Good Morning - Everyone gearing up for the crazy times we are living in??
Yesterday I received the parts to repair the repeater. The old Final -a Brick- Toshiba S-AV32 is no longer made. Instead we used a direct replacement -by Mitsubishi RH60H1317M1A-201.. which includes a metal case, FET's in push-pull and far superior spurious reduction. I played it 2-3 hours after the repair at my QTH then decided to return it to the VFW.
But- WE are not out of the woods.. as last night because of activity at the VFW the Router noise was again present. After Midnight the noise ceased. But that's not the only problem. COX cable leakage is rearing it's head at my QTH, and the closest COX line is 1/2 mile away. At the same time because of antenna height and location, I hear a W5 Oklahoma repeater on the same frequency. The router problem we have addressed prior and requests to contact the "guy in charger" has gone unanswered. It manifests itself as a bit of white noise during the squelch tail. I am going to attempt to place snap on ferrite chokes on the CAT 5 cables at the router. I researched that router and on the negative side they are known 2 meter noise makers. on the positive side it's claim to be able to handle "up to 45" simultaneous wi-fi connections, is a plus as I've seen 28 cellphones connected.? It is still going to be an issue regarding the Blind Hams Talk Group as that "white noise bursts" is making it in to their worldwide network.
Regarding cable leakage on 145.27 AND distant repeaters being heard. In commercial systems and even a $22 Baofeng can be programmed to eliminate the squelch breaking on the users end. Lot's of newer radio's do not have a squelch knob and squelch settings are "global to the radio" not adjustable to each frequency.
While the repeater was down for repair, I programmed the Transmitter to emit a DCS code of 071... Yaesu's and ICOMS can run split tone operation. I do not know about Kenwood. I don't own them. So if you are getting white noise bursts on 145.27 or hearing other repeaters, set your receiver code to DCS 071 and transmit PL to 103.5.
I just had a QSO with K8LR BOB in Kalamazoo Michigan and he said our audio is very good into the Blind Hams Talk Group. There is a net tonight at 8pm local.. See you there..
Larry Macionski