@David, If RTCM's are appropriate for voting/simulcast, in your opinion what is? Surely not a URI. -----Original Message----- From: David McGough [mailto:kb4fxc@inttek.net] Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2014 3:25 AM To: Wayne Subject: RE: [App_rpt-users] RTCM Commands Wayne, Please see inline, below. On Fri, 18 Apr 2014, Wayne wrote: <snip>

To address your specific questions, below:

1) Selling RC-210's should be simple enough (E-bay?).

[ I thought I saw something about not reselling them. At a minimum they

have

to buy the software. ]

Well, the manufacturer can't stop you from reselling (unless you sign a draconian license agreement!) in the USA. You can't make extra copying of software. But, you can resell what you got, verbatim.

2) Since you've got a private network and a public network involved, that's fine. But, this is a somewhat complex networking task. You'll need to get everything "talking together." I'm suspecting you'll want to implement some VPN's (Virtual Private Networks) to accomplish this. I use OpenVPN under Linux. It works great. BTW, I'm not sure RTCM's are the best

solution. And, you don't need a Windows box at each site.

[ My intent is to vote/simulcast two of three sites and bring in a third site on a different pair. Site 1-2 require a RTCM and Site 3 a URI, correct? ][ I've never done anything with a VPN and don't know how to implement it. I thought that given to IP's by my site vendor the RTCM's would talk on the same network, albeit a VLAN. But how do I access it to control? How can I bridge the public IP I have been given with the private VLAN? ]

You must have a Linux PC, running the AllStar software, on your network somewhere. URI boards attach via a USB interface (just like mice, keyboards, etc.). So, any place you have a URI you must also have a Linux PC. Note that if your Linux PC becomes unavailable (broken network, etc.), your RTCM's will go down, too! The RTCM's do have a very limited "failover" mode which should allow the repeater to stay on-line. But, it will be very crippled. As for the computer networking, I really recommend that you find knowledgeable local person to help. I've been doing this for 30 years and own a Internet software company that has VPN's in 70+ countries. Networks can get complex in a hurry! BTW, this isn't a sales pitch. My plate is already full and overflowing. But, some others on the mailing list might be able to help. If you don't mind, may I ask where these repeaters are that you're trying to get upgraded? How high are they (coverage radius?)? And, what frequencies? Which ones will be voted/simulcast and which stand-alone? I'll keep this in confidence. I trying to better understand your needs.

2) There is an small, unavoidable audio delay from audio input to output with AllStar. This is typical with any VoIP radio system, including full digital systems like D-Star and DMR, etc. This delay isn't like the delay found in traditional analog linked repeater systems, however. In older linked systems, you'd have to hold the PTT down for a second or so to allow all the transmitters to come on-line or you'd loose that initial audio. AllStar digitally buffers the audio during propagation from any member receiver to all member transmitters. So, the audio could be buffered and delayed as much as several hundred milliseconds (a big network!). But, not typically lost.

[ I can deal with the delay. ]

okay, and this isn't a problem in my experience.

3) As for persistent kerkhunkers and other issues, no hardware is going to solve that. That is an etiquette problem. Over time, (most) users can be trained to behave. Yes, I know you're saying: "Yeah, right. I hear you." But, I help with several wide-coverage repeater systems, so, I've been there, too.

[ Jammer's that kerchunk to annoy cannot be trained. ]

Jammers are a difficult subject. I am the president of a local ham club with some wide-coverage repeaters. By that, I mean we've got several repeaters, some with antennas as high as 1830 feet on a 2000ft tower, with flat surrounding terrain. Two of these systems have roughly 60+ mile HT coverage and 85+ mile mobile coverage area. We regularly have hams 110+ miles out hitting these repeaters with decent, but modest, base setups. Thankfully, we've got a number of technically competent hams who are good fox-hunters. Someone who regularly mis-behaves *will* get located and contacted appropriately. Unfortunately, this is part of life these days. On a positive note, the AllStar software can be configured to record all audio passing thru the system. The logs show the input source, etc., all timestamped. This helps a lot, too. IMO, much of the time, a jammer will give themselves away--accidentally giving their callsign, etc., at some point during the day; perhaps before they begin their jamming activity. Note that if you're already having serious jamming issues, simulcast/voting will likely only make this worse!

4) Yes, you can hook various systems together (WX radios, remote bases, etc.) into a single network quite easily with AllStar. But, it will likely take some complex scripting and networking to do, just like with any controller. I don't fully understand the scope of what you're wanting and as I mentioned above, trying to build the system here is beyond the scope of this mailing list.

[ I don't mean to be rude but this should be an easy task to do and understand. We are an ECOMM repeater(s) and each site needs a WX receiver

on

it. The commercial WX receivers have audio, COR, PTT and COS. I don't see how this is beyond the scope of the mailing list. Can I connect such a device using a URI? ]

Yes, you can certainly connect a WX receiver via a URI. But, remember that, except for possible redundancy, you only need one WX radio in the network. The exception to this would be if your network is so broad that the different WX alert messages are broadcast in different geographic locations. Again, remember that where there is a URI, there must be a Linux host running AllStar.

I understand your overwhelm! I would recommend getting started in small steps, if possible. First, only put up a test repeater or remote base with

AllStar and get a grasp of how that is setup. Then, add a second AllStar box and network the two together--take small steps. Now, if that's not a possibility--meaning you've got to have the whole system on-line "like tomorrow", you probably need to locate some expert help ASAP; due to the big learning curve with this (or any other) complex VoIP system.

[ I have plenty of time. I don't see our needs as complex at all. Two voted/simulcast repeaters and a third repeater linked in. A WX receiver and an Earthquake Alarm receiver on each repeater. ]

True simulcast, even for a small system, is non-trivial. I say this with personal experience. Ask the tech folks for any municipality doing simulcast for public safety. It's quite easy to spend $millions$ making these systems truly work. I really, really recommend starting small. Get a single test system going and then start expanding.

Anyway, I hope this helps some.

73, David KB4FXC