[SMCARA] Repeater Questions

Tue Aug 26 14:51:28 EDT 2014

All,

I have seen more opinions like this than to the affirmative. We can vote on
it if necessary but the popular vote at the moment is to repair the repeater
to get it back to where it needs to be but that is it for upgrades and or
conversion. It anyone feels that we need to bring this before the club in
meeting format please let me know by Wednesday evening so I have time to add
it to the club business portion of the meeting presentation. Otherwise I am
going to call the matter tabled for now and we will focus on troubleshooting
and repairing our repeater. 

--
Dan Metcalf -- KB3UUN
c. 301 769 1111

-----Original Message-----
From: SMCARA [mailto:smcara-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
petebutt at comfac.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 8:11 AM
To: smcara at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [SMCARA] Repeater Questions

Dan, et al

  My two cents is to leave well enough alone.

  The K3HKI 146.640 MHz repeater has been in continuous operation for over
42 years and has succeeded in being a nice, local rag-chew enabler and
gathering point for most of the club members residing in southern Maryland.
SMCARA has always been a general interest club and, as such, the repeater
serves to connect the majority of folks who are just interested in 'what's
going on' in the local ham community.  The repeater is simple, unconstrained
and easy to use... even with older FM radios.  It is not a linking repeater
for a number of reasons but primarily to keep it available for the local
community of users who just want to hear what's going on here and not worry
about the much broader user base around the country (or the world).

  There are a number of other repeaters and remote bases in the local area
that are specifically configured for long distance communication;
interconnection to the Internet; supporting digital experimentation; etc.
As Tom Clarke mentioned, if you want to have wide-area communication then we
are blessed with the very fine 145.35 machine in the Prince Frederick area
which has several remote receivers and excellent multi-county (and even
multi-state) coverage.  If you want to connect to the Internet using regular
FM, try Sam Leach's Echolink node on 147.42 MHz.  If you want to try D-STAR
digital, use the Hollywood system on 147.195 or the D-STAR hot spot I am
running in the Lexington Park area on 145.600 MHz simplex (which is usually
parked on the world-wide 001C conference bridge reflector).  As you have
already heard, some of your fellow hams are experimenting with the other
digital modes that are emerging such as the Motorola MOTOTRBO system, the
YAESU C4FM/FDMA digital system, etc.  All of these new modes are in the
niche category... i.e., they are of technical interest but typically more
complex to set up, can be very expensive and are usually proprietary to the
specific manufacturer.  Worse yet, in many cases they are NOT interoperable
or compatible with other much more popular modes such as D-STAR.  Even worse
yet, YAESU (in my opinion and of many others also) is heading in the wrong
direction by using much wider frequency bandwidths).  But that is another
story for another time.  Bottom line:
the average ham doesn't want to spend many hundreds (or thousands) of
dollars just to talk to his fellow ham up the street or from Lexington Park
to Mechanicsville.

  I have absolutely no disagreement with playing with new operating modes...
but don't take away the common linking capability that we currently have
that very nicely serves the vast majority of the club members.  If you want
to play with the YAESU system (or some similar specialty mode), great... but
set up a separate system to do so.  When you are playing with niche
technologies, it can be a very lonely place since usually only a few hams
jump in early while the vast majority usually hang back to 'see how it goes'
before even thinking about how to find the money and time to invest in the
new capability.

  Just for historical purposes, I'd like to remind everyone that hams in
southern Maryland are usually pretty savvy folks and have tried out just
about every new ground-breaking technology as it begins to develop.  I know
personally that I have had to opportunity to build AX25 packet and AMTOR
digital systems and bulletin boards over radio; built a lot of repeaters;
played with IRLP and Echolink protocols; built a beautiful 5-band remote
base on my UHF repeater; built a satellite station; played with D-STAR for
over 6 years now... and on and on.  With all of this, I still gravitate back
to the basics for my day to day hamming by getting on HF and VHF/UHF because
what I REALLY want to do is just talk with my fellow ham friends and stay
connected with their experiences and adventures.  It doesn't take much to do
that when you stick to the basics for your general hamming.

  As I said, just my .02 cents worth.

  Hope all of you are having fun with the hobby.

  Regards,

  Pete (WA3UMY)

> I have been approached through email several times in the last week by 
> different individuals about converting out .64 machine to one that can 
> support digital communications. To be specific they have requested to 
> convert to the System Fusion by Yaesu. There are some drawbacks and 
> some advantages. I would like to use this email as a way to start a 
> discussion as to what the club would like to do.
>
> Personally I would like to leave the .64 as it is but maybe sponsor an 
> second repeater and have it in reside in the 70cm band. Maybe use the 
> K3NHK for the repeater's call. Please send me any thought you might 
> have on this subject and include possible locations for a second 
> repeater if you agree with me. Right now without installing a new 
> tower in my back yard I have no idea where a second repeater would be 
> hosted.
>
> Discussion is now open. Have FUN!
>
> --
> Dan Metcalf -- KB3UUN
> c. 301 769 1111
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