RE: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

[Mike Morris WA6ILQ]

At 05:40 PM 12/16/07, you wrote:
>Mike,
>
>Oh, you've got one of those guys, too?  He might be related to the fellow in
>my area who thinks that increasing the power on his mobile radio will raise
>the volume level on the 2m repeater- even if he is already full quieting!

Like the local guy that has a beam, and no matter how many times
he's told can't seem to remember that he's using a repeater, and the
repeater is northeast of him...
When he's talking to a guy who is southeast of him he goes and points
the beam towards him, and then says that he's got a weak signal...

>He and his relatives always give "loud and clear" signal reports, even when
>the talker is barely readable.  These fellows are well-meaning, but they
>cannot bring themselves to criticize a fellow Ham, even when that Ham has a
>nearly unreadable signal.

This is why I wish more repeater controllers had a user-accessible DVR
track (even if it was only 10 seconds), and macros to record, play and
erase it.
I saw a web page a while back on how to build one using a Hallmark
record/playback greeting card, but I can't find it now.

>Back to the original topic:  I shall endeavor to create a plausible
>interface with the WT-2, after I receive it.
>
>73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY

As far as I know the CAT-1000 does not have any analog inputs, and
no way to add them.  This means that even if you had a device to
create analog DC voltages from the forward and reverse power (i.e.
the forward/reverse power monitoring module from EMR or Telewave
that Eric was referring to), you couldn't read the voltage, set thresholds
and speak alerts based on those thresholds much less take those
voltages, scale them to useful numbers, and speak the numbers back
to you.

Or fake the guys out... set up a DTMF command that when triggered
says "97 watts forward, 1.5 watts reverse"
Unless you really do lose your antenna, or have a power amplifier
deck flake out on you the average user will never know the difference.

Mike WA6ILQ

Re: [SPAM]RE: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

[Mike Pugh]

Mike Besemer (WM4B) wrote:
> Eric,
> 
>  
> 
> In a perfect world, I’d love to both hear specific values AND be alerted 
> if values drifted out-of-bounds.  The idea of remote monitoring came 
> about because we have several users who swear ‘the repeater is weak 
> today’, but whenever I go check it, inevitably it’s just fine.  I’d love 
> to be able to punch up the forward and reflected power when one of these 
> jokers catches me on the air, just to show them that nothing has 
> changed.  (Of course, that still wouldn’t convince them… but at least 
> I’d get a laugh… AND some piece of mind that everything was okay.) 

Why spend the money? Just wrote a macro that, when called, says 
something like "75 watts forward, 1 watt reflected" Then you can say, 
"see it's all in your head".

I knew a guy years ago that ran a repeater who's users wanted an 
autopatch on the repeater. He rigged up a macro that sent a dial tone, 
followed by a busy signal when accessed. The users never knew the 
difference! Just an idea... 73 :-) Mike KA4MKG




 
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RE: [Repeater-Builder] IFR 1500 service monitor, OCXO bit the dust

[Eric Vincent]

Hi Joe,

 

In past a friend of me give me 2 Cushman CE-4B service monitor and the 2
test-set have rouble with the 5MHz HSO.  I have work every night on these
famous oscillators to find an open contact on the nichrome wire.  To repair
the oven I remove one turn of the nichrome wire and retwist the wire on the
tab and solder.  Maybe it is not the best thing to do but it is cheaper than
a new module or other like that, anyway Cushman Company is dead... 

 

Caution on the Nichrome wire, it is very small (like hair) and is jacket is
made with little Kevlar envelope.  I use a 50X microscope to do the job with
a little light projector.  After a lot of efforts my two monitors work very
well and stability is ok, it’s a quasi miracle.  To do that you will need a
lot of dexterity and you need to be relaxed, very relaxed.

 

I have a lot of photos and notes about that job maybe it will be a good
thing to put that on RB web site?

 

Good luck with your project.

 

73’ Eric VE2VXT

 

PS. Excuse my English I speak French only.

