Difference between revisions of "GB3EY - Near Hull IO93RS"

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'''UPDATE: GB3EY now operational'''  EY repeated its first digital pictures on the 22nd November 2020. Please send reports of reception to clive AT hesh.co.uk
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'''Now fully digital. Please send reports of reception to clive @ hesh.co.uk'''
  
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'''Output: 1308MHz, DVB-S, QPSK, 1000kS/s, MPEG/H262, FEC 3/4, Left channel audio only.'''
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'''Output: 1308MHz, DVB-S2, QPSK, 1000kS/s, H.264, FEC 3/4, stereo audio.'''
  
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'''Input: 1275MHz, DVB-S QPSK or DVB-S2 QPSK or DVB-S2 8PSK, 333 or 1000kS/s, H262 or H264 or H265, any valid FEC, Left and Right audio channels strapped together.'''
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'''Input: 1275MHz, DVB-S QPSK or DVB-S2 QPSK or DVB-S2 8PSK, 250, 333, or 500kS/s, H262, H264 or H265, any valid FEC'''
  
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'''Note that GB3EY is switched off between midnight and midday every day to save electricity.'''  
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'''The QTH locator is IO93RS37ME'''
  
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A new NoV was issued for GB3EY in August 2018 allowing the move to the East Yorkshire Repeater Group's site at Cave Wold Radio Station near South Cave in East Yorkshire. The QTH locator is IO93RS37ME. The new site is 155m ASL with a good take off in most directions. The predicted coverage was created using Radiomobile and assumes 10m mast with a 15dBi antenna at the receiving end. This will be a substantial improvement over the old site on the North Sea coast at Aldbrough.<br>
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'''When idle, the repeater relays the ATV calling channel (144.750MHz CTCSS 88.5Hz) on its sound channel
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[[File:GB3EY Coverage.jpg|frame|center|GB3EY Coverage]]<br>
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 +
'''Note that GB3EY is switched off between 11pm and 2pm every day to save electricity.'''
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<br><br>
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[[File:GB3EY Coverage.jpg|frame|center|GB3EY Coverage]]
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                                      The site is 155m ASL and the Alford Slot antenna is at 180m ASL with a good take off in most directions. The predicted coverage was created using Radiomobile and assumes 10m mast with a 15dBi antenna at the receiving end<br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
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The repeater is returning using digital ATV to reduce the bandwidth occupied. The parameters are currently 1MS/s, FEC 3/4, with MPEG-2 encoding on 1308MHz. Test transmissions were run from a temporary mast from August to October 2019 until the main tower was renovated and a single Alford Slot antenna was installed at 25m AGL fed with 33m of Andrews LDF5-50A. The Alford was made by G3GJA and uses a coaxial 4:1 balun formed from RG402 semi-rigid. This was found to be much easier to construct and test than the usual slotted sides coax balun approach.<br>
+
The repeater transmits 1000kS/s, FEC 3/4, with H.264 encoding on 1308MHz from a single Alford Slot antenna that was installed at 25m AGL fed with 33m of Andrews LDF5-50A. The Alford was made by G3GJA and uses a coaxial 4:1 balun formed from RG402 semi-rigid. This was found to be much easier to construct and test than the usual slotted sides coax balun approach. A work party at the EYRG site checking the P80 tower with 5m extension. A further 3m extension has been added for the Alford Slot<br><br>
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[[File:tower.jpg|400px]]<br>
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The transmitter, comprising of a ALDALM Pluto SDR and two modules funded by G4YTV, were made by Bert PE1RKI. They provide 11 watts of RF power at the output the duplexer. The duplex filter, a two pole transmit leg inter-digital filter and a five pole inter-digital receive filter were sourced from ID Electronik Gmbh in Germany. The filters allow GB3EY to use a single antenna without any desense and at the same time apply in excess of 100dB of attenuation to the Claxby Radar on 1254.5MHz just 20.5MHz from the input frequency. The radar runs 400MW EIRP and is only 25 miles from the repeater and puts -10dBm into the repeater.<br><br>
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A work party at the EYRG site checking the P80 tower with 5m extension. A further 3m extension has been added for the Alford Slot<br><br>
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[[File:tower.jpg|500px]]<br>
  
