Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Sinclair dipole array premature failure (noisy)
On Wed, 20 May 2009 17:29:21 -, skipp025 skipp...@yahoo.com said: Note the problematic Sinclair VHF dipole arrays are/were the models with two Dipoles per mast position, which means each location on the mast has a horizontal bar with a folded dipoles at each end of the mast (two parallel dipoles per horizontal mast). The traditional in-line folded dipole arrays work muy bueno... (very well). Just the dual side-by-side FD arrays are the train wreck (in what appear to be the 4 and 8 bay assemblies). I would also cautiously throw in here (knock on wood) that we've had EXCELLENT luck with the 2-bay vertical Sinclair folded-dipole antennas for situations where lower-gain or just less space/weight/height of the antenna was needed on VHF. They're significantly less expensive than the bigger antennas also, and would be a great starter antenna for a VHF group limited on funds, or just starting out. We replaced a ten year old antenna (you guys all know this drill) that had slowly degraded (but we didn't know it yet) when we had to move towers a few years ago at one of our sites, and decided that the appropriate sized antenna for that site was now going to be a 2-bay to fit the tower space. It wasn't what we wanted for gain to the horizon, but we knew we'd just have to live with it. Living with it has been EASY. The darn site covers 10-15 more miles on an HT than it did prior to the swap-out, and is heard in places on mobiles that it was never heard at all before. (Unfortunately the tower move shadowed it up a popular canyon/wilderness area BEHIND the mountain-top site, and that's brought a few (literally two or three) complaints...) One theory is that this is a LOW mountain-top site, and there's mountains BEHIND it that with higher take-off angles from the 2-bay, we're bouncing around more. Not multipath, mind you... just filling in better all over the place. Obviously the bad antenna wasn't helping things any, but the change is too dramatic to only be a function of that. So, for those looking at Sinclair antennas... I really can't say anything bad about the little 2-bay Sinclairs! There may be problems with those cross-arm folded dipole array things Skipp was giving a try... maybe it's just not a design Sinclair is any good at. But as for the vertical folded-dipole arrays, we're about to fire up another VHF machine on one of them... I'll share with the group how that one works out. Two clubs at the same site bought two of the 2-bays (one each) last fall, and tried to rush them to the hill for another tower move... unfortunately both antennas had a mishap on the way here (run over by a forklift) and by the time the replacements arrived, we were into snowy season. Now this spring, the 2-bays are up, one's in service, and ours goes in service in the next few weeks (hopefully... lots of work to do still), and so far the other group seems happy with the performance. I expect similar once I get the repeater moved and attached to ours. Of course, using brand new hardline and connectors, and rebuilding that entire site from the ground up in a new building isn't hurting anyone either...! But at the end of the summer, it'll be interesting to start seeing where people hear/use that machine. We're not going for massive coverage down there... the mountain already takes care of most of that... but what I really want to see is if the same bounce around effect helps this close-in, low-mountain machine as much as it did the other one. (Heck, if I knew the 2-bays worked THAT good from this type of site, I'd have put these things up sooner! S much easier to lift a 2-bay VHF than a 4 or 8 bay... no need for trucks or winches or big brute muscles... just a dude or two on the ground and a pulley... GRIN!) Nate WY0X -- Nate Duehr n...@natetech.com
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Desense on High Power Linear Repeater?
