Donegal Radio Club are happy to report that the Truskmore VHF Repeater, EI2TKR, is back in service as of 27th March 15:00, after an unexpected outage for a few days.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Hi All,

Unfortunately the Truskmore Repeater EI2TKR is down at present...

There is no RF access to it, even from fairly closeby, so we suspect and radio or antenna issue.

We will investigate as soon as possible and report back when issue is known and/or resolved.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Hi All,

Great News!!! The Truskmore to Sliadbh Bawn repeater link over AllStar is back online, as well as internet access over same.

This was investigated and found to be an issue with the Raspberry Pi.

Subsequently however, issues with the Mikrotik LTE Router casued alot of headache. Firmware upgrades voiding previously saved backup configurations, DNS difficulties and new network provider teething troubles all came in a perfeect storm.

I must give a huge thanks to EI5INB, John Roche (very close to my call I know!!), for all his assistance with the router side of things... John spent a number of hours on this with me and from myself & the club I'd like to extend our gratitude.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Hi All,

As some of you may have noticed, the Truskmore to Sliadbh Bawn repeater link over AllStar is presently offline, as well as internet access over same.

This has been investigated and found to be an issue with the Raspberry Pi and/or SD card for the Pi.

We are working to get this resolved while waiting for a replacement, but hope to have all bak online within the next week.

We apologise to anyone for the loss of service, particularly to those who were waiting for the IRTS News link on Tuesday night.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Hi All,

As some of you may have noticed, the Truskmore to Sliadbh Bawn repeater link over AllStar was offline between Sunday 9th & Tuesday 11th March...

We are pleased to announce that since a manual on-site reboot of the Truskmore node was performed on Wednesday 12th, the link has been restored and has been stable since, as well as being able to accept direct AllStar/Echolink connections again.

We apologise to anyone for the loss of service, particularly to those who were waiting for the IRTS News link on Tuesday night.

In summary, our permanent connection to EI2SBR is back, as well as our weekly Tuesday might connection to the Southern Ireland Repeater Network for the IRTS News & Call-In.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Hi All,

As most of you are aware, we had the Truskmore repeater AllStar/EchoLink node offline for a while for some scheduled maintenance/modification..

We are pleased to announce that it is back online from yesterday evening and preliminary tests show it working well.

This of course means that our permanent connection to EI2SBR is back, as well as our weekly Tuesday might connection to the Southern Ireland Repeater Network for the IRTS News & Call-In.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Donegal Amateur Radio Club.

Hi All,

Shannon Basin Radio Club, Keepers of the Sliadbh Bawn VHF Repeater have just installed an AllStarLink/EchoLink Node on same.

Presently and for the next few weeks Truskmore & Sliadbh Bawn are going to remain permenantly connected as a trial for the beginning of a new repeater network, using AllStarLink as the connection medium.

Both Donegal Radio Club & Shannon Basin Radio Club ask members and others to work through both repeaters as much as possible over the coming weeks as we soak-test the link and work on any fine tuning required.

Reports/Queries can be sent to John EI5INB via admin@sbrc.ie

Some excellent work done by John EI5INB & Tom EI4HCB to get this up and running and we are confident this experiment will be an overall improvement in operation, user count and accessibility radio amateurs in the region.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Donegal Amateur Radio Club.

Hi All,

Since the scheduled Tuesday evening interconnect has been active to the SIRN for the IRTS News, it was noted by Jason EI9LB that we were experiencing some timeouts on our side with some of the long overs. This was causing the missing of some transmissions by operators listening on the TKR side.

On confirming that the SIRN timeout is set to 4 minutes, Jason & Dave EI5IMB through a combination of on-site and remote investigation found that all hardware was set to 4 minutes except for the AllStar node, whish was set to 3.

Finally, yesterday evening for the weekly interconnect, the link was monitored and no unwanted timeouts were detected.

As keeper I would like to extend a massive thanks to:

- Jason EI9LB for his assistance with the HamVoIP amendment.

We are confident this amendment will be an overall improvement in operation, user count and accessibility for remotely located users.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Donegal Amateur Radio Club.

Hi All,

Over the last few months we have been experimenting with internet linking EI2TKR via AllStar & EchoLink & in our last post all that was left to do was to rebuild the node into a rack mountable chassis and move it to its final location on a 4G router internet connection.

Well... We have completed these final items and now we have our fully functional dual mode node up and running!

Updated Node Details:

- AllStar Node Number: 55438

- EchoLink Node Number: 212154 "EI2TKR-R"

- Raspberry Pi Running HamVoIP.

- Wired Ethernet to Mikrotik hAP ax lite LTE6 Router.

- Pi & Router Powered by dedicated 12v-5v BUC converters.

- CM108 USB Sound Card in the Pi (modified for PTT and radio interconnect).

- TAIT TM8110 linked and configured for EI2TKR Frequencies.

- Remote relay switch fitted on power to radio (in case emergency remote shutoff required).

- 12v cooling fan instlled with temperature control switch.

- All built into case that is 19-inch rack mountable.

As keeper I would like to extend a massive thanks to:

- Jason EI9LB for his assistance with the HamVoIP finer details and programming.

- John EI5INB for his advice, assistance and hardware reccommendations for the 4G router setup.

- Daniel EI4HNB for provision of the lovely clear perspex lid, so the nice blinky lights are visible!

