Click on N8EOD for More D-Star info
The Smell Is In The Air
|
Once again spring has arrived, even though the spring weather is
seriously lagging this year. This however will not likely discourage
the faithful on their journey to the Dayton Hamvention 2013.
As usual the gang from WMPORN will be there making memories and I have added a link over
to the left hand side for Dayton 2013
where I have started the blog for this years event that will be updated as time and energy permit.
Please note that due to unfortunate circumstances during last years event, WMPORN has found
it necessary to place a ban on the use of Motorcycles and/or Motor Scooters for travel to and
from the arena. If you had plans to do such an idiotic thing, please make plans to travel using
a safer mode of transportation.
Once again we will be located at booths FW2530 - FW2534. You will note that the numbers
for the spots are clearly marked on at least half a dozen different locations in the
fleamarket, and you will need to count from there to figure it out. Another possible
way is to spot the little red wagon (AKA my red minivan) and the WMPORN banner (unless
once again removed by super trooper security speacalist Larry Apple).
For those of you wishing to join us, please feel free. We usually have extra chairs
and something to drink. If you need to sell an item you may do so, all we ask is that
you donate for the table space. WMPORN is not supported by outside donations, and all
costs are obsorbed by those who participate. We are quite generous, however a small donation
does help defray the costs of bringing more fun to one place than to which any ham has a right.
Unfortunately one of the WMPORN repeaters was damaged by localized flooding in the Moline
area. The repeater is still useable however a portion of the telemetry system continues to
malfunction due to a leak of Di-Hydrogen Oxide. Unfortunately the Di-hydeogen Oxide leak
was not pure and contained impurities that caused a corruption of data that the repeater
depended on. Hopefully we will be able to find replacement parts at Dayton so that the
repeater can be restored to normal operation in the very near future. Please feel free to
stop by the booth and make donations to the repair fund to help defray the expenses.
Please note, WMPORN shall not be healed liable for any sunburn, water damage, bunions,
aching muscles, frost bite, wind damage, injury from lightning strike, indigestion,
scrapes, bruises, broken limbs, motorcycle crashes, lost items, damage to vehicles, or
the attitude of certain security members while attending Hamvention.
We have also found it necessarry this year to add some additional information. When using the
WMPORN portable repeater, a fee shall be assessed to any individual that uses certain terms
such as "over, over and out, out, or any report or indicator beginging with the letter Q that
shall be reserved for CW transmissions. Should ideal weather prevail the repeater will be
under net control by the local LAZES Coordinator for the Blue Sky Net otherwise known as
Weather WARM. In the event of adverse weather there is no need to use the repeater since
pretty much nobody wants to talk anyway. (in reality we suggest that you change the channel
on your radio to one of the local repeaters and listen to get proper information, we may have
fun, but we don't want to see anyone hurt).
Above all else, have fun. We look forward to seeing you there.
You can read a little bit about a WMPORN Dayton trip by clicking here.
|
---------------------------------------------------------
WMPORN REPEATER STATUS 04/20/12
|
The N8JPR repeater transmitting on 223.920 MHz has been having some
serious issues for awhile. The repeater was to the point of being mostly
unusable. Many people were dismayed by this, but a crack team of repeater
repairmen set out to work on several group repeaters all in one day, and
this was one of the repeaters that needed to be looked at. We worked on
several repeaters to try to make each of them better.
First off, the N8JPR repeater was found to have a problem with the channel
element for the receiver. This resulted in the inability to return the
repeater to receiver to the correct frequency and remained out of tune
by too much to be usable. A brand new channel element was ordered and
put into the repeater and a rough tuning resulted in a slightly more
usable system. A few days later, Sam made it up to the Moline site with
his test equipment and tuned the repeater correctly and tweaked a few
other things as well, making the repeater once again sound great.
John's repeater still has a small problem with the antenna system, but
we are a bit limited in what we can do about it at this time. We would
like to replace the antenna, but first we have to have an atenna. Once
we have the antenna we have to either wait until a professional crew is
going to climb the tower so that we can share costs, or we have to hire
them directly at a big cost to us. I know, most hams like to do their
own climbing, but this is a 525 foot tower and the owner has certain
responsibilities. If you want to climb the tower and have both accident
and liability insurance, feel free to contact us, we would love to have
your help from time to time.