On Thu, 21 May 2009 08:06:38 -0400, Jeff DePolo j...@broadsci.com said: This leads me to a question that I have had on my mind. How are people doing desense testing with D-Star systems? (Remember, it's digital.) 73, Joe, K1ike How about this - record a clean D-Star transmission (not decoded, just the raw output from an FM receiver) on a PC with a good sound card, then use it to modulate the sig gen in your service monitor. Do desense test using a lossy tee like you normally would, except instead of comparing 12 dB SINAD points, you'd have to rely on listening to the repeated/decoded audio on another radio to gauge performance. Jeff's techniques should work. Another method is putting an IC-91AD or IC-92AD on extra-low power in a WELL SHIELDED box and passing it through a variable attenuator/iso-T with the best quality interconnect jumpers you can possibly muster, if you're cheap/frugal. We did this for baselining our system off the mountain, but haven't done it yet on the hill. The shielded box came from the cellular phone test lab industry, and didn't leak AT ALL. This isn't an ideal way to test, but it's better than nothing lacking real D-Star test equipment. IFR/Aeroflex just announced that they're releasing D-STAR capability into one of their new model Service Monitors in June also. List price is ... astronomical, of course. It also does TDMA 2-way systems and NXDN and all the other newer-ish commercial stuff. Is there any way to get pre-FEC and post-FEC BER metrics out of a D-Star repeater or user radio? Not that anyone's been able to find. There's a mystery pin on the serial connection at the repeater modules themselves that's labeled RSSI in the service documentation (usually found only in Japanese, but some english versions have wandered out), but most folks who've played with it think it's just a standard analog voltage from the receiver, and not any indication of how the digital side of the repeater is coping with thing. To add insult to injury, VOICE in the D-STAR data stream is HEAVILY forward error corrected, so to REALLY test it ... you need to feed the IC-91AD/IC-92AD some serial data from a PC and then COPY it on another receiver and PC to see when things really start to fall apart. You can KINDA hear when the voice becomes error-corrected, but feeding something like a 1000 Hz tone through it is useless... like in the cellular industry you need to feed real words through it and determine the copyability of that voice for yourself... or just use the completely garbled falling out point as your known test point. No one's found any documentation on what BER rate is needed to be reached (in the failing/downward direction) before the rigs go from copyable voice to garbled, but there's definitely a stage there where that happens in a CONTINUOUS transmission... the system can pick up if it re-syncs in that mode (mobile flutter/multi-path) but it often will NOT REPEAT if a signal STARTS OUT that way... digital hysteresis of some value... unknown. The UTAH VHF group has done the most accurate and useful engineering data on D-STAR I've seen yet... google for their website. Very civil debates have also raged on some lists about whether or not pre-amps help or hurt with the broad nature of the receiver's front-ends, and over time... as someone else pointed out, since these are mobiles in a box that's not shielded well, folks have figured out that the quality of the internal interconnect jumpers from the rear-panel N-connectors to the rigs themselves are pretty piss-poor in SOME bands radios. You pretty much just have to open yours up to find out, and of course, you're playing with fire for your warranty at that point, I suppose. Would have been nice if Icom had just spent a few extra bucks on a $2000 repeater and put some semi-rigid or at least good quality double-shielded stuff in there. Although most who've opened the 1.2 GHz modules have found good quality jumpers in those. The cheapness seems to be in the VHF/UHF modules. External amplifiers are also a bone of contention... the rigs and repeaters send a bit of a preamble prior to the start of real needed header data, and some have external amps on their D-STAR repeater modules with no particular problems... but ramp-up time/switching time is very criticial... the routing information (callsigns) is only really sent ONCE at the beginning of the transmission, and if it's lost, it's not like P25 where the Unit ID information is continuously interlaced in the data stream. Later, some folks found that the single transmitting callsign *is* interlaced but it's non-standard (not in the D-STAR specification) and something that obviously Icom decided to do, but doesn't contain the full four-callsign routing header... just the transmitting station's callsign. So yeah... there's some issues with it... but generally it's been fun to mess with it here... I've rattled on other lists about the Gateway and
[Repeater-Builder] Testing the Sinclair dipoles
