So, I have managed to get my public allstar node, which is connected to our local UHF repeater to connect to my private node, which is connected to a VHF link radio going up to our repeater on the mountain top that has no internet. It is all working pretty well. The chief complaint is that the audio coming out of the UHF repeater is quite low. very low in fact. If I turn off the allstar node and use the repeater normally, the audio is very good, but when I turn on the allstar node, the audio goes down hill immediately. this is a bridgecom repeater, not the cream of the crop i am aware, but it is what we have. what I am finding difficult understanding is why the node when connected to the port on the repeater is having an effect on the audio that should be just going straight through the repeater but it does. I should mention that this low audio problem was occurring before I installed the link radio. Does anyone have any experience with this?
so here is what I discovered. The dra30m are not usually recommended for the bridgecom repeaters. They do not include any audio amplifiers in the circuit. Kevin at masters communications, said they recommend the ra40 or ra42 for the bridgecom systems as they do include audio amplifiers in the circuit. I tried turning up the pots in the dra30m to increase the audio input, but they were already full stop. upon closer inspection, the cable was built using pin 8 on the bridgecom which is DEMODULATED audio. pin 7 is DE-EMPHASIZED audio. I switched to pin 7 and what would you know, the audio rose up to an acceptable level.
my chief complaint in all of this experience is this, masters communications makes really nice products, however, their documentation is very lacking. It is scattered in several places on their website and no real meaningful menu to find the stuff easily. Their documentation is pretty much a 'what this is' sort of paper without any real suggestions on how to adjust or implement their products.
that is all