[App_rpt] Interface questions

[Steve Rodgers]

Jon,

See responses below.

Some questions for you:

Will you be using this in an Amatuer Radio repeater system or a commercial 
system?

Last time I checked,  Australia does not permit Amateur repeaters connect to 
the phone system (via automatic phone patching or autopatching) is this still 
the case? The reason I ask is that our systems in the US have this 
capability, and if we are linked together, would it be breaking the rules if
someone in the US did this and and we were linked to a system in Australia? In 
this case, the phone conversation taking place on the US system would be 
rebroadcast on the Australian system.



> Hrm, they certainly have plenty, and at a good price, but overseas UPS
>shipping is a killer, about USD$100 to ship a dozen or so to Australia.


I'm willing to send you 2 transformers with each board blank ordered for 
$5.00US extra plus shipping. Please contact me off list for details.


> Is it hard to support different FXS devices? I'm not sure exactly how
> entwined app_rpt is with driver code. The reason I ask is one possible
> avenue for me is some clone TDM cards from http://www.openvox.com.cn
> but it looks like their TDM1200P clone uses a different driver. Their
> 400P uses the standard digium driver.

As long as the FXS device is seen as a Zaptel device in Asterisk, it will work 
with app_rpt. In our systems, we use ARIB cards with Digium TE110p/T100p T1 
cards and a channel bank. It doesn't matter which driver is required as long 
is it is a Zaptel driver.




On Monday 26 June 2006 20:48, jon+apprpt at unicomsystems.com wrote:
> Hello Steve,
>
> On Fri, Jun 23, 2006 at 07:36:32AM -0700, Steve Rodgers wrote:
> > Jon,
> >
> > See responses below.
> >
> > On Thursday 22 June 2006 16:31, jon+apprpt at unicomsystems.com wrote:
> > > Hello all,
> > >
> > > First off, I must say that app_rpt looks like a very promising project
> > > and this style or repeater controller looks like the way of the future.
> > >
> > > I have a few questions that I couldn't quite come up with an answer for
> > > myself with a high degree of certainty, using the existing material
> > > online.
> > > 1). Does the 4 port radio interface card allow for 4 duplex repeater
> > > channels, or 2 duplex repeater channels?
> >
> > 4 duplex radio channels.
>
> Excellent, makes it the best value for money for > 2 channels.
>
> > > 2). The 600 ohm line transformer as used in the analogue radio
> > > interface appears to be out of stock on Digikey. Does anyone have
> > > alternative stockists or transformer models? Or even spares they'd be
> > > willing to sell?
> >
> > Last time we bought them form excesssolutions.com
>
> Hrm, they certainly have plenty, and at a good price, but overseas UPS
> shipping is a killer, about USD$100 to ship a dozen or so to Australia.
>
> Does anyone have spare stock they want to sell or are willing to order
> on my behalf and resend using USPS?
>
> > > 3). Is app_rpt compatible with the TDM1200P or similar?
> >
> > We haven't tested this but the chips used on the TDM1200p are exactly the
> > same as the ones used on the TDM400.
>
> Is it hard to support different FXS devices? I'm not sure exactly how
> entwined app_rpt is with driver code. The reason I ask is one possible
> avenue for me is some clone TDM cards from http://www.openvox.com.cn
> but it looks like their TDM1200P clone uses a different driver. Their
> 400P uses the standard digium driver.
>
> > > I also have a few more developmental/roadmap oriented questions,
> > > namely, would it be possible for an interface to be developed that used
> > > a full duplex sound card and a serial or other data port to interface
> > > to a radio? Or could an interface be developed that had the necessary
> > > functions so that it only needed an FXO port on the Asterisk side,
> > > seeing FXOs can be got from even basic devices like some winmodems?
> >
> > Too many sound cards out there to support and having to deal with all of
> > them is a burden we don't want to shoulder.
>
> Fair enough, and looking at the inadequacy and system specificness of
> other repeater linking hardware systems around, this is a condition
> I'm willing to live with.
>
> > > Note that I'm not trying to rubbish the project or its developers with
> > > these questions, I'm sure the current interfaces work very well, but
> > > seeing as we're not interfacing phones, I thought it would've been
> > > possible design a way to interface at an even lower price point,
> > > opening access further, and further benefiting app_rpt with greater
> > > uptake levels from all sorts of radio people around the world.
> >
> > Let's just say that we are aware of this issue, and that we are working
> > on a solution.
>
> Good to hear. I hope development on app_rpt will keep moving forward, I
> can see it becoming a big player in the repeater controller arena as well
> as the area of repeater linking.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Jon
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