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Does anyone else here read the free K9YA telegraph newsletter? It's pretty good usually. Jeff W0JMW

Perhaps the most popular 2 meter Frequency in the Greater Wichita Area is 146.520... The group most active Commonly calls themselves the "52 crew", they are on Facebook. There are no dues, no officers, no meetings EXCEPT informally at 9-11 AM at the Derby Radio Shack. To join make a request at 520 CREW on FACEBOOK

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: James Stafford <aj5bs@...> Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2019, 11:35:55 PM CDT Subject: ARES Organization As the ARES Emergency Coordinator for Sedgwick and Harvey Counties, I would like to try again to organize an ARES group for Harvey and Sedgwick counties to be active in emergency communications and support for government and non-government organizations and hold regular radio nets. Please pass this on to all of your amateur radio friends in Sedgwick and Harvey counties. If anyone is interested in becoming ARES members, please contact me. James B Stafford AJ5BS

Larry, You might want change a word in the Home page description.. OUR YAHOO GROUP IS OPEN TO ALL WHO ARE INTERESTED IN AMATEUR RADIO. IF YOU REQUEST MEMBERSHIP PLEASE INFORM US OF YOUR AMATEUR RADIO CALL SIGN OR THE REASON FOR JOINING THIS GROUP. Don WB0QFR

Greetings to all, I spent a few hours in the shack recently trying to get things cleaned up and straightened out. Here is a recap: Computer and Monitor- Most cables had been disconnected from the computer and the keyboard and mouse were missing. Purchased a wireless keyboard and mouse and hooked up the cables. The old monitor wasn't a good match to the video card so I provided a spare monitor I had laying around. The computer came up okay and everything seems to work as it did right after Larry M upgraded it months ago. I didn't check to see if it will print so, I still need to do that. The computer is turned on. All we need to do is turn on the monitor to use the computer. User name and password are on the monitor. 2M Radio - I hooked up the radio and it seems to be working fine. I'm not acquainted with radio so I didn't do much testing. There isn't a fuse on the power cord so I unhooked the power. I found a fuse holder in one of the tool boxes - I'll get it installed in the next few days and read the manual to do some additional testing. PVC Banner Frame - It was just in the way and since we don't have a banner at this time, I took the banner frame home to store it in my shop. Power Cord hanging on Hook Behind Door - The power cord had been taped and the female end wasn't attached to the cord as it should have been. It wasn't safe and probably not legal to use in the commercial environment. I replaced the cord with a medium duty 25' cord. I took the old defective cord home for my personal use. I'll make two short cords out of it and will probably have more invested in buying three end adapters than a new cord. My usual way of doing things. Icom 718 - The radio worked fine one day and another day it sounded like it couldn't produce good audio. We had the same problem with it on field day this year. Something to look in to one of these days. Also couldn't get more than about 50 watts out of it. Another item to check. Ameritron ALS 600 - I tried to check the ALC negative voltage to make sure it is set properly for the Icom 718. Since I couldn't get enough power out of the 718, I couldn't do a valid test. I left the ALC settings as I found them. Since the radio is only putting out about 50 watts we should be okay. I'll check the ALC when we can get a radio that puts out more power. The power supply unit for the ALS 600 is showing 60 volts output. I think it is supposed to be 50 volts. The voltage meter only goes to 60 volts so it may be putting out more than 60 volts. Something else to look into. That should bring you up to date on what I've done in the shack. While I was working in the Shack I contacted W4L special event station on the dipole antenna. We have some new wallpaper for the shack. I'll also put this out on groups.io so some of you may get this email twice. Everybody take care 73 Pat Schneweis KC0ZRY