 

 

 

  _  

De : Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] De la part de Joe
Envoyé : 16 décembre, 2007 21:36
À : Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
Objet : [Repeater-Builder] IFR 1500 service monitor, OCXO bit the dust

 

While trying to align a MASTRII , I discovered that my IFR1500 OCXO lost 
the oven. (or so it seems). Prior to this, I noticed that the 
frequency was 170Hz off and it could not be netted with the front 
control. Then, I found it 10Khz off frequency at 450Mhz. Watching the 
frequency of the 10MHZ oscillator from cold start to 10 minutes warm-up 
time, I never see the frequency change. This seems to be telling me 
that the oven has failed in the Oven Controller Crystal Oscillator. 
(This IFR1500 has Opt 02 installed).

I made a call to Auburn Electronics Labs and spoke to William. He was 
very informative, but gave me an estimate of $1,800 to replace the oven 
or about $1,000 to retrofit it with a more modern frequency standard. 
My third option is to always use an external 10Mhz reference source, but 
the IFR1500 needs 1 to 1.5 volts of signal to switch from the internal 
to external reference source. A fourth option would be to try to fix 
the existing oven by repairing or replacing the nichrome wire that 
probably burned open. I did catch a whiff of something burning near my 
workbench but never identified what it was, probably was the nichrome 
wire burning open.

Anyone have experience with this kind of problem? Any suggestions?

73, Joe, K1ike
> _._,___ 

 

[Repeater-Builder] IFR 1500 service monitor, OCXO bit the dust

[Joe]

While trying to align a MASTRII , I discovered that my IFR1500 OCXO lost 
the oven.  (or so it seems).  Prior to this, I noticed that the 
frequency was 170Hz off and it could not be netted with the front 
control.  Then, I found it 10Khz off frequency at 450Mhz.  Watching the 
frequency of the 10MHZ oscillator from cold start to 10 minutes warm-up 
time, I never see the frequency change.  This seems to be telling me 
that the oven has failed in the Oven Controller Crystal Oscillator.  
(This IFR1500 has Opt 02 installed).

I made a call to Auburn Electronics Labs and spoke to William.  He was 
very informative, but gave me an estimate of $1,800 to replace the oven 
or about $1,000 to retrofit it with a more modern frequency standard.  
My third option is to always use an external 10Mhz reference source, but 
the IFR1500 needs 1 to 1.5 volts of signal to switch from the internal 
to external reference source.  A fourth option would be to try to fix 
the existing oven by repairing or replacing the nichrome wire that 
probably burned open.  I did catch a whiff of something burning near my 
workbench but never identified what it was, probably was the nichrome 
wire burning open.

Anyone have experience with this kind of problem?  Any suggestions?

73, Joe, K1ike
> _._,___ 

RE: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

[Eric Lemmon]

Mike,

Oh, you've got one of those guys, too?  He might be related to the fellow in
my area who thinks that increasing the power on his mobile radio will raise
the volume level on the 2m repeater- even if he is already full quieting!
He and his relatives always give "loud and clear" signal reports, even when
the talker is barely readable.  These fellows are well-meaning, but they
cannot bring themselves to criticize a fellow Ham, even when that Ham has a
nearly unreadable signal.

Back to the original topic:  I shall endeavor to create a plausible
interface with the WT-2, after I receive it.

73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
 

-Original Message-
From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Besemer (WM4B)
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 5:21 PM
To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

Eric,

 

In a perfect world, I'd love to both hear specific values AND be alerted if
values drifted out-of-bounds.  The idea of remote monitoring came about
because we have several users who swear 'the repeater is weak today', but
whenever I go check it, inevitably it's just fine.  I'd love to be able to
punch up the forward and reflected power when one of these jokers catches me
on the air, just to show them that nothing has changed.  (Of course, that
still wouldn't convince them. but at least I'd get a laugh. AND some piece
of mind that everything was okay.)  

 

The LDG TW-2 is exactly what I was thinking about. seems easy enough to
interface via the CAT-1000 user outputs and user inputs.  I was even
thinking about finding a way to set some sort of break-points to trigger an
alarm, as you were talking about.

 

I'm definitely interested in hearing what you find out once yours arrives.
If you have good luck, I'm going to see if I can get the club to spring for
one.

