Uncategorized

Website Down

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If you tried to access this website in the last couple of days, I am sure you noticed that it was down. I am sort of embarrassed that my emails from my website provider was going to my spam folder. They were sending me notices since the beginning of March that my billing information needed to be updated.

This morning I finally submitted a help ticket to find out why the page wasn’t loading. They answered me and said that my account was canceled due to non-payment. As embarrassing as this was, I spend two hours getting the site back online. I finally set their emails to not go into my spam folder so maybe in the future, I’ll get my emails. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by,

Paul, K5GLH

club

SSL Certificate

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We put up this page months ago and it has not displayed correctly from the very beginning. That is because when they sold us the domain and hosting, they never mentioned that we needed to purchase a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate. Today, we finally fixed that final step of the website so hopefully you are not getting notifications that you are visiting a dangerously insecure site. Our club has been basically hands off amateur radio for the last couple of years due to family crisis and the virus. We’ve not had time or the resources to do any of the updates that are required to keep all of our systems up to date. We have so many things that we would like to do but due to our family issues, we just don’t have the time or money.

We still believe that amateur radio is a viable and great hobby and would like to continue with our projects in the future. We are not asking for money but we have added a Paypal donation QR code to our main page. This is not to guilt anyone and we do not want anyone to feel as though their membership and usage is tied to any financial transactions. We’ve never operated that way and we have no intention of doing it. We just wanted to update everyone to know that our web site should be displaying correctly now.

Thank you!

club

Information Requests

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Over the years we’ve received countless requests for information, access codes, etc. I’ve written so many emails in response that I can’t even guess on the amount. Due to lack of time, disorganization and just plain laziness, I’ve never taken the time to put all of this information together in a repeatable form. We use to ask people when they would contact us if we could put their name on our membership list. That list has been many versions of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that has moved from one website to another.

We are no taking a more direct approach with a new membership request form on our site, as shown above in the menu. Also you can access it by clicking here. This form allows you to enter your information and we can archive that for future communications. We don’t want people’s information for any other reason than to communicate with members. When I say members, I mean anyone that wishes to use our systems. If you do enter information into our form, it will be added to our HamClubOnline.com site. According to their terms of service, this information will not be used for signing you up for other sites or services, or used for advertising. Its sole purpose is to communicate with you.

We’ve never required membership dues, or attendance of monthly meetings. It is not that we’re opposed to that sort of thing, but rather, we are more informal than most clubs. If you want the truth, this is mainly so that we don’t have elections that would kick those out of office that own the equipment, and lose access to the equipment. As you may know, there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment tied up in our systems.

We’ve never had meetings or nets simply because we are too lazy or too uncomfortable leading these events. If you would like to have these type of events, and you are willing to lead them, we are not opposed to them. We do hope that most of you will choose to fill out our request form so that we can know who is interested, or cares about our radio services, or events. Let those around you know so that interested parties can update their information.

Thank you!

DCRC

digital radio, linking, repeaters

Another Digital Conversion

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by admin • March 2, 2021 • 0 Comments

Today, March 2, 2021, our 146.700 MHz repeater was changed out to a dual mode, FM and System Fusion (C4FM) repeater. This repeater is not going to have WIRES-X setup all the time but rather, after we get the proper hardware setup, it will continue to have both Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) and Echolink. Since the hardware is different, it will require new cables to be built to reconnect. The IRLP and Echolink will only be setup to work on FM but since the repeater is setup on automatic mode select (AMS), it will switch to the mode the user decides to use.

If you transmit on FM, the repeater will respond on FM. If you transmit in digital, the repeater will respond in digital just like the 443.300 MHz repeater. The 443.300 MHz repeater will continue to have WIRES-X just as it does now. If you have any questions, please either ask on the Facebook group or if you have given up on Facebook like we are on the verge of doing, just email club [at] del city radio club dot com. Just fix the email address by removing the spaces and the [at].

Also you can ask questions on our Discord Server. We have many channels setup on Discord as well as four voice channels.

repeaters

146.700 MHz Repeater

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Good afternoon everyone!

