and many do, but it's not the same. There is little sense of belonging or allegiance to more than one group. (Although, for the most part, we do pretty much all do get along.) Realistically, (but probably not likely) half the repeaters need to be shut off if we are ever going to regenerate the camaraderie of the past. 3)Turn off a lot of under-used, ego repeaters. Having been a party to most of the local repeater efforts, I know see the error of my ways. We have built, maintained, and operated repeaters because we could and had the skills and opportunity to do it. Let's face it, it's an ego trip to put a system together and have it work well, to overcome all kinds of obstacles, to maintain it in fine shape, to improve the coverage a bit, and yes, to even pull your hair out sometimes. It's a challenge and not just anyone can do it. Sometimes we even get a little respect for our efforts. Again, an awful lot of repeaters exist just because they can rather than any real or imagined need for them. But who's going to decide this? I don't want to turn mine off. (Flame suit on) 73, Al, K9SI Questions: 1) Has there been a decline in traffic and the number of active repeaters in your area? 2) If so, what do you feel the primary cause is? 3) What can be done to generate renewed interest?
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT- Activity Level On Ham Repeaters Way Down In My Area
At 2/22/2007 11:36, you wrote: The number of active ham repeaters in my area is way, way down in comparison to levels of 10 years ago. It isn't uncommon to monitor a repeater frequency and hear no traffic for weeks. Some clubs individuals have just walked away from coordinated pairs. However, there are a few repeaters that have remained active, although certainly not to the extent they were in the past. Interestingly, even though traffic is way down, there's still a waiting list in my area for coordinated pairs on all bands. Questions: 1) Has there been a decline in traffic and the number of active repeaters in your area? Yes no. In terms of total TX time, I'd say no decline maybe even an increase. However, the number of simultaneous QSOs in a given region is way down. The reason is with less traffic on the bands, more systems are linking together. This is good for providing improved coverage, but it also results in many systems retransmitting the same traffic. Sometimes I can hear the same QSO on over half a dozen frequencies, often these multiple systems aren't that far apart in location. Occasionally I'll even hear the same traffic coming out 2 different repeaters at the same site! So I guess one could say we're making good use of our spectrum, just not very efficiently. Given the reduced amount of actual communicating going on, maybe it doesn't matter? Bob NO6B 2) If so, what do you feel the primary cause is? 3) What can be done to generate renewed interest? Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. Links
Re: [Repeater-Builder] 220 repeater receiver recommendations?
At 2/22/2007 15:00, you wrote: Our group is in need of replacing the receiver on our 220 box and I wanted to solicit some opinions from the group. Our current receiver is a Spectrum using 3rd overtone crystals. We are looking at the following: 1. Spectrum receiver using 5th overtone crystals. 2. Hamtronics R302 Synthesized receiver. http://www.hamtronics.com/r302.htm 3. Hamtronics R100 crystal receiver. http://www.hamtronics.com/r100.htm 4. Hi-Pro R4V http://www.hiprorepeaters.com/Receivers.htm What are you using and are you happy with it? Would you buy any particular one again? Why or why not. I maintain a couple of 220 repeaters that use modified Midland 13-509 boards. Despite their apparent simplicity lack of filtering, they've performed very well for us. Bob NO6B
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: 220 repeater receiver recommendations?
At 2/22/2007 19:01, you wrote: Ken, We not only do complete repeaters, we can custom build just about anything you want or need. We can simply build a rock-solid high-quality 220 receiver for you. We have done several receivers in the past that are rack mountable in a 2 unit rack space. I have a GE mastr II receiver that I am just finishing up. It came out looking so nice that I am going to take pictures as a show piece. Micor receivers would be VERY similar in construction. In my opinion, 2 things: 1. A Micor makes a much better repeater on 2M and 220 than a GE MII. (sorry GE loyalists!!) Interesting conclusion. Care to state any specific advantages the Micor has over the G.E.? I'm particularly interested in any shortcomings of the G.E. that are not easily overcome. Bob NO6B I think a Mastr II makes a much better repeater on UHF (sorry Micor loyalists!!) I would suggest a Micor for your 220 Machine. 2. If you're going to spend money on a new receiver, why not spend a bit more and get a completely new machine. Think about it, if your receiver is not 100%, what's saying that your transmitter is running at 100%? The notable thing about spectrum repeaters is that they lived up to their name, they took up the WHOLE spectrum. This might even be what is happing that you assume is a bad receiver. Instead of a bad receiver, you may have a spurious transmitter that is totally wiping your receiver off the map. Duplexers are meant to isolate, but there is only so much they can isolate. If you'd like a quote on a new machine or a quote for a new receiver, feel free to e-mail or call. Scott - Owner Repeater-Builder (the company) http://www.repeater-builder.com/custombuilt/www.repeater-builder.com/custombuilt/ Scott Zimmerman Amateur Radio Call N3XCC 474 Barnett Road Boswell, PA 15531 - Original Message - From: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]Ken Harrison To: mailto:Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.comRepeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 8:39 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: 220 repeater receiver recommendations? Thanks for the recommendation, Don. Though I'm sure a MastrII would be a great conversion for 220, we (in the group sense) want to try to save some of our money to get a remote base setup going on our repeater, too. Our small savings would be wiped out to replace the entire repeater, in spite of it being handy to have a complete spare should there be a problem in the future. Thanks, Ken --- In mailto:Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.comRepeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Don KA9QJG [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Ken first of All I noticed You stated Our group, so I would assume You have others kicking in to the Cost, I do not and I had Scott build Me up a 220 Repeater System, He did it in the process of Building a house and Moving All I had to do was Program the Controller, Hook up the Amp, Power Supply Duplexers, and Ant, I have never had any Problems for over a Yr. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.441 / Virus Database: 268.18.3/697 - Release Date: 2/22/2007 11:55 AM
[Repeater-Builder] Milcom/Uniden ARX2125 220 MHz Amplifier schematics/info
Hello all. I'm looking for more info, schematics, etc on this nice 220 MHz amp, built around 1992. I have the info that N2CKH has posted on his website (see http://www.n2ckh.com/125m_rptr.htm) but I would like more specific info (schematics) about this amplifier chassis. I've searched the 'net and both Uniden Milcom websites without any other results. This Amp was part of the now defunct ACSB system that UPS was going to use back when we lost part of the 220 band. Any new info would be helpful. ( I already have info on the CA2832C hybrid and the Polyfet F1004 devices) Tnx, George, WA2VNV
[Repeater-Builder] RE: 220 repeater receiver recommendations?
My answer would be none of the above. Get a VHF micor and have Kevin do the 220 mod to it. I cannot imagine any of the receivers mentioned coming close to that in performance. Good luck, td wb6mie Our group is in need of replacing the receiver on our 220 box and I wanted to solicit some opinions from the group. _ Find what you need at prices youll love. Compare products and save at MSN® Shopping. http://shopping.msn.com/default/shp/?ptnrid=37,ptnrdata=24102tcode=T001MSN20A0701 Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums amp; communities. is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
