[Repeater-Builder] RC100 expert sought
I'm looking for a RC100 expert: a good friend is helping a local group of handicapped scouts (wheelchair kids, 12-18 years old) and wants to use his repeater and IRLP for the upcoming JOTA next weekend. Unfortunately, the RC100 controller lost it's configuration. The controller has 2 ports, one connected to the radio, the other to the IRLP computer (two pairs of squelch signals, two pairs of PTT lines) and hence needs to be programmed for that. The manual is quite large, notes on programming have gone missing, and time has run out to experiment and find the correct programming sequence. Anyone with an RC-100, using two ports on his repeater, who can share his programming notes with me? Thanks in advance, Geert Jan
[Repeater-Builder] Re: wouxun
Since you have both, can you shed some light on the differences between the KG-UVD1P KG-UVD2D? I have been on contact with Ed Griffin from wouxun.us. He actually does respond to email questions. When I asked him something similar, he explained: First there was the KG-UVD1, in which 1750 Hz call tone was weak. Then there was the KG-UVD1P (first generation) which had short DTMF tones. Then there was the KG-UVD1P (second generation) which had the longer DTMF tones and continues to be in production. The KG-UVD2 is the same as the 2nd generation KG-UVD1P, just the case is slightly different. Chargers, battaries, microphones are exchangable. I measured a first-generation 1P and a 2. One of the radios has serial J06-6587. J means 2010, 06 means June. There are a few wouxun groups on yahoogroups on which there's a lot of activity. Geert Jan
[Repeater-Builder] Re: wouxun
Also saw a posting on e-ham that indicated only -30 dBc on harmonic spurious for the UHF side (I assume that's 2nd harmonic). I have an early KG-UVD1P (short DTMF burst) and an KG-UVD2D and can confirm this is not the case on neither radio, I measured -60dBc which makes them legal here. 73, Geert Jan PE1HZG
[Repeater-Builder] Re: 1296 filter
On 1 Jul 2010 02:58:24 - Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com wrote: I'm searching a valid project of 1296MHz cavity filter. Schematic, images are appreciated. I would use it on 1296 fm repeater and atv repeater 1240/1290. Could be interesting a project of cavity filter with unique antenna out. ATV filtering might be difficult because the signal is wide and you're bound to have phase distortion problems. Having said that, see if you can find someone who has the UKW unterlagen book series (in German). Geert Jan
[Repeater-Builder] Re: CTCSS Encoder/Decoder
For encoding, there's a million PIC-based solutions on the net. I designed my own, using a different PIC (12HV615) to reduce extra components to minimal: it has a built-in voltage stabilizer (no 78L05 needed, just a resisitor), and using bitstream D/A so no external D/A network neccessary. By bitstream D/A do you mean PWM? If so, how fast do you clock it how many serial bits do you use to create each sample? I use the hardware PWM generator inside the 12HV615. With 20 MHz clock I get 156 kHz cycles, with 7 bits resolution. Which is plenty: my main concern is to do noise-shaping, a simple RC filter filters out the high-frequency stuff (which is all around 156 kHz, i.e. several decades away from the desired low-frequency CTCSS tones). Again, don't worry much about the number of D/A bits; even a square wave only has odd harmonics. It is unfortunate that none of these low-pin PICs make the output of their internal D/A converter (CVref) available externally; it's only available as input to a comparator. I experimented with using the comparator as a buffer to get the D/A signal (putting a RC filter between output and inverting input of the comparator inside the PIC), this did work but somehow having a free-oscillating high-speed converter didn't seem very desirable from an EMC point of view. For decoder, check out http://www.mcarcoh.org/ke8rv/photo-sd.html, specific the comments about his controller. It's really mind-boggling what can be done with PICs. I see Don's using the analog input of a fairly low-end PIC, but I'd think you could use a digital input if the output of the LPF was limited via a very high gain amp. stage, a la ComSpec. Did he implement an IIR filter in the 12F675? He implemented Goerzel using fixed-point DSP. One issue has been detection time. I still need to find time to experiment with this myself. 73, Geert Jan
[Repeater-Builder] Re: CTCSS Encoder/Decoder