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A temporary breadboard (actually plywood!) transmitter comprising of a BATC DTX1, a G4DDK PGA103+ pre-drive, a G4BAO driver and a G8EQZ built M57762 Mitsubishi bipolar brick PA producing 4.8w RMS has been running test transmissions since then. So far it has been received at 79km from the repeater which is very good for 11w ERP. A video source derived from a first generation Raspberry Pi provides a slideshow of testcards and photos of East Yorkshire. No inputs are available at this time.
 
  
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Progress to date is good; the logic from the analogue repeater has been renovated and updated by Bill G3RMX, a Comag receiver has been found and the transmitter, comprising of two modules funded by G4YTV and made by Bert PE1RKI have been tested and mounted on the RF deck along with two SMPS for 12v and 28v rails . The original G3JVL filter has been retuned and a new duplex filter has been tested but it flashed over at the 20w power level. A solution using Teflon tubing will be tried to correct the problem. Isolation between the TX and Rx ports of the duplexer at 1308MHz is 75dB which might just be enough without further filtering from the JVL filter for single antenna working.
 
  
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In the longer term, a dual band beam for 2m and 70cm will be installed with a Minitioune for inputs on those bands in the future with 333kS/s or similar RBDATV signals. G4YTV has funded a HamKits video switcher that will be used to build a new logic around a Raspberry Pi. We hope to resurrect GB3XY the 10GHz ATV repeater, that was operational from the same site, as a DATV repeater linked to GB3EY. However, designs for upconverters for 3cm are not readily available.
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The BATC Repeater Controller software running on a Raspberry Pi replaced the logic from the FM analogue repeater in January 2024 when the repeater was converted from digital>analogue>digital to digital signal paths only. It takes incoming video from a BATC Ryde receiver and Khune 132A2 pre-amp via seamless quad HDMI switches that select the source to be relayed. It is then passed to a LinkPi ENC v2 encoder that produces two H.264 IP streams; one at HD resolution is sent to the BATC Streamer and the other at full HD resolution is sent via Ethernet to the SDR. The BATC Streamer feed can be seen here: http://batc.org.uk/live/gb3ey. The Internet is linked to the repeater site by a 6cm link over a 10km path that gives up to 80Mbps downstream / upstream.
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<br><br>
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[[File:M0SKM.jpg|500px]],<br>
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M0SKM nr Dunstable as seen through GB3EY at 209km
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<br><br>
  
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The site is exclusively used by the East Yorkshire Repeater Group and is a former Pye Telecoms location. It also hosts GB3HS a 2m triple mode repeater, GB7HU a 70cm D-Star repeater and a Raynet repeater that can be configured for cross-band 2m / 70cm or in-band 70cm operation.
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The repeater links parts of Yorkshire with ATV that can't be worked direct on 2m, so extensive use is made of GB3NY on 430.8375MHz (CTCSS tone A, 67Hz) for talkback. GB3NY is located 2.8km north of GB3EY and has a similar coverage area.<br>
 +
The repeater also has a 144.750MHz audio input (CTCSS 88.5Hz) that is active when the repeater is idle and showing slides.<br><br>
  
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'''UPDATE: GB3EY operational'''
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The site is exclusively used by the East Yorkshire Repeater Group and is a former Pye Telecoms location. It also hosts GB3HS a 2m dual mode repeater, GB7HU a 70cm D-Star repeater, an ADS-B receiver feeding ADS-B Exchange and a Netmore LoRaWAN unit.<br><br>
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EY repeated its first digital pictures on the 22nd November 2020. Please send reports of reception to clive (AT) hesh.co.uk.
 
