User Manual & Guide
Contents
1. Reduced Sensitivity When the repeater is on reduced sensitivity Due to local noise or lift conditions instead of the normal K being returned for the RF user an L will be sent at the end of the transmission You may find that it is beneficial to use one of the remote receivers when in this mode Suggested Linked Repeater Operating Procedures D 10 11 12 13 14 Linked Repeater Operation Where repeaters are linked your transmissions will be heard on the output of all the linked Repeaters Gateway Links and PC Users so the golden rule is to listen listen listen Operation of a linked repeater is the same as a normal repeater except that the coverage is much greater Please remember that using the DTMF tones to move your repeater can be heard through the repeater and it can be annoying to others so keep them to a minimum also give your callsign and a brief explanation of what you are doing If you do move the repeater with the DTMF tones and connect to other Repeaters Links don t forget to disconnect the repeater using the key There is about a 4 second delay when working through the internet links so don t forget to leave a good gap between overs to enable others to break in Use simplex wherever possible freeing the repeater for necessary uses Monitor the repeater listen or determine if the repeater is in use and if there are any peculiarities in its operation After listening for a few seconds2. an L will be sent at the end of the transmission You may find that it is beneficial to use one of the remote receivers when in this mode 5th June 2004 Permission to use a remote receive was given by the RMC Ist June 2004 A total re vamp of the repeater has taken place over the past few weeks A larger cabinet has been obtained to house the repeater plus the backup systems New 24 volt power supply and 12 volt supply fitted New logic housed in a 1 U case with extra control functions added The old logic unit has been re housed in a 1U case and the added extras fitted Extra squelch functions added to both receivers High and low RF sensitivity added which is controllable remotely New circulator fitted Old unit getting noisy Facility to enable the RSGB News to be played through the repeater CW Indent gain reduced Request by some users CW Indent tone changed to 800 Hz Extra cooling for the transmitter System health check Update the EchoLink software to Ver 1 9 890Link receiver link GB3DX L Node number 188546 obtained Remote link receiver installed in Walsall uses GB3DX L on EchoLink 71 9Hz CTCSS 27th March 2004 The repeater team was at it again this week end replacing the repaired antenna and fitting extra guide ropes to the mast There is a noticeable difference in performance now as we are getting the full benefit from the antenna and the Cellflex LCF CU2Y that was fitted last week The repeater had a com
3. node number of 7889 this server has a2 Meg ADSL connection provided By Mark G4LCH 18rd January 2004 New update of EchoLink Version 1 8 874 Beta Version Installed 03rd January 2004 We have now added GB3DX conference server on the EchoLink system the node number 160469 This will double the bandwidth allowing another 20 internet connections Run by Steve MIKQU 14th December 2003 Full system tune up and health check of Transmitter Receiver Duplexers Antenna amp Feeder Main Transmitter RC 742 TX and Receiver RC 742 RX now in operation and back ups units in store TVI BCI Checks were made and No interference problems were Identified Marconi Transmitters RC 742 TX 20 Watts Marconi Receivers RC 742 RX Sensitivity 0 2u Volt for 12 SINAD The processed audio was adjusted and the original sound achieved as it was with the PYE equipment The cavities RX amp TX were also re tuned 95db isolation with the Duplexers and 20 db in the circulator which gives a Total Isolation of 115db Coax and Watson Antenna Checked ok near perfect SWR 1 1 to 1 9th December 2003 24 Volt 15 Amp Switch Mode Power Supply fitted 12 volt regulator fitted to the logic board so everything now uses 24 volt Clip on Filters have been fitted to all leads going into the logic compartment Ist December 2003 New Marconi Receiver RC 742 RX and Transmitter RC 742 TX has been Donated by Ian G8PWE who tuned them up and helped to install them 22nd November 200
