Hi All,
A progress report…
I now have node 2257, 2258, and 2462 ready to make the trip up the hill. (It’s only been 2 years of testing!)
This will be going to the VE3RTR repeater site about an hours drive east of Toronto.
We have a VHF-FM, 2 x UHF-FM, and a D-star VHF repeater at the site.
Our Internet is via Wireless ISP.
The node has been on the bench burning in and rebooted several times over the last week.
I’ve tried various PCs in my earlier “testing phase”, and have settled on the ACID install on a Shuttle Mini-PC.
ACID installs issue-free on this hardware, and has given me no problems.
The ICH7 I/O controller on the K45 supports 8 USB 2.0 interfaces, and the K45 Motherboard has 4 on the back and 4 internal, via double-header USB connectors.
Shuttle K45 Mini-Computer (about 3 years old)
Intel Core 2 DUO E7600 3GHz
Intel 945 GC + ICH7 chipset
2GB RAM
Emphase SATA Flash Module (8GB)
8 USB ports. (4 externally on the back, and 4 from motherboard headers extended to back)
The shuttle PC has a Fan. [I’ve had another Shuttle PC running the D-star gateway at the repeater site for 3 years. The SSD in the gateway died, the fan in that PC is still fine!)
There are 3 USB Radio Interfaces - URIx with eeprom.
Planning to use these in Simple USB mode, extending the COS and PL lines from the repeater.
This will be interfaced to FR-5000 ICOM on VE3RTR VHF, FR-6000 ICOM repeater on VE3RTR UHF, and an FR-4000 Icom on VE3MXR.
Each have a DB-25 interface connector on the back with I/O connections, some of which are programmable as to function in the radio service software.
Best,
Randy VE3RWN / W3RWN
a hour east of Toronto.