Since my visit to McConnell AFB, I have been researching Li-ion Batteries. Those 3.7V batteries that sometimes blow up. I have found out that it's because they are not "protected" like in Cheap Vaping devices or "Hover Boards". They require inexpensive conditioning and equalizing electronics if you are going to place them in series. But here is the deal. 3.7V Li-ion you need 3 or 4 in series. 3 gets you 11.1 volts - you can run a rig on that, but not full output, or 4 cells in series gets you 14.8.. some hams use 4 and undercharge them about 70% capacity to run in that 12.2 to 13.8 V range. FYI- 18650 cells on Ebay and Amazon claiming up to 6000mAh.. are NOT. I've tested them at 1024 to 1400mAh..about $1.50+ BTW The li-ion battery disadvantages include: Protection required: Lithium ion cells and batteries are not as robust as some other rechargeable technologies. They require protection from being over charged and discharged too far. In addition to this, they need to have the current maintained within safe limits. The alternative is to use another Lithium type battery. Lithium iron phosphate battery or LifePO4 battery. Considered safer, greater recharge cycles and higher initial cost. LifePO4 batteries are 3.2Volts, therefore 4 in series gives you 12.8 - an excellent voltage to run a GO BOX. So you can fully charge LifePO4's and it's safe for ham gear. LifePO4's can put out 100 amps if you are not careful. There are YOUtube video's showing a 1/2" open end wrench turning cherry red across one of these batteries. I am considering building at least 1 maybe 2 or 3 for Go Boxes. I have a line on 2 styles of LiFePO4 Nominal Capacity 8Ah Charging voltage 3.65V Nominal Voltage 3.2V Cut-off Discharge Voltage 2.0V Charging Method CC/CV Maximum Discharge Current(continuable) 200A Maximum Charge Current(continuable) 80A Cycle Life 1500cycles 1C 100%DOD 2000cycles 1C 80%DODWork temperature Charge -10℃ to 45℃ Discharge -20℃ to 65℃ Dimension(mm) Diameter 38mm Length 120mm(152 with screw) Weight 360 grams These are commonly known as 38120S (Diameter Length S=screw terminal) I can get them for $11 each +8 for $10.50 and +40 for $10.00 So for 8 -$44 plus shipping I would have the major components for 12.8V 16Ah but could draw 400amps for 2.4 minutes!! I can also buy smaller 18650 1.1Ah cells 100 count for $150 or $2 each. (the above is more Ah per $) Then finally they have 18650 1.5Ah cells 24 count case for $48.. 18650 would require battery holders, which can be had for about $2 that holds 4 cells. Shipping out of Pennsylvania, These are my costs through my wholesaler. I am considering selling them at hamfests and on ebay. Connectors and conditioner (BMS) pc-boards are under $10.. then a container woul dbe needed. Some Li-ion batteries are simply assembled and placed in shrink wrap to hold them together. Other are in plastic cases.. If anyone would like to work on this project with me contact me... Larry W8LM email w8lm@...

8 of the 38120 batteries is $84, not $44.. 4 is ample to run a QRP rig..

Don - We just moved too. cc:ing our group about yours for their FYI. groups.io raised their transfer service from $110 to $220 because Yahoo is shutting down. WE did not feel it was worth it and our old emails will die a natural death. We did move pictures and files manually but we're a small group, under 40 hams. But have a complete KW HF station and 2 repeaters. de Larry W8LM VFW Post 3115 Amateur Radio Club, W?VFW, Wichita, KANSAS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm sending this out as a special notice to reach those who have set their email preferences to NOMAIL here but still allow for special notices. I've sent out a lot of invitations to members here to join the new group, but unfortunately, we're not going to be able to reach everyone. I downloaded a members list using a special tool that lets me get past the usual Yahoo 1,000 member list limit download. However, the list I retrieved will have some missing members, some of which Yahoo just didn't insert in the download for some reason, and others who have their email addresses hidden to the system. After December 14, Yahoo will no longer host the message archive for any group. We're seeing if we can find a way to move the old messages to the new group, but we're also trying to get everyone on board to join the new group. Not having all of the email addresses available means we can't reach everyone, even with this special notice, though some who have their settings set to NOMAIL do allow for special notices, so we're hoping to get to almost everyone. I have about 300 more to invite, not including those members whose email addresses aren't on the list I have. Those I have should get invitations in the next few days if they haven't already For those whose addresses we don't have, we don't want to leave them behind, but we don't have a way of sending them an invitation to the new group because we don't know where to send it. Members can do one of three things if they don't get an invitation: 1. Join the manual way. It's not hard. Go here and click the button that says join this group: /g/Ham-antennas 2. Send a blank email (no subject and no message) to this email address: [email protected] You should receive an email to confirm your subscription. 3. Send you or me an email so we will manually send them a personal invitation to their email address. You can email me at my call sign at QSL dot net (it's not case-sensitive) if you need help or want an invitation sent from the new group to make it easier to join the new group. If you have any questions, please direct them to me and I will try to help. Donald AD8DY Visit Your Group ? Privacy ? Unsubscribe ? Terms of Use . __,_._,___

