==== G4KLX ircDDB Gateway Installation on Windows ==== === Download === The G4KLX ircDDB Gateway is distributed through the "ircDDB Gateway" Yahoo! group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ircDDBGateway/files. Switch to the "Beta" or "Release" directories and download the executable file (*.exe) or the source code (*.zip). The executable and source code may also be downloaded from http://db0fhn.efi.fh-nuernberg.de/~g4klx in the "ircDDB Gateway" directory. Other open source D-Star software (clients and repeaters) is also available from this location. === Data flow diagram === {{:projects:dstar:ircddb:ircddb-g4klx.png?600|Data Flow Diagram}} === Router configuration === The following ports needs to be forwarded from the router to the machine running the ircDDB gateway: * UDP 40000 (call sign routing digital voice) * UDP 30001 (dextra digital voice) === Installation and configuration === Run the installer and start the "ircDDB Gateway" application from the start menu. If your Windows Firewall wants to block the the application click on "Don't block". Once the application is open you need to adjust the Preferences using the Menu "Edit -> Preferences": {{:projects:dstar:ircddb:ircddb-gateway-preferences.png|Preferences}} At the tab "Gateway" you need to adjust your gateway callsign. **ICOM Controller**: To attach an ICOM Controller you will need an additional network adapter built into your gateway machine. Usually the local network 172.16.0.0/24 (RFC1918 compatible) is used. The default IP address of the gateway is 172.16.0.20 and for the ICOM controller 172.16.0.1. Therefore you should configure the IP-address 172.16.0.20 on your additional network adapter and put 172.16.0.20 into the address field at tab "Gateway". Set the type to "ICOM". **G4KLX D-Star Repeater** or **G4KLX GMSK Repeater**: You can leave the default address 127.0.0.1 and port 20000 for your gateway if you are running the D-Star Repeater (Soundcard) or the GMSK Repeater (USB-DV-Adapter) on the same machine as the ircDDB Gateway. Set the type to "Homebrew". {{:projects:dstar:ircddb:ircddb-gateway-preferences-gateway.png|Gateway}} The most gateways use module A for 23cm, module B for 70cm and module C for 2m. **ICOM Controller**: Use the tab "Repeater 1" **only** to configure the connection to the ICOM Controller. Put the IP of the ICOM controller (default = 172.16.0.1) into the address field. Change the UDP Port to the default port of "20000". Set Band "A" on tab "Repeater 1", Band "B" on tab "Repeater 2" and Band "C" on tab "Repeater 3". The address and port of tab "Repeater 2" and "Repeater 3" are ignored. It is currently not possible to mix an ICOM setup with a Homebrew setup. You can choose to link a module to a dextra reflector e.g. "XRF023 module A on startup". The reflector will be linked again to XRF023 after 30 minutes being unlinked. To permanently link a module to a reflector choose "fixed" (this will disable linking and unlinking commands for users). **G4KLX D-Star Repeater** or **G4KLX GMSK Repeater**: Use the tab "Repeater 1" to configure your first module. The defaults put in "Address" (127.0.0.1) and "Port" (20001) will fit with the defaults of a fresh installation of the G4KLX D-Star or GMSK Repeater if installed on the same machine (localhost). Set the Band to the corresponding Band on RF (if possible). Use tab "Repeater 2 & 3" to add more modules. You can choose to link a module to a dextra reflector e.g. "XRF023 module A on startup". The reflector will be linked again to XRF023 after 30 minutes being unlinked. To permanently link a module to a reflector choose "fixed" (this will disable linking and unlinking commands for users). {{:projects:dstar:ircddb:ircddb-gateway-preferences-repeater.png|}} Now we need to put the information, provided by the ircDDB network team after registration by email, into the tab "ircDDB". {{:projects:dstar:ircddb:ircddb-gateway-preferences-ircddb.png|}} Welcome to the ircDDB network... ==== G4KLX D-Star Repeater & GMSK Repeater Installation on Windows ==== === Download and Installation === The G4KLX D-Star Repeater & GMSK Repeater is distributed using the "pcrepeatercontroller" yahoogroup: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pcrepeatercontroller/files/G4KLX. Download the latest executable file (*.exe) and run the installer. === Configuration === Please read "Usage.txt" (Start -> Programs -> Repeater -> Usage). Here is a copy of version 20100826. Repeater - 20100826 =================== This is an analogue and D-Star (audio and GMSK modem) repeater control unit that runs under Windows and Linux. The analogue repeater includes most of the features expected of a UK repeater logic unit, while the D-Star repeater is usable in all parts of the world as it mimics an Icom D-Star repeater. It is customisable to behave in a number of different ways, and to mimic existing repeater logic units. Further provision is made with the analogue controller to include an external inputfrom a program such as EchoLink or IRLP. In addition there is a DExtra Gateway and Parrot Controller which are meant to operate with