650 repeater in NJ

[JohnE]

heard 2 gentlemen talking on a machine unknown to me around 08:30. sounded like they were checking the range of it. I don't know if this was the Brick machine or not but last I heard the mobile unit was near Camden on 70, base operator said that was almost clear across the state.  any one have a clue. sounded like ham's by the way they were talking.

[captdan]

I heard those people talking this morning also, they had an awful strong signal, were somewhat careful and cryptic with regards to locations.  I did hear the one unit say that he was by the entrance to Lebanon State Forrest, off of route 70, in South Jersey.  He was on a mobile unit and was 31 miles from where I was hearing him clear as a bell on a hand held unit in a building.  I do not think it was the Brick repeater as I was only receiving them with no PL code.

[JohnE]

didn't hear them this morning. have to plug my decoder in my control but I don't think there is enough signal to get a clean read. they were fairly noisy to me and after the sun popped out it got worse.

[captdan]

I did not hear them this morning either - radio very quiet this morning.

 

Dan

[Logan5]

didn't hear them this morning. have to plug my decoder in my control but I don't think there is enough signal to get a clean read. they were fairly noisy to me and after the sun popped out it got worse.

Hey John, I assume you reference a ctcss decoder? May I ask what decoder you use and if you recommend the one you have or another unit? also does it decode DCS also? 

[JohnE]

Hey John, I assume you reference a ctcss decoder? May I ask what decoder you use and if you recommend the one you have or another unit? also does it decode DCS also? 

it does both. its an old ferrtonics unit

[cash082]

DCS532. Loud and clear my entire commute from Wall Twp to Sayreville ..

I have never heard anyone ID on it with a GMRS call sign.

I've tried to inform them that they are on a freq with 2 big coverage repeaters (Midd GMRS / ERS 650) and they claim they hear somebody saying something, etc back..but never acknowledging. They start to wonder why their repeater sounds bad when people are on Midd or ERS. "Lots of interference this morning" type reaction. 

Odd.

Too bad they don't know this community exists here at MyGMRS! It'd be a great repeater for us ALL to use throughout the state.

I can't think of any tower that would have this much coverage..that you guys have reported and I have heard - aside from the tower that NJ 101.5 FM is on..by where I-295 / Rte 1 / I-95 meet. Only problem is I don't have radio direction finding equipment. Wish I did to find them! Their repeater has excellent range and from what I hear for all of 2 users that banter every morning and I've also heard them in the evenings after me and John have spoken on his repeater (ERS 650) on my commute home.

[cash082]

FYI guys - Brick repeater is down. I'm right near it, and can't hit it. When it does it's going to be 4 repeaters on 650 all within range of eachother (ERS 650, Midd, DCS532 Morning guys)  - which could be a problem if Brick comes up strong.

[captdan]

Wish we had a strong repeater over this side of the state !

 

Dan

[JohnE]

DCS532. Loud and clear my entire commute from Wall Twp to Sayreville ..

I have never heard anyone ID on it with a GMRS call sign.

I've tried to inform them that they are on a freq with 2 big coverage repeaters (Midd GMRS / ERS 650) and they claim they hear somebody saying something, etc back..but never acknowledging. They start to wonder why their repeater sounds bad when people are on Midd or ERS. "Lots of interference this morning" type reaction. 

Odd.

Too bad they don't know this community exists here at MyGMRS! It'd be a great repeater for us ALL to use throughout the state.

I can't think of any tower that would have this much coverage..that you guys have reported and I have heard - aside from the tower that NJ 101.5 FM is on..by where I-295 / Rte 1 / I-95 meet. Only problem is I don't have radio direction finding equipment. Wish I did to find them! Their repeater has excellent range and from what I hear for all of 2 users that banter every morning and I've also heard them in the evenings after me and John have spoken on his repeater (ERS 650) on my commute home.

w/reference to this. I was racking some new equipment today at the 650 site and had my machine in monitor to see what it was hearing as I worked.

around 12:30 I heard what was described above. hooked up my decoder and waited to see what came up.....532 DPL. these 2 guys talked for a few minutes no call signs or ID they were however using MDC. about an hr later I hear what sounded like some one testing a radio w/same DPL, mostly keying and blowing into the mic. I then heard one of the persons that was previously talking say "502  theta" and then asking for 522.  a short while after that I heard a 1Kc tone, like a test tone that was around 14:30 or so.

now for the more interesting part............

it sounds like a link repeater, meaning it set up reverse of what it is suppose to be. now I have looked at all the listed machines in NY & NJ and saw nothing listed as theta. also I forgot to mention that I had my portable w/me also in open channel. now at 900+ feet even on an HT I should have heard something on the low side.