 

73,

 

Mike

WM4B

 

From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eric Lemmon
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 8:10 PM
To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

 

Mike,

The LDG TW-2 talking power monitor appears to be ideally suited to your
application, since all you need is to provide switch closures to the unit
and then apply the audio output to the controller for transmission. If you
were to use a commercial forward/reverse power monitoring module from EMR or
Telewave, you would need to amplify and scale the outputs, create voice
macros, and do the calculations to generate meaningful SWR announcements.
That's a lot of work!

I have no personal experience with the LDG TW-2, but I am awaiting the
arrival of one, and I will be happy to share my findings and interface
suggestions with you and any others who are interested in this unique
application.

One question comes to mind: Is it really necessary that you know exactly
what the forward/reverse power readings are, or the SWR, or are you
concerned about whether the values have drifted outside a certain tolerance?
I think that I would want to hear a voice notification that power is
abnormally low, or the SWR is abnormally high, rather than the value.

73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY


-Original Message-
From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
 
[mailto:Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
 ] On Behalf Of Mike Besemer
(WM4B)
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 4:22 PM
To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
 
Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

I'm interested in remotely monitoring the power/SWR at the repeater site and
having the ability to have a macro poll the device and report status over
the repeater output. I see that LDG makes a power meter with a voice output
that I could probably interface, but is there something designed more
specifically for the application I have in mind? The controller is a
CAT-1000.

Ideas?

Mike

WM4B

 

RE: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

[Mike Besemer (WM4B)]

Eric,

 

In a perfect world, I'd love to both hear specific values AND be alerted if
values drifted out-of-bounds.  The idea of remote monitoring came about
because we have several users who swear 'the repeater is weak today', but
whenever I go check it, inevitably it's just fine.  I'd love to be able to
punch up the forward and reflected power when one of these jokers catches me
on the air, just to show them that nothing has changed.  (Of course, that
still wouldn't convince them. but at least I'd get a laugh. AND some piece
of mind that everything was okay.)  

 

The LDG TW-2 is exactly what I was thinking about. seems easy enough to
interface via the CAT-1000 user outputs and user inputs.  I was even
thinking about finding a way to set some sort of break-points to trigger an
alarm, as you were talking about.

 

I'm definitely interested in hearing what you find out once yours arrives.
If you have good luck, I'm going to see if I can get the club to spring for
one.

 

73,

 

Mike

WM4B

 

From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eric Lemmon
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 8:10 PM
To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

 

Mike,

The LDG TW-2 talking power monitor appears to be ideally suited to your
application, since all you need is to provide switch closures to the unit
and then apply the audio output to the controller for transmission. If you
were to use a commercial forward/reverse power monitoring module from EMR or
Telewave, you would need to amplify and scale the outputs, create voice
macros, and do the calculations to generate meaningful SWR announcements.
That's a lot of work!

I have no personal experience with the LDG TW-2, but I am awaiting the
arrival of one, and I will be happy to share my findings and interface
suggestions with you and any others who are interested in this unique
application.

One question comes to mind: Is it really necessary that you know exactly
what the forward/reverse power readings are, or the SWR, or are you
concerned about whether the values have drifted outside a certain tolerance?
I think that I would want to hear a voice notification that power is
abnormally low, or the SWR is abnormally high, rather than the value.

73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY


-Original Message-
From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
 
[mailto:Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
 ] On Behalf Of Mike Besemer
(WM4B)
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 4:22 PM
To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
 
Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

I'm interested in remotely monitoring the power/SWR at the repeater site and
having the ability to have a macro poll the device and report status over
the repeater output. I see that LDG makes a power meter with a voice output
that I could probably interface, but is there something designed more
specifically for the application I have in mind? The controller is a
CAT-1000.

Ideas?

Mike

WM4B

 

<><>

RE: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

[Eric Lemmon]

Mike,

The LDG TW-2 talking power monitor appears to be ideally suited to your
application, since all you need is to provide switch closures to the unit
and then apply the audio output to the controller for transmission.  If you
were to use a commercial forward/reverse power monitoring module from EMR or
Telewave, you would need to amplify and scale the outputs, create voice
macros, and do the calculations to generate meaningful SWR announcements.
That's a lot of work!

I have no personal experience with the LDG TW-2, but I am awaiting the
arrival of one, and I will be happy to share my findings and interface
suggestions with you and any others who are interested in this unique
application.

