EchoLink

​ GB3OA IRLP and Echolink 5302 nodes unavailable

Leave a Comment / EchoLink, GB3OA, Internet Linking, IRLP, Southport / By
The dedicated server for these two nodes now has an unrecoverable fault. It may be some time before the fault is cleared.
Some users of Echolink may not realise there is a Catch-22 situation when using Echolink on both this node and all other nodes. If you try to connect and cannot it’s because there is a QSO already going on. If you can connect OK then there is no QSO on the repeater and you should call CQ with your callsign, as normal. Otherwise there is no point in connecting…..
Apologies to all of the users that use IRLP and Echolink. Users of Echolink in the North West may be able to access GB3OA directly using a base station, mobile rig, or HT. Those operators that visit Southport will find that GB3OA has excellent RF  coverage in the Town Centre, along the Promenade, the extensive beach and to the end of the pier and this can continue into the ‘burbs.

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The Simple Way to have good comms with GB3OA

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It’s been noticed in the logs and heard on air that users have been having problems with DTMF tones and OA recognising them.

Most repeaters in the UK are now narrow FM using 12.5kHz filters in the receiver and OA is no exception. So, if your rig is set to wide FM your DTMF tones will be clipped and distorted by the OA receiver. Some may get through and be recognised but others won’t, and you’ll be left wondering why OA is not responding.

All recent rigs have a menu option for wide or narrow FM and obviously for good comms this should be set to narrow.

The same goes for voice communication. Your audio could well be badly clipped and at the distant end of the IRLP contact the op may have problems. This usually shows up when the op keeps wanting you to repeat your callsign. Shouting down the mic only makes the situation worse. Either backing off from the mic or making sure your rig is set to narrow FM is the answer.

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Confirmation of various timeouts on GB3OA

Leave a Comment / EchoLink, GB3OA, Internet Linking, IRLP, Shoutcast stream feed / By

To avoid confusion, the relevant web pages (Repeater Details and Internet Linking) have been changed to specify the various timeouts on OA.

They are:

  • RF to RF – five minutes (the errant PTT has to be opened to reset the timer)
  • IRLP and Echolink – four minutes, and disconnection of the distant end

Echolink will also specify an error code if the txm is more than four minutes – a link to all OA error codes can be found on the Internet Linking page.

THE STREAM: this is now fully up to spec again and running normally. It can easily be listened to throughout the world by going to http://shoutcast.com and searching for GB3OA.

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Node 5302 short outage

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The repeater’s internet linking Node (5302) went offline last night (7th October) due to a failed Operating System upgrade.

We’re pleased to report the fault has been fixed and everything is now running normally.

In addition, it was noticed that the Node’s timeout had been accidentally set too short. This has also been corrected. The timeout is now back to the default setting of four minutes.

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