[arm-allstar] Allstar Automated - NWS Weather Alerts & Analogue Repeater Backbones

[John Hoser-Smith]

This is a bit tricky…

We have an Allstar Node that uses its directly interfaced UHFLink Radio into an old fashion FM Repeater Backbone in our Radio club…

Further, this same Allstar Node is also/simultaneouslyconnected to an Allstar SERVER/HUB via the Internet.  Other independent Allstar Nodes can nowconnect to that same Server/HUB and use their remote Allstar Node Radios totalk to anyone using the old fashion Repeater Backbone for our Ham Radio club.  Our Allstar Server/HUB has no radio attachedto it.


This works the way we want, mostly.


What doesn’t work (read: get re-broadcasted) to the FMRepeater Backbone are the automated NWS Weather alerts – found and configuredin Doug’s Autosky Scripts.  We want folkslistening to the Club’s FM - Repeater Backbone to hear those NWS Alerts for ourCounty.

(yes, we have other independent Allstar Nodes running those AutoskyWeather alerts just fine)

 We’ve isolated that(no re-broadcast) problem to the entry inside the    rpt.conf   file for the Node with the UHF Link Radio.

That Allstar Node has set     the     Duplex=0   inside the  rpt.conf  file.   This works great for normal Repeater and HT use – but prevents the NWSAnnouncement from being re-Broadcast.

Now for the tricky part:  Changing the entry in the   rpt.conf   to  Duplex=2 (from Duplex=0)  solved the problem of “re-broadcasting the NWSAlerts” HOWEVER – this Duplex setting keeps “bringing up  and down” the entire FM RepeaterBackbone.  A kind of an Audio “ping pong”(key up/key down) is heard all over the Repeater Backbone.  Oooops, not what we want.


So the question is:   Can we set (how?) the Allstar Node with thedirect connection to the UHF Link radio to play the Autosky Weather Alerts…withouthaving this “ping-pong” up and down going on, on our Repeater Backbone?  Our Club’s Allstar geography spans (3)Counties and we’d like to broadcast the NWS Alerts from the Node directly connectedto the FM Repeater Backbone.

Your comments/suggestions welcome.  N0ECT