Virginia's Amateur DMR Linked Repeater Network
Virginia's Amateur DMR Linked Repeater Network
Many folks are aware of a large scale outage and attack on the Brandmeister network that has been occurring for greater than 24 hours. Because DMRVA operates with a different architecture and more secure method of linking, all of our systems are fully operational. Links to and from BM on some talkgroups may be intermittent while they try to stabilize things. In the interim enjoy the repeater system.
Over the last couple of years the Richmond Local talkgroup has slowly been expanded and linked to other repeater sites, including Petersburg, the portable repeater, Powhatan, and soon Beaverdam. Since it has become more of a regional TG instead of a true local we made the decision to change the name to Richmond Metro. It is still on TG 27500 TS1 on DMRVA repeaters. It can also be accessed on BM repeaters on TG 31511. Please update your codeplugs as you desire.
A test transmitter sending FM modulated CW is on this frequency from the Beaverdam site and antenna. It will be on for a week or more as we try to assess real world reach of the proposed system there. If you copy it and are able to send us a report it would be appreciated.
The N4POW repeater on 443.350 MHz in Powhatan county was officially connected to the repeater network today. It currently carries the standard DMRVA talkgroup lineup. Please listen for stations who may be testing coverage over the next few days. We will update the repeater page and map as we have time.
We expect to add the N4POW UHF DMR repeater in Powhatan to the system the weekend of April 6th. It will have the standard TG lineup with TG 27500 (Local) linked full-time to RVA Local (shared with W4RAT in Midlothian and WA4FC in Petersburg.) Thanks to the Powhatan Area Radio Club for joining us.
N8IK and KV3W spent some time over the weekend installing a new duplexer on the Alexandria system. Previously, with a mobile style duplexer they had -80 db of isolation (1.5db insertion loss). The new TX/RX duplexer provides -111 db of isolation (0.59 db insertion loss).
These figures speaks to the importance of engineering high performing antenna and isolation systems in repeater stations. This will improve system performance especially for stations that may be on the fringe or on handhelds.
Watch for full details soon. This will enhance coverage along I-95 between Richmond and Fredericksburg.
Work is scheduled to be performed this weekend on the antenna system of the Alexandria repeater. A new duplexer will be installed, which should significantly improve receive coverage. Check back soon for more information.
A team worked today on the Charlottesville repeater to try to diagnose the cause of intermittent difficulty getting into and using the C’ville repeater. There appears to be some desense in the antenna system and noise from site and local area. Further diagnostics and a tower climb will be planned in the coming months. A spare repeater and new duplexer to repeater cables was swapped into place as well to eliminate potential issues. For the moment, users may continue to experience degraded performance at intermittent times.
A special thanks goes to Rod, N8RAT for providing a lot of test equipment and knowledge during this assessment.
There are two nets of interest each week to operators. Darrell, KI4LLA is the usual NCS.
Talk Group 3151 – Virginia Statewide (carried on all DMRVA repeaters)
The SWVA DMR Net meets each Wednesday evening at 8:00 pm Eastern (0100 UTC) on the Virginia Statewide Talk Group 3151.
Brandmeister Talk Group 31513 – Southwest Virginia (not currently carried on DMRVA repeaters)
SWVA Night Owls Net
Join us on SWVA TG 31513 for an informal round-robin type Net each Friday night at 10:00 pm Eastern (0300 UTC). Topics include DMR radios, hot spots, Raspberry Pi computers and anything else electronic.