4. 3 New DG834 ADSL Firewall Router Fitted 2nd November 2003 New Packard Bell computer put on line 1 3 Gig Pentium 4 Running Windows XP with the EchoLink software and all the associated programs that runs the repeater setup 11th October 2003 The Repeater had a full tune up The cavities RX amp TX were also re tuned 95db isolation with the Duplexers and 20 db in the circulator which gives a Total Isolation of 115db TX Output Power 10W This will be the maximum power used RX Sensitivity 0 5u Volt for 20db sinad 5th October 2003 A new 4 pot Sinclair Duplexer Fitted FP 20110 Mk3 28th August 2003 New EchoLink node number purchased New Node Number 7125 14th July 2003 Another G8CUL logic built plus the internet connection units for audio fitted in spare 19 ins rack The old unit now used as backup system 23rd June 2003 Repeater put onto single Antenna working Circulator also fitted 18th June 2003 The Repeater had a full tune up The cavities RX amp TX were also re tuned RX 3 set cavities 2db insertion loss with 80db attenuation TX 3 set cavities 0 8db insertion loss with 90db attenuation TX Output Power 15W RX Sensitivity 113db 22nd May 2003 Tests were run using IRLP The system run OK with the IRLP but it was found not to be as lively as the EchoLink that the repeater is connected to We hope to be able to have both eQSO and EchoLink on at the same time with a cross link 20th March 2003 New transmitter and a
5. Birmingham Online Repeater Group GB3DX G4K QU MODZO MOK QU G8PWE G4LCH User Manual amp Guide Internet Linked repeater using EchoLink Node No 7125 www gb3dx com GB3DX User Guide GB3DX has established it self on the EchoLink system with node number 7125 and is well visited by many hundreds of radio amateurs from every part of the world via the internet and has become a meeting point on the EchoLink system for many amateurs For more information on EchoLink visit there web site www echolink org We have found there are a lot of new and old amateurs who are not sure how a repeater is used and with the added internet connection is a little confusing so we have put together some guidelines that are used on the GB3DX repeater that might help Stations have asked if they have to keep a log of all there contacts Well if you are using RF than the answer is YES you do as normal rules and regulations are in place for that but if you connect to a node using your computer you do not have to keep a log of the contact I do so I can remember who I have worked You will always find operators who will to give you advice in the true amateur fashion on the do s and don ts of your local repeater so don t be afraid to ask as they were the same as you once Remember that a lot of repeaters are 12 5k and that the audio needs to be set to narrow deviation Getting access to the repeater To gain access to the GB3DX repeater when it i
6. Birmingham in the Walsall area and is connected to an antenna such that signals can be adequately received within the present footprint The remote site receiver is configured to activate only with a continuous subaudible tone of different frequency to that of the main site receiver 71 9Hz The main site receiver is configured to mute on decoding this subaudible tone but will activate normally when presented with a 67Hz subaudible tone or 1750hz toneburst RF Users instructions for remote receivers GB3DX has two receivers one for south Birmingham and the city centre and another for the East and North of Birmingham The main receiver is located at Yardley in Birmingham and can be activated with a 1750 hz toneburst or a CTCSS of 67 Hz The remote receiver in Walsall is activated with a 71 9Hz CTCSS you may hear your Own voice coming back to you at the end of the over its via a link This is normal The remote receiver in Solihull is activated with a 77Hz CTCSS you may hear your own voice coming back to you at the end of the over its via a link This is normal Summary Abundant broadband connections have made secure Echolink links available to many radio amateurs Handheld and low power mobile coverage will be vastly improved within the present Footprint of GB3DX If after a trial the link is a success possibilities will exist to make split site repeaters on 2m without use of the normal single antenna duplexing equipment
