by Kyle Krieg (AAØZ)
President, SLSRC
Engineering Chair
On Saturday Oct 12th, the SLSRC Engineering Committee completed upgrades to the 146.850 repeater system and 443.075 repeaters.
The 146.850 repeater was upgraded to a new CAT800 repeater controller which gives the Engineering Committee control of the repeater via the web for command, control and troubleshooting. Internet control is a large step to control all aspects of the repeater system remotely. The committee also installed two AllStar nodes, one public and one private on the 146.850 repeater. The private node will be used to link other SLSRC repeaters together via our private wireless network. The public node, node 40105, will be used to connect the repeater to other AllStar nodes, play Newsline during the weekly nets and also serve as the Echolink server into the 146.850 repeater. AllStar uses VoIP technology to use the internet to connect other nodes together via very high-quality audio. The SLSRC Echolink node number did not change during this upgrade so no changes are required for end-users to connect to the 146.850 repeater.
The Echolink server will solve some of the muffled audio we’ve heard in the past with users. Newsline should also be more clear during the weekly SLSRC net.
Please note the user commands to connect from the 146.850 repeater to an Echolink node have changed. See the SLSRC Repeaters & Nets website to learn how to connect to an external Echolink server. Instructions on how to use the AllStar network are also explained in the Repeaters & Nets website.
In addition to the 146.850 updates, we also upgraded the 443.075 repeater to a brand new Yaesu DR-2X repeater and changed it to a C4FM digital format only. The repeater will not respond to FM transmissions, only C4FM digital. This is the first upgrade of many as we build out the C4FM digital network in the St. Louis area. This repeater is also connected full time to our WiresX STL-Metro room along with many other repeaters in the St. Louis area.
Along with all the upgrades the committee upgraded the firmware on misc devices, installed a new A/C switch to remotely turn the power off and on and also checked all the antenna connections before the winter.