From the GARSmouth July 2001, http://www.gars.net
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The New 146.82 Repeater
John Warne, K4KAM
A new repeater has been ordered for the 146.82 / 146.22 frequency pair.
This was necessitated following the failure of the RC-85 controller in
the old repeater. The manufacturer for the RC-85 controller has been out
of business for a number of years, eliminating any ongoing software
upgrades or 'bug fixes.' In addition, several of the integrated circuit
components used in the RC-85 are no longer available.
In view of the required replacement of the old controller, it was
decided to purchase a complete unit (transmitter, receiver, power
supply, and controller), replacing the non-functional RC-85 and the two
General Electric commercial radio units that have been in use for a
number of years.
The new repeater is an Advanced Communication System (ACS) KRP-5000 with
a Computer Automation Technology, Inc., CAT-1000 controller. One of the
advantageous features of this controller is its ability to deny the
completion of auto-patch calls to specific numbers. This feature will be
used to stop all calls to the 911 emergency number, thereby eliminating
the source of malicious interference that dictated the elimination of
the auto-patch on the old controller.
Added to the CAT-1000 is a CTCSS tone board. This will allow a CTCSS
tone (123.0 Hertz for this area) to be added to both the repeater
transmitter and the repeater receiver (Please refer to the 4-part series
published in previous issues of the GARS Mouth for information on these
two functions).
Did you know 'Romeo' and 'Juliet' (the two synthesized voices in
controllers) do not know the word "hurricane?" Or that they cannot say
ARES or GARS as a word but must spell each letter? The DVR-1000 Digital
Voice board adds the flexibility of human voices to the various
announcements.
A DL-1000 Audio Delay board eliminates the white noise squelch-tail,
while a crystal oven provides greater stability for both the transmitter
and receiver.
In addition to the CAT-1000 controller, a CAT-200 has been ordered for
the 224.16 / 222.56 repeater. The existing 224.16 repeater controller
requires some re-programming. Unfortunately, the only person with
programming information for the E-Prom became a Silent Key a few years
ago.
So, when will the new machine be in and operating? The manufacturer
quoted four to six weeks delivery from the time the order was placed.
Also, it will take some time to program and verify functionality of the
unit. So, stay tuned!
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NOTE: The 146.985 repeater is being used until the 146.820 is back
on-the-air. The 82 antenna was switched to the 985 to allow greater
coverage for the repeater.
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