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VKLink Repeater Linking Project

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:48 am
by VK7HH
Hi All,
I've opened this thread up to discuss, support and encourage toward the VKLink Repeater project.

Currently as I type this we have 29 nodes operational, including three on six metres. Why not build one yourself? All you need is a Raspberry Pi, a radio and a USB soundcard to start.

http://www.vklink.com.au/

http://status.vklink.com.au/

We'd love to see some nodes in VK4 and VK5 especially. Many would have seen my article "Building a Simulcasting & Voting Repeater System using VKLink" in the most recent edition of AR. However I'll also post that article here for some to read.
Simulcast AR article original.pdf
(799.78 KiB) Downloaded 307 times
Monday night's we have been running a TechNet with connected nodes around VK. Why not join in?

https://www.facebook.com/vkzltechnet/

73 for now
Hayden VK7HH

Re: VKLink Repeater Linking Project

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 12:21 pm
by VK5PJ
Hi Hayden,
could the hardware be adapted to be and end to end VOIP like for getting audio to and from a remote site?

we have a 2M and 70cm repeater we would like to link so maybe this is the way to do it as both locations have ethernet onto an ISP's internal network. I guess then we could graduate to external links as well.

Re: VKLink Repeater Linking Project

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 12:23 pm
by VK7HH
Hi Peter,
Yes. Using a Raspberry Pi with appropriate soundcard you can interface directly to the repeater. This is what I have done with several repeaters. The Pi/soundcard sits on a link port of a controller on site. Ethernet straight into the Pi. We then have a script that keeps one of the nodes (repeaters) connected to the remote node (other repeater).

Re: VKLink Repeater Linking Project

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 10:30 pm
by VK3MIX
Hi Hayden,

I tried to give VKLINK a whirl a few years back and again this year. Unfortunately for me I had no luck in getting the system to function, tried every raspberry pi image available on their website and kept getting errors when running the USB interface tests. When the Grampians Linked Repeater System linked into IRLP it made sense for us to setup IRLP here in Horsham as we continue along the Western Highway to further extend that coverage.

Andrew
VK3MIX

Re: VKLink Repeater Linking Project

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 12:08 pm
by VK3VS
VK3MIX wrote:Hi Hayden,

I tried to give VKLINK a whirl a few years back and again this year. Unfortunately for me I had no luck in getting the system to function, tried every raspberry pi image available on their website and kept getting errors when running the USB interface tests. When the Grampians Linked Repeater System linked into IRLP it made sense for us to setup IRLP here in Horsham as we continue along the Western Highway to further extend that coverage.

Andrew
VK3MIX
Gday. I saw your node come up several times. The usb errors would be an incorrect configuration.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Re: VKLink Repeater Linking Project

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 12:57 pm
by VK7HH
VK3MIX wrote:kept getting errors when running the USB interface tests.
Hi Andrew,
What specific errors were you getting? All of the setup procedure is as per the manual so you shouldn’t have too many issues there.

Give your node another go and maybe post your issues on the forum and a few of us can help out.