I did a brief test (a few minutes each) on the remaining 7 dipoles from the noisy SD2352 array. The only way I know to see if they are noisy in duplex service is to stick them on the repeater and see what happens. I used a weak signal radiated into the dipole under test for audible indication of noise, switching the transmitter on and off to compare. The one dipole on the tower continues to run perfectly noise free even with higher than normal power, so I'll call that one good. Of the remaining 7, all were absolutely noise free at a typical power level of 50 watts into the antenna. At 200 watts (which I use only for testing to see if I have any extra margin), 5 of them were noise free and 2 showed just a bit, maybe 1 to 2 dB. I did not have time to reassemble the entire thing and test it again. That will have to be a project for another day. I must decide whether to take a chance on using some of these dipoles and building my own harness to make a 4-bay in-line array or scrap the whole thing and buy another antenna. The first option is much cheaper but if it doesn't work it would end up being money thrown away. Paul N1BUG
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Sinclair dipole array premature failure (noisy)
Nate Duehr wrote: I would also cautiously throw in here (knock on wood) that we've had EXCELLENT luck with the 2-bay vertical Sinclair folded-dipole antennas (snip) (Heck, if I knew the 2-bays worked THAT good from this type of site, I'd have put these things up sooner! S much easier to lift a 2-bay VHF than a 4 or 8 bay... no need for trucks or winches or big brute muscles... just a dude or two on the ground and a pulley... GRIN!) Thanks for sharing your experience Nate. In the last week I have been consistently surprised by how well the single dipole I put up on the tower is working. Signals are down a bit from the 8 element array in what were its favored directions, but not by as much as I was expecting. Perhaps I should consider making a 2-bay out of parts from the beast and evaluate that for a while before deciding about going to a 4-bay. Assuming I don't run into noise problems again when I start combining these dipoles into arrays, I'll end up going to 4 eventually. I'm trying to cover an impossible area from the only site available. It's a good site but our terrain around here is NOT VHF friendly. Yep... that darn 8-bay was HEAVY. Ya don't even wanna know how that was installed! Er... or I'm afraid to tell anyone for fear they'd wanna have someone who shall remain nameless committed! ;-) Paul N1BUG
[Repeater-Builder] Connector plating vs PIM etc.
OK, I guess it's about time I asked this. Is there someplace I can find a reference on various connector types (plated or not, type of plating) vs PIM/IMD/noise in duplex systems and/or in high RF environments? I am looking at replacing my run of LDF5-50A and wonder what type of connectors I *should* use. I always *thought* silver plated connectors were the way to go. But it is obvious none of the connectors on my DB4062B duplexer are silver plated. They are silver in color but they do not tarnish at all after many years... clearly not silver. I've also noticed on this Sinclair dipole array that I had problems with, the 3 x N(f) tees are silver plated but the mating N(m) connectors on the harness are not. Brass, silver, gold, tri-metal (?)... help! What are the accepted rules for connector choice for duplex systems and/or in high RF environments, and why? What about mating connectors with different plating? If a repeater is in a very low RF environment, does it even matter? Thanks! Paul N1BUG
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Connector plating vs PIM etc.
Paul, there is a product made here in Canada by DW Electro chemicals called Stabilant 22 that works wonders on connectors. It is a liquid and is about 35 dollars for a very small bottle. You just put a very small amount of it on each mating surface of the connectors and it becomes highly conductive between the two metal surfaces. I used it on all of my repeater antenna connections and had excellent results in lowering noise problems. John VE3AMZ - Original Message - From: Paul Kelley N1BUG paul.kelley.n1...@gmail.com To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 7:16 AM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Connector plating vs PIM etc. OK, I guess it's about time I asked this. Is there someplace I can find a reference on various connector types (plated or not, type of plating) vs PIM/IMD/noise in duplex systems and/or in high RF environments? I am looking at replacing my run of LDF5-50A and wonder what type of connectors I *should* use. I always *thought* silver plated connectors were the way to go. But it is obvious none of the connectors on my DB4062B duplexer are silver plated. They are silver in color but they do not tarnish at all after many years... clearly not silver. I've also noticed on this Sinclair dipole array that I had problems with, the 3 x N(f) tees are silver plated but the mating N(m) connectors on the harness are not. Brass, silver, gold, tri-metal (?)... help! What are the accepted rules for connector choice for duplex systems and/or in high RF environments, and why? What about mating connectors with different plating? If a repeater is in a very low RF environment, does it even matter? Thanks! Paul N1BUG Yahoo! Groups Links
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Sinclair dipole array premature failure (noisy)
Nate - Were these dual-dipole arrays - a total of 4 elements? Or were they two elements - one mounted over the top of the other? Chuck WB2EDV - Original Message - I would also cautiously throw in here (knock on wood) that we've had EXCELLENT luck with the 2-bay vertical Sinclair folded-dipole antennas for situations where lower-gain or just less space/weight/height of the antenna was needed on VHF.