  
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Following a long period of development, during which the beacon mode was disabled, improvements were made to the following:
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[[File:GB3EY installation.jpg|500px]] <br>GB3EY on 24/01/2024<br>
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<br>
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1. A replacement was sought for the Comag set-top box to give 1MS/s and H264. Several were tried and one looked promising as with two they could be made to switch between 1 and 2MS/s but they would lock up and give no video despite showing a locked status. Eventually, a headless version of the BATC Ryde was built to give 333kS/s and 1MS/s, DVBS and DVB-S2, H262,H264 and H265. This was funded by the BATC Bursary scheme.
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A new NoV was issued for GB3EY in August 2018 allowing the move to the East Yorkshire Repeater Group's site at Cave Wold Radio Station near South Cave in East Yorkshire. Test transmissions were run from a temporary mast and transmitter from August to October 2019 until the main tower was renovated and extended. EY relayed its first digital pictures on the 22nd November 2020 and all digital operation commenced on the 24 January 2024. The move has proved to be a vast improvement over the old site on the North Sea coast at Aldbrough.
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2. The JVL filter was too big to fit in a cabinet and it didn't provide any protection against the Claxby Radar on 1254.5MHz. A bandpass filter with two notches (1254.5 and 1308MHz) was obtained from Germany and the duplex filter tuning improved by replacing the 0.5mm air dielectric with Teflon tubing over the resonators
 
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3. The DTX1 modulator only works with broadcast standard syncs. The BATC I2C based logic used on the analogue GB3EY does not use interlacing so a new SPG was built around the ZNA134 (CAT18 goody bag) and the I2C genlock chip was added and new syncs fed to it. The RGB feed from the I2C boards was then fed with the ZNA134 syncs to a new PAL encoder using the AD724. This gives a much improved, broadcast quality video output.
 
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4. The logic was modified to accept a digital locked status from the receiver to replace the 15.625kHz line frequency detector that was used for a signal on the input flag.
 
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5. A fault in the video switcher (MAX444) was traced to an IC socket pin not pushed through the PCB
 
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6. The switched mode power supplies were found to be noisy and the 5v output failed twice for no apparent reason. That and the -12v SMPS were replaced with high efficiency modules and Pi filters placed on the inputs and outputs.
 
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7. Logic cooling was improved with a larger fan.
 
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8. The duplexer repeatedly flashed over, so a new duplexer was bought from ID-Elecktronik to go with the receiver filter from them. A 13dB gain pre-amp was placed between the duplexer and the Rx bandpass filter.
 
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9. Fans were added to the PSUs to improve cooling and a baffle was fitted around the main PA fan intake to stop air being recirculated.
 
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10. A Portsdown streamer has been installed. Video and audio is sampled from the Tx feed and then sent to the BATC Streamer here: http://batc.org.uk/live/gb3ey
 
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11. The Internet feed sent by a 6cm link over a 10km path was improved to get the speed up to 16Mbps downstream / 8Mbps upstream.  
 
  
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[[File:GB3EY Rx.jpg|400px]],<br>
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We hope to resurrect GB3XY the 10GHz ATV repeater, that was operational from the same site, as a DATV repeater linked to GB3EY. An antenna, duplexer, power amplifier, 3cm transverter kit and an encoder have been acquired for the project. It's hoped to repair EY's old Ryde to use as a receiver for XY.
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Headless Ryde receiver built for GB3EY
 

Latest revision as of 21:57, 22 February 2024

Now fully digital. Please send reports of reception to clive @ hesh.co.uk

Output: 1308MHz, DVB-S2, QPSK, 1000kS/s, H.264, FEC 3/4, stereo audio.

