JPLARC Repeaters Bob Dengler NO6B
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JPLARC Repeaters
Bob Dengler NO6B
...but first this message
Los Angeles Marathon
Amateur Communications
No Club – Communications Effort
Coordinated by a Single Individual
for All 34 Marathons
• Marathons 1-6, 8-18: Scott Fraser KN6F
• Marathon 7: Hank Magid K6YMJ
• Marathons 19-34 (present): Greg Powell KD6AIS
Scott Fraser KN6F Greg Powell KD6AIS
Pre-Event Training Meetings
• 2 held: weekday evening & Saturday afternoon.
Volunteers attend the one that’s most convenient
JPLARC Participation
• In the past the JPLARC has been a major
contributor to this public service effort.
• Total number of volunteers:
– First Marathon (1986): 267
– 2017 Marathon: 44
– Any further drop in amateur participation will likely
result in dropping all support.
• Sign up at lamarathon.ham-radio-op.net
Remember: No News is Good News
...but listen to this anyway
Definition of a Repeater
97.3 (a) (40): Repeater. An amateur station that
simultaneously retransmits the transmission of
another amateur station on a different channel or
channels.
What Is a Repeater?
RECEIVER TRANSMITTERCONTROLLER
DUPLEXER
POWER
SUPPLY
COAX FEEDLINE
What Do They Do?
•Allow non line-of-sight communications on line-of-
sight frequency bands
•Greatly enhance range of low EIRP stations (HTs)
•Multiple repeaters can be interlinked, further
increasing their range
•Operated as an auxiliary station, can serve as a
control point for remotely controlled base station
First Wide-Coverage Repeater:
WA6TDD Mt. Wilson
•Owned/operated by Burt Weiner K6OQK
•On air: Dec. 1962
•AM
•145.424 MHz in/146.400 MHz out
•FM input added 1972: 147.435 MHz
(Lots) more info at
wa6tdd.tripod.com
AM User Radio for 1st Repeater?
Photo by Joe Oliveira WB6BJM
JPLARC’s Repeater History
• Feb. 1977: First systems on the air: WR6APQ Mesa 224.04 (-), & WR6AZN
Table Mtn. 147.33 (+) & 224.04 (-)
• Actual 1st repeater @ TMO: WR6AFX 146.76 (-) installed 4/15/1974, owned by
Helmut “Mickey” Mecke W6ZGC.
• Aug. 1977: WR6APQ call changed to WR6APS
• Feb. 1978: A 220 repeater list published in the club newsletter shows
WR6AZN on 223.96 (-); couldn’t find when the freq. change was made.
• Mar. 1978: JPL/TMO link, connecting the Mesa 224.04 & TMO 223.96
repeaters, is placed in operation in Bellflower as WR6APQ.
• Aug. 1978: Club private autopatch repeater WR6APR noted on-air on 224.08
(-). TMO 2 meter repeater moved from 147.33 (+) to 145.28 (-) due to
interference with Mexican repeater on same freq. (still there today).
JPLARC’s Repeater History
• Feb. 1979: New 220 MHz Super StationMaster antenna
installed at Mesa site (was in service until bldg. 35 demo’d
recently).
• Nov. 1979: Autopatch on WR6APR 224.08 (-) operational.
Repeater status changes from open to private.
• Sept. 1991: 147.150 (+) coordination issued to JPLARC;
originally coordinated as WB6IEA but changed to W6VIO
• 1994: W6VIO/R (formerly WR6APS) 224.04 moved to
224.08, WB6IEA/R (formerly WR6APR) 224.08 moved to
224.72
• June 1995: WB6IEA/R moved from 224.72 to 224.70.
• 1996: 440 repeater begins operation on the Mesa on
449.975.From Mar. 1979 “W6VIO Calling”
JPLARC’s Repeater History
• Mar. 1998: 440 repeater moved from Mesa to Cerro
Negro, operating briefly on 440.125 (+) (!), then 447.65 (-).
• 1999: All club repeaters except TMO change callsign to
WR6JPL; TMO repeaters get WR6AZN.
• Nov. 1999: 440 repeater moved to permanent freq. of
445.20 (-).
• Feb. 2000: WR6JPL (formerly W6VIO/R) 224.08 moved
from Mesa to Cerro Negro; WR6JPL (formerly WB6IEA/R)
224.70 moved from Cerro Negro to downtown LA.
• Sept. 2013: Cerro Negro repeater site lost; 224.08 &
445.20 repeaters temporarily moved back to JPL Mesa
site until a better site can be located.
• Aug. 2016: 445.20 test repeater previously installed in
180-R6 replaces Mesa repeater, which is turned off due to
unresolved receive issues & access problems.
•Cerro Negro Peak (~2.2 miles from JPL)
•224.08 (-) PL-156.7 WR6JPL
•445.20 (-) PL-103.5 WR6JPL
•Mesa
•147.15 (+) PL-100.0 WR6JPL
•TMO
•145.28 (-) PL-131.8 WR6AZN
•223.96 (-) PL-156.7 WR6AZN
•447.20 (-) PL-94.8 WR6AZN
JPLARC Repeaters
Always
linked
User-
accessible link
Linkable by
control
operator
Configuration prior to loss of site
JPLARC Repeaters
224.080 RX
222.360 TX
223.960 RX
222.480 TX
WR6JPL/A
CITY OF INDUSTRY LASO
LINK
LINK
144.680 RX
145.280 TX
WR6AZNTABLE MTN.