W0VFW yahoo groups is done. But the group will remain- unused. If there is anything you want since we have been using it since 2012. Go get it according to this time schedule. This is cut and paste from Yahoo: Beginning October 28, 2019: Users will be able to join a Yahoo Group only through an invite from the Group Moderator or by submitting a request to join a Group, which requires approval by the Group Moderator. Since we are moving Group communication from posting on message boards to email distribution, uploading and hosting of new content will also be disabled on the Yahoo Groups website. Beginning December 14, 2019: All Groups will be made private and any content that was previously uploaded via the website will be removed. We believe privacy is critical and made this decision to better align with our overall principles. If you would like to keep any of the content you’ve posted or stored in the past within your Yahoo Group, please download it by December 14th.

At the Last meeting we had a discussion regarding the demise of Yahoo Groups and moving to Facebook versus groups.io. I mentioned my friend Dave W9WRL's problem with his very active "Ham Radio Buy & Sell" group on Facebook. Here is the latest: ***ATTENTION This is Dave W9WRL. I am the ONLY real admin of this group. On Oct 24th this group was HACKED and over run by a bunch of ASSHOLES. I think from North Korea. I advise you to LEAVE this group. They can not hurt you or scam you unless you stay in this group. I am working with Facebook to get back full control. But even if I do this group is finished. We just have to many fake accounts in here to make it safe again. So please LEAVE THE GROUP NOW! 73 Dave W9WRL. So you know - pretty much any Ham Radio Buy & Sell has reverted back to Ebay (5-10% fee) or QRZ.com (free postings) However QRZ requires a 2 step verification prior to posting anything. AND a picture of the item with your call sign in the picture.

W?VFW November meeting will probably be the Most Important meeting of the year. Start making arrangements to attend. Meeting night is NOVEMBER 26th Starting at 7PM... As usual, there will be eyeball chat before and after. AT THIS TIME - I am not at liberty to divulge some things that are going on behind the scenes with the club.. HOPEFULLY by meeting night we will be able to announce certain plans currently in the making. All I can say IF it comes about, It will change the W?VFW mission VERY positively in the Community. We need to prepare for 2-3-4 possible outcomes. Secondly, Nominations for NEXT Year's officers will be held. Currently the elected offices are President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer. Trustee of the Club FCC Callsign is appointed. Over the years, we have been somewhat loose regarding assignments of Training- VE testing - Technical - Repeater - Trustees- Field Days - HF station - Constitution and By-laws - Activities -Executive Planning- Moderators of the new 开云体育 (I have been moderator of the old Yahoo groups since Feburay 2012) It is time to look at each of those and decide if we for instance for an executive board club steering type committee and use the features of groups.io as we CAN do polls and make subgroups now. Finally- At the last meeting, we spoke about putting together a "Ham Radio Auction" on the 29th of Febuary Leep year Day. A SATURDAY. as our "Dead of Winter Extravaganza" a few years ago was a suscess. I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM A SINGLE MEMBER WHO WILL PARTICIPATE or SERVE ON THE COMMITTEE I volunteered to head. Please CONTACT me if you willing to Volunteer, WE NEED TO Finalize a go-no go in it's regards. AS to start advertizing it so we can proceed. It will beasicall ybe our only fundraiser unless other people are willing to lug our donations to hamfests every few months. Coy W?ZRY and I have done it 5 years and many $$$ and many miles. Tenatively the Auction woul drun all day at the VFW post. Equipment for auction would be accepted and marked for auction starting 8AM. Auction would start at NOON. The club would take 10% up to $10 commission. or 100% if donated. For the Auction we need: Night Before SET UP TABLES - Chairs etc. Prior to the start of AUCTION #1 INTAKE VOLUNTEER Equipment #2 INTAKE VOLUNTEER Setup Equipment for display. #3 BIDDER REGISTRATION PERSON #4 SNACK SALES ( liquids would be to support VFW Canteen ) at the start of the auction: #5 AUCTIONEER #6 Recorder of AUCTION SALES -(plus an audio recorder) #7 CASHIER maybe 2. #8 DOOR SECURITY. #9 Runner to bring equipment to the auction block. If we cannot fill most of these positions by the NOVEMBER meeting I believe we will have to let this money maker for the club die a silent death. If you wish to volunteer please contact me by email : w8lm at ARRL dot org