Input: 1275MHz, DVB-S QPSK or DVB-S2 QPSK or DVB-S2 8PSK, 250, 333, or 500kS/s, H262, H264 or H265, any valid FEC

The QTH locator is IO93RS37ME

When idle, the repeater relays the ATV calling channel (144.750MHz CTCSS 88.5Hz) on its sound channel

Note that GB3EY is switched off between 11pm and 2pm every day to save electricity.

GB3EY Coverage
                                     The site is 155m ASL and the Alford Slot antenna is at 180m ASL with a good take off in most directions. The predicted coverage was created using Radiomobile and assumes 10m mast with a 15dBi antenna at the receiving end


The repeater transmits 1000kS/s, FEC 3/4, with H.264 encoding on 1308MHz from a single Alford Slot antenna that was installed at 25m AGL fed with 33m of Andrews LDF5-50A. The Alford was made by G3GJA and uses a coaxial 4:1 balun formed from RG402 semi-rigid. This was found to be much easier to construct and test than the usual slotted sides coax balun approach. A work party at the EYRG site checking the P80 tower with 5m extension. A further 3m extension has been added for the Alford Slot

The transmitter, comprising of a ALDALM Pluto SDR and two modules funded by G4YTV, were made by Bert PE1RKI. They provide 11 watts of RF power at the output the duplexer. The duplex filter, a two pole transmit leg inter-digital filter and a five pole inter-digital receive filter were sourced from ID Electronik Gmbh in Germany. The filters allow GB3EY to use a single antenna without any desense and at the same time apply in excess of 100dB of attenuation to the Claxby Radar on 1254.5MHz just 20.5MHz from the input frequency. The radar runs 400MW EIRP and is only 25 miles from the repeater and puts -10dBm into the repeater.

Tower.jpg


The BATC Repeater Controller software running on a Raspberry Pi replaced the logic from the FM analogue repeater in January 2024 when the repeater was converted from digital>analogue>digital to digital signal paths only. It takes incoming video from a BATC Ryde receiver and Khune 132A2 pre-amp via seamless quad HDMI switches that select the source to be relayed. It is then passed to a LinkPi ENC v2 encoder that produces two H.264 IP streams; one at HD resolution is sent to the BATC Streamer and the other at full HD resolution is sent via Ethernet to the SDR. The BATC Streamer feed can be seen here: http://batc.org.uk/live/gb3ey. The Internet is linked to the repeater site by a 6cm link over a 10km path that gives up to 80Mbps downstream / upstream.

M0SKM.jpg,
M0SKM nr Dunstable as seen through GB3EY at 209km

The repeater links parts of Yorkshire with ATV that can't be worked direct on 2m, so extensive use is made of GB3NY on 430.8375MHz (CTCSS tone A, 67Hz) for talkback. GB3NY is located 2.8km north of GB3EY and has a similar coverage area.
The repeater also has a 144.750MHz audio input (CTCSS 88.5Hz) that is active when the repeater is idle and showing slides.

The site is exclusively used by the East Yorkshire Repeater Group and is a former Pye Telecoms location. It also hosts GB3HS a 2m dual mode repeater, GB7HU a 70cm D-Star repeater, an ADS-B receiver feeding ADS-B Exchange and a Netmore LoRaWAN unit.

GB3EY installation.jpg
GB3EY on 24/01/2024

A new NoV was issued for GB3EY in August 2018 allowing the move to the East Yorkshire Repeater Group's site at Cave Wold Radio Station near South Cave in East Yorkshire. Test transmissions were run from a temporary mast and transmitter from August to October 2019 until the main tower was renovated and extended. EY relayed its first digital pictures on the 22nd November 2020 and all digital operation commenced on the 24 January 2024. The move has proved to be a vast improvement over the old site on the North Sea coast at Aldbrough.

We hope to resurrect GB3XY the 10GHz ATV repeater, that was operational from the same site, as a DATV repeater linked to GB3EY. An antenna, duplexer, power amplifier, 3cm transverter kit and an encoder have been acquired for the project. It's hoped to repair EY's old Ryde to use as a receiver for XY.

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