7. Plymouth G7DQC GB3IR R 1353 North Yorkshire G4FZN m GB3LY R B9437 Coleraine Northern Ireland GI3USS 72 GB3OHE R 37878 Central Scotland GMOMZB 722 GB3PA R 222022 Langbank West Scotland GM7OAW 723 GB3PZ R P591 Manchester 1 G4PZ 78 GB3SB R 116678 Scottish Borders GMOFTI 79 ENGLAND 7889 England Conference Server G4LCH Check the GB3DX web site from time to time for updates www gb3dx com e D iff Bracknell Berkshire Birmi Ab TER MICMF G8PON GORDI GORDI G4HLF G4LUE G4 G G 0 S 3 T 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 The table below lists each of the common EchoLink DTMF commands Description efault onnects to a station on the Internet based on its node number onnects to a station on the Internet based on its callsign Selects an available node of any type at random and tries to connect to it PET Selects an available link or repeater L or R at i random and tries to connect to it Selects a conference server at random and tries Random Conf 02 o connect to it 03 Selects an available single user station at random and tries to connect to it Selects an available node of any type at andomFavNodelrandom from the Favorites List and tries to ommand Connect Connect by Call Random Node Q 2 IS Random User 01 andomFavLink random from the Favorites List and tries to 11 Selects a conference serve
8. The Internet linking interface was built and mounted the cabinet 5th January 2003 The Duplexers were tuned by John G8VIQ RX 2db insertion loss with 80db attenuation TX 0 8db insertion loss with 90db attenuation 24th December 2002 The Internet linking interface was built and mounted in the cabinet tests were made with a crosslink with eQSO and EchoLink This was done to determine which system to have the repeater linked to 19th December 2002 Letter received from the RSGB informing us that the RA had moved the application for the repeater to the NFAP Frequency Allocation Panel The 19ins cabinet to house the repeater and duplexers was donated by Steve MIKQU and and all the units were fitted into the cabinet 5th December 2002 The PYE transmitter T30FM and receiver R18FM was donated by Bill G3TZM 30th November 2002 The set of 6 duplexers were built this month Never Again This was one of the hard parts of building the repeater Lucky for me I had friends who had a lath and could silver solder Thank you Peter amp Mick 26th November 2002 The Radiocommunications Agency RA received the application for the repeater from the RMC and was submitted as part of the November 2002 batch 5th November 2002 The site clearance arrived from the RMC s proposals manager 27th October 2002 Repeater Logic ordered from G8CUL 13th October 2002 GB3DX Domain name was bought and web site built The website you are looking at now www gb3dx
9. al or club owner in their efforts to keep the repeater working properly The RSGB Repeater Management Committee web site is a very good and well worth a visit as it will give you all the information on UK repeaters coverage maps tones to be used frequencies and a lot more www coldal org uk DTMF Functions Please remember that using the DTMF tones can be heard through the repeater and it can be annoying to others so keep them to a minimum also give your callsign and a brief explanation of what you are doing If you do move a repeater with DTMF tones and connect to other Repeaters Links don t forget to disconnect the repeater when you have finished There can about a 4 second delay when working through the internet links so don t forget to leave a good gap between overs to enable others to break in and connecting repeaters to reset Table Below of Suggested EchoLink UK Repeater Station Shortcuts This idea originated from Jon G4TSN as its easy to remember a 3 figure number rather than some of the long node numbers The short cuts are used on GB3DX GB3AL GB3AM GB3IN GB3NK Repeaters In Repeater Node Description Sysop 2 Shortcut Tenby GWOWBQ Dereham Norfolk G8PON e mm FH South Yorkshire ss GALUE Margate GATKR Aberdeen Scotland GMIXEA GB3HD R 1 14580 Hudersfield West Yorkshire GIFYS GB3HE R 115293 Hastings G ET GB3HH R 97616 Buxton Derbyshire G4HO GB3IE R 27871
10. co uk 5th October 2002 The application form RA356 handed over to the RMC at there meeting for processing 28 29th September 2002 Many miles were covered by some of the local amateurs as a coverage map was made 20 watts was the power used during the tests Thank You All who took part 28th September 2002 The repeater antenna Watson W300 Donated by Steve MIKQU was placed on the mast and feeders fitted ready for trials and use in the making of the coverage map 25th September 2002 A meeting was held with G4AKQU MODZO amp MIKQU to select a Callsign Frequency Name for the group Site for the repeater After checking with the available callsigns The Callsign selected was GB3DX This seemed to be a good name as the repeater was going to be internet linked and stations from all over the world would have access to the repeater via the internet making a very interesting system 145 7125MHz 145 1125MHz RV57 had been monitored for a few weeks and these frequencies seemed to be clear of any interference The name for the group was to be the Birmingham Online Repeater Group B O R G The site that was chosen was in the Yardley area 8K S E of Birmingham IO92CL 24th September 2002 The local RSGB repeater manager Bill G3TZM was approached for advice on what had to be done and what paper work was required to put on the repeater 23rd September 2002 The Repeater Management was approached at the Leicester Radio Rally and the questi