Today 3PM local is the start of the ARRL November Sweepstakes (SS) Phone. My Favorite contest. If you have never operated a contest, this is the perfect one to get your feet wet. If you complete 100 contacts you're eligible to buy a commemorative pin for $8.00. I've uploaded the 2019 ARRL Sweepstakes Rules into the Files section of W0VFW at groups.io in case you want to participate. If you don't have a logging program. A free easy to use contest logger for SS can be had at: https://qsl.net/w3km/genfeats.htm I have been using that for contests for 5-6 years. Takes 5 minutes to learn. The Union Pacific BIG BOY steam locomotivve will be traveling through Kansas next few days. Coffyville today.. I am going to see it in Salina. or possibly Kansas City. Schedule is here- https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm If someone wants to ride in the back seat, let me know- If I go to Kansas city- I will also be stopping at MicroCenter and eating at Mr. Greek In Overland Park. We could also stop at Universal Radio.. Otherwise, I am heading to Salina which is less mileage. Plans to eat at Kansas Buffet Salina, and maybe stop at Russel Stover Factory outlet.. Love those boxes of chocolate seconds- (The ones they drop!!) Contact me via PM at w8lm at arrl dot net. Thanks to Lighting and homeowners insurance plus a few bucks. I have a new Tram 1481 on top of my tower. Tip is at 55 feet. I replaced the 2FM rig with a new Yaesu 50W dual band Fusion FTM-7250D. I sold a 10 year old FT60R and bought a FT70D Fusion HT. As an early Christmas present along with a Yaesu FTM7250D for the Truck. Locally we have a VERY active group on 146.52 - They even have a Facebook page... "520 crew" With winter coming, I expect .146.52 to become crowded in the evenings. Perhaps populating 146.42 (National Prepper calling) Is next. A FUSION Simplex would be fun too.. Remember W?VFW meeting is NOV 26th, 2019... Probably the most important meeting of the Year. Lot's happening behind the scenes, that will impact Wichita area for the future. Nominations for Officers -