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Help with power supply
FedEx delivers on the 27th and I will be able to size it up then. First I realize that 28V supplies are scarce but I have no need of one, I do need a good 25A rack supple for a GE MII 6 meter repeater that is going to be improved shortly. I like the idea of using the 220 input to lower the voltage. That was something I had not thought of. The conversion of the board and crowbar circuits are not a problem. If any one wants to swap an equivalent rack mount for the unit I am great with it. Charles, NM4V --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Eric Lemmon wb6...@... wrote: Charles, You can't convert a 28 VDC Astron power supply to a lower voltage, unless you replace the power transformer and regulator board, and possibly the pass transistors. Since the Astron linear power supplies use a series-pass regulator design, the pass transistors could burn up if expected to regulate at full design current but at half the rated voltage. That said, you CAN install a 14 VDC regulator board (or modify the 28 VDC regulator board with components suitable for 14 VDC) and run the power supply at less than half its rated load. I would never do this, because the value of a good, high-capacity 28 VDC power supply is always much greater than one that has been hacked to operate at a lower value. Before you decide what to do, call Fred (the Tech Support guru at Astron) and ask his advice. Go to the Astron web site for the phone number. 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com mailto:Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com , Charles Lowery clowery@ wrote: I purchased a Uniden 28 volt power supply today on ebay. It lookes like the Astron LSRM-25A or 35A both front and back (I assume Astron made it). Without seeing it, I assume it works OK (cost $2.00 + shipping). Has anyone converted one of these to 12 volts? I have no schematics for it and can not find one on the net. If converted what would be the available current? Charles, NM4V
[Repeater-Builder] Looking for a HRE6012B Preamp Module for a Motorola Astro Spectra
Hi All , Does anyone have any HRE6012B Preamp Modules around for the Astro Spectra Mobiles ? Please Let me know . Thank You . Steve efj44.
RE: [Repeater-Builder] Connector plating vs PIM etc.
OK, I guess it's about time I asked this. Is there someplace I can find a reference on various connector types (plated or not, type of plating) vs PIM/IMD/noise in duplex systems and/or in high RF environments? I am looking at replacing my run of LDF5-50A and wonder what type of connectors I *should* use. Nickel-plated connectors, which are the most common type, are generally to be avoided. As I recall, nickel-plated connectors typically test 20 to 40 dB worse in two-tone PIM tests than silver plated. Gold over nickel is also not good (a lot of cheap hamfest connectors/adapters that are gold plated inside and out tend to be regular nickel/brass connectors with a thin gold plating). Gold-plated *center pins* are generally acceptable for small connectors (BNC, N, SMA, etc.). Connectors with larger center pins (EIA flange, 7/16 DIN, etc.) usually are silver-plated. Silver plating is better from a PIM and conductivity standpoint, but gold doesn't tarnish, hence the tradeoff. There are also some considerations regarding soldering to gold - it can partially dissolve in the molten solder resulting in the solder becoming more brittle. Huber+Suhner and others have other special platings that are low-PIM yet don't tarnish like silver (Sucoplate and Sucopro). Regular nickel-plated brass connectors are still an acceptable choice for test cables and other uses where they will see repeated connection/disconnection because the plating doesn't scratch, oxidize, or deteriorate as quickly do some of the other types, but for a repeater installation, stay away from nickel. http://www.ieee.li/pdf/essay/passive_imd.pdf http://www.imscs.com/passive-intermodulation.html http://www.tessco.com/yts/customerservice/techsupport/whitepapers/passive_in termod.html http://www.hubersuhner.ca/co-ca-us/hs-p-rf-con-kb-plat.pdf I don't pretend to be a metallurgist - somebody else may have better/additional information. This is just what I've heard/learned over the years through my own reading. As far as connectors on your LDF5, I still like the old-style connectors with the thread-in center pin (L5PNF would be N female, silver plated). They simply don't fail, unlike some of the newer connectors (RingFlare, OnePiece, etc.) which I have had problems with occasionally, especially on larger cable. Now, having said all of that, my real-world experience with single-frequency-pair repeaters (not combiners or other multicarrier systems) is that I've never had a PIM problem that I could attribute to connector plating. Any connector that I install is silver-plated (or H+S Succoplate), but I don't go to the trouble/expense of replacing non-silver-plated connectors on equipment like duplexers, radios, etc.. --- Jeff WN3A
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Homebrew Cross band Link or Repeater
wd8chl wd8...@... wrote: worm hole? Lot's of leeway to make a funny crack... worm hole is a bit much on the Star Trek (NG) side along with the term tunnel or tunneling used by the internet types. Pick a label that fits... the description should indicate if the ends of each window or port hole are duplex (typical repeater with at least one I/O port/link) or half duplex in the form of the classic back to back radio hardware. There are more than minor differences in actual operation. cheers, s. skipp025 wrote: Hi Fred, It would probably be more accurate to call it a cross band port hole or window unless both bands are full repeaters with audio and COS/COR working together.
