C.A.R.L.A. System 6 Technical Notes
As you may have heard if you frequent the CARLA system of repeaters, system 6 is now 100% solar powered. This was not by choice. The power lines that once went up to the site burned down when a fire swept through a nearby canyon several years ago. The decision was made by the site owners to not invest in restoring power to the site. So we set about the task of putting together a solar array and battery bank to power system 6. This worked really well for the first season but a subsequent change to some of the components of the repeater required a bit more power usage and the solar array proved only marginally adequate for the new config. In the future we may add wind power to augment the solar power. So when you're using system 6, enjoy the fact that you're using 100% power from the sun.
Technical Data for System 6
Repeater Type: GE Master II
Controller: SCom
TX Power: 10W
Main Ant Type: Hustler
Main Ant Gain: 6dB
Link Ant Type: Comet X50N
Link Ant Gain: 7.2dB
Local PL: Yes
Special Programming
Because of a need to conserve power on this system we have installed special programming which you may want to be aware of. It works like this- If there is a QSO anywhere on the system that goes for 5 minutes without anyone transmitting directly on 6 it will cause 6 to unlink from the system. That is, it will not transmit the QSO out the TX on 6. It is still listening, so when the QSO on the system goes quiet for a full minute then 6 will relink to the rest of the system. A couple of things to keep in mind:1) If someone in the QSO is transmitting directly on the RX of 6 **with the link PL** then 6 will stay linked into the rest of the system. It will not unlink after 5 minutes.
2) If someone is in the coverage area for 6 and wants to bring the machine back into linked mode then just "kerchunk" 6 with the link PL and it will restore to linked mode and you'll hear the system QSO in progress.
How the Local PL Works
This particular repeater in the CARLA system has a dual PL. If you use the 'link' PL, your audio is carried over the entire CARLA system of repeaters and you will be able to hear the audio from any and all other repeaters in the CARLA system. If you wish to have a local QSO on the repeater just use the 'local' PL. Your audio will come out only on the local system and you will not hear link audio coming from other repeaters in the system. When you finish your 'local' QSO, the link will re-establish itself several seconds later. A couple of things to keep in mind:1) If you pause for an extended time during your local QSO the link audio may come back. Just key the local PL to mute incoming link traffic and continue your local QSO.
2) Remember, if there is a QSO in progress elsewhere on the CARLA system you will not interfere with it if you hold a QSO on the repeater while using the 'local' PL.
3) If you want link audio to come back right away just kerchunk the 'link' PL.
4) There is a different courtesy tone for local traffic and incoming link traffic so you'll be able to distinguish from which direction the audio traffic is originating.
CARLA 6 Coverage Map
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