Reminder - W?VFW Monthly Meeting is NEXT Tuesday - November 26th. This will probably be the most important meeting of the year. One issue is the December meeting is Christmas Eve.. The quagmire is- December meetings historically have been Elections of Officers for the following year. There is much to cover this next meeting. An option we have is to vote (pole) on groups.io Yesterday Don WB?QFR and I took a road trip to Abilene, KS to see the Famous Union Pacific 1404 BIG BOY. I shot video of it leaving Abilene Station. We then drove to Salina after a stop at Russel Stover Factory Outlet Store. We tried to run with the train along old U.S. RT 40 but traffic jams disallowed getting ahead or to it. I have a 5 minute video of the Big Boy leaving Abilene on my Facebook page. There is also a video of the train running Abilene to Salina at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/150810108393432/wp/463978837581822/ You may need to join "Old and Interesting Places in Kansas". The video is worth viewing. When we arrived in Salina they were shutting down the engine for the night. Connecting fire hoses to hydrants to re-fill the water supply and there was 1 Semi fuel tanker you see filling at gas stations connecting to the Tender to refill with Diesel, along with 3 more waiting. 4 semi fuel tanker trucks!! What a fill-up! On a personal note. I enjoyed working the ARRL November Sweepstakes Phone contest. last weekend. I installed a new Fusion Dual Bander in my Truck. I also am "dusting off" 2 commercial UHF Ritron repeaters I have. I brought them back a year ago when I closed out my footprint in New Hampshire and sold my home there. I have applied for coordination to the Kansas Repeater Coordinator and was assigned the following repeater pair- 442.000 - 447.000.... I have plenty of options with 2 self contained repeaters, One possibility is to program both to the same frequency, but different PL's - then set up one that can be deployed for Public Service and Emergencies. OR place one on GMRS. (Old CB class A) I am licensed as WRCD403. (500 transmitters). I also have to assemble 5 ALLSTAR interfaces. ALLSTAR is a very formatible interface into the internet, including Echolink, and ILRP. The ALLSTAR website HAS Moved- if you want to learn more -here is the link: https://web-tpa.allstarlink.org/

Greetings to all - The next W0VFW Amateur Radio Club is this Tuesday, November 26th at 7 PM. Please attend if possible - Here are some points of interest for this meeting - 1. The radio shack has been cleaned up - Come and check it out! 2. Nomination of officers for the up coming year 3. Update on the possibility of moving the repeaters to a higher location Attachments: Minutes from October meeting Agenda for the up coming meeting Hope to see you at the meeting. 73, Pat S Sec/Treas of W0VFW

Tomorrow is the W?VFW Meeting- Probably the most important meeting of the month.. My Show and Tell, either before the meeting or after is my procurement of some Lifepo4 batteries and equalizing charge-discharge regulator. My plan is to put together some Todays Technology ultra high capacity Go box batteries. These batteries are the size of 2 D cells and 4 in series can put out 200amps, enough to start a car. I don't want to disrupt the meeting with the show and tells, but before and after come see me. New installation in my truck.. a 50 watt dual band Fusion. here's a pix as it will be dark out. I am also playing with Fusion, and software programming my new radio and HT.. Lot's to learn. I ahave programming software for the Yaesu FTM7250D if anyone wants to use it. I also a SHARK OPENSPOT 2. I received a repeater frequency pair of 442.000-447.000 and will be putting repeater son the air this winter. Also investigating ALLSTAR Nodes. Hope to invite the W?VFW crew to connect to alstar by Christmas.. Stay Tuned.