[Repeater-Builder] Motorola Capacity Plus
Who is on the training now. Mike Mullarkey
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Using the Icom 2at 4at HT for Repeater, Link and Remote Base Projects
Re: Using the Icom 2at 4at HT for Repeater, Link and Remote Base Projects The CTCSS blow-through (sub audible tone passing through the audio amplifier to the speaker) is really horrible. Over deviated CTCSS (on the transmitted signal) repeaters really wreak havoc on the speaker voice audio of most early Icom IC 2AT, 3AT, 4AT, 02AT, 03AT 04AT Portable radios. Many early portable radios (HT's) didn't have much in the way of Sub Audible Tone (CTCSS) filtering included so the user was often subjected to the audio distortion and CTCSS buzz, which is especially annoying on really repeaters with really hot (high level) CTCSS deviation and frequency. You could easily detect CTCSS right off the speaker audio from the above listed Icom HT's. I would suspect you might also be able to inject transmit CTCSS encoding right on/in the mic high (hot) lead. cheers, s. wd8chl wd8...@... wrote: I have a 2A made into a 'remote base' radio, ie, mounted in a metal box and screwed to a rack chassis, with a terminal strip for gozinta/gozouta. If I remember, I tapped the high side of the volume pot for a TS-32. Encode went in following the instructions for the version of the SS-32 that was made for portables and small radios of the late 70-s/early 80's...it's out there somewhere... and I did find COS somewhere too...probably with help from the old ACC notes. Now I have a 4A from my dad's estate I may see if I can do the same thing with... skipp025 wrote: Some people use voice detection to make/provide a COS/COR logic, some folks tack on a CTCSS (PL) Decoder and some actually open the radio to find a usable tap point in the receiver circuit. Depending on how tricky (and how much money) you want to invest in the package... voice operation can work, or it can be quirky, jerky and a real pain to deal with. An Icom 2AT probably blows enough CTCSS tone through the regular speaker audio output where you could easily tack a decent CTCSS Decoder on for decent full CTCSS Operation. No kits yet... but I'm thinking about it... cheers, skipp www.radiowrench.com/sonic
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Looking for a HRE6012B Preamp Module for a Motorola Astro Spectra
At 06:17 AM 05/22/09, you wrote: Hi All , Does anyone have any HRE6012B Preamp Modules around for the Astro Spectra Mobiles ? Please Let me know . Thank You . Steve efj44. This article may help. Adding a Preamp to a UHF Spectra Radio by Robert W. Meister WA1MIK http://www.repeater-builder.com/motorola/spectra/spectra-uhf-preamp.html It covers how to convert a non-preamp RF preselector into a preamped version, and mentions the HRE6012 specifically (the Astro-and non-Astro are the same in that area), If you, like me, have elder eyes and are not too sure about playing with surface mount parts there is a gentleman here in L.A. that has done this mod on several non-Astro and Astro Spectras. He has his own commercial 2-way shop and goes by the name of motarolla_doctor on this group. You can contact him as to cost. Mike WA6ILQ
[Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
Got a friend who is laid up with back problems. His car has been sitting for several months between uses. He has already lost one battery from sitting idle. He wants to purchase something packaged like a trickle charger that can be connected to the battery and left there (maybe even semi-permanently with a cord hanging out the grille). Does anyone have a suggestion for such a product ? Maybe one of the desulfator devices ? Mike WA6ILQ
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
Be careful, these have been known to contain SMPSes running at 600kHz and do a beautiful job a desensing a 2m repeater. On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 1:31 PM, Mike Morris WA6ILQ wa6...@gmail.com wrote: Got a friend who is laid up with back problems. His car has been sitting for several months between uses. He has already lost one battery from sitting idle. He wants to purchase something packaged like a trickle charger that can be connected to the battery and left there (maybe even semi-permanently with a cord hanging out the grille). Does anyone have a suggestion for such a product ? Maybe one of the desulfator devices ? Mike WA6ILQ Yahoo! Groups Links
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
Hi Mike In Corvette circles, battery tenders tend to be fairly common as many Vette owners don't drive 'em at all during winter. As such there are many good (and well tested) battery tenders out there. Here is one that is recommended pretty frequently (and pretty cheap at $40) http://shop.corvettecentral.com/C1-1953-1962/Chassis-Wiring-Lamps/Corvette-Garage-12-Volt-p6185434.html Ken At 01:31 PM 5/22/2009, Mike Morris WA6ILQ wrote: Got a friend who is laid up with back problems. His car has been sitting for several months between uses. He has already lost one battery from sitting idle. He wants to purchase something packaged like a trickle charger that can be connected to the battery and left there (maybe even semi-permanently with a cord hanging out the grille). Does anyone have a suggestion for such a product ? Maybe one of the desulfator devices ? Mike WA6ILQ -- President and CTO - Arcom Communications Makers of repeater controllers 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 We don't just make 'em. We use 'em!
