[App_rpt-users] Transmitter steering

[Tom Hayward]

On Mon, Jul 20, 2015 at 12:54 PM, David McGough <kb4fxc at inttek.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Tom,
>
> AllStar nor RTCM's implement this functionality, as far as I know.

It's not a terribly complex operation, just activating a single
transmitter instead of many. Maybe this configuration could be
adapted:
http://ohnosec.org/pipermail/app_rpt-users/2015-April/011662.html

> Honestly, I'm not sure that this type of system would be a good fit for a
> ham radio repeater system--all it would take is one mischievous Kerchunker
> to greatly impair the systems operation (by "locking out" all but the site
> the Kerchunker is closest to). The Kerchunker might not even realize that
> Emergency Comms were in progress on a distant repeater, which they
> couldn't hear.
>
> Just being curious, what kind of repeaters are you currently running, and
> how many, over how big an area?

We have a few homebrew repeaters with S-COM 7330 controllers. The
transmitters and receivers are various from Motorola and Kenwood. We
would standardize on just one model before implementing voting. We'd
probably eliminate the 7330 too, in favor of just RTCMs and app_rpt.

We'd like to serve a ring around Mt. Rainier. The area is mostly
wilderness with no inhabitance and deep valleys. There would be almost
no overlap between transmitters--just at the tops of ridges.

Many similar systems in the region use a different tone for each
repeater. We could do it this way, but I'd prefer to let a computer
make the decision about which site is best.

Tom KD7LXL