Hope everyone survived National Eating day, and National Shopping day. Sadly I participated in both. I have my Raspberry pi sitting on my desk and projects waiting, but pushed that aside yesterday as my Christmas present to my self, for myself (with lots of Love) arrived from ESTONIA. Well, anyone into Ham Radio knows the hottest thing comes from ESTONIA. You know Estonia- the country just south of Helsinki or East Of Stockholm. A peninsula in the Baltic sea.. Yes, My RF Shark Openspot 2 has arrived. Not the least expensive hot spot on the market, but highly acclaimed. I still am not getting over the $25+ cost of shipping, yet it arrived DHL in 5 days and those Chinese ones take weeks. I am looking forward to DEMO'ing it for the FEB 29th Leap Year Event. If you want to know more there are almost 20 reviews of the Openspot on YOUTUBE. I made 2 contacts yesterday on it. One Fusion and then found out it converts Fusion to DMR and worked a DMR room in Kansas City. it is DMR-FUSION-Dstar-P25-NXDN- POCSAG- and APRS messaging and forwarding. Solves a belt full of radio's.. The Black Friday item I did take advantage of was from Gigaparts. I ordered a NanoVNA.. an VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER. An Antenna analyzer and more. Again one of these you can find them cheaper on Ebay, some with li-ion batteries or not and varoius versions. Gigaparts has a battery and a quality source. they are good from 50kc to 900mhz. They have a USB connection for interface to a computer. Just over $50. On sale to Dec 3. Some VNA's are $18,000. So it was a tough decision as to which to buy. It is amazing now that there are cold nights, the activity on 146.52 every night. Likewise if you have internet, what you can learn about Ham Radio on various YOUTUBE "Videos" Some hams have "Channels" and multiple videos. Reviews, Do it Yourself video's, and comparisons. There are other videos regarding solar panels, building livPo4 battery packs, wind turbines. If you have a "smart" TV and are retired, it beats watching "The Price is Right" Next in the news- All the news that is fit to print... TEC-NI-CHAT has a facebook page, they maintain the 146.94 and 444.000 repeaters. Been around since 1963. They have an annual meeting beginning of every December. I do not have a date and time. If you know post a reply. Annual dues at the Annual meeting is $20. I been following the D4D transceiver kits for $40.. They are single band 80-40-30-20 + Shipping 5-6 is the same cost as shipping 1. Perhaps a group buy. They work FT8 and JT8CALL (FT8 but keyboard to keyboard) Here is a complete "mini-station setup" by Jim WB2HLP in Michigan. Link has pictures and an equipment list. Can be built for under $200 with all new components and an optional GPS module. Here is the posting: /g/crkits/topic/64375342

Tec-Ni-Chat Annual Eyeball meeting is scheduled for Saturday December 7th, 2019 at the Riverwalk Church on Waco St. between 1st and 2nd. This is the same place the Wichita Hamfest is held every year. Christmas goodies will be dupplied by members and you may want to bring some of your favorite cookies. Tec-NI-Chat Dues are $25 per your for the entire family. If you pay your dues at the meeting on Saturday for 2020 you will be elegible to vote for officers that night. Tec-Ni-Chat was formed in 1963 and operates 2 repeaters 146.94 (narrow band analog FM) and 444.000. Your dues will support this club and it's repeaters.

Uploaded to the files section is a copy of the Flier for our 29th of February 2020 Hide out from Sadie Hawkins on Leap Year Day 2020 at the W?VFW 2nd Dead of Winter Extravaganze. The flier is double sided , but you may print it to distribute it. Copies will be at the Derby Radio Shack, at the VFW post and I am taking a handful to the TECH-NI-CHAT annual meeting tonight at 7pm. The previous post has information on that meeting tonight. We will be opening our doors to the public and other hams. We are planning on having chili and hot dogs by donation. A covered dish or dessert would be welcomed. I am asking for volunteers. If you have a go box or a satellite antenna & HT hookup, maybe you can demonstrate working it. I have kn idea what will be over head. WE may have our FUSION REPEATERS OPERATIONAL BY THEN. I myself purchased a NanoVNA this past week. I would hope to be able to demonstrate that. I also have a SharkRF openspot 2. Be sure to thank Mark at the Derby Radio Shack for his generous donation of 2 $25 gift certificates. We need people to demonstrate their favorite aspect of ham radio. We have a membership special that day- join for $20 and get 5 FREE raffle tickets. That's a full 2020 membership. If you can volunteer please do so. If you can talk it up on the air and off, please do so. One thing I think would be a neat club project is to have a group buy of the D4D transceivers. They sell for $29 for the kit with a metal case, the only thing is if you buy 1-5 the postage is the same..Hense the group by.

