The Illawarra Amateur Radio Society Inc. also has an experimental simplex repeater operating on the 23cm band. 1296.850MHz FM At Maddens . Lat: 34.27 Deg Sth Long: 150.94 Deg East
The repeater consists of a 2 Metre Transceiver, followed by a transverter and a 25W p.a.
The memory of the simplex controller is programmed to function for a period of 150 seconds (2 minutes 30 seconds).
Operation of the Beacon:
Approximately every 10 minutes a CW ID will be transmitted. Part of the CW is dynamic. There are two values which are actively monitoring the repeater on site.
The first is the Temperature inside the cabinet in degree Celsius The second is the system voltage at the repeater site.
The CW message is structured as follows:
VK2RMP experimental beacon test
QF55LR TEMP XX.X Deg.
SYSTEM VOLTS XX.X
During the Beacon operation the Simple section will not operate.
The beacon will not transmit while the simplex repeater operation is in progress and will wait until the simplex process is complete.
Operation Procedure of Repeater:
It is recommended you wait for at least 10 seconds or press your PTT once for a short test, if a tail and beep comes back to you, your good to go.
If not, it may be that your signal is not getting in OR someone is using it on the input that you cannot hear.
Pressing the PTT quickly to see if it responds (similar to a duplex repeater tail) will not interfere with someone else’s transmission, as long as the PTT is quick, and not multiple times, this could be annoying for someone trying to record.
Summary :
One quick one second PTT should give you a Tail and a roger beep. If not someone is using the repeater OR your signal is not been received by the beacon.
If there was no response it may be good to wait for at least 150 seconds (2 minutes 30 seconds) to see if the unit was in use.
When transmitting, press the PTT button for about 1 second before speaking or transmitting data or pictures.
The reason for this is to stop any clipping at the start of the transmission. The repeater has a 0.5 second noise suppression timer to avoid false triggering.
No CTCSS is required.
Release the PTT and there is a one second delay before the recording stops and the current reception cycle is terminated. This is to allow for short signal drop offs during your over. Without this timer, a signal drop off may prematurely terminate your over and begin re-transmitting what you have just transmitted, whilst you are still recording.
After a 1 second delay the repeater will re-transmit your over. When the repeater has concluded your transmission you will hear an audible ‘Rodger Beep’.
If after the Roger Beep, there is no response, you may commence the next transmission. If you do not hear the ‘Rodger Beep” wait until you do.
Please make the transmission long enough to finish the job and short enough not to cause any others to be impatient.
Remember to be patient-including hearing the “Roger beep” to avoid any difficulties.
When transmitting data modes such as RTTY or SSTV, ensure the transmission DOESN’T exceed the 150 second (2 minutes 30 seconds) , because if you do, the signal will be unintelligible and fail.
Please pass this information onto your clubs and friends.
