Digital Ham Radio Repeaters

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 5:07 pm

I was monitoring a ham radio repeater here in Chicago land area and over heard these two gentleman talking about some repeater clubs that have plans to use digital APCO-25 Astro stuff on there UHF repeater is that possible or are these guys dreamin or have other out there in different states ect... hear anything like this any info on what thats all about?

Post by **xmo** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 6:18 pm

I know this has been discussed here on the Batboard but I don't have much luck finding things with the search function.

APCO-25 is alive on the ham bands. I believe there is a club in Texas and one in Colorado that have digital repeaters up and running. There was an article publised about this in QST a few months back.

I borrowed a Quantar and ran it here on 2 meters for a short time and it was fun - consistent audio out to the limit of coverage.

There is also some info on the TAPR web site.

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 9:01 pm

Well its not fiction then well maybe some other will shed more light on this subject in the future I never noticed any discussions on here about ham repeater going digital but maybe there was we shall see.

andrewket · Post by **andrewket** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 9:18 pm

There have been at least two "clubs" in Chicago experimenting with digital (APCO-25 included) for years. Tune around a bit...

-Andrew

Post by **xmo** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 9:42 pm

It isn't as crazy as it sounds. Your first reaction is that you would have to buy a Quantar repeater at a cost of $14,000.00 and up, however there have been two VHF quantars sold on ebay within the last month. One was a 150-174 range 2 and sold for under $2300 in a cabinet with duplexer. The other was a 132-154 range 1, 125 watt unit that sold for $2500.

A club I know of spent more than that for an Icom POS.

Astro mobiles and portables are now showing up for $1000 and less. Also, since the FEDs have standardized on P25 there are many companies selling VHF digital radios & Motorola has promised lower tier (& lower price) products soon, so eventually P25 radios will be affordable.

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 6:20 am

Cool well if anyone ever knows of any specific chicago ham repeaters that are doing that let me know

Yosh · Post by **Yosh** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 9:34 am

I use the P25 2 meter repeater in Colorado all the time, and it is great! It is on Guy Hill and covers a good portion of the state -- Denver metro is very well covered. It supports mixed mode, so you can switch between digital (12.5 kHz) and analog (25 kHz), which is really neat because you can play around switching between the two modes to compare the voice quality. I've noticed that when you are well within the coverage area, the digital voice quality is hard to beat. The consistancy if of the audio is what makes it very pleasing to listen to because you don't have any static, hiss, white noise, fade, etc. (I know, I sound like a Sprint PCS commercial, but it is true). When you get towards the edge of the coverage area, analog works a bit better.

The repeater is owned by the Rocky Mountain Radio League, and you can check it out at: http://www.rmrl.hamradios.com/

There are only three individuals using this open repeater, so if you have an Astro and live in Colorado, check it out!

-Yosh
KD6PXE

JohnG · Post by **JohnG** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 7:21 pm

"Moto 2" owned by the Motorola ARC in Schaumburg, IL can be found on 443.725. PL is 2A. NAC is 293. This repeater is crosslinked to a co-located VHF repeater on 145.270. PL on the VHF side is 1B. NAC is 293.

Not a lot of digital traffic here, but you will here it on occcasion during commute time.

John

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 9:20 pm

Is that APCO-25??? Not familiar with that ill see if I hear anything on that station Im not sure how to program it for digital on the astro saber but maybe somone will share that info on here but if anyone in the ChicagoLand area know anything about the Digital APCO-25 Ham repeaters out there let us know?

JohnG · Post by **JohnG** » Thu Oct 31, 2002 6:41 am

Yes. The "Moto 2" repeater is APCO P25 and analog capable.

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Thu Oct 31, 2002 9:30 pm

is that moto2 repeater an open ham repeater to all amatuers because if I try to go on it i dont want to get yelled at by the repeater cops but by any chance is this repeater in conjunction with the Fishfar repeater 442.975mhz in shaumburg because I know there are alot of motorola guys on there with astro stuff .