W?VFW UHF 443.325 PL 162.2 is now operational back on K-LINK it was tested 12/11 about 6pm with a mobile in HILLSBORO who had thought their repeater was no longer part of the node. K-LINK is a private ALLSTAR NODE that is (hopefully for a long time) 24x7x365. NOTE- THERE ARE NO TOUCH TONE COMMANDS FOR USERS. IT IS LOCKED, as it should be. The K-link masters will control it. Remember to ID, you will be heard state wide. Justin NV8Q and our Jordan K?JWH have been running all over the state taking care of multiple nodes and have invested hundreds of hours. Since W?VFW is just 1 node of many in K-link, they are turning their energies to the rest of the state. K-LINK website is www.ks0lnk.net. Both Justin and Jordan have full time demanding jobs, and therefore all of us welcome these changes. We know if we ever need technical support we can count on them. Thanks to both. W?VFW VHF 145.270 PL 103.5 has been a stand alone repeater for last 2-3 years. We have now fixed the internet cabling problems at the VFW and set up a ALLSTAR to work with it. 7-9pm on 12/12 we tested the node with WB2KAO repeater in Rochester, NY. We received good audio reports but was told we had a bit of hum on our audio. We believe it is our PL setting. There is an option for filtering PL or passing it. We have to look into it and not only do some testing...but educate members regarding protocol of the repeater now that it has enhanced features. As of now- better things are coming, stay tuned. Except for testing it is local use repeater now. Since all the work that Justin and Jordan have started, we now have 3 members now retired that live in area. Larry, Pat and Don. We will now be the go to people regarding the repeaters. Hopefully Justin's and Jordan's work is done and Pat, Larry and Don will be filling those big shoes. If you hear Justin and Jordan on the air be sure to thank them for their service.

ALLSTAR LINK is a hardware, software, internet collaboration of Ham Radio operators (and others - as it can be used commercially and GMRS). In the realm of linking repeaters or any radio, 1st was remote bases in the1960's using phone lines or UHF point to point links. Then ECHOLINK in 2007 and has evolved into digital and things like Dstar, DMR, and Fusion. ALLSTAR is better than Echolink and as good as any of the digital modes. In our case it is ANALOG, but can connect to DIGITAL nodes. Some Digital nodes also have ALLSTAR. ALLSTAR Link can be accessed by a radio, a computer, a smartphone and even a telephone. At it's heart is VOIP program called ASTERISK it is used for telephone calls over the internet. Even AT&T, VERIZON and COX uses VIOP for their "Clear Digital Telephone SERVICE ... Can you hear me now?" Here is a scree shot a place to start. this is the MENU of ALLSTAR NODES.. You do not have to be logged in or a registered user to view the entire list. You do not need to request a node either unless you want to be able to access the internet via a radio. Lot's of guys use Baofeng BF888's to do it, making a local hot spot. Any simplex radio will work. even GMRS (Class A CB). The node list is found at: https://web-tpa.allstarlink.org/nodelist/ As you can see it is not necessary to login/sign-up. Across the top, To get to this display click on LISTS & STATS. Select NODES and a screen will show up like this. You can scroll all you want. This list I have a filter- that filter is W0VFW, but the filter could be LAS VEGAS or a node number. What you need to comprehend as you can see it the various columns and what they mean. User ID is the "Owner" of the NODE. He is the guy that it was assigned to. As you can see the USER ID may not be the NODE ID. The rest of the columns are pretty self explanatory. This is the screen shot of our repeaters. Now all NODES assigned are listed. However some have never been implemented or may not be on the air. That's where the LAST SEEN becomes important. NOTE- Time is UTC, so subtract 6 hours for local time. The time you see in the screen shot, is exactly the time I took the screen shot. Both repeaters are on the ALL STAR NETWORK. You see the one says K-LINK which we know is a closed NETWORK, the other lists the VFW.. So it's whatever the VFW club wants to do with it. in our case you could connect to it from your ALLSTAR NODE..or could anyone else. We can set up numerous ways. So go have a look, there are YOU TUBE tutorials for beginners both on operating and building an all star node. But a good start is to view the NODE LIST and see what is out there.. As a start- go filter "las vegas" and see how many nodes are available to connect to. Just think you can be walking down the "strip" with a HT and telling the guys in Wichita just how much money you won.. LIFE IS GOOD....