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Now it's time to set up an NHRC-4. The target repeater will be my 147.240. It now has a -3, but now I want to link it to my 443.2250 which has a full controller and autopatch. Think of this site as very under construction. I'm actually using it as my notes for the project. I'll explain things as I do them so I can refer back to it later. Upside to going with a -4: I'll be able to bring the 440 up on 2m as a remote base. The 440 is at another site. I already have a GE Mastr II Voting RX on 443.225 at the 2m site. I also have a 6m RX/440 TX as the link TX. It will hopefully be just a case of bringing it all together. Downside: The -4 has no voice storage. Back to boring CW. How about doing both? Cascade the -4 and -3 somehow. Could work. Which will be repeater and which will be Remote Base? Good question. I can see reasons to make each the master machine. First, here is the info on the controller. Since the 147.240 is already on the air, and that I don't want to test all this in a boiler room, I'll do the connections on another Exec II I have here at home. If I get the functionality right, I'll move it over to the 2m site. The nice thing is that I have standardized on the connections to the Exec II's, so it should just be a case of plug-in and adjust audio levels. I think I'll go with the 2m being main, and the Link RX and TX as the RB. I hope the RB can control the -4. I have a lot more 'smarts' on the 440 repeater. It has an RLC-2a. I could get it to send DTMF commands to the NHRC-4. Just checked the docs. DTMF only on the primary port. Bummer. I could reverse roles. Make the Link the primary, then make the 2m repeater a married slave. In my case, the link RX and TX are in separate chassis. Now I'm thinking along the lines of leaving the -3 in the 2m radio, and inserting the -4 RB connection before or after it. The -3 would let me run the 2m repeater from 2m, and the -4 would be controlled on 440, or by the controller on 440. This makes the installation a lot more complicated, but the flexibility might be worth it. I have two NHRC-2's on the bench, so I can beta test everything working together. The wiring won't be real neat. The power should come in with the repeater input, not the RB. I can't think of anything that the -3 gives me that the -2 can't. That will free up the -3 for use elsewhere in the network. The -2 commands will have to come in on the 2m input, -4 on the 440 RX. Which side of the -2 should the -4 be on? The -4 will be pretty quiet. I don't expect to use any tones or ID on the 2m side of the -4. Since I don't think I need to have the voice from 2m on 440, I think it might make sense to have -4 hear the 2m RX only, then pass that to the -2. If the system is linked, 2m listeners will hear IDs from the -2 in real voice and the RCL in a synth voice. 440 listeners will hear only the RLC real voice. I'll program the -4 to not ID on the RB port. I have the target Mastr Exec II base on the bench. I'm not sure when I got this one, but it was in my 'in' pile of equipment. It's untouched, so I have to start from scratch. For those into history, this radio used to be used in a Fire Station. It has a DC remote board, but I remove that. First thing I have to do is modify it for repeater operation. I'm using my own web page as a source for information about the mods. Now I'm thinking of using both controllers in parallel, or let them piggy back each other. On the 2m side, the -2 controller will be vocal, the -4 will be quiet and just replay what it gets from the 443.225 RX. So, someone on 2m will hear a simple beep when the other station is on 2m, and the more complex courtesy beep from the hub system. How will the radio like having two controllers? I don't know. I might need to add some diodes on the PTT and CAS lines. I was thinking about alll this in traffic today. One thing I've overlooked: Double audio. On the 2m TX site, I'll get the local repeated audio AND the same audio coming from the hub site. This would cause a lot of echo and distortion. Right now, I'm going to keep things real simple and just hook up the -4 Main Repeater port to the 2m repeater, then experiment with the different modes to see if I can get any of this to work. Here's how I'll wire it.
Last update: 01/14/08 01:12:18 PM |
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