Category Archives: Repeaters

AREG Repeater news, updates and events

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!

One Step Closer: DMR Repeater returning to Adelaide soon!

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AREG is pleased to announce that is now one step closer to returning a digital voice DMR repeater service to the Adelaide metropolitan area.

Members voted to support the project earlier this year, after a call for interest in re-establishing a DMR service was made in July 2021. Since then, a DMR repeater has been donated to the club by Andrew Chapman VK4QF (one of the leading lights behind multiple DMR projects around Australia). We offer our sincere thanks to Andrew for his generosity!

Preparations are now well advanced to install it up at the club’s digital repeater site – VK5RWN atop Anstey Hill, which overlooks the Adelaide Plains. This is the same site used by the current D*STAR repeater. Paul VK5BX has been able to source  and build a multi-coupler/diplexer for the club, to enable the DMR and D*STAR repeaters to be combined onto the same antenna system. The repeater will, once activated, operate on 438.900MHz (with a -7MHz offset).

Timing of the final install is now subject to weather and availability of members for the working bee required to complete the installation (which includes some rearrangements to the UHF repeater antennas on site to accommodate the multi-coupling). It is our objective to have the system operating in the next 6-8 weeks, (earlier if everything falls into place).

Why DMR?

AREG has always been supportive of experimentation and providing opportunities for radio amateurs to try new things and to find new ways of communicating. This is what drove AREG to support the original D*STAR repeater system (then co-sponsoed by Icom and WIA now solely maintained by AREG).

In the case of DMR, AREG considered providing a service after the unexpected closure of the original Adelaide DMR repeater – VK5RSF, which saw the end of all DMR repeater access in the Adelaide region. With an existing KernWi-Fi internet served site covering the metropolitan area (VK5RWN), AREG was also well placed to support the Adelaide DMR community, and in particular its own members who were interested in DMR. This was all the motivation needed!

More information on DMR and the VK-DMR network in Australia can be found via the vkdmr.com website. Keep watching the AREG website too for further news about the final commissioning date for VK5RWN on 438.900

How can you get involved?

The best way to support the new service and to get involved is to become a member of AREG! Your membership will help connect you with other amateurs interested in DMR in Adelaide, as well as helping offset the costs of running the service, particularly the internet link and power used to run the system. Details of how to apply for membership are available (here)!

AREG’s VK5RSA Adelaide CBD repeater – supported by KernWi-Fi

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One of the services that the Amateur Radio Experimenter’s Group provides is a network of repeater stations that cover the Adelaide metropolitan and surrounding areas. These systems operate on the 6m-23cm bands from 3 sites in and around Adelaide.

One of the first repeaters conceived by AREG was the Adelaide CBD repeater. Inspired in the 1990s by the original 438.025 VK3RCC repeater in Melbourne (which was located atop one of the hi-rise towers in Melbourne CBD), the intention was to reach the deep CBD buildings and the Adelaide foot hills shadowed by the existing repeaters atop the Mt Lofty ranges.

The AREG repeater in Adelaide was originally established on top of the original Angas Street police station building – then 11 stories high in Victoria Square. When that building was subsequently demolished, it was moved to another building off Flinders Street, where it ran for many years before finally developing a terminal fault.

Today, VK5RSA is back on what now is one of the best communications sites in the CBD. This is all thanks to the support AREG receives from KernWi-Fi, who are sponsoring access to Westpac House on King William Street in the heart of the Adelaide CBD.

VK5RSA operates on 438.025MHz TX -7.0MHz RX with 91.5Hz CTCSS

The repeater also received a major coverage boost when it was restored,  as we were able to connect it to the new central SA repeater network. This enhanced coverage for hand held users deep within the Adelaide CBD and extended it right across across central SA to places as far afield as Pt Wakefield, Yorke Peninsula, Victor Harbor and east as far as Tintinara.

AREG offers it’s sincere thanks to Phil Kern at KernWi-Fi for his support for the project to re-establish VK5RSA – it is fantastic to have been able to restore this service for the amateur radio community in Adelaide – and from such a fantastic site too!

About our Sponsor

KernWi-Fi supply Fibre, NBN, Fixed Wireless Internet, VoIP, Event Wi-Fi and Radio Communications to residential and businesses all over Adelaide.  They also specialise in servicing the black spots of Adelaide.  To learn more, visit their website!

They are 100% Adelaide based and owned Licensed Carrier and work with many local communities to provide high speed internet services. They also sponsor various community groups across the state.

AREG Considering adding DMR to VK5RWN – Interested?

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AREG is always looking to promote new and varied areas of experimentation in Amateur Radio. As the custodian and operators of the first digital VHF/UHF voice repeater system in South Australia (the VK5RWN D*STAR system), the group has now looked at what other digital modes are not yet available in Adelaide.

Image courtesy vkdmr.com

With the recent demise of the VK5RSF and temporary VK3RWW DMR repeaters that were serving Adelaide, AREG members interested in DMR started investigating what would be involved in hosting a replacement DMR system at one of the club’s existing sites.

After considering our options, filtering solutions, internet connections etc a proposal is in it’s final stages of development to add a DMR repeater to the VK5RWN site on 438.900 (-7MHz) overlooking the Adelaide metropolitan area.

What’s left to do you might ask? Funding the DMR repeater controller purchase and the last of the build costs. The ongoing operating costs also need to be addressed (namely the power bill) which will be considered against the number of members actively interested in DMR.

How can you help? If you are interested at all in DMR, why not consider becoming a member of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group? If you have an interest in DMR or even skills to help maintain and operate a DMR repeater then we would love to hear from you. The more people interested in DMR that get involved with the group, the more likely it is that we will be able to bring this project to fruition!

Over to you!

Posted in DMR

AREG AGM: Friday July 16th – Presentation: Central SA Repeater Network

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The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenter’s Group will be our Annual General Meeting. This will be held on Friday July 16th.

The guest speaker for the evening will be Dean McGinty VK5HMV who will take us through the construction of the central SA linked 2m/70cm analogue repeater system and provide an insight into how it works. This is the network that the AREG Adelaide CBD Repeater VK5RSA is connected to on 438.025 MHz (-7MHz 91.5Hz CTCSS).

VK5RSA itself is proudly sponsored by KernWi-Fi who arranged access to the new home for VK5RSA atop Westpac House in the Adelaide CBD.

Presentation Details

The presentation will start at 7.45pm ACST, 8:15pm AEST (1015 UTC) from the club rooms at the Fulham Community Centre, Phelps Court, Fulham.

For members who cant (or due to COVID dont wish to) attend in person, the program will also be streamed via Zoom.

Online visitors will be able to watch the presentation via YouTube thanks to Hayden VK7HH’s HamRadioDX Channel.

Links will be posted closer to the event.

AREG AGM 8:30pm July 16th

At the conclusion of the presentation, members will be invited to participate in the AREG AGM via Zoom and in person. The AGM will commence at 8:30pm and is expected to last no more than 15-20 minutes.

The event down at the hall will be run as a COVID Safe event. Note that given the rapidly changing COVID lockdown situation, the AGM will be deferred to being an online presentation should we be prevented from holding it in person at the hall.

If you want to  visit us in person, you can find the clubrooms here:

map

We look forward to seeing you all in July!