One question comes to mind:  Is it really necessary that you know exactly
what the forward/reverse power readings are, or the SWR, or are you
concerned about whether the values have drifted outside a certain tolerance?
I think that I would want to hear a voice notification that power is
abnormally low, or the SWR is abnormally high, rather than the value.

73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
  

-Original Message-
From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Besemer (WM4B)
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 4:22 PM
To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

I'm interested in remotely monitoring the power/SWR at the repeater site and
having the ability to have a macro poll the device and report status over
the repeater output.  I see that LDG makes a power meter with a voice output
that I could probably interface, but is there something designed more
specifically for the application I have in mind?  The controller is a
CAT-1000.

Ideas?

Mike

WM4B

[Repeater-Builder] Remote power monitoring

[Mike Besemer (WM4B)]

I'm interested in remotely monitoring the power/SWR at the repeater site and
having the ability to have a macro poll the device and report status over
the repeater output.  I see that LDG makes a power meter with a voice output
that I could probably interface, but is there something designed more
specifically for the application I have in mind?  The controller is a
CAT-1000.

Ideas?

Mike
WM4B

  

[Repeater-Builder] Re: 6 meter repeater Identification and help

[travis8303]

Group,

Thank you very much for the information. A few people contacted me 
off list and of course, Eric's response helps tremendously.

Will start looking for someone, organization or individual, that may 
be able to help or do the conversion on these units. Have 4 of them.
And another two meter unit although not as concerned with it for now.
The duplexers, same thing. 
Also, looking for conversion notes.
May have found a manual but will be looking if not.
Willing to pay for help, manuals, notes, etc.

If anyone has a contact or knows of someone that may have converted 
or worked on these units before, please let me know.

Thank you group, your help is greatly appreciated.

Travis
AA9NV


--- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, "Eric Lemmon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
>
> Travis,
> 
> The Motorola Reference Manual describes the B61LPY-3100DT as a 
Repeater (RT)
> Station for the 25-50 MHz band.  It is rated as 100 watts 
continuous duty,
> with Private-Line squelch and DC remote control.  The service 
manual for the
> station is 6881003E65 which, unfortunately, is long out of print 
and not
> available from Motorola Parts.  You may be able to locate that 
manual on an
> auction site. 
> 
> Armed with the service manual, you should be able to convert that 
station's
> receiver to the 6m band by changing out some capacitors in the 
front end and
> local oscillator stages.  The transmitter section will take a lot 
more work,
> but it can be done with the appropriate tools and test equipment.  
You might
> consider contacting a firm that specializes in such conversions for
> suggestions and cost.  Repeater-Builder (the Company) is one such 
firm.
> 
> The Sinclair R-103G duplexer is a very good unit, but it will take 
some
> serious sheet-metal work to make it perform well in the 6m band.  
The
> conversion involves shortening both the outer cylinder and the 
internal
> elements, and changing the cable harness.  You might consider 
contacting
> Sinclair tech support for suggestions, at www.sinctech.com
> 
> Although they are somewhere around 30 years old, such Motorola 
stations seem
> to keep running...
> 
> 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of travis8303
> Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2007 8:23 PM
> To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Repeater-Builder] 6 meter repeater Identification and help
> 
> Hello group,
> 
> I have four Motorola repeaters in the 48-49 MHZ range.
> The fifth is high VHF.
> 
> 1) Can anyone tell me what they are?
> 2) Any leads for information or people that might know how to 
convert 
> the equipment for ham use?
> 
> The repeater model is B61LPY 3100DT SPL (it looks like)
> The duplexers are model R-103G 
> 
> Pictures are posted on my site:
> hteeteep://aa9nv.r2i.net/Repeaters6M.htm
>  
> take out the extra ee's :)
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you,
> Travis
> AA9NV
>

[Repeater-Builder] TAIT TS5040 Alarm unit

[pe1rmn]

hi .
i recently bougth a Tait ts5040 alarm unit as i am wondering if anyone
has any schematics of this unit

and if anyone has did some test with a T800(crystal version)Rx and Tx
wit CTCSS ???

with regards ..

Joost,PE1RMN
PI3GOE,145,725MHZ