Category Archives: Repeaters

AREG Repeater news, updates and events

VK5 Central Repeater Network – Major Upgrade Underway

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Many amateurs in central SA today make use of the central state 2m/70cm band repeater network that covers from Victor Harbor to the Riverland, and Adelaide to the Central North. Unfortunately, due to the loss of the central VK5RAD repeater hub site, a major rearrangement of the repeater network needs to be undertaken. The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group has offered to host the 70cm network hub (formerly operating at VK5RAD) at their Summertown repeater site to keep the network operational. However, to establish VK5RSB as the new hub, there will be some disruption to operations as link frequencies are changed and equipment is relocated.

Final hub equipment installation work is planned to take place starting August 23rd. That will include deploying a new repeater control system & hub repeater at the AREG VK5RSB repeater site.

What does this mean for users?

The key change Adelaide amateur  radio operators will see is that, rather than accessing the network via the old 439.925 MHz 70cm repeater at VK5RAD, they instead will need to use the recently commissioned 147.175 MHz (+600 kHz)  (91.5 Hz CTCSS) repeater at Summertown (VK5RSB).

For those still looking for 70cm band access, the AREG VK5RSA Adelaide CBD repeater, (sponsored by Kern Wi-Fi) on 438.025 MHz (-7 MHz) or the VK5RKW Adelaide NE repeater on 438.050 MHz will continue to be available.

How long will the full migration take?

Once the new central hub is installed, one by one, each of the network links will be migrated. This will result in the network being fragmented (part working on the new backbone, part working on the old one) for 1-2 weeks, while we travel all of the linked sites to make the necessary frequency and control changes. We hope to have all of the network migrated to the new hub no later than the 6th of September.

As you can appreciate, this move will take time. The affected repeaters in the network are VK5RSA, VK5RKW, VK5RAH, VK5RMB, VK5RVH, VK5RBV, VK5RWR, VK5RLD, VK5RLX, VK5RMK, VK5RLH as well as VK5RSB which will be introduced into the system.

We will post updates as each of the links is moved. Meanwhile, thank you for your patience.

 

VK5RWN DMR Connectivity Failure – under investigation

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The VK5RWN DMR repeater has developed a fault and has lost connectivity with the Internet. A site visit this evening confirmed that the repeater unit was no longer getting access to the site router. We appear to have had an ethernet port failure but are still trying to prove where the problem lies.

Meanwhile VK5RWN DMR is still on the air, but is only operating in local mode until we can restore the internet connectivity. Apologies for this break in transmission and we will attempt to restore service as soon as we can.

 

Adelaide VK5RSB 23cm repeater – temporarily off air

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AREG regrets to announce that the VK5RSB 23cm repeater service has temporarily been suspended.

The repeater has been switched off following the appearance of some wide-band interference on the 23cm band that has affected the repeater’s input. The club believes that this interference is coming from someone operating what appears to be either a radar or other type of wide-band transmitter (which is the primary user of the 23cm band) in the Adelaide area. This interference (which appears to be over 20MHz wide) is also affecting weak signal SSB operations in the metropolitan area.

The VK5RSB 23cm repeater, which normally operates on 1273.5/1295.3 MHz will remain shut down until we can either identify a way of either preventing the interference from triggering the repeater or until the interference ceases. As the secondary service on this band, Amateur Radio operators do not have many (if any) options regulatory wise, to resolve the situation.

We will provide a further update once the situation has become clearer.

AREG Meeting Friday 16th Sep: Introduction to DMR Digital Voice Radio Systems

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As a reminder, AREG is hosting a presentation this Friday night introducing DMR Digital Voice networks, following the commissioning of the VK5RWN DMR Repeater.

The meeting will start at 7.45pm ACST (8.15pm AEST) and will be relayed to YouTube with thanks to Hayden VK7HH via the HamRadioDX Channel

You can attend in person for the presentation by visiting the AREG clubrooms, off Phelps Court, in Fulham, Adelaide. Doors open from 7.15pm

 

The Adelaide AREG DMR repeater is in part made possible through internet services obtained from KernWi-Fi, who also sponsor AREG’s Adelaide CBD analogue repeater site VK5RSA.

Next Meeting: Introducing DMR Digital Voice Operation

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The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be held on Friday 16th September, 7.45pm at the Fulham Community Centre, Phelps Court, Fulham.

The presentation this month is an introduction to DMR – “Digital Mobile Radio”, following on from the successful launch of the club’s VK5RWN DMR Repeater on 438.900MHz last month.

Our panel of speakers includes Mark VK5QI who will introduce the fundamentals of DMR, Ben VK5BB who will take us through what all of the DMR terminology means and how it applies to programming your DMR radio, and Peter VK4NBL who will take us through other ways of connecting to DMR when you are out of range of the repeater.

For AREG regional members, the presentation will be webcast via Zoom. For non members we will be streaming the presentation via VK7HH Hayden’s HamRadioDX channel on YouTube! (details to follow)

Visitors are always welcome at the hall. There will also be a short business meeting held after the presentation.

For members, this is also intended as an introduction to a subsequent code plug building workshop night to be held in the next 4-6 weeks at the hall, If you have any interest or even curiosity in what DMR is all about this is a very useful presentation to come and learn more!

VK5RWN DMR 70cm Digital Voice Repeater NOW ON AIR!

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AREG is pleased to announce that our new DMR repeater commenced operation on Saturday 14th August at ~3pm ACST! The service operates on 438.900MHz  TX -7MHz RX from the VK5RWN D*STAR site and is operating in parallel with DSTAR through common TX/RX antennas.

This has been a 12 month project funded and developed by the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group to restore DMR service to the Adelaide metropolitan area.

The project has been made possible thanks to the generous donation of a DR3000 Motorola repeater by Andrew VK4QF. It also required a new cavity diplexer and antenna setup which combined VK5RWN DSTAR on 438.4 with the DMR on 438.9 onto common antennas, developed by Paul VK5BX. In addition, a new IP Router was installed to expand our available ports to accommodate the new service. All up a core team of 6 members were involved in the installation and commissioning of the system – thanks everyone for your contributions!

The repeater would not have been possible if it wasn’t for VK5RWN’s core infrastructure already developed at the site, including internet connectivity by Adelaide based ISP KernWi-Fi, who is also a sponsor of other AREG projects.

There will be an introductory presentation on DMR at the AREG September meeting. More details closer to the date!

VK5RWN D*STAR Site July 2nd – Service RESTORED

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AREG Services from the VK5RWN D*STAR repeater site  on 147.0375MHz & 438.400MHz will be offline for much of the afternoon while we undertake maintenance and preparation works for a planned upgrade.

UPDATE: July 2nd 5:45pm – The work has now been completed and the DSTAR repeaters have been returned to service.

DMR repeater preparations now well advanced

Today the works included preparing the site for the commissioning of the new AREG DMR repeater. VK5RWN DMR will soon be operating on 438.900MHz -7.0MHz, in parallel with the DSTAR repeater on 438.400 -5.4MHz.

The work today included preparing the VK5RWN antennas for the new combining arrangements. The antennas were taken down, refurbished, rearranged and re-installed on the tower and the DMR repeater was installed in the rack. There are, however, a few more things still to do on site to complete its commissioning. Those activities are planned for later this month. Stay tuned for more updates!