11. identify un key and listen to see if it was quiet for a reason and to allow someone to let you know if there is a reason not to continue low audio low signal strength etc Then if all OK proceed Don t break into a contact unless you have something to add Interrupting is no more polite on the air than it is in person Interruption without identification constitutes malicious and illegal interference Use the minimum power to key up the repeater To make contact simply indicate that you are on frequency For example MIKQU monitoring Do not kerchunk Remember amateur radio transmissions are being monitored by many non hams with scanners Watch your language and your manners Please don t bring disrepute on the Amateur Radio Service Repeaters are intended to facilitate mobile and portable operation During rush hours base stations should relinquish the repeater to commuting mobiles Some repeater owners have strict rules requiring this Keep transmissions short and thoughtful Do not monopolise the repeater Pause between transmissions to allow other amateurs to identify themselves if they wish to use the repeater Pausing also allows the timer to reset avoiding a time out Identify legally In the UK that means at the beginning and end of a contact or every 15 minutes of operation Repeaters are installed and maintained at considerable expense and inconvenience Regular users of a repeater should financially support the individu
12. new receiver were installed and the repeater is running at its full power now as the new receiver is quiet sensitive The old TX and RX will be serviced and kept as backup in case of problems Thank you Bill G3TZM for the TX amp RX 18th March 2003 New version of EchoLink installed Ver 1 6 846 All the voice announcements have been switched on If there is a problem some of the announcements they will be turned off 22nd February 2003 Repeater direct connection to the internet via EchoLink Node Number 62872 17th February 2003 System check All OK no problems detected or reported We have had good reports from stations using the repeater in the Ist week 10th February 2003 A little bit of tweaking was done due to harsh audio 9th February 2003 The GB3DX Repeater was switched on Low power of 12 watts to be used while system is running in The Ist station to work through the repeater was Mark MOEQY 8th February 2003 Tests were made for Interference TVI BCI None were detected and final check was made before switch on day Ist to 8th February 2003 The logic board was completed by Amanda MODZO also tune up of all the TX amp RX All was put in the cabinet and tested ready for the big switch on day 29th January 2003 The Notice of Variation NOV received and letter sent off to the local RA office and local RMC repeater manager informing them that the repeater would be operational on 9th February 2003 24th January 2003
13. on was asked if it was possible to have a VHF repeater in the Birmingham area and the answer was yes that they could not see any problem Enjoy the system Peter G4KQU Repeater Keeper www gb3dx com
14. plete systems check of Transmitter Receiver Duplexers Antenna amp Feeder TVI BCI Checks were made and No interference problems were Identified Marconi Transmitters RC 742 TX 15 Watts Marconi Receivers RC 742 RX Sensitivity 0 2u Volt for 12 SINAD The cavities RX amp TX were also checked 95db isolation with the Duplexers and 20 db in the circulator which gives a Total Isolation of 115db The feeder Cellflex LCF Cu2Y and Watson Antenna Checked OK near perfect SWR 1 1 to 1 26th March 2004 There had been some RF interference to the repeater that had been steadily getting worse The RF Directional Finding team sprung into action to find where the interference was coming from There was 2 sources of interference found The first interference was located in a building close by A Surgery on the 2nd floor from a Phillips low energy light bulb that was left on 24 7 This produced a mains hum effect on the input of the repeater when the transmitter was in TX mode A new low energy light bulb was purchased and the old bulb was replaced with a Osram Delux EL 20 watt type The second source of interference was found a in a house again on the 2nd floor from a Dell computer monitor This produced a strong carrier on the input of the repeater This was only there when transmitter was in TX mode A new Packard Bell 15 inch monitor was purchased and given free to the owner of the computer system on the understanding that he would no
