Today @ WA6IRC...

CARSRs are being installed in several dozen locations throughout the country and will use various frequencies in the 1240-1350 MHz range with an occupied bandwidth of about 3 MHz. In the vicinity of the radars, amateur operation may be precluded in a portion of the 23 cm band. The ARRL is in contact with FAA engineers. We anticipate that the constraints on amateur use of the band will be limited to those necessary to protect aviation safety, which of course cannot be compromised."

So if you have an ID-1, check where your favorite repeaters have moved to and reprogram accordingly.

For the IRC it has been a pretty good D-STAR year as well... August marked four years of IRC D-STAR from Contractors Point, no fires threatening the site or frequency changes this year, and Leon remembered the keys for our Holiday party ;-) From all of us in the IRC we wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous 2011!

2 Meter D-STAR Back!

2 meter D-STAR from Contractor's Point, WA6IRC C and Blueridge, WB6IRC C is back on the air! The D-STAR community has been working with TASMA to find a new home for D-STAR that works for the 2 meter community here in Southern California. At the recent TASMA meeting, the D-STAR community submitted a proposal for new repeater pairs that addresses the concerns raised by the recent FCC ruling. The proposal was passed; however concern was raised regarding accommodating long standing simplex use in the proposed D-STAR subband.

Instead of implementing the proposal 'as-is', TASMA decided to delay implementation until December, while the Technical Committee looked at accommodating long standing simplex use by channelizing the new simplex spectrum. The Committe decided this channelization would work for simplex users, therefore the new D-STAR and simplex band plans will become effective December 5, 2009.

Rather than have 2 meter D-STAR down until the TASMA meeting on December 5, and recognizing we have been off the air for some time now, TASMA suggested the D-STAR community make use of the auxiliary frequencies as an interim solution. Bottom line is we will be back on 145.605 and 145.585 MHz for the time being, with the move to the new frequencies occuring on December 5.

Something else to celebrate is the fact that we are back on the grid at Contractor's! We have been on gereator power since the Sayre Fire in November 2008. Aftetr many months of discussion, Edison and the Forest Service agreed on a design for rebuilding the pole line, and underground construction has been completed. Whew!

And, yes, we are still on generators at Contractor's point. Edison and the Forest service have agreed on a design for rebuilding the pole line, so we anticipate being back on the grid "soon".

The Commission took a look at Part 97, specifically 97.3(a)(39) which defines a 'repeater' as "An amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels." Do you remember your grammar school English? The Commission does, and in their ruling they stated, "Because the word 'simultaneously' in the definition is used to modify 'retransmit', we believe it refers to a repeater station's transmitter being active when retransmitting the signal received by the repeater station's receiver from another amateur station. We conclude, therefore, that 'simultaneously' as used in the definition of a repeater refers to the receiver and transmitter both being active at the same time." Bottom line: D-STAR repeaters really are repeaters in the Commission's eyes.

So how does that impact us? TASMA, the 2 meter coordinating body here in Southern California, has set aside 4 frequency pairs for D-STAR between 145.585 and 145.615 MHz, but 97.205(b) states a repeater may not receive and retransmit between 145.5-146.0 MHz. Since the local D-STAR subband falls within these limits, we can not legally operate our 2 meter D-STAR repeaters. In order to remain compliant with the rules, we have turned off the Contractor's Point and Blueridge 2 meter D-STAR repeaters. We have also contacted TASMA to request some new pairs. We anticipate TASMA will move quickly, so check back regularly for the latest.

Still on Generator Power

It is near the end of March now, and we are still on generator power at the site. After taking a closer look at the generator output, we saw that it was fluctuating between 70 and 83 volts, with some 103v peaks. Long story short, after several calls, SCE has the generators running at a pretty steady 120v. They anticipate that the Forest Service will allow completion of repair work very soon now.

All of the connecting power poles from Veterans Park in Sylmar to the site were destroyed in the fire. There is no road access to these poles so they must be installed by helicopter. It appears that SCE is having issues with the Forest Service in replacing these poles. SCE drilled new holes for the poles and apparently the Forest Service will not let them install the poles in the new holes. They are insisting that SCE pull the burnt poles out of the ground and use the old holes to install the new poles. Since the pole line is not accessable to heavy equipment, SCE can not pull the old poles.

There may be temporary interruptions in our AC power for refueling generators and when they eventually cut in the new power lines. All of our systems, with the exception of the internet gateway, should continue to function on battery backup unless the power interruption is longer than three or four days, which SCE does not expect. We will keep you informed about any new developments as they come up.

