EchoLink on KR5NM Repeater

[W0ZW]

At the annual meeting, the club voted in favor of enabling EchoLink on the 146.92 MHz repeater.  Comments below clarify how this feature will be managed (thanks to W5ZIT):

1. There will be no cost to the club for the implementation of an
EchoLink interface to the club repeaters. Original contributions by
Bill Cook, Don Veazey, Harvey Foster Joe Kenmore and Jim Brown
established a fund that was used to install a node at Harvey Foster's
QTH that is still in operation on a simplex channel. Since that time,
equipment has been contributed from various sources to support EchoLink
operations in the area.

2. Access from the Internet to the .92 EchoLink system will be
restricted to club members, nodes accessed by club members, and
emergency service organizations, such as National Weather Service or
the Red Cross.

3. Outgoing access to the EchoLink system will not be restricted.
Anyone using the local repeater system can connect EchoLink to any node
they want.

4. Emergency preparedness nets may be conducted via EchoLink in
conjunction with other emergency systems in the state to enhance our
emergency operations during a crisis, and will be accountable to the
Village as to emergency communications conducted on the .92 repeater
system.

5. ARES drills conducted on the .98 repeater can be run in parallel on
the .92 repeater system via EchoLink to also increase our emergency
utilization accountable to the Village.

[W0ZW]

Two motions approved at the recent SBARC 2008 annual meeting were:

1.  Open up the repeater EchoLink access to allow connects from any station in North America

2.  Re-assign the EchoLink repeater from the Alto Crest machine to the Camelot machine

We learned at the meeting that our EchoLink log showed many US stations trying repeatedly to connect to KR5NM but which failed because they were disallowed by our EchoLink filter settings.  Members believed we were missing an opportunity to talk to these hams who were so determined to connect to our repeater (people interested in relocating perhaps).  The vote included a 90 day trial period for members to evaluate this change to the EchoLink privileges and decide at the end of that period whether to continue it on a full-time basis.

The second EchoLink item was proposed in order to put EchoLink traffic on the repeater which is powered by utility power.  The rationale was to reduce the battery drain on the solar powered Alto Crest repeater as much as possible and instead shift EchoLink traffic to the repeater supplied by commercial power.

Item (1) above has been implemented.  If you hear EchoLink stations talking on the repeater output but no local ham is involved in the conversation, YOU can disconnect the EchoLink station by keying the # (pound) sign on your radio keypad while accessing the repeater.  Make sure no one locally is in the conversation, but if not don't hesitate to use this disconnect feature.

Item (2) has been successfully tested but is pending implementation subject to this notification of the membership.  Remember, when this change is in place you must be on the Camelot repeater (100 Hz tone) in order to talk to an EchoLink user.  Talking into the Alto Crest (151.3 Hz tone) machine will not be heard by EchoLink users (due to tone-squelch being enabled at the EchoLink gateway radio).

Users are reminded that you can tell which repeater you are on by listening to the courtesy tone.  The Alto Crest machine has a double tone (boop-beep).  The Camelot repeater has a single tone (beep). Listen for these different tones and you can easily tell which machine is active.

A second notification will be sent when item (2) has been implemented on a full-time basis.  We will give it a few days for everyone to read and digest the information contained in this email.  If any questions please contact me or any repeater committee member.

73,
Wayne, WØZW

[w5zit]

EchoLink Configuration on the KR5NM repeaters as of 1 Oct 2008

EchoLink will normally be interfaced to the Camelot Repeater on 145.45.  Access will also be available on the 146.92 Alto Crest Repeater when it is linked to the Camelot Repeater.

The EchoLink Interface at K5OI can be switched between the Camelot Repeater, the Alto Crest Repeater and the Buck Mountain Repeater on 146.98.  The normal configuration will be to interface the SBARC repeater system on the Camelot Repeater.  This will allow the most reliable control of the EchoLink port since the Camelot Repeater regenerates the TT control codes before sending them to the repeater output.  A local station should operate on the 145.45 Camelot repeater when using the EchoLink interface to insure positive node control via DTMF commands.

The EchoLink interface is now open to all US, Canadian, and Mexican amateurs for both incoming and outgoing connections.  Since the incoming connections are still restricted to North American amateurs, no incoming DX connects are allowed. Outgoing DX connects ARE allowed so that a local amateur can access other nodes around the world.   Also conference connections are now allowed, so that a station connecting to KR5NM can also be connected to another station without being rejected.

Remember to allow at least a 5 second delay between transmissions when operating with an EchoLink node so that the VoIP latency does not truncate your own transmissions and cause timeouts when other stations try to join a conversation.

73 - Jim  W5ZIT