Update on FWRC digital repeaters

      4 Comments on Update on FWRC digital repeaters
Fort Wayne Radio Club Parrot Road repeater enclosure

The Fort Wayne Radio Club provides a D-STAR repeater operating on 442.99375(+)  MHz from its Parrott Rd. site near New Haven, plus an analog FM /C4FM digital (Fusion) repeater operating on 146.940(-) also located at the Parrott Rd. site.  Both antennas are up about 270’ so both machines have pretty respectable coverage. Both machines operate with the club’s W9TE callsign.

The FM / Fusion machine gets a reasonable amount of use, predominantly in the analog mode. It has a significant footprint.  Operation in the digital (Fusion) mode seems sparse, probably because we have not yet implemented the Fusion Wires-X technology that would interface the machine to worldwide Fusion users via the internet. I note a  number of stations (8) in the Ft. Wayne area that are listed as Fusion nodes, (see www.yaesu.com/jp/en/wires-x/id/id_usa.php), but I rarely hear then talking to one another in the digital mode on the 146.940 machine.  We are just beginning to look into what it would take to interface the 146.940 machine to the internet via Wires-X. It gets down to money for the Wires-X hardware, and the time plus expertise required to work the software and network tasks the interfacing will require.

The D-STAR machine had been working just fine. There was a moderate amount of traffic heard on it, especially on the weekends when it would be connected to an international reflector. However, recently we have been experiencing a problem with internet connectivity at the Parrott Rd. site. We use a 900 MHz data radio link from Phil Hooper’s QTH (AB9IZ) to the Parrott Rd. site, about one and a half miles away. Phil provides the internet access at his house and it’s piped to the Parrott Rd. site via the data radio. We are currently trouble shooting the problem and suspect we may have a sick 900 MHz data radio.

We must correct the internet connectivity problem to enable the Ft. Wayne D-STAR node to once more become fully functional. We must also solve the internet connectivity issue if we are to implement the Wires-X technology with the Fusion machine to allow it access to the internet too.

4 thoughts on “Update on FWRC digital repeaters

  1. John

    Hi Mike: I saw your comment about the desire to add WIRE-X to your Fusion repeater. I just did that to our new Fusion machine in Hamilton County. Not difficult at all. No connection to the repeater necessary. No changes or settings to repeater necessary. No internet at repeater necessary. In fact, all can be done remotely at someone’s house, office, EOC, etc. Need a Fusion radio, antenna, power supply, cheap Windows computer (laptop is fine), Yaesu HRI-200 box (about $125) and an internet connection. Hooking it up is simple. Box comes with the necessary cables. Hardest part of the whole thing is trying to figure out what the heck the Yaesu manual is trying to tell you. They make it sound more complicated than it really is. I’d be glad to help walk you through it. You can set time limits so someone doesn’t set it to a blabby room, then walk away and let go on and on all day. 73 de John, w9kd@aol.com

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  2. Fred KA4YBR

    I can (also) spit at the repeater tower from here, and am high-up enough to be able to beam directly into it using wifi or whatever.

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