Just in case someone else decides to try this…
reference this… http://www.repeater-builder.com/motorola/maxtrac/gm300-info.html
a) on the GM300, leave JU551 set to the default (de-emphasized not FLAT) position B
b) also make sure that JU701 is set to the default position A or else you won't encode PL on TX
Beyond that, I used beagle tune to set the levels, and the portal to give me a basic node setup.
I did play a little with the wait-times in rpt.conf… settled with these for a simplex node.
[wait-times]
telemwait=1200
idwait=500
unkeywait=300
calltermwait=1500
I did use cables from Marshall and he includes an rj45 with the wire to jumper so that with no mic connected it's onhook so that PL functions correctly.
I was lucky enough to have 2 real live GM300 D04 radios (1-10watt versions with 439-450 coverage), I plugged in 446.000 with a pl on tx/rx and didn't have to touch much else… RX sensitivity was -122db on radio and -120 on the other… good enough for what I'm looking for - personal simplex nodes.
if you get cables from Marshall make sure you follow his instructions and pin 8 on the back of the radio needs to be set to show both CARRIER *AND* PL.
The Beagle.conf looks like the following
[YOURNODENUMBER]
carrierfrom=hwinvert
ctcssfrom=no
invertptt=0
duplex=0
rxondelay=0
That's it… if doing a simplex node, and using the portal to generate your starting setup, make sure you select all the right things for the node radio interface - beagle, then the other items below it, specifically the duplex=
Hope this helps for the next person… Note, I tried JU551 on the beagle and in FLAT mode it just sounded tinny - probably would work great in a sideband contest, but with it in the default position, the audio across the network sounded much more *natural*, the way it should… NOTE, this may be an artifact of the Beagle, none of the normal usb setup values are support in chan_beagle.c, etc.
And lastly thanks to everyone who offered their nodes to me… it was a huge help. With my main allstar server on the same network as my 2 new nodes, while I could get the big allstar server to see both separately but using separate ports, I couldn't connect one to the other… So having a node out in the networks… Solved the problem.
Alan