[App_rpt-users] Use 2 nodes to link with repeaters

[Ron Morell]

Tony,
Thank you for the reply! 

Eventually, I hope the club will install the Asterisk+app_rpt solution
at the repeater sites and to that end, I have started to design an
802.11b network solution over microwave between the sites.
http://ka7u.us/*/Path_Between_Repeaters.html
http://ka7u.us/*/TVRAREPEATERS.kmz

Your input on microwave network solutions is solicited, as I see from
your web site, you have put time into this study.

The CTCSS solution is probably the best idea for the interim, or just
repair the existing 440 link radios that are already up there. Hi Hi.

It is just that when the two simplex nodes are connected to each other
and the repeaters frequencies are tuned to the node radios, it is an
instant link between any two repeaters.  If I could find a combination
of repeater hang time, and node receive on delay that was acceptably
short, this would be a great, quick and dirty solution. 

Interestingly, the audio quality is reasonable, although it is better in
one link direction than the other.  The node with the discriminator
audio is a bit shrill and the node using speaker audio is a bit on the
bass or muffled side, but both are good and readable.

The deviation on the nodes was set as follows:

   1. radio-tune-menu opton 3). transmit DTMF 1 with a handheld and find
      the value that yeilds no more than 3KHz deviation.
   2. from the asterisk cli: radio tune txvoice and watch the recieve
      deviation on the other node, using option 3) as shown above.  Set
      the radio tune txvoice value to achieve the 3KHz deviation on the
      other node.
   3. Repeat process for the other node.
   4. Right or wrong, they are both set about the same for transmit and
      receive deviation and no test equipment required.

So, how would I go about setting up CTCSS gated by the receiver's COS? 
I think I know, but have never done it. 
Ron Morell
KA7U


On 01/03/2012 01:42 PM, Tony Langdon, VK3JED wrote:
> At 07:16 AM 1/4/2012, Ron Morell wrote:
>
>> So this is a mystery that I have not solved.  A 4 second receive on
>> delay for the link over VoIP is a long time for the repeater users to
>> work with.  Many replies and short conversations take less time.  This
>> method of linking is not a real good one, but it is a portable solution
>> for quick linking repeaters.  Is there something I am missing in the
>> configurations that would shorten the link timing?
>
> This is a problem best dealt with by hardware configuration.  The
> ideal fix is to bring the Internet up to the repeater sites and use
> AllStar as the controller.  That way, there is no hang time to
> propagate back into the network.  app_rpt is particularly well suited
> to this role, as it has all the necessary functionality built in.  You
> could alternatively connect the AllStar node to a link port on the
> existing controller, which has the advantage that if the AllStar box
> dies, you still have local repeater functionality.  The other
> advantage of having the node at the repeater is better audio quality. :)
>
> You can successfully setup a link on the user frequency, but you need
> to take steps to ensure that the hang time is not seen by the node,
> such as using CTCSS gated by the receiver's COS.
>
>
> 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL
> http://vkradio.com
>
>
>