Re: [Repeater-Builder] Problem remote base linking of 2 repeaters using CAT 300 DXL controller
Chris, To start with you will need to give us much more information, but I think that one possible question that immediatly jumps into my mind is that of isolation between the 2 meter remote bases. As I read your post you have a 440 repeater with three 2 meter radios, all at the same site. I'm assuming that each 2 meter link is set up on a single frequency pair. When you are using only one 2 meter radio everything works OK. When you bring on a second 2 meter radio the system hangs in transmit. My questions to start with would be: 1) How much vertical distance is between the antennas for each of the 2 meter radios? 2) What kind of antennas (omni or beam) on the 2 meter links? 3) What kind of equipment is in use for the 2 meter links? 4) Is there any extra RF filtering in use on any of the 2 meter links? 5) Have you been at the site and tried to listen to the 2 meter radios to see if any of the combinations of transmit and receive cause any of the other link radios to unsquelch? 6) Do the links use carrier squelch or PL? Milt N3LTQ - Original Message - From: w4vx_chris w...@charter.net To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 2:40 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Problem remote base linking of 2 repeaters using CAT 300 DXL controller Fellow repeater builders, I am a relative novice at repeater linking and need some trouble shooting/system design advice. I have a 440 repeater with 3 two meter remote base radios tied together using the CAT 300 DXL controller with the RLS board. The remote base radios are tuned to local repeaters that we would like to link together. Individually, each remote base radio works fine meaning I can turn it on with via 440 repeater and qso on the target repeater. Also, another local repeater with a 440 remote base is able to link the 440 repeater and when I turn on one of the remote base radio and link in another 2 mtr repeater it works fine (repeater key up and down like one big repeater). The problem arises when I try to use the two or more 2 mtr remote base radios to link two 2 mtr repeaters together. The system comes up stays up - never unkeys. Is this a hang time issue? Or is there something wrong about trying to link two repeaters on two meters with 2 meter remote bases through a 440 machine - usually folks target the 440 repeater with a remote base not the other way around? Could it be a controller setting issue? I am really stuck at the moment and I appreciate any thoughts you may have. It sure would be nice to have these repeaters linked for our nets and is generally kinda cool if we can pull this off. Vexed in Virgina, Chris W4VX Yahoo! Groups Links
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Problem remote base linking of 2 repeaters using CAT 300 DXL controller
Chris, here is a link to a GE Mastr II system I put together last summer. It uses a CAT300 (an old model without the Link capability) with the RLS board. http://sbarcnm.org/forum/index.php?topic=108.0 Using the older CAT300, only two remote base connections are available since there was no port on the original controller for a link. One thing I noticed was that the CTCSS signal from the link radio was not used in the internal control path of the RLS board. I changed the recommended CAT connections between my CAT300 and the RLS board to use the CTCSS signal instead of the COS signal. The COS signal was still used internal to the RLS board to control the audio mute function. I had a special consideration for the transmitted CTCSS tone in that I needed to be able to in-band link to either repeater for a VoIP interface. I made some modifications to the TS-64 MastrII tone board to only transmit a tone while a signal was present on the input of the repeater or link. I used an in-band link to another 2 meter repeater located about 10 miles away and used a GE Mastr II mobile with the PA removed as the link radio. The 250 mWatt signal into a 3 elememt beam located about 15 ft below the repeater DB-224 antenna provides a fully quieted signal for the other repeater, and the receive signal from the other repeater is fully quieted into the link radio (with some desense I am sure). The schematics for all the interconnections for the repeater are documented in the link above. 73 - Jim W5ZIT --- On Mon, 12/29/08, w4vx_chris w...@charter.net wrote: From: w4vx_chris w...@charter.net Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Problem remote base linking of 2 repeaters using CAT 300 DXL controller To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, December 29, 2008, 1:40 PM Fellow repeater builders, I am a relative novice at repeater linking and need some trouble shooting/system design advice. I have a 440 repeater with 3 two meter remote base radios tied together using the CAT 300 DXL controller with the RLS board. The remote base radios are tuned to local repeaters that we would like to link together. Individually, each remote base radio works fine meaning I can turn it on with via 440 repeater and qso on the target repeater. Also, another local repeater with a 440 remote base is able to link the 440 repeater and when I turn on one of the remote base radio and link in another 2 mtr repeater it works fine (repeater key up and down like one big repeater). The problem arises when I try to use the two or more 2 mtr remote base radios to link two 2 mtr repeaters together. The system comes up stays up - never unkeys. Is this a hang time issue? Or is there something wrong about trying to link two repeaters on two meters with 2 meter remote bases through a 440 machine - usually folks target the 440 repeater with a remote base not the other way around? Could it be a controller setting issue? I am really stuck at the moment and I appreciate any thoughts you may have. It sure would be nice to have these repeaters linked for our nets and is generally kinda cool if we can pull this off. Vexed in Virgina, Chris W4VX
