W4VM Repeater Systems

Huntsville, AL

Page Updated January 2008

147.10 W4VM VHF Repeater

The Repeater is located on Madkin Mountain RSA. It uses a 103.5 Hz PL tone and has an autopatch and agile remote base. There are some equipment improvements pending which should improve the sensitivity of the machine however, at current, the coverage favors south Huntsville and RSA. There are some dead spots in Madison which we home to brighten up.

Autopatch:

The 147.10 Phone line is compliments of the Marshal Amateur Radio Club (MARC). With the CAT-1000 controller’s capabilities, we are now able to make this an open patch serving the Huntsville area. It is a normal * up, # down patch with user speed dials

provided upon request. – Just e-mail Ron – w4vm@qsl.net. In addition, most of the NARA speed dial slot numbers should work here on 147.10.

Shuttle Mission Audio:

The shuttle mission audio is no longer available as a dedicated function on 147.10. Most of the equipment and lines to accomplish it have been removed. We do however still enjoy NASA audio via IRLP node 9877 which can be easily accessed on the 147.18 (100 Hz PL) NARA system in Huntsville. This uses the W4VM IRLP node 4950 which could also be configured on the remote base of this machine.

W4VM IRLP Node: 4950

IRLP Node 4950 is linked to the 147.18 repeater on 446.200 simplex from my house in south Huntsville. 446.200 is a coordinated link frequency but you should use the 147.18 input to control the node for better coverage. It is an unprefixed node which means it is full and open for all to enjoy. The 147.18 repeater link port commands are announced from the machine : currently 70 off, 71 Transmit, 72 receive and 73 IRLP disconnect and repeater link receive. You can e-mail me for a 2 page quick start guide if needed. Always use the IRLP guidelines at www.irlp.net If you’re a frequent user through the repeater system, please consider supporting NARA: www.qsl.net/nara

W4VM UHF Machine: 443.250

This machine uses a 103.5 PL and has a Remote base which I hope one day to have set up with an very capable (including HF) remote base it’s normal home is Green mountain but at current, it’s antenna is on loan to NARA for the 146.94 remote receiver. Stay tuned for updates

KE4LRX UHF Machine: 443.475

We operate this machine from our home in South Huntsville where all of our family can communicate via Ham radio:

Ron W4VM

Sandie: KE4LRX

Emily: KF4SUV

Kelley: KI4IAW

It also serves as a test bed repeater for my frequent experimentation with repeater projects since it lives right next my test bench ! From the very top of my 60 ft tower, it actually does have some pretty decent coverage of south Huntsville.

Mentone Ed. KI4QMQ D-Star system

This system serves as an experimental system for Mentone Ed D-Star projects. It was the first system in Alabama to join the D-Star national network but when the mountaintop resident KI4PPF system came on line, we shoes to take it off the gateway to focus the users on that system with wider coverage. The system has aided in the validation of several other D-Star system in preparation for their joining the D-Star network. These included Gulf shores AL, McHenry Ms and Birmingham AL systems.

The system is also one of Mentone Ed’s Portable / Tactical D-Star units. It will likely be deployed in Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) efforts where needed.

The coordinated frequencies are as follows:

VHF: 145.36 DV

UHF: 443.425 DV

See me if you need to experiment with 1.2 Gig