RPT
PL-156.7
PL-131.8WR6JPL/A
BLDG. 180 ROOM R6
224.080 RX
222.480 TXLINK
PL-156.7222.480 RX
445.200 TX
440.200 RX
RPT
RPT
CERRO NEGRO PEAKWR6JPL
PL-103.5
224.080 TX
PL-156.7
PL-156.7
SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM
RPT222.360 RX
223.960 TX
PL-156.7
147.150 TX
147.750 RXPL-100.0RPT
JPL (MESA)WR6JPL
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Amateur Radio ClubDrawn by Bob Dengler [email protected]/4/2013
PL-94.8 442.320 RX
447.320 TXRPT
223.100 RX
224.700 TX
WR6JPLDIAMOND BAR
RPTPL-114.8
•~2.2 miles from JPL
•1887’ AMSL
Cerro Negro Peak
Coverage plot from “Radio Mobile”:
http://www.cplus.org/rmw/english1.html
•<1 mile from JPL
•1504’ AMSL
JPL Mesa
•WR6JPL 224.08 (-) PL-156.7(temporary at JPL Mesa)
•Converted Midland 13-509
•12 watt output
•WR6JPL 445.20 (-) PL-103.5(temporarily at 180-R6)
•Kenwood TK-805D/860H
w/Crescend amplifier
•100 watt output
Cerro Negro Peak Repeaters
Both repeaters controlled by LinkComm RLC-3 controller
Both repeaters have IRLP & Echolink capability
•147.15 (+) WR6JPL
•1991-2012: G.E. Mastr II
mobile
•50-70 watt output
•Replaced with Kenwood
NXR-710 repeater &
Crescend 100 watt
amplifier
•Carried space shuttle/ISS
audio for many years
JPL Mesa Repeaters
Photo by Jim Lux W6RMK
•445.20 (-) WR6JPL
•Kenwood TK-805D
(RX), TK-860H (TX, 35
watt output), LinkComm
RLC-3 controller
•Linked to 224.08 Mesa
system via Midland 13-
509 radio
•Recently added
Crescend 100 watt
amplifier
180-R6
•30.6 miles from JPL
•7500’ AMSL
Table Mtn. Observatory
•145.28 (-) WR6AZN
•“Bill Wood special”:
• modified VHF Engineering TX, ESP DFS-V RX
•25 40 watt output (once the repaired amplifier is reinstalled)
•Current repeater installed in 1994
•223.96 (-) WR6AZN
•“Bill Wood special”
•25 watt output
•447.20 (-) WR6AZN (antenna broken; waiting for replacement)
•G.E. Mastr II
•40 watt output
TMO Repeaters
All 3 repeaters controlled by LinkComm RLC-3 controller
From May 1995 “W6VIO Calling”
•Autonomous RF link system connecting our 224.08 &
223.96 repeaters
•Has 2 minute activity timer
•Link on: DTMF “08961”
•Link off: DTMF “08960”
JPL-TMO Link
Fin
•Highly organized VOIP system specifically designed to
link amateur repeaters & simplex nodes only
•Linux-based
•Cross-linking to other VOIP services (i. e. Echolink)
generally prohibited; non-radio use strictly
prohibited
•Detailed network info available at irlp.net
•Detailed info on our IRLP node available at
wr6jpl.ampr.org
IRLP: Internet Radio Linking Project
•How it works on our repeaters (224.08 & 445.20):
•Every repeater on IRLP has a 4-digit DTMF
address (i. e. WB8VSU Dayton is 4235)
•Our IRLP node uses a prefix of “8” in front of all
IRLP addresses
•To access from our repeaters, a prefix is required
(33*) to pass DTMF from repeater to IRLP
computer
•To access Dayton repeater: 33*84235
•Disconnect code is “73”
•To disconnect from any repeater: 33*73
IRLP: Internet Radio Linking Project
•VOIP system for general amateur use
•Runs on Windows or Linux (later via “EchoIRLP”,
which is what our node runs), Android OS & iOS
•EchoMac for Mac (compatible w/Echolink nodes)
•Can be used on repeaters, in the shack or even on
your smartphone
•Any node can be a conference server
•De-centralized nature makes it harder to get info on
available nodes
•More info at echolink.org
Echolink
•How it works on our repeaters (224.08 & 445.20):
•Every repeater on Echolink has a 4 to 6-digit DTMF
address (i. e. NO6B-R is 614325)
•Our IRLP node uses a prefix of “A” in front of all
IRLP addresses
•To access from our repeaters, a prefix is required
(33*) to pass DTMF from repeater to Echolink
computer
•To access NO6B-R: 33*A614325
•Disconnect code is “73”
•To disconnect from any repeater: 33*73
Echolink
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