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
Wall-Mart sells a pretty good charger for this purpose. It is rated at 2, 4, or 6 amps (set by push buttons) and falls back to a float charge (13.5 V) after bringing the battery up to about 14.8 Volts. I have one on the backup battery for a Mastr II repeater that has a backup circuit built into the power supply, but does not have a charger in the power supply. We read the Zetron for a report to the village quarterly (they supply the repeater site) and the procedure is to put the charger in the 6 amp position (stir the electrolyte) every time we open the cabinet doors. It also gives an indication that a power outage has occurred, since the charger will be showing a 2 amp charge (default value) instead of the 6 amp setting it was left in. If the battery has completely run down, a 2 Amp charger usually will not completely charge the battery. The 6 Amp rate however, will bring the battery up to full charge before falling back to the float voltage. The charger is built by Slumberger (SP) and should keep his car battery in good shape. 73 - Jim W5ZIT --- On Fri, 5/22/09, Mike Morris WA6ILQ wa6...@gmail.com wrote: From: Mike Morris WA6ILQ wa6...@gmail.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, May 22, 2009, 3:31 PM Got a friend who is laid up with back problems. His car has been sitting for several months between uses. He has already lost one battery from sitting idle. He wants to purchase something packaged like a trickle charger that can be connected to the battery and left there (maybe even semi-permanently with a cord hanging out the grille). Does anyone have a suggestion for such a product ? Maybe one of the desulfator devices ? Mike WA6ILQ
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
Hi Mike You might want to look at the Soneil Chargers http://www.soneil.com/. I sell these up here in Canada but there are lots of dealers in the US. They are totally automatic, can be left connected and plugged in. Randy VE3JPU On 22-May-09, at 4:31 PM, Mike Morris WA6ILQ wrote: Got a friend who is laid up with back problems. His car has been sitting for several months between uses. He has already lost one battery from sitting idle. He wants to purchase something packaged like a trickle charger that can be connected to the battery and left there (maybe even semi-permanently with a cord hanging out the grille). Does anyone have a suggestion for such a product ? Maybe one of the desulfator devices ? Mike WA6ILQ
[Repeater-Builder] Re: OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
Mike, I use a 2 watt solar powered SP-2 by PulseTech. Works great. http://www.pulsetech.net/ Randy PS no noise that I have detected on any bands yet. --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Mike Morris WA6ILQ wa6...@... wrote: Got a friend who is laid up with back problems. His car has been sitting for several months between uses. He has already lost one battery from sitting idle. He wants to purchase something packaged like a trickle charger that can be connected to the battery and left there (maybe even semi-permanently with a cord hanging out the grille). Does anyone have a suggestion for such a product ? Maybe one of the desulfator devices ? Mike WA6ILQ
[Repeater-Builder] One way transmitting question
Ok, I have a question that has been bothering me over the last few days. I had mentioned that we wanted to use our repeater to send out a set of tones to activate fire style pager (this was some time ago) and people said we should not do it for one reason or another. One of those reasons was that it might be considered a one way broadcast and not legal under FCC rules for amateur radio. That being said, I know that some people have come on here and asked about using a weather radio on their repeater system, etc. Having it setup to send out alerts over the repeater when they come in. Would this not also be considered a 1 way broadcast for reception by general public, per-say. How can you legally include a weather alert radio in a repeater setup and have it function as required?
