Answer to Chad, Tech net notes, links?

Tue Jan 15 08:47:00 CST 2008

CR,
  To answer your points....

  Midland Radios.

  If you want to take one for a 'test drive', I have three ready for delivery with me.
  There were some other guys who wanted one, let them know as well.

  So if your in the area tonight, I can let you take one for a couple of weeks, if you want to keep it, 105 bucks tricked out and loaded with frequencies.

  Tech Net

  Tonight is Net Night.  
  So between 20:00 and 21:00 I expect to be busy. 
  Before and after that is fair game.

  Operating details

  Since my apartment won't let me put up antennas, I have to do this mobile.
  Last time I was in a parking lot of the 7-11 in Sterling VA, near the Regal Movie theater. Rt 7 North Side.

  For this weeks net I want to use one of the Midlands that I have installed in my truck. 
  I want to see just how hot it gets.

  This location is not set in stone. 
  If you want to hook up tonight and transfer equipment, I can shift my operation west, perhaps into Leesburge. 
  I'm sure there is a 7-11 there on the main drag.

  Why 7-11's? 
  Water and energy snacks. 
  Well lit area with frequent police patrols. 
  Not a bad way to do business.

  Linking Ideas.

  As for a link with a second 6m unit, that's tricky. 
  RF wise, antennas wise.
  There are tech issues and human factors that have to be solved.

  Will have to get Evan involved, he is in charge of this 6m unit. 
  Generally he is OK with anything that brings users to the channel and the club.

  Human factors come into play when you ask to make changes on successful repeaters. Owners don't like strangers telling them to do things on their hardware. You know, they are right, and I don't blame them.

  Rather than modifying peoples repeaters, we can make an external link 'adapter'.

  What if I make a 'pack RT' (fancy two way radio term). Or an external link Adapter.
  When the UHF is talking, it transmits the recovered audio on the 6m channel.
  When the 6m is talking, it's transmits the recovered audio to the UHF channel.
  When neither is talking, it sits and minds it's own business.

  I know that there is a UHF twin to the 7.300 that works real well.
  It's nearly un used. Like most UHF radios around here.

  The rev one project is to get this adapter to speak back and forth between the UHF and 6m repeaters.
  It will work but not great. 
  Clunky is the word that comes to mind.

  To make it work better will take some smarts.

  Revision two on the adapter.

  Depending on how the repeaters PL tone works, and how long the hang time on the TX is, that can be cross linked to 53.61. 

  That is assuming Mr TSC is willing to try.
  That is assuming Evan is willing to try.
  That is assuming I can get a home for what will be a lumpy and ugly pile of equipment.

  If the parties are willing to 'play ball' I have the equipment to make up such a gadget.
  I can ask if some one would be willing to host this adapter.
  I'm thinking of a ten watt UHF radio, and a low power 6m radio. 
  I also have a simple DTMF remote control on/off switch device we can command off the UHF side.

  That would give the 53.61 some huge coverage to the west.
  It would also give the TSC UHF exposure to a greater audience.
  It's also cool to get clubs working on group projects.

  This will require some human factors we talked about before.

  Unless we use some clever PL signaling much of the awkwardness with repeater hang times and Id's will get in the way.  

  The idea is to make the link transparent. 

  Even better is to have people walk away with the impression that what they just took part in was a UHF tech net.

  We can do this with some cute technology.

  Most ham radio repeater PL's are on the full time that the transmitter is up.

  So when the carrier drops, there is a noise burst before the pl decoder in the users receiver mutes. 147.300 is like that. 
  When it drops, PSSST, then quiet. 
  I'm going to assume (dangerous word) that the UHF is set up the same way.
  I have not tested the UHF for encode.

  Some years ago I did a thing I call "Encode while Decode" on the 145.43 WA2PNU repeater in New York.

  The repeater tail outs stayed the same, but when the input signal went away, the repeater stopped encoding. 

  Very handy for people using 'cross band repeat' mobile radios with PL decode as range extenders.

  With PL decode receivers, all the users heard were each others voices. 
  No squelch crashes or ID noise.
  A very civilized way of doing ham radio.
  A very clean, professional sound.

  What I can't do is all the running around. 
  Got a day job that is very important on a lot of levels. 
  Got a bit of this meteor scatter project, and right now trying to herd all the big cats into one area for a meeting.

  If someone in the West (that's called a hint) can get the approvals, I will put the Pack RT together and we can test it in 'clunk' mode, then if there is interest the 'powers that be' can see about adjusting their PL set ups.

  Share a thought.
  Mike

Chad Rudolph <rudolph.chad at gmail.com> wrote:
          Thanks for the new net and new ideas, Mike. I've tried many times 
today to get into the 53.61 machine with 100 watts into a vertically 
polarized DEZ wire antenna...to no avail. So, I will listen and see 
what I can hear tonight. 

If I get nothing, I guess my only chance to get in is to maybe talk 
K4QJZ and the NVFMA into possibly using the remote base at either 
repeater location and link up the 51.94 pl 141.3 N4MDK machine with the 
McLean machine. That is the only 6 meter repeater I have access to at 
my location. 

Other than that, I do have distinct interest in the 6 meter mobile deal 
you are working with. Keep in touch.

-Chad W1CAR

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__,_._,___                         

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