the D-Star and GMSK Repeaters to provide further facilities. The DExtra Gateway allows access to the DExtra reflectors and gateways, and the Parrot Controller can generate audio beacons or echo incoming transmissions after a selectable delay. Hardware -------- If you are using the sound card based repeaters you will need, as well as a PC, you'll also need a Velleman K8055 USB control board, or a URI USB combined audio card and ports, or a serial port, which handles all of the interfacing to the outside world, apart from the audio (except the URI USB). A serial port, real or virtual may also be used by the software to interface the analogue repeater to external programs or hardware. For the GMSK Repeater you will need a Satoshi compatible GMSK modem. For the Analogue Repeater the following are used: Function Velleman URI USB Serial Port RF Squelch 1 / External CTCSS Input Input 1 8 DSR RF Squelch 2 Input 2 7 CTS External Squelch Input 3 - - Battery Operation Input 4 6 - Disable Input 5 5 - RF Transmit Output 1 1 DTR External Transmit Output 2 - - Heartbeat Output 3 2 RTS Active Output 4 - - Output 1 on the GUI Output 5 3 - Output 2 on the GUI Output 6 4 - Output 3 on the GUI Output 7 - - Output 4 on the GUI Output 8 - - RF Squelch 1 and RF Squelch 2 are connected to a squelch output of the receiver, and are used to allow different squelch settings to be used for different access techniques. RF Squelch 1 is typically set to a lower threshold than RF Squelch 2 and represents the squelch used when receiving an input signal with the correct CTCSS frequency, RF Squelch 2 is used when accessing the repeater with carrier only and when starting the repeater up with a 1750 Hz tone and no CTCSS. In the absence of two squelch outputs, both should be connected together and switched as one. The software does its own audio muting so the radio does not need to control the audio itself unless it does already. The External CTCSS Input is connected to an external hardware CTCSS decoder as provided on some receivers. The choice to use this, or the internal decoder along with RF Squelch 1 is determined by a setting within the GUI. The External Squelch is used with external programs such as EchoLink or IRLP and is switched to indicate that audio is being received from this second source. Unlike the RF Squelch, there is only one, and it is not expected that the input audio from the external source will have either CTCSS or a toneburst attached. This input is also available from an optional serial port pin. It is probable that both programs will be running on the same PC and the serial port in question will be a virtual null modem cable rather than real hardware. An optional Battery Operation is provided so that the repeater can indicate to users that it is using batteries and therefore should be used sparingly. This is indicated by a change of the Ack as well as an entry on the status screen of the GUI. The Disable input is used to set the repeaters in to Shutdown mode, and when released will restore it into Listening mode. This input can be used as either an external hardware shutdown facility. A more interesting use is to connect this input to an Active output of another repeater to allow for two repeaters (e.g. analogue and D-Star) to operate side by side. This would require two sets of audio cards and controller boards, as well as audio splitters/combiners. The outputs include two which represent the internal status of the software and two for controlling "transmitters", real or virtual. The two status outputs are Heartbeat and Active, Heartbeat toggles every one second when the software is running correctly and is anindication of the health of the software. A lack of toggling of this line indicates that the software has hung and is in need of restarting. Active goes high when the repeater transmits and for a period afterwards, this period being set within the configuration programs. In the analogue repeater this line does not have the delay when only sending the beacon. RF Transmit is to key the repeater transmitter, and is allied to the Squelch1 and Squelch2 input lines. External Transmitter is indicative that audio for transmission over the external system (EchoLink or IRLP for example), this output is also optionally available on the same serial port that as the External Squelch input. The four remaining outputs, if supported, can be used to control external hardware, and are accessed from the GUI menu. For the audio D-Star Repeater the following are used: Function Velleman URI USB Serial Port Unused Input 1 - - Unused Input 2 - - Unused Input 3 - - Unused Input 4 - - Unused Input 5 - - Transmit Output 1 1 DTR Unused Output 2 - - Heartbeat Output 3 2 RTS Active Output 4 - - Output 1 on the GUI Output 5 3 - Output 2 on the GUI Output 6 4 - Output 3 on the GUI Output 7 - - Output 4 on the GUI Output 8 - - The meanings of the pins are identical to those used on the analogue repeater apart from only having one transmit output and no external battery input. See the definitions above for more information about the pins that are used. The Analogue Repeater --------------------- AnalogueRepeater.exe [-nolog] [config name] analoguerepeater [-nolog] [config name] analoguerepeaterd [-nolog] [config name] On Windows the Analogue Repeater program is named AnalogueRepeater.exe and is a GUI based program, as is the Linux version which is named analoguerepeater. Also on Linux is a program named analoguerepeaterd which is a command line version of the repeater. All versions have an optional parameter which signifies the configuration to be used, and this must be set on the command line when running as well as configuring the repeater. This name will appear on the title bar as well as affecting the name of the log file used. The program is configured by choosing the Preferences option under the Edit menu entry at the top of the screen. The Callsign tab allows for the setting of both the repeater Callsign which is heard at intervals when the repeater is in use, and the Beacon which is only heard when the repeater is not in use. The Callsign will be something simiar to "GB3IN B" while the Beacon would be similar to "GB3IN B IO93GD". All of the letters and numbers are allowed as well as /?=, and space. The keying speed (8-25 WPM), tone (500-2000 Hz) and two audio levels are settable here. The first audio level is that used for the Callsign and Beacon when there is no other audio being transmitted by the repeater, while the second audio level is that used when the callsign is being transmitted underneath a relayed station. The Acknowledgements tab is where information about the acknowledgment for both radio and external transmissions is set, these are free from text that are constrained to be valid CW characters. Typical values would be none, K, or E, although almost any ack is possible. To emulate a repeater which sends a series of pips before closedown, set the ack text to be "E E" where the number of spaces controls the delay between the pips, as well as the speed setting. The Speed, Frequency and Level settings are identical in function to those settings for the Repeater Ids above, but there is only one level setting. The Ack sets the amount of time between the end of a transmission and the acknowledgment is set, this is usually one second, but can be between one and three seconds. The Minimum sets the number of seconds that a transmission must be present before an acknowledgment will be sent, this can be between zero and ten seconds, where zero indicates no mimumum transmission is needed. Probably not a good idea! The Ack changes to a dah-di-di-dit (B) when the Battery Operation input is set, regardless of the settings of the radio and external acks, although the tone, speed and deviation of it is taken from the settings used for those other acks. The Timers tab allows for the setting of various timers that regulate the operating of the logic. Most of the settings are obvious. The Timeout sets the number of seconds that a transmission may last before the repeater times out and stops transmitting the audio. When that time is reached, the output audio is replaced by a standard telephone style busy tone until the offending transmission ends. The level of the busy tone is the same as that used for first callsign level. Setting the timeout to zero disables it. The Lockout Time is the length of time the repeater will send the busy tone before sending its callsign and closing down. The Hang Time is the time between the last acknowledgement (audible or not) and the close down of the repeater in the absence of any further input. The Latch Time is the minimum transmission length required before the repeater stays transmitting, otherwise the transmitter closes down when the input signal disappears and the repeater needs accessing from cold again. This feature is designed to stop people switching on a repeater without making an effort to identify. To disable this feature, set the Latch Time to zero. The Access Tones tab is where the tones for accessing the repeater via the radio are set. Traditionally a 1750 Hz toneburst is used to access repeaters and here that detecter can be enabled or disabled, as well as the detection Threshold set. The detection threshold is a measure of the sensitivity of the decoder to the tone to stop false triggering on weak noisy signals for example. The bandwidth of the toneburst detecter is 25 Hz. The CTCSS Frequency is set here too. All EIA CTCSS frequencies are defined, and the ones used in the UK also include the tone letter, there is also a None option. Like the toneburst option, there is a detection Threshold to set, which will typically be lower than that for a toneburst due to the lower deviation used, and in addition an output Level is also settable. The CTCSS Hang Time is to allow a period of grace after the CTCSS tone has dropped when the station may still access the repeater, it can be though of as a CTCSS squelch tail. This helps with weak stations and only operated with the internal CTCSS detector. The output CTCSS tone can be set to be one of four modes, never, when the repeater is open, when audio is being relayed, and when the transmitter is keyed. It is possible