Re: [Repeater-Builder] Problem remote base linking of 2 repeaters using CAT 300 DXL controller
Hi Milt and Thanks for the response. Here are the answers to your questions 1) For the two I would really like to use they are about 110' apart vertically. Two of the antennas are mounted on the top of the water tower (within 15' of each other) and the other is on the ground mounted on the equipment building. 2) The ground mounted antenna is a 1/4 wave ground plane. On the top of the water tower is a 6 db vertical (X300 I believe) and a 3 element yagi. At the very top of the water tower is the 440 repeater antenna. I was using the remote bases with the 1/4 and the vertical during the last test. 3) Each remote base radio is an Alinco DR 135. I have the two I was using for the last test set to 5 watts. 4) No extra filtering is in use 5) No, I have no specifically looked for that. 6) No PL squelch is used. They do transmit PL for the given repeater. As I was answering your questions something popped into my head that I forgot to mention in the intial email that may have bearing on an isolation issue. One of the repeaters I would like to link to periodically is also located on the site and the antenna is DB224 style vertical mounted on the water tower about 15' vertical feet from the two remote base antennas on water tower. It is running abut 80 watts. Hmm... Chris W4VX - Original Message - From: Milt To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 8:05 AM Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Problem remote base linking of 2 repeaters using CAT 300 DXL controller Chris, To start with you will need to give us much more information, but I think that one possible question that immediatly jumps into my mind is that of isolation between the 2 meter remote bases. As I read your post you have a 440 repeater with three 2 meter radios, all at the same site. I'm assuming that each 2 meter link is set up on a single frequency pair. When you are using only one 2 meter radio everything works OK. When you bring on a second 2 meter radio the system hangs in transmit. My questions to start with would be: 1) How much vertical distance is between the antennas for each of the 2 meter radios? 2) What kind of antennas (omni or beam) on the 2 meter links? 3) What kind of equipment is in use for the 2 meter links? 4) Is there any extra RF filtering in use on any of the 2 meter links? 5) Have you been at the site and tried to listen to the 2 meter radios to see if any of the combinations of transmit and receive cause any of the other link radios to unsquelch? 6) Do the links use carrier squelch or PL? Milt N3LTQ - Original Message - From: w4vx_chris w...@charter.net To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 2:40 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Problem remote base linking of 2 repeaters using CAT 300 DXL controller Fellow repeater builders, I am a relative novice at repeater linking and need some trouble shooting/system design advice. I have a 440 repeater with 3 two meter remote base radios tied together using the CAT 300 DXL controller with the RLS board. The remote base radios are tuned to local repeaters that we would like to link together. Individually, each remote base radio works fine meaning I can turn it on with via 440 repeater and qso on the target repeater. Also, another local repeater with a 440 remote base is able to link the 440 repeater and when I turn on one of the remote base radio and link in another 2 mtr repeater it works fine (repeater key up and down like one big repeater). The problem arises when I try to use the two or more 2 mtr remote base radios to link two 2 mtr repeaters together. The system comes up stays up - never unkeys. Is this a hang time issue? Or is there something wrong about trying to link two repeaters on two meters with 2 meter remote bases through a 440 machine - usually folks target the 440 repeater with a remote base not the other way around? Could it be a controller setting issue? I am really stuck at the moment and I appreciate any thoughts you may have. It sure would be nice to have these repeaters linked for our nets and is generally kinda cool if we can pull this off. Vexed in Virgina, Chris W4VX Yahoo! Groups Links
[Repeater-Builder] Problem remote base linking of 2 repeaters using CAT 300 DXL controller
Fellow repeater builders, I am a relative novice at repeater linking and need some trouble shooting/system design advice. I have a 440 repeater with 3 two meter remote base radios tied together using the CAT 300 DXL controller with the RLS board. The remote base radios are tuned to local repeaters that we would like to link together. Individually, each remote base radio works fine meaning I can turn it on with via 440 repeater and qso on the target repeater. Also, another local repeater with a 440 remote base is able to link the 440 repeater and when I turn on one of the remote base radio and link in another 2 mtr repeater it works fine (repeater key up and down like one big repeater). The problem arises when I try to use the two or more 2 mtr remote base radios to link two 2 mtr repeaters together. The system comes up stays up - never unkeys. Is this a hang time issue? Or is there something wrong about trying to link two repeaters on two meters with 2 meter remote bases through a 440 machine - usually folks target the 440 repeater with a remote base not the other way around? Could it be a controller setting issue? I am really stuck at the moment and I appreciate any thoughts you may have. It sure would be nice to have these repeaters linked for our nets and is generally kinda cool if we can pull this off. Vexed in Virgina, Chris W4VX
