Linking Options at GB3OA
Basic Repeater
GB3OA runs on a Yaesu DR-2XE. If you’re within range of the repeater, you can use basic analogue or C4FM (one or the other) and hold QSO’s with other amateurs who are also within the coverage area of the repeater. Things don’t get simpler than this. Arguably this is not real linking, other than providing the ability for two stations who cannot hear each other directly to communicate!
Please bear in mind, that usually, the repeater is connected to its Wires-X room GB-SW-LANCS. The room is enabled for digital only, that means if you’re using basic analog FM on the repeater, you’re not linked anywhere at all. It’s just you and whoever is also listening on analog on the repeater. If you are transmitting on C4FM on the repeater, you’ll also be heard by anyone connected to the Wires-X room, the YSF reflector, or the XLX reflector (see details below).
Linking – At a Glance
However you get on air (Wires-X, C4FM or DMR), you end up in the same room, talking to the same people. Here is what to connect to.
Wires-X room: GB-SW-LANCS, number 05239
YSF reflector: GB-SW-LANCS, number 11704
XLX reflector: XLX840, module A
DMR talkgroup: TG 6 (via DMRGateway)
Wires-X
There are two scenarios.
If you are within RF range of a node or repeater that supports Wires-X, simply use your radio to join the Wires-X room GB-SW-LANCS, number 05239. GB3OA is normally connected there.
If you have your own Wires-X capable station at your QTH, the simplest arrangement is a Wires-X Portable Digital Node. Alternatively you may have a more traditional node using an HRI-200. Whichever you have, just connect it to Wires-X room GB-SW-LANCS (05239).
Hotspot on C4FM (YSF Reflector)
A YSF reflector, GB-SW-LANCS, is available for those with C4FM radios who have neither a local node nor a repeater with Wires-X within reach. Set up a hotspot in YSF mode and connect it to YSF reflector GB-SW-LANCS, number 11704. There are many tutorials online covering how to set a hotspot up, so this page only covers what to connect to.
The dashboard for the YSF reflector is at https://ysfreflector.gb3oa.org.uk
Worth knowing: Yaesu do not permit access to the Wires-X network from anything other than Wires-X equipment. The link between the Wires-X room GB-SW-LANCS and the YSF reflector GB-SW-LANCS is therefore achieved using an RF bridge, which is a Wires-X node and a hotspot, both running on dummy loads.
Hotspot on DMR
No C4FM gear, but a cheap DMR radio in the drawer? You have two options. As above, this covers what to connect to rather than how.
Option 1: DMRGateway with XLX (recommended)
Set your hotspot to DMR in DMRGateway mode. Ensure the XLX Master is enabled and set to XLX840, module A. Then talk on TG 6, timeslot 2.
Please note: TG 6, not TG 4001. This catches people out. Under DMRGateway the module is already chosen in your configuration, and TG 6 is how you talk to it. The 4000 range (4001 is module A, 4002 is module B, and so on) is used for switching module, not for talking. If you transmit on TG 4001 your hotspot will happily receive your audio and then quietly discard it.
The dashboard for XLX840 is at https://xlx.gb3oa.org.uk
Option 2: DMR2YSF
Set your hotspot to DMR2YSF mode and point the YSF side at YSF reflector GB-SW-LANCS, number 11704, using talkgroup 7011704. This route bypasses XLX840 altogether and joins the YSF reflector directly.
Hotspot on D-Star
This is planned but not available yet, and it is worth explaining why, because XLX840 will happily let you connect and then give you nothing but silence.
D-Star uses the AMBE 2020 codec, while DMR and C4FM both use AMBE+2. That is why DMR and C4FM can be bridged with no conversion at all: the audio is already in the same format, and only the metadata differs. D-Star is genuinely different, so crossing to it requires real transcoding, and no software vocoder exists for it. It needs a hardware DVSI device.
Until one is fitted, the D-Star addresses on XLX840 (REF840AL, XRF840AL and DCS840AL) will connect but carry no audio. Please do not spend an evening debugging your radio.
Why both a YSF Reflector and an XLX Reflector?
A fair question.
There are two reasons. The first is that the YSF reflector came first. Everyone knows the number, it appears in every hotspot’s host list, and we are reluctant to retire something that works perfectly well.
The second is that XLX840 does not transcode. It carries DMR, and that is its job here: a means of joining DMR users to the room, rather than a destination in its own right. The YSF reflector remains the front door for C4FM, and its dashboard tells you rather more about who is connected and who has been heard.
How it all fits together
Every path ends up in the same conversation.
The Wires-X room GB-SW-LANCS (05239) is linked by an RF bridge at the keeper’s QTH to the YSF reflector GB-SW-LANCS (11704), which is where C4FM hotspots connect. The YSF reflector is in turn linked by software, running on the same server, to XLX840 module A, which is where DMR hotspots connect on TG 6.
The Wires-X link has to be RF because Yaesu allow no other way in. The C4FM to DMR link is pure software and needs no transcoding, because both modes already use the same codec.
Summary
C4FM / Wires-X Room GB-SW-LANCS 05239
C4FM / Fusion YSF GB-SW-LANCS 11704 ysfreflector.gb3oa.org.uk
DMR / DMRGateway XLX840 module A TG 6 xlx.gb3oa.org.uk
DMR / DMR2YSF YSF GB-SW-LANCS 7011704 ysfreflector.gb3oa.org.uk
D-Star Not available yet
Overall GB-SW-LANCS Status Page: gb-sw-lancs.gb3oa.org.uk