We have been experimenting with building CTCSS Units using the 567 Tone Chip and good components, i.e. Caps, multi turn pots etc. The stability is not good in my opinion. For encoding, there's a million PIC-based solutions on the net. I designed my own, using a different PIC (12HV615) to reduce extra components to minimal: it has a built-in voltage stabilizer (no 78L05 needed, just a resisitor), and using bitstream D/A so no external D/A network neccessary. Using SMD will make it really, really small and cheap. I can't publish the details yet as we plan to use the kit as a fundraiser for the local amateur radio museum. For decoder, check out http://www.mcarcoh.org/ke8rv/photo-sd.html, specific the comments about his controller. I exchanged mail with the designer and his design is facinating, though not publically available, which is understandable. I have good experiences with the TS-64 in my repeaters. Note that you can configure it to encode and decode CTCSS at the same time, so it's possible to re-generate CTCSS at the repeater output. 73, Geert Jan
[Repeater-Builder] Re: license-free radios 1272619009.275.56317...@yahoogroups.com
While this one is not a huge problem, it happens too. Visitors come to Las Vegas from a lot of foreign countries. People in the UK have whats called PMR radios. It's their FRS service. The radios are all simplex, 8 channels on 6.25Khz splinter channels starting at 446.000 Yep! if you scan those channels here you DO hear activity on them! For the record, most countries in EU have license-free radios in 3 frequency ranges: - LPD (Low Power Device), 10mW, 433.075 - 434.775, 68 channels in 25 kHz raster. Not so polular beacuse 10mW doesn't get far in cities - PMR (Public Mobile Radio), 500 mW, 446.000-446.100, 8 channels in 12.5 kHz raster: 1 446.00625 2 446.01875 3 446.03125 4 446.04375 5 446.05625 6 446.06875 7 446.08125 8 446.09375 These radios generally have PL support. Note that in EU, the 70cm band is 430.440 MHz so it is out of our bands here. These things are VERY popular - recently bought 2 radios for $35 together with charger and NiMh cells! - Digital PMR, 500 mW, 446.100-446.200, This is like the analog PMR but uses digital voice (this is what ICOM developed D-STAR for) Note that the American FRS/GMRS radios are simply illegal here, as these frequencies were used by law enforcement till recently (so not a good choice even to chance it). You indeed might want to take this into account when setting up repeater frequencies. Hope this helps, Geert Jan PE1HZG
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Cooling Fans, which brand?
Anyone have a brand they recomend for a no noise, reliable fan. I didnt know whether to go with brushless,ball bearing,AC, or DC etc. Also should the power leads be sheilded and have a separate supply if DC.. Any filters recomended also.. This is my first repeater and am now into the cooling part of the project. By far the best approach is no fan at all, that is, use passive cooling and just a big enough cooling block that it simply doesn't heat up enough to be an issue. You should be able to key-up the TX for a few days and not even have to worry about the temperature, that's what I do even before considering putting anything on a building or a hill. Repeatersites are seldom clean and fans just clog, They push dirt at places you really don't want any, and if they fail you'll be none the wiser. You really are better off without a fan at all. Consider fans with a tacho-output. This will pulse on every turn and you can fix your controller to warn if the fan should be running (and the pulses are missing - i.e. the fan isn't running). Brand-wise I found fans by EBM-PABST a lot more reliable than the typical Asian counterpart. Go for ball-bearing fans, not sleeve-bearing, they typically only last 2 hours. PABST does publish realiability numbers on their datasheets - I suggest you do the math first. Oh, plan to visit the repeater site every year to change fans? I would think not, some of my repeaters I don't even have access to, requiring coordination et all. Apart from temperature, *temperature-cycling*, i.e. heating up during a log of activity and cooling down, is your big killer. As things don't grow and schrink the same way on temp rise, temp changes cause stress. For one, if you use RF power modules, make sure the leads are not tight, but use a little bow so the leads can bend (instead of stretch) with temp changes. Enough? 73, Geert Jan PE1HZG
[Repeater-Builder] Question on German repeaters