Re: [Repeater-Builder] One way transmitting question
--- On Fri, 5/22/09, Christopher Hodgdon chris.hodg...@kaufman-ares.org wrote: From: Christopher Hodgdon chris.hodg...@kaufman-ares.org Subject: [Repeater-Builder] One way transmitting question To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, May 22, 2009, 6:43 PM Ok, I have a question that has been bothering me over the last few days. I had mentioned that we wanted to use our repeater to send out a set of tones to activate fire style pager (this was some time ago) and people said we should not do it for one reason or another. One of those reasons was that it might be considered a one way broadcast and not legal under FCC rules for amateur radio. That being said, I know that some people have come on here and asked about using a weather radio on their repeater system, etc. Having it setup to send out alerts over the repeater when they come in. Would this not also be considered a 1 way broadcast for reception by general public, per-say. How can you legally include a weather alert radio in a repeater setup and have it function as required? From the rules at ARRL.org (b) In addition to one-way transmissions specifically authorized elsewhere in this Part, an amateur station may transmit the following types of one-way communications: (1) Brief transmissions necessary to make adjustments to the station; (2) Brief transmissions necessary to establishing two-way communications with other stations; (3) Telecommand; (4) Transmissions necessary to providing emergency communications; (5) Transmissions necessary to assisting persons learning, or improving proficiency in, the international Morse code; (6) Transmissions necessary to disseminate information bulletins; (7) Transmissions of telemetry. ... Tones for the activation of pagers are Telecommand and information bulletins. The WX is either emergency or information bulletins. Also the WX retransmission is speciffically addressed as: (e) No station shall retransmit programs or signals emanating from any type of radio station other than an amateur station, except propagation and weather forecast information intended for use by the general public and originated from United States Government stations, and communications, including incidental music, originating on United States Government frequencies between a manned spacecraft and its associated Earth stati
Re: [Repeater-Builder] One way transmitting question
If you send to one pager at a time, you're OK because the message is going to a single person and isn't a broadcast. Dick -Original Message- From: Christopher Hodgdon chris.hodg...@kaufman-ares.org Sent: May 22, 2009 3:43 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] One way transmitting question Ok, I have a question that has been bothering me over the last few days. I had mentioned that we wanted to use our repeater to send out a set of tones to activate fire style pager (this was some time ago) and people said we should not do it for one reason or another. One of those reasons was that it might be considered a one way broadcast and not legal under FCC rules for amateur radio. That being said, I know that some people have come on here and asked about using a weather radio on their repeater system, etc. Having it setup to send out alerts over the repeater when they come in. Would this not also be considered a 1 way broadcast for reception by general public, per-say. How can you legally include a weather alert radio in a repeater setup and have it function as required?