15. r at random from the RandomFavConf Favorites List and tries to connect to it Selects an available single user station at random and tries to connect to it Disconnects the station that is currently onnected If more than one station is onnected disconnects only the most recently onnected station Disconnect All Disconnects all stations H IRe connects to the station that most recently disconnected Announces the callsign of each station currently Status onnected i Disables EchoLink no connections can be Link Down i none established ink Up nables EchoLink none 21 RandomFavUser 31 Disconnect Reconnect Dans Fe i lay Info Plays a brief ID message Looks up a station by its callsign and reads Perl back its node number and status ra Looks up a station by its node number and pe By Node reads back its callsign and status i Switches to a different stored set of po onfiguration settings 0 through 9 K4TQR R Birmingham Alabama Repeater AA GB3DX web site www gb3dx co uk EchoLink web site www echolink org eQSO web site www eqso org IRLP web site www irlp net RSGB RMC web site www coldal org uk 06 num a i Disconnect All Birmingham Online Repeater Group GB3DX History 16th June 2004 Reduced Sensitivity Indicator When the repeater is on reduced sensitivity Due to local noise or lift conditions instead of the normal K being returned for the RF user
16. s not in operation you provide a 1750Hz or a CTCSS tone set at 67Hz while transmitting and keep the transmitter on for 3 second this will open the repeater and when accessed you will hear a K in Morse come back and a 2 K 3 seconds later Once the repeater is open no other tone is required and it will stay open while it is in use The repeater will give a K the end of a transmission that lasts longer than 2 seconds and another K 3 seconds later If you wait for the 2 K each time its your over it will allow others to break in and give those who are on the internet a chance to be heard If there is transmissions coming from the internet an T in Morse will be transmitted once you hear the T you can transmit back to that station The trick with internet repeaters is to leave a good gap of about 4 seconds between overs or wait for the 2 K as this will enable all the links and repeaters in the chain to re set If you have no tone burst or CTCSS tone you could try whistling it up or you can wait for one of the repeater announcement as this will open the repeater for about 10 seconds before closing down again The repeater has a 5 minute time out where time out pips will be heard at the same time as the rag chewer Remote Receivers The Birmingham online repeater group have had permission from the RMC to use a remote receiver A receiver has been installed at a remote site north of
17. t use the old monitor again He was very happy with his new monitor 19th March 2004 The coax which was Westflex that had been used on the repeater was replaced with Cellflex LCF CU2Y This will give less loss and make a little improvement we hope 14th March 2004 High winds had a devastating effect with the repeater antenna This happened while the GB3DX team were at the Wythall Radio Rally We had a call to get another stronger inline coupling while at the rally See the Photos HERE Tth March 2004 You can now listen to the live audio that is being transmitted from the GB3DX Repeater thanks to the efforts of Mark G4LCH See the web site page for more information To Listen to Live Audio From GB3DX Click HERE Ist March 2004 Tests were made to see the feasibility of using a remote receiver in the Walsall area connected back to GB3DX The test was very successful Small hand held radios were used which could hear the repeater but not work through it due to there low power When the remote receiver was activated the small small hand held radios gained access to the repeater with ease Further ongoing tests will take place 07th February 2004 GB3DX has had its new mast installed 40ft Now it s at full height it should extend the range of the repeater So far we have had good reports of increase signals form our RF users 02nd February 2004 We have added an ENGLAND conference server on the EchoLink system with the
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