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Hello Randy, good to hear from you again.
Presently, the HHS tower has the 444.800 repeater and the 145.670 packet node in the same rack and combined into 1/2" hard line coax leaving the rack.
There are two separate co-linear antennas atop the tower one for VHF the other UHF.
The packet node is a Kantronics KPC-3+ that has the latest APRS modes built in, but not enabled.

I hadn't thought of moving the 145.670 node, but that could satisfy the need for it's existence if need be. Thanks :)

I went into this months ago with the idea of revitalizing packet radio locally.
Frankly, there's little interest.

When I seen what VARA could do, it became obvious orthogonal mode digital is the way forward and every time I use it I only become more convinced.
Because of it, the new Winlink gateway will be a asset that will get used.
The WILMAR node will continue to sit idle.
One of the things I've noticed in my digital travels around the MN network - almost all of the TNC clocks are months or even years off.
That tells me the TNCs haven't been touched by a sysop in a long time. Luckily, they are quite reliable.

73's
Mike N0QBH

Hey Everyone!

Just an Opinion from an OLD Fart.... I have been sandbagging for a while,
and to tell you the truth, Figuring out solutions for these problems was a
lot easier 20-25 Years ago (Hi Hi).
I would probably put the APRS Box alongside of the 444.800 Repeater at
what ever tower site you have over there, and someone mention adding a PI
for an Gate, would be cool too.

As for 145.67, I would maybe try and relocate it to another site, closer in or in town,

If I remember my research right, The state ARES people want to designate 145.07 MHZ.
as a VARA/WinLink Frequency, it would not be hard to get (Depending on the Power Output),
to build a combiner of sorts, with a few by-pass cans. LINBPQ does All of this, including a CMS
system built in, a PBBS, and other goodies....
and in my opinion, we can do a better job engineering a system like that.
I know, it takes money... there are ways to do that too.

73 de RR


?-------------------------------
73 de Randy, WR0RR.
(Ex: KA0UYL and N0GMX)

It wouldn't take much to scratch together another radio and a Raspberry Pi for an APRS iGate and Digipeater and have a dedicated system that's separate from the 2m packet node. We would have to find another location for it though.

Thanks for helping us think this thru, Ace.
I suppose it's possible to have a tone controlled output on the 440 repeater controller that could control the freq of the VHF packet radio, but that is above my pay grade.
I think in a bona fide emergency we would have the time to have someone visit the site and flip the switch.
The TNC remains connected to the same radio and will function as a packet node on either frequency.? APRS only borrows it's digipeater feature in unconnected mode (UI).
Thanks for your support, Ace and we appreciate your input and advice going forward.
Maybe the next step would be to talk to the other emergency services folks involved with packet and see what they have to say.

73
'QBH

?

We aren’t obligated to keep it on, but talking to Eric (prior to the Winlink talk) he made it sound like it is still an emergency backup that they would like to have statewide. ? If someone has to manually switch something, it may not be much of a backup. ? I’m in favor of the APRS stuff. Just wondering if we should add a separate radio so we have both? ?I get no one is using 145.67, but it was designed as the true emergency backup. ?However if no one else is using it as a backup up, it’s not that good of a disaster plan. ?I just didn’t want to create a hole in someone else’s backup plans. ?

Ace?

Hello Ace.

The only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked :)
The short answer is yes. To enable it on the 145.670 network someone would have to change the frequency at the site.
If we have obligations to stay on that frequency with other agencies, we would have to talk to someone(s).
73
'QBH

Sorry for stupid questions, but if you do this, you’ll have to manually change the frequency back to 145.670 if you want to use? ?Won’t this leave a hole on the 145.670 coverage map again? ?

If it will be used and be useful, I agree with Mike, N0QBH and Ben, W0AYE.? We should change the HHS tower system to an APRS.? Since a VARA gateway is also imminent, I think it is a smart decision to maximize the amateur radio communications available to us and make the change.

Tony, WD0HXV

Even though I don't own a radio natively capable of doing APRS, I think this is a great idea.?

I've been getting that on mobile, as soon as I reload the webpage goes through just fine.

I notice running Chrome browser that Winlink pages return an error 500 1st try.
Reload and they are fine.

???

Ben,W0AYE has a Winlink Gateway station running with access via VARA-FM on 145.690 MHz.

Winlink is a full featured email program for amateur radio and VARA is name of the software modem often used to communicate.

Useful links:




https://digirig.net/

The two programs of interest are Winlink Express and VARA_FM located in their respective subdirectories.

You will also need a USB soundcard with PTT control.
Digirig is popular (my choice) and Signalink USB is an old favorite that will work too.

In both Win 10 and 11 installs, I've had to download and install the UART driver for the Digirig.?
The UART side of Digirig is what controls the PTT signal to the radio. The link to the driver is on the Digirig page.



73
Mike N0QBH

No substitute for height or borrowed horsepower (digi), for sure. One other thought that occurred - did you have any sub audible tone enabled?
It should be off.
Ben & I have both done that. It still worked, but we have a stronger path too.