RE: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
Mike, Stay away from any device that is described as a battery charger. Instead, simply connect a small regulated power supply directly across the battery terminals, and adjust the output voltage to float the battery at its resting voltage. The power supply voltage needs to be just high enough to offset the tendency to self-discharge, and to supply the few milliamps drawn by the electric clock and possibly a keyless entry or alarm system. This float voltage will vary between vehicles, depending upon the age and type of battery, the ambient temperature, as well as the amount of vampire current drawn by accessories that are always in standby mode. The cigarette lighter receptacle often cannot be used to connect a battery float power supply, because it usually is connected to the battery only when the ignition switch is on. 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY -Original Message- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Mike Morris WA6ILQ Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 1:32 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger Got a friend who is laid up with back problems. His car has been sitting for several months between uses. He has already lost one battery from sitting idle. He wants to purchase something packaged like a trickle charger that can be connected to the battery and left there (maybe even semi-permanently with a cord hanging out the grille). Does anyone have a suggestion for such a product ? Maybe one of the desulfator devices ? Mike WA6ILQ
Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
For my Corvette, I took the cable off the battery and put an ammeter in series. I read the current after the Corvette went to sleep. Used a big 36 volt transformer off an ink jet printer with a diode, resistor, and LED in series, with clip leads to the battery. I chose the resistor for about 25 mA higher than the measured drain. The LED shows my charging current. Works. It can sit for over a month and starts as if you drove it yesterday. One morning I woke up to 5 inches of snow. Didn't have time to shovel the driveway, late for work. Thought I could make it to the street; the snow plow had cleared the road. I didn't even get half way down the driveway. The Corvette wedged the snow underneath until the wheels just spun freely. It took a while to dig the snow out from underneath and get it back into the garage. I took my wife's car to work. She could hardly stop laughing. Only 4 inches of clearance under my Corvette. Mike - AA8K Ken Arck wrote: Hi Mike In Corvette circles, battery tenders tend to be fairly common as many Vette owners don't drive 'em at all during winter. As such there are many good (and well tested) battery tenders out there. Here is one that is recommended pretty frequently (and pretty cheap at $40)
RE: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger
Harbor Freight has a float charger, the price is right and I have some friends who have bought several and use them for motorcycles and lawn equipment in the off season and are happy with the performance. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42292 tom [Original Message] From: Mike Morris WA6ILQ wa6...@gmail.com To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Date: 5/22/2009 4:32:22 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] OT - recommendation needed - battery charger Got a friend who is laid up with back problems. His car has been sitting for several months between uses. He has already lost one battery from sitting idle. He wants to purchase something packaged like a trickle charger that can be connected to the battery and left there (maybe even semi-permanently with a cord hanging out the grille). Does anyone have a suggestion for such a product ? Maybe one of the desulfator devices ? Mike WA6ILQ Yahoo! Groups Links