11.24.08: Leon KC6JAR and Ken W6CPA made a trip to Contractors Point to charge the batteries. The power is still out at the site and will be out for some time. SCE has begun replacing the power poles but they lost over 40 poles in the fire. Virtually every pole leading from Veterans Park (where the system ties into the grid) to the repeater site was destroyed. There are no roads to the poles and they will have to be installed by helicopter. Since the weather will likely not be suitable for helicopter operations for the next few days, SCE does not expect to restore the power for at least a week and possibly up to three weeks. Consequently, the 220 machine and the D-Star machines will likely not be functioning until the power is restored. We will continue to operate the 440 analog repeater and the link radio off of the combined batteries. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

Leon KC6JAR and Ken W6CPA made a trip to Contractor's Point Monday afternoon 11/17 to assess fire damage. The Sayre Fire did go through the entire site; fortunately we suffered no damage. The firefighters did a great job and there was very little damage to any of the facilities there. Unfortunately the power is out and will be out for some time. One of the power poles burned entirely through and the wires were laying on the ground. SCE will not have access to the forest until Wednesday 11/19 and they need to do a survey first, so we will likely be without AC power for at least a week.

Leon, Chris KF6RSF and Ken went up to Contractors Point again Tuesday night, 11/18, to get the analog repeater going again. The 440 analog machine and the link to Las Vegas are now operational. The fire burned several power poles, thus AC power is out. SCE expects it to be out for a week or so. To make do until SCE gets the power going again, we decided to take the batteries from the 220 machine and the D-Star machines, combine them and use them to power the 440 machine and link radio. As a consequence, the 220 and D-Star machines will be down until SCE fixes the power. We are reevaluating how we provide emergency power and have received several suggestions about how to make our emergency power more reliable.

Here are some pictures from the site. And here are some Sayre Fire Maps: Google Earth Sayre Fire Perimeter, GeoMAC Sayre Fire Perimeter, Sesnon, Sayre and Marek Fire Perimeters

Database updates among the 200+ gateways is supposed to be improved with this update. Initial testing seems to bear this out. Give it a try and see what you think!

And if you thought that was a JA station you heard on the system, you were right! The Japanese D-STAR network is now connected to the worldwide D-STAR network. Advanced repeater linking and "One-Touch" capabilities are not currently available to JA stations, so contacts must be made with the JA call programmed as the URCALL, or as a gateway CQ call to the JA repeater, such as /JP1YIVB. Be sure to announce what repeater and module that you are on so the JA station can program accordingly. Remember that Tokyo is 9 hours ahead of UTC... give a call in the early morning and you may catch some JA stations before they go QRT for the night. Follow this link for a list of Japanese D-STAR repeaters.

When you change bands or gateways, it takes a few minutes for that info to get to the 150+ other gateways. ICOM tells us this should occur within about 5 minutes, but network issues and other factors can significantly increase this time. If your gateway call doesn’t goes as you expect, this may very well be why. ICOM and the Trust Server team are continuing to work on improvements, so we will keep you posted.

If you have not done so already, go ahead and register on on the new G2 network. Details for registering can be found here.

In the days and weeks to come we will be testing out the gateway and configuring funtions such as IDs, announcements, messages and the like. As we gain experiance we will share what we find here. In the meantime, enjoy the system. Here is some info on programming your radio to use the gateway Check here for info on gateways around the world.

Blueridge offers coverage to the high desert and east end of the San Gabriel Valley, as well as portions of Orange and San Bernardino Counties. Program in the new repeaters and give them a try. The long-range goal will be to set Blueridge up as a zone, but for now we are running them as stand-alone repeaters.

Ken & Leon traveled to the recent TASMA meeting, and D-STAR was on the agenda. Rather than just moving the IRC to a different pair, TASMA has decided to give D-STAR a home on the 2 meter band by reallocating some underutilized packet frequencies for D-STAR use. The IRC has been assigned 145.605-, so go ahead and reprogram your radios, try out the new pair, and let us know how it is working. TASMA has designated 4 pairs, so look for other D-STAR repeaters on 145.585-, 145.595-, 145.605-, and 145.615-.

The 23cm DV repeater has been shipped back to ICOM for repairs... again. We hope they get it right this time, or we may need to send Leon up to Washington.

All is not lost as our provider said there is a way around the Evil Pair Gain. They are working on "Dry DSL" for us. Probably more appropriate for our arid climate anyway... won't have to water it as much :-) There are some other options we are looking into as well in case our Dry DSL evaporates, so stay tuned for details!