In the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, CTCSS tones are assigned per geographical area. For example, in the South of the Netherlands, (where my machines are located), CTCSS tone is standardized to 71.9 Hz. My question: What mechanism do repeaters in Germany use? Is there a geographical assignment scheme as well? Thanks, Geert Jan
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Repeater Kerchunk
We have some on our repeater frequency, that just like to kerchunk the repeater to hear it come back or ID. Is there any way we can eliminate this annoying situation? I suspect that we may have an unlicensed individual with a 2meter radio. This actually isn't technology, it's psychology. Consider this: A guy, either licensed or unlicensed, got himself a radio but doesn't have lots of reasons to get active, either because he does't know the crowd, is new, perhaps not licensed (yet!) or just because he wants to test access to the repeater. You and I, each with more than 20 years of experience, know what to expect; for someone new, this is cause of concern and something to explore. Asking for a report may be difficult - perhaps because he doesn't know the group of people that all seem to know eachother for years, perhaps he looks up to the user community, perhaps the license thing sits in the way. The easiest way to get what he wants, is just to kerchunk the repeater. So that's what he does. There are 4 things to do: 1. Make the kerchunk event as non-disruptive as possible. Make sure the repeater's response is there, but as non-intrusive as possible. My machines just have a 500 ms hangtime; if people kerchunk, they just hear the plop when they unkey, know that the repeater still works, and be done with it. Certainly, no roger beeps, bloops, ID's or significant hangtime. Just enough response to allow for testing and be done with it. (Dutch regulations allow me to periodically ID; hence, I don't need to make this dependent on user activity and, as you'd guessed, the ID thing is completely independent of activity, be it kerchunkers or regular users). 2. Believe it or not, make kerchunking easy. One of the machines I manage, used to have a speech detector. Kerchunkers, instead of quietly keying the microphone, were supposed to ID. They were supposed to, but what happened was that people would whistle, rub the grill of the microphone or do something else to circumvent the speech detector. When the machine got renovated, I removed this misfeature, allowing just plain carrier, and the user community picked it up quickly, supposedly because the other machines work like this. Again: kerchunking is going to happen. Make it easy, minimize it's impact, and make it a non-event and be done with it. 3. Don't talk about abuse issues. Never, ever, mention the kerchunker. This, and the rationale behind it, should be known to members of this group; check the abuse files for the reasons behind it. 4. Create a friendly, inviting environment where newcomers feel themselves welcome. With luck, the kerchunker(s) will join the community and become a valuable addition to your user group. I know this has happened several times on my machines, and I do consider this a feature. 73, Geert Jan PE1HZG janitor, PI3EHV, PI2EHV, PI6EHN, PI8EHV
[Repeater-Builder] Re: OT - Hard drive train wrecks that are about to happen...
Nothing like discovering that your main corporate server hard drive is a time bomb waiting to detonate. Or the drive in your TV station production / automation system, your desktop PC, or even in that external USB or firewire box that has all your family photos and the 100gb of MP3s... Or all the episodes of Lucy you have on your TiVo. There are two kinds of people on earth: people who lost data, or people who are about to loose data. Even if your disk isn't listed on bulletins like this, people who depend on disks so badly, and *have not made backup plans*, IMHO, deserve to run into all the trouble they get. Your plans should include being able to get back up with replacement equipment and just your (off-site) backup images in, say, 12 hours or so, if your data is that critical. We did have a fire in the new computer room of one of our customers, and were able to supply *completely configured* equipment in less than a day, when the original equipment still had water seeping out of it. Waiting for manufacturers to come with these reports (and blaming them if your single, critical disk died w/o giving you 6-months notice) is just plain stupid. Geert Jan
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Yaesu FT-817 as remote base radio?
