Loose Notes 2/27/16

  There are just a few developments over the past week, and I want to get them updated early. 

FM Repeaters 

• RepeaterBook is inquiring if the 146.820- (no tone?) repeater in Fergus Falls in on-air or not. If you can confirm either way, update the listing. 

• We have a new cross-band link in the metro! The VHF 145.290- (114.8 PL) repeater in New Brighton is now linked to the UHF 444.750+ (114.8 PL) repeater in Columbia Heights. In previous on-air conversations with K0FCC (Dan), he's said that his plan is to link three bands together. Judging by the listing for the (currently down) 224.500- (114.8 PL), it looks as if the intention is to add 1.25M to this linking scheme. 

• I'm not sure what's happened to the 443.250+ (DCS 023N) repeater in Dayton lately. It used to come back with an S7 or S8 signal, but now it's only S4. 

• I've been wondering in the 443.000+ (114.8 PL) SNP repeater in Chaska is ever going to come back on-air. This was an interesting UHF machine that came back S9, and had a working auto-patch, but it's been down for a couple of weeks now (at least). 

Satellite 

•  With AO-85 (Fox 1-A) already in orbit and working, the next "bird" is scheduled to launch some time in January of next year (2017). This would be another FM satellite, Fox 1-B. Plans are already being made for Fox 1-E, which will be an SSB (linear transponder) satellite. 

• Though it was launched in mid-2014, the FM satellite EO-80 still hasn't had been activated for amateur use. 

DMR 

• Well, I was wrong about a new DMR repeater going up in Prior Lake. N0AGI (Nagi) did get a new 50W repeater and duplexer, but it isn't going up on the Prior Lake site. Rumour has it that the new repeater is in search of a site in the south metro, though. Testing has gone well.

• We're now up to 88 DMR IDs in Minnesota. Several new operators have been added in Faribault now that the 442.175+ has been moved there. Also, new operators have popped up in Ham Lake, Blaine, White Bear Lake, Bloomington, New Hope, Buffalo, Willmar and even Duluth.

• I just welcomed WA0CQG (Carl) this morning to DMR as his first contact. He had a very good signal into the Minneapolis 442.425+ repeater from Bloomington. 

• In a QSO with K0LAV (Paul) on the MARA 444.800+, I learned that Paul is now on DMR with a full-powered rig. He's still trying to navigate the code-plug, but I'm very confident that he'll be able to access the Oakdale 443.425+ machine. The Dayton 442.850+ is probably a safe bet, too, from his location. You really only need to be able to get in to one repeater. 

• Also, in that same QSO, Paul reiterated his plan to put a VHF DMR repeater on the air. It wouldn't be linked to the UHF network, but would serve as a standalone 100W power-house for local coverage on TS1 (Time Slot 1). A selected few talk-groups would be accessible on TS2, and these would likely be state-wide in nature (i.e. covering a single state, rather than world-wide or regional). All DMR rigs are monoband, so keep this in mind when shopping for a rig. You'll need a second rig to access this VHF repeater along with the UHF network, though you won't need a second DMR ID. There was no mention made of the planned site for Paul's new repeater, though the stated power level and narrow-band digital nature of the mode should provide metro-wide coverage. 

• Discussions will soon be starting on a potential re-arrangement of time-slots on (at least) three local repeaters: the Dayton 442.850, Oakdale 443.425, and Minneapolis 442.425. Currently, the calling channels are all on TS1, and everything else is on TS2. As local traffic increases, TS2 is starting to get locked up. Start thinking about clever options to move TGs off of TS2, and what you would like to see carried on TS1. It's good to start discussing this now, rather than at some future point where we have a serious problem. You can also submit your ideas here on the blog.  

APRS 

• It seems that almost as soon as I mentioned the KD0KZE gateway coming back on-air, it went down again for the week. 

• Southern Minnesota's KG0QR-1 gateway has now handled more than 6.2k packets this month! It's handling digipeated packets from Windom to Winona, all the way up to Ramsey. 

• The Mora 147.240+ (146.2 PL) repeater now has an APRS icon, courtesy of N0DZQ. 

• With the nicer weather, we're seeing a lot more aircraft equipped with APRS. Please remember to adjust your N-path when you do this, so that you aren't using digipeaters. You really don't need multiple bounces at high altitudes, and you are only causing unnecessary congestion. WIDE 1-1 is a considerate adjustment.