Just a reminder that The Stream, which is routed to shoutcast.com, continues to run without problem.
There are two ways to access it worldwide – by going to http://shoutcast.com and searching for GB3OA
or by opening VLC media player, then OPEN NETWORK STREAM in the menu of the player and enter:
http://184.154.43.106:8080
A timely Festive Season greeting starts the stream at present.
We wish all a prosperous and healthy 2015.
At present interlinking on both IRLP and Echolink is available between the hours of 0900 and 2359UTC.
IRLP and Echolink interlinking will be switched on on Christmas Day and New Years Eve. The repeater will be closely monitored for any faults occuring. Should this happen users must be prepared for OA to be then turned off pretty swiftly. However, should things progress well interlinking may be switched on as decided on the fly.
The repeater keepers respectfully request that if OA is linked to a reflector that the traffic be worldwide and not local QSOs. US hams especially get irritated by this, and as the Head of IRLP is usually listening in on New Years Eve he can block OA’s connection into a reflector if need be. If you are local to GB3OA and wish to converse with someone locally and the repeater is linked up elsewhere, please move to a simplex frequency e.g. 145.450.
Although nothing was actually found that could explain the problems that took ‘OA off air, a re-aligmment of some elements on the repeater has been undertaken. As promised, the repeater was back “on air” yesterday (19th December), but in the event, only into a dummy load. The decision to do this was based on the fact, that we eventually decided to replace the PA unit regardless, and it was thought appropriate that a period of monitoring *very* locally was the best approach for a few hours.
All appears to be ok, so as of 17:30 today (20th December 2014), the repeater’s TX has been reconnected to the aerial. Over the next couple of weeks or so, it will be monitored closely to assess if any issues still persist. During this period, the internet linking won’t be enabled. It’s simply a precaution that should prevent any interference (should the existing problems return), being re-broadcast around the globe.
Fingers crossed all is ok. Apologies once again for the outage.
Mark G4EID & Philip G8XVV.
Investigations have been made with the repeater and it is now due to return to service on Friday 19th December, as from that date it can be monitored closely. Although the repeater has been re-aligned nothing was forthcoming as to the initial problem.
It may be that the problem was local QRN unintentionally made – let’s hope this was a one-off.
The repeater keepers thoroughly apologise for the extended time that the repeater has been off air and thank all its users that have contacted them with their continuing support.