We are confident this addition will be an overall improvement in operation, user count and accessibility for remotely located users.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups.

Dave (EI5IMB)

EI2TKR Keeper.

Donegal Amateur Radio Club.

Hi All,

Over the last few months we have been experimenting with internet linking EI2TKR via AllStar & EchoLink.

We are happy to say that these tests have concluded and levels/hardware for the node is woirking correctly and as expected.

Hardware Details:

- Raspberry Pi Running HamVoIP.

- CM108 USB Sound Card (modified for PTT and radio interconnect).

- TAIT TM8110 linked and configured for EI2TKR Frequencies.

- Mascott 12v Power Supply.

The final step is to move the node onto a 4G router (rather than the keepers' home connection) which requires a VPN to attain a static IP address.

These changes should be an overall improvement in operation, user count and accessibility for remotely located users.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups including "Donegal Amateur Radio Club".

De Dave, EI5IMB - (EI2TKR Keeper).

Hi All,

Here is an update on the works/repairs/improvements completed on EI2TKR recently...

(1 - Item) Receive sensitivity lower than usual.

(1 - Action) Device directly above repeater location is electro-mechanical and when it operates, it had an affect on the repeaters receive as both it and the repeater cabinet are connected to the same earthing point. Also, the outer part of the connector going to the antenna was touching the steel of the cabinet right beside this device. Insulating the connector from the cabinet and other steelwork has rectified the problem.

(2 - Item) SWR up to 1:6/1:7 on repeater.

(2 - Action) Test of antenna showed not the issue. Test of TX side of cavities showed slightly off. Small adjustment in TX cavities brought it back to 1:1.

(3 - Item) Mobile fluttering and weak stations getting "bip" clipped by repeater as they go in and out of ceverage.

(3 - Action) Experimented and tested with a number of different tail pip, gating and hang time settings. The final combination of settings that worked best was:

- RX Gating = Off Completely

- Tail Pip = Off Completely

- Hangtime  = 1800ms

These changes should be an overall improvement in operation and readability of mobile and weaker stations particularly.

Please remember the repeater has a timeout of 4-minutes and ideally let it fully key down between each over to let it reset this timer.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups including "Donegal Amateur Radio Club".

De Dave, EI5IMB - (EI2TKR Keeper).

Hi All,

We have identified a service quality degredation on EI2TKR over the last few days.

The repeater seems to be active but with degraded loss of signal quality/strength.

I will make every effort to get up to it in the coming days to diagnose and repair.

Thanks as always for your support, and any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant Facebook Groups including "Donegal Amateur Radio Club".

De Dave, EI5IMB - (EI2TKR Keeper).

Hi All,

On 8th February 2023, EI1DRC (Donegal Amateur Radio Club) hosted the frist net on the new repeater since its revival, and the first net to go through the hill an many years.

Thanks to all who took the time to call-in and send in reports.

14 Call-Ins.

3 x SWL Reports.

8 x Counties (Antrim, Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Tyrone, Westmeath, Leitrim).

De Dave, EI5IMB - (EI2TKR Keeper).

EI2TKR is back activate again on a presently dormant systems' antenna setup on the mountain.

The RX issue was resolved by replacing the LMR400 cable (from the cavities to the lightning arrestor) with RG214U. The main difference between these cables is that the RG214U dielectric is gel instead of foam, and more critically, the double sheilding is two layers of braided conductor, rather than one being a foil layer.

I would like to thank Neil (EI3JE) for his ongoing advice on issues including this one.

This repeater will be live in this location for an undetermined period of time as we continue to negotiate with the main site owners for reinstallation permanently.

We would invite all operators and SWLs to send reports directly to myself, specicially on:

- Your Location(s).

- Readability & strength of the repeater to your location.

- Whether you can open it from your location.

We will continue to persue getting this up and running permanently in the near future, and as always, any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant social media via the Donegal Amateur Radio Club Facebook page.

Hi All,

Unfortunately it seems that the RX fault on the repeater has returned...

The casue of the issue is still unknown, and it is my intention to resolve as soon as possible.

Apologies, and I hope to get it back up and running asap!

As always, the latest update on the issue will be posted here first, and thereafter shared on the Club Facebook Page.

De EI5IMB - (Dave).

Hi All,

I managed to get up for a quick visit tothe repeater before the weekend and believe I have found the issue.

As suspected, I believe it was a faulty patch lead from the RX filter to the radio RX port which has now been replaced.

Thank you to EI4HNB Daniel, EI3HA Tony, EI7IIB Martin & GI4SXV Eric for assistance in testing the fix.

I will continue to monitor the repeater functionality, but it has definietely improved since the cable replacement.

De EI5IMB - (Dave).

Hi All,

Unfortunately I have detected some sort of fauly that seems to be affecting the RX of the repeater, and possibly the TX also.

The casue of the issue is yet to be discovered, and it is my intention to resolve as soon as possible.

Apologies, and especially as I had only just publicly posted asking for signal reports!

As always, the latest update on the issue will be posted here first, and thereafter shared on the Club Facebook Page.

De EI5IMB - (Dave).

We will continue to persue getting this up and running permanently in the near future, and as always, any updates shall be posted on this blog and shared on relevant social media via the Donegal Amateur Radio Club Facebook page.