Yesterday, 13 Dec 18, we noticed the 146.7 repeater began to have an intermittent static during transmit.  It seemed to begin almost simultaneously with the arrival of the cold front and the high winds.  We planned on doing some trouble shooting on it as we found time but it appears this afternoon the repeater has died, or at least the power output has died.  It receives a signal but barely even moves the power meter when transmitting.

In the short term, we are going to swap the repeater out with one of the backups until we have time to work on the main repeater.  The backup repeater will have a different courtesy tone and probably an out of date announcement but if you can ignore that for the short term, we’ll have it back on this afternoon.

One more thing, the audio levels on the IRLP system are unique to each repeater as the circuitry has varying impedance that are not exactly the same.  This results in the audio out of the repeater into the node being either too loud or too low, depending on the repeater used.  Each time we swap one out, we usually have to reset the audio levels to match the repeater in use.  Again, this takes time and we don’t have time today to make these adjustments but can do it as we get time.  Just keep in mind if you dial up a node and someone on the other end tells you that your audio is too hot, or too low. In all likelihood, it is on the repeater (node), not on your end.

We just wanted to let you know the reason the repeater is either offline, sounding different, or giving strange announcements.  Thank you in advance for your patience.  We provide our repeaters and nodes free of charge with no financial or technical support from anyone but four family members, with the vast majority coming from our Trustee, my proud dad, W5QO, so our time and resources are limited to work on these as time allows.

Thank you,
Paul, K5GLH

events

Cub Scouts – November 3, 2018

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On Saturday, November 3rd, BSA TROOP 20 AMATEUR RADIO CLUB – WS5BSA is going to be supporting a large Cub Scouting event at Camp John Nichols.  They will be introducing amateur radio to the Cub Scouts and putting them on the air.  They will be using both our 146.7 MHz and our 443.3 MHz repeaters during the day to give the Scouts a chance to make some contacts.  They will also be using the link systems to demonstrate what an FM repeater can do.

We want to invite any hams in the area to check in to help them make some contacts.  This is a rare opportunity to influence young people to potentially join the hobby, and become licensed.  Part of their goal is to develop an interest in amateur radio amongst Scouts and hopefully motivate some of them to pursue an amateur licence.

Please join in that day and we’ll keep you up to date on any new information about this event.

Thank you!

digital radio

Digital Radio

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There are many modes of digital radio these days such as D-Star, System Fusion (C4FM), DMR, P25, etc.  It seems like lately DMR seems to be the popular method, mainly due to the cheap radios that are available.  Interestingly though, each of the big three manufacturers seem to be sticking with their respective modes.  It is the off brand, cheap radios that use DMR.  Now that we’ve tried the big three, we have made some observations.  Icom’s D-Star has a very big learning curve on getting on the air. When you add to the fact that there are no repeaters in the reachable distance from Oklahoma City, it is virtually impossible to practice using them unless you have a hotspot in your home.

DMR is another mode that people seem to be using a lot lately.  It seems to work relatively simple though it also has quite the learning curve.  DMR requires the user to build a piece of software called a code plug that is not that easy to do from scratch.  Most people just get one that is already made from someone else, and then tweak it to to their purpose.  The problem with DMR, is these radios usually only have so many channels so you are forced to create multiple zones to accommodate more channels.  Another negative to DMR, is there is no VFO capability, and no standard calling channel for traveling.  If I wanted to go on a road trip to California, I would have to do some extensive research to find all of the repeaters between here and there, get their frequencies, color codes, etc, as well as communicate with them ahead of time so that I could have a code plug built before I left home.  It is my opinion that many will not be willing to go through the trouble.  Another issue is that if you want to know the call sign of the person on the other end, it will not show up on your radio without installing a third party hack.  It is like jail breaking an iphone to get it to show call signs on the other end.