Hi All, has anyone done this? That is, used a Yaesu FT-817 5w rig as a remote base radio on your repeater? Any reason why/why not? Just curious, thanks. My FT817 shows signs of overload when it's connected to my external (omni-) antenna, I'm about two miles away from the repeater site, which doesn't give that much output (about 7 watts). Which kind of makes sense when you realize that the 817 is a compromise receiver, optimized for small antennas and small signals. Typically in the repeater world you want receivers that are hardened against strong signals (how are you going to couple your remote base?) I'd guess that this makes the 817 a sub-optimal choice for this application. Use it for portable hilltop fun, but I'd suggest some crystal-bound a much better choice for your application. 73, Geert Jan PE1HZG
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Tone Board Wanted
Looking for a ComSpec Encoder/Decoder 32 tone. The TS-32 has been out of production for many years now. It's successor, TS-64, is available from many sources (even companies like HRO carry them). It is smaller, less current, and has more functionality. (I've reverse-engineerd both - for my own edufication, not to copy or for monetory gain - and I'm impressed by the inguity of these things - suffice to say the design is non-trivial) Geert Jan
Re: [Repeater-Builder] 4 meters
On 29 Jul 2007 10:39:32 - Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com wrote: I was just wondering if anyone had heard any actions to get amateurs access to 4 meters (like European hams) once analog television goes dark? There's only a limited set of European hams who have access to 4 meters. Analogue television went dark here (the Netherlands) 7 months ago, and the request was made, but the regulator turned it down: the frequency was shared with green hats, and the're not letting go. Would be nice, though. 73, Geert Jan PE1HZG
Re: [Repeater-Builder] 23cm repeaters
Anyone have any good recommendations for 23cm repeaters besides D-Star? I've read about the Icom RP-1200 and using two TM-541s. Are there other options that are as good or better? The RBTIP pages have a lot of info on this topic. See http://www.repeater-builder.com/tech-info/1_2gigthoughts.html and http://www.repeater-builder.com/tech-info/uk23cmrepeaters.html I would still recommend against TM541's. They're mobile transceivers, and not intended for a high duty-cycle rate (which can be as high as 100%), for extended periods. Certainly at high power. Are you comfortable running the transmitter contiously on for a whole week, 24x7, and what will the temperature be anyway (remember that repeater schrinking and expanding is a major cause of PA module failure). My PA raises to 45 degrees max; the cooling block alone is bigger than a TM541. With the TM531, upon transmit the PLL oscillator would swing to it's final frequency with the PA already energized (shooting holes in packets on receive as the oscillator passes the input frequency on it's way up). Not sure if the 541 has the same problem. But, while the link-trx has a small divisor and hence is a tight loop, which actually supresses noise, these rice-boxes are likely to be much more noisy and you'll need to filter it all away. I made pictures of my box, they're at http://sharon.esrac.ele.tue.nl/users/pe1hzg/pi6ehn.jpg http://sharon.esrac.ele.tue.nl/users/pe1hzg/pi6ehn/ These pictures aren't made for bragging, but for my own personal documentation and to show others in case of technical questions or remote repairs. Cheers, Geert Jan
[Repeater-Builder] Re: DCS decoder software
A real handy box that I've not seen and I wish someone would sell is something that you could feed discriminator audio to and display the currently heard DTMF string, DPL or tone PL. An enhancement to the DPL / tone PL display function would be a storage feature so I could park it and a receiver (i.e. a 18ah gell cell, a Maxtrac or a scanner, an antenna and this box) on a hilltop and a week later it would tell me what tones/codes are in use on a particular channel. Optooelectronics used to make a box exactly like this, with serial port for PC logging and all that. I have one and and I'm *very* happy with it. (I'm sorry, but I'm not selling mine!) Checking the website they now have a box that includes a counter, too, but no longer the single decoder. Perhaps you can fleabay one of the older boxes? 73, Geert Jan
[Repeater-Builder] Re: 1.2 gHZ range
Anyone help me I have a 1.2 GHz repeater, but no service monitor or signal generator for these frequencies. My service monitor, a Singer-Gertsch only goes up to 499.995 Mhz. I have tried using the third harmonic in the 420-427 range but either the service monitor is well filtered, or the signal is too weak to be picked up by the 1.2 GHz receivers... I have thought about an external tripler circuit... Any ideas on this or other possible solutions other than buying a new signal generator (too costly). I've aligned my repeater using a tripler, consisting of a stripline tuned to 23cm, and using an 1N4148 as tripler (I think - I'd have to open it up). To increase sensitivity, I bias the diode with an 1.5 volts AA cell and an 1Meg resistor, this makes a lot of difference on sensitivity especially on lower input levels. 0dBm of input drive level gives quite some input. If you want, I could make pictures, but don't get too excited over my building practices - I was in a hurry to get the repeater online. 73, Geert Jan PE1HZG
[Repeater-Builder] Re: sniper VCO's (was: Alinco Ham Repeater??????)
A friend of mine did a test with a DR-1200 in the hey-day of packet and checked the radio on a storage o-scope and discovered that the radio was up at full power long before it was on frequency. :-/ That problem is not unique to Alinco. We used Kenwood 531's for 1200 MHz packet links, and found that this radio, too, had full power long before it was on frequency, which is a problem if there are multiple packet links and one radio punches holes in the packets of other links. Which is why I'm uzing crystal-controlled gear for my 23cm repeater, well, one of many reasons anyways. GJ Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