In other news, the Morley repeater that is a joint effort between Sam K8SN
and Mike KB8ZGL is beginning to work. It still has issues, and slowly but
surely they are being worked out. The Morley repeater was also visited by
the work party and Jeff N8FYZ spent several hours trying to run down an
odd problem that the system has. The idea is for this repeater to eventually
be a full time North link to the K8SN repeater and features an HF remote
base that is fully operational from either repeater. With the remote base
features of the K8SN repeater the system will have remote capabilities on
144MHz, 220 MHz and HF (possibly more). Hopefully in the near future we
will have some pictures of the Morley machine to put on the website.
Also on the big work day and amplifier was installed on the UHF DSTAR module
raising it's output level from 22 Watts to 50 Watts.
In a seperate outing Sam stopped by to return his 224.760 repeater to operation
again.
We are also in testing mode of some new software to replace the old DPLUS software
that we have used on the DSTAR system for several years. Unfortunately the software
we were using was not meeting the criteria of what we fealt it needed to do,
and the software developer chose to not take on those issues. I want to make it
clear right now though, we have nothing against the developer of the old software,
it did a great job and it was free, enough said.
The new software will allow running one single piece of linking software on the
DSTAR Gateway that allows us to connect to both the standard reflectors as well
as the Freestar reflectos and new DCS reflectors. With the hard work of Mike
KB8ZGL we can even link the DSTAR machines to the mighty K8SN repeater and the
N8JPR repeater. More details later (as in after I learn more about the software
that I am running).
|
---------------------------------------------------------
WX8GRR Internet Gateway Information
With the upgrade of the gateway software to G2 (gateway 2) many things have changed.
As always, one must be registered with one of the gateways in order to use the
gateway features such as call routing over the internet. Getting yourself registered
however has changed drastically. What was a cryptic nightmare for the gateway operators
has not become a cryptic nightmare for the users!! Yipee, now it's your problem!!
Ok, well that is not quite true, the software is not all that impressive and leaves
much to be desired, but it does make life a little easier.
To register for DStar gateway use please first visit the
G2 Registration Information webpage and read it completely. Let me say
that once more, READ IT completely. If I do not know who you are I will do
a callbook lookup to see where you live (your license information is up to date, right?).
If you are not in a reasonable coverage area of the repeater you will get an email
from me asking some questions. Why? Just because WMPORN is not a paid membership
group (though we do accept donations) does not mean that we intend to destroy local clubs
by helping people use features of expensive equipment without paying the club dues that
pay for that equipment. On the other hand, we want everyone to be able to enjoy amateur
radio and will help where we can. And, thanks to G2 the local club can still ban you from
using those features through their repeater.
Looking for something that was located on this page? As news becomes old or
past tense I frequently move those paragraphs to the BLOG section that can
be selected using the green links to the left. The blog contains the latest
things removed from this page and are simply pasted at the top of the blog
page starting with the second paragraph. Keeping this information around is
good for historical purposes as well as allowing people to catch up and maybe
even move ahead faster with their DStar project.
We have another DStar repeater in town that was purchased through grant money
given to the local emergency services group. The repeater in the downtown Grand Rapids
area and is currently UHF only. The repeater is operating on a full coordination on
444.250 + with the callsign KD8HLF
Hats and patches for shirts and jackets are here! While I have not had the time
to take pictures of these items a reasonable idea of what they are can be found
by using the apparel link to the left. This is not a profit making situation for
us, just a way for people to show support. The hats are 5 panel Khaki with the
2008 WMPORN logo embroidered on them. The hats are $16 each. The patches are
circular approximately 3 "e; in diameter indicated as #5 on the apparel page
and cost $11.00. These are very well made and will last a very long time. Unfortunately
it is too late at this time to get the callsigns placed on the back of the hat without
doing another order. We are also looking into some other items using silkscreen
methods to offer an alternative.
For callsign and routing information please see
the WMPORN routing information page. Please
remember to check back here frequently as this routing information will be changing once
we install the gateway.
What we need now is some help with funding. Though we were able to obtain
the D-Star repeater at a reasonable price, we have also had to purchase
D-Star radios to use with the repeater. This has been no cheap adventure
for the repeater owners. If you would like to help accelerate this project
donations are being accepted. But wait, we really don't want your money.
It seems that too often donations are mishandled these days and to avoid
such issues we would prefer that donations come in a form the actual needed
items. You can look
this link to see some
of the items that we could use some help purchasing.
Several of the WMPORN people meet every Thursday evening.
More information is available here.
|