System Fusion (C4FM), from Yaesu, seems to be the easiest setup out of the box though it has its own learning curve. The reason I say it is the easiest, is because you enter your call sign into the radio and it transmits it across the air to the other users.  The linking system, called WIRES-X, has its own issues, such as it requires a full Windows computer to install it.  Thankfully there are new, smaller systems, slightly bigger than a Raspberry Pi that are not huge power hogs.  Connecting to remote nodes are definitely a learning curve on navigating the menus. Once you learn them, it becomes routine.  One positive about WIRES-X is that a user can find out remote node information by searching their own radio.  You don’t have to know the node numbers of rooms because your radio will search for a menu.  Also System Fusion is the easiest to communicate simplex because you still retain VFO capability.  D-Star also has this ability but like DMR, you must pre-register an account  and activate it before you can talk through repeaters.

In the end, it is a personal preference, and people can make up their own minds.  We seriously considered setting  up a DMR repeater but over time, it just wasn’t what we desired.  We wanted the ability to communicate simplex across town, if our repeater went down.  For us, we decided to go with System Fusion.  While they are proprietary, they seemed to be the best fit for us.  This is not to say that we don’t like the other modes, but thought that C4FM was the best fit for us.  We try to use DMR on some of the local repeaters from time to time. The closest D-Star repeater is in 20+ miles away, and I can barely hit it with an antenna 80 feet high.  I am hearing good things about a couple hams working on D-Star repeaters to get one or two back on in the Oklahoma City area. I wish them well as it gives the local hams another options.

digital radio

WIRES-X

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After a long upgrade process, we now have WIRES-X node number 33521 installed on our 443.300 MHz repeater.  We have removed Echolink and Allstar from this repeater as it stands right now.

The repeater is both digital C4FM (Yaesu System Fusion) and analog FM on auto detect mode.  When using FM, the tone has been changed from 162.2 Hz to 103.5 Hz.  The repeater also transmits a 103.5 Hz tone so that you can put your radio on tone squelch.  Sometimes the WX5LAW comes in on our frequency so adding the tone squelch will mute some of that signal.

Untitled

We’ll have to update our user guide to show the new node and instructions on how to use it.  Also to update the changes on the 146.700 MHz.  This has been a long road getting this setup and working because most of us are busy doing other things.  We just updated Repeaterbook.com and ORSI with the new information as well.

We sincerely hope you will enjoy using the new digital format.

events

Countdown to W4DXCC

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We received and were asked to disseminate an announcement…

September 21st and 22nd, 2018, Pigeon Forge, TN

Hello Friends and Club Officials

I want to ask that you pass along this announcement about this years W4DXCC convention onto your club members and friends, thank you in advance.

The 2018 W4DXCC DX and Contest convention and Ham Radio Bootcamp is set for September 21st and 22nd 2018 celebrating our 14th year..

It is time to make your Hotel reservations for this years convention. Go here to the Website Hotel reservation page Hotel Reservations<https://sable.madmimi.com/c/41704?id=28110.299.1.d61dffc55ea632fdb0273c2d5b33a9d5>

Convention Registration is now Open including Online Ticket Purchasing. You can make your ticket purchase anytime by going here Online Ticket Purchase<https://sable.madmimi.com/c/41704?id=28110.300.1.1682546bc53d03e740276119b781cc60>

Check out the Website and learn about the W4DXCC DX and Contest Convention. Go Here W4DXCC Convention<https://sable.madmimi.com/c/41704?id=28110.301.1.a397045f1ad73f56e063d071ae2a174f>

This year has a good lineup of presenters so make your plans now and be sure to bring along some of your ham friends. Program schedules will be posted as soon as they are confirmed by the presenters, coming soon.

Best 73

See you soon,
Dave Anderson, K4SV
Convention leader
Dave@w4dxcc.com

linking, repeaters

IRLP is back on 146.700 MHz

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Recently you may remember, we took Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) nodes off our repeaters and replaced them with Allstar Link.  One of our interface boards (146.700 MHz) repeater was left with a hum.  We made the decision to put the IRLP node 3013 back on this repeater and leave the Allstar Link on the 443.300 MHz repeater.

We have not updated our user guide with the old instructions on how to use the IRLP for those that don’t remember. We’ll get to that as we have time.  At present, the IRLP and Echolink are on the 146.700 MHz repeater.  As usual, if you don’t remember the IRLP usage and control, just send an email to club at delcityars.com and we’ll send it to you.

Is anyone else enjoying this rain?  It is a true blessing.