JohnG · Post by **JohnG** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 7:12 am

Yes. All of the Motorola repeaters in the Amateur bands are open to all licensed amateurs. Fishfar is run by a former Motorola employee and is not associated with the repeaters run by the Motorola ARC.

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 7:32 am

Thanks for the info I just wanted to make sure because I got screamed at by some wierd guy on a repeater saying if your not a member you cant talk about certain things on the repeater i think it was SARA repeater if your familiar with the people that run it you would know what I mean so thanks for the info ill have to try it out.

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 3:29 pm

Is there anything on the internet about the repeater I tried to search to find detailed info on it cant seem to find anything this is for the gentleman that from the last post?

JohnG · Post by **JohnG** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 3:35 pm

I'm not aware of anything on the internet about this repeater. There isn't that much to say, anyway. The repeater is listed in the ARRL repeater directory.

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 3:48 pm

thats cool I just thought maybe you knew something off hand but thanks for the info I appreciate it.

n7ryy · Post by **n7ryy** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 7:48 am

JUst wondering what the FCC has to say about using Project 25 over ham repeaters. I assume, no problem as long as it regulary ID'd by voice or CW? Also does anyone know which QST had the article about this subject?

Post by **xmo** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 8:06 am

http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/0202038.pdf

Post by **Code3Response** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 8:12 am

CPD014: Ive said it before and Ill say it again - maybe you wont make another smart-ass remark towards me - Can you PLEASE use proper grammar? At least use periods? I have not seen one post that isnt longer than 1 sentence. I dont even read yoru posts anymore as it is too difficult to decipher what your saying. Thanks man!

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 9:19 am

Are you a english teacher? because I feel like I just signed up for some writing contest with you here. I get my point across and everyone has answered my questions accordingly so if you cannot for some reason then dont because I dont really give a crap and I definately dont give a crap if you can read what I write so if you dont have anything to say in a intelligent and respectful manner then dont say nothing at all and keep the silly comments to your own person because if this post was Batlabs English Writing Contest then you can judge me all you want and ill be happy to write you a clean understandable document so other than that im done with you buddy and if you think you have embarassed me here you failed because what you wrote has nothing to do with batlabs, digital ham repeaters, astro radios or anything about the post I have created here so if you have nothing to say about those topics then dont comment because your screwing it up for everyone else here and its not appreciated at all. And I know your not trying to be friendly with smart remarks your serious and trying to put me out so thats why I am on the defensive side here.

Thanks!

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 9:35 am

So if anyone has anything to say about APCO-25 capable Ham repeaters by all means go ahead but make sure you cross your " T's " and dot your " I's " so you dont piss off code3 response.

n7ryy · Post by **n7ryy** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 10:54 am

Thanks for the link. I also found more info on digital voice in the ham bands at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/digivoice.html

Post by **Code3Response** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 4:43 pm

Sir - Im not the only ones who have complained. Within 30 minutes of my post - I had 4 people PM me saying THANK YOU, how awful and hard to read it is, etc. 4 PEOPLE. And that is just who voiced your opinions. I hope your not an officer as your name implies - at least I hope your reports dont look like that.

Cpd014 · Post by **Cpd014** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 5:05 pm

I have been a policeman for 25years proudly for the Chicago Police Dept and never had anyone complain about my report writing. But this post is not about my career so if you and your buddies want to talk about anything other than APCO25 capable ham radio repeaters like the post is about then give me a PM because you are becoming a pain in the ass talking about this nonsense on the forum. So as of now I am ignoring you because that is what I have been instructed to do by the moderators of this forum. So good luck and have a nice evening.

Post by **alex** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 5:28 pm

I'd like to point out that this is yet another topic I have read where someone has flamed someone else.

If this stuff doesn't cease, there will be a member or two here who are no longer welcome. I don't want it to come to this, but I will. I have MUCH better things to do with my time than to police cr*p like this.

Each person is allowed their freedom of posting style, I will not step in and regulate it unless it's offensive or against the rules of the board.

If you don't like it, don't read the posts. It's your loss.

-Alex

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