I'm just sorry that I didn't have my service monitor up there w/me today, at least I could have seen the signal levels and done a split freq search. ah maybe neat time. I did however get a partial call if it was them but I was preoccupied w/other things at the time. I did make some notes will post up later.

[JohnE]

****addition to previous post****

times on what I heard yesterday.

13:25 there was a 1kc test tone

13:48 some feedback noise. sounded like some one was setting up a radio.

15:50 conversation mentioning "blue mail" nothing descriptive in the conversation though.

the partial call sign was WQLA.

think I'm going to set up a separate RX unit up there on that PL w/recorder, I think that would help find out who these guys are.

still think its a bi-directional link repeater, just need to find the other 2 sides of it.

JE

[rdunajewski]

This would be the colorful "Bluecom" guys. Here's an old post regarding them:

http://www.popularwireless.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002299.html

[JohnE]

Rich

that's who I thought it might be but I didn't want to jump the gun on it. I need to establish "if" it is a link repeater and is that is legal.

If it is a link repeater is it bi-directional and on what freq's. we already know one of the but I have not heard anything on the output side as previously stated.

once I get up there w/my analyzer and decoder to see what the signal levels I should be able to establish if its a link. 

[rdunajewski]

This is a little off-topic, and maybe it deserves its own post, but my take on linking is that it is perfectly fine providing the below criteria are met:

 

1. The link does not use FRS/GMRS/MURS/Ham frequencies as the linking channel (900 MHz, WiFi, ISM [where allowed] would be OK)
2. The link is not over a telephone line (Part 95 rules refer to this as "interconnection to the Public Switched Telephone Network [PSTN]")
3. There is no way to make autopatch phone calls (if you're using VoIP as the link technology, that's fine, but if someone can dial in or out using a real "public" phone number, that's NOT OK)
4. Common sense is used: there should be some reason to link machines. Long distance links are fine in my opinion but if you have 5 repeaters all within earshot of one another, do they really all need to be linked? No, of course not. That's just cluttering the few GMRS repeater channels we do have.

I know the FCC's opinion on this is still very nebulous. Some people take a pure approach and believe any linking is not allowed, and some believe that if it's not explicitly banned in black and white, then it's perfectly legal. 

 

I have played around with using Asterisk as a linking mechanism and I believe it's stable and secure enough to be used on GMRS provided the above conditions are met.

 

If anyone has interest, I have set up a central Asterisk server and a web interface for monitoring the system here:  https://link.mygmrs.com/stats/view/20042

 

I'd love to get more people on board as this has the potential to bring "responsible" linking of repeaters to GMRS without willfully violating any FCC rules.

[JohnE]

my best guess is it is in band. I've  it done it myself in the commercial world. it has to be done w/2 antennas if its bi-directional.

remember I'm hearing this on my input 467 side.

[Guest spd641]

I would love to see linked repeaters myself if nothing more thana the southeastern region of the US for my area and go from there as a experiment to see how it would work on all of Gary's repeaters on the www.northgeorgiagmrs.com site I believe he is up to @18 or so repeaters stretched across Georgia and I am sure it would discourage the illegal repeaters that are in the Atlanta area if all were linked,heck he could link into mine in Alabama.The legalities are a gray area with the FCC and they will say there is no specific rule against it but you could be told to remove them at a moments notice.I have not heard much from Garry WQFU865 lately may need to give him a call.I think Rich knows who I am talking about.

[JohnE]

today I had a hit on 115DPL and a call sign out of Roselle NJ. again I was working on something else at the site, managed to see the PL on my ferrtronics and get the call.

anyone have a clue?

21:30 some one testing w/over beep and DTMF tones. unknown PL

[gortex2]

What are you using to link the repeaters ? I have 4 repeaters in multiple counties and would like to look into this. 

[Pyrodox]

There's a few repeaters in the NJ area now linked via RoIP using Asterisk/app_rpt and URIx interface boxes.

 

Asterisk/app_rpt is an open source repeater control and RoIP integration software.

[rdunajewski]

We have a discussion going on over here, for more info:

 

https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/295-repeater-linking-discussion/