to use an external hardware CTCSS decoder by choosing External as the CTCSS Source, which disables the internal CTCSS decoder and expects Input 1 to be used to signal the presence of a signal with CTCSS. To disable the transmitted CTCSS tone, simply set the CTCSS Level to 0%. The absence of tones allows the repeater to be carrier accessed, and only the Squelch 2 input is monitored for the radio side. Note that this feature is currently disabled. The external input does not use either CTCSS or 1750 Hz toneburst for access. The Feel tab is where miscellaneous settings about the repeater operation are set. Currently this includes the options for transmiting the Callsign when the repeater is first opened up, this may be immediately when the repeater is opened, or when the input transmission has exceeded the latch time. If no latch time has been set then this option is meaningless. Sending the Callsign when the repeater is about to close down is also selectable. Transmission of any of these callsigns resets the Callsign timer above. Finally the type of timeout tones is settable, you can choose from the German telephone busy tone, the very similar British telephone busy tone, or the American telephone busy tone. If Callsign Holdoff is set to 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4, then the callsign is suppressed unless the callsign timer has already passed 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 of its timeout value. That means that with a callsign time of ten minutes, and a value of 1/2, then you will never hear a callsign at less than five minute intervals. They may appear at startup or shutdown, as set elsewhere, but not if they occur within five minutes of the last one. Sending a callsign for whatever reason always resets the callsign timer. The Radio tab is where details of the hardware interfaces for connecting to a radio, and these must be filled in and correct before the program can run. The sound card is the one that will be connected to the radio, either to the standard audio input/output or directly to the discriminator/modulator or a mixture of the two. To use the the direct discriminator/modulator connection, you will need to enable the de-emphasis and/or the pre-emphasis built into the program, to ensure that the transmitted audio is correct. You can also choose to have a simple VOGAD unit, this has a limited ability to boost incoming audio, the alternative to the VOGAD unit is an audio limiter. There is often a delay in the squelch inputs compared to the audio, this can result in annoyingly long squelch tails. This can be overcome by setting the audio delay which will enable the squelch input to match the received audio. This setting should be made so that no un-squelched noise appears before the transmission rather than completely removing the squelch tail as a small squelch tail is normal on some radios. The External tab is an optional audio input and output for connecting to external programs like EchoLink. This external interface may be Enabled, Disabled, or set to Control Only by the setting at the top of the page. If it's set to Enabled or Control Only then the sound card must not conflict with the sound card chosen for the radio port. It is possible that the audio will not be received by a real sound card, but via a Virtual Audio Cable, likewise the optional serial port control may also be connected via a software equivalent of a null modem cable. The Control Only option is to allow the external audio input to be used for DTMF commands but not for allowing user traffic. There is the option to choose a VOGAD in use on the External audio. With EchoLink, the audio level can vary enormously, with the announcements being louder than most user audio, and even the user audio can be variable depending on how well the user has set up EchoLink. For that reason it's recommended that it be enabled on the External interface when using EchoLink. The alternative to having the VOGAD enabled is that a simple audio limiter is used instead. As well as specifying the serial port itself, you can also specify which serial port pins are used for which purpose, this being dependent on the null modem cable used, and must match those being used by the external software/hardware. The available transmit pins are DTR and RTS, and squelch inputs are CD, CTS or DSR. The functionality of this port is mirrored on the controller, see Controller below. The complete external interface is disabled if the External Sound Card is set to None, and any squelch input, either by the Velleman board or serial port will be ignored. The Controller tab sets hardware device used to control the transmitter, take input from the receiver and also the watchdog output is sent. Although not very useful, this may set to None for testing. A PTT Delay can be set here to ensure that the transmitter operates at exactly the same time that the audio is present. The PTT and Squelch inversion settings are for interfacing to radios that have the opposite sense. The program uses either a Velleman K8055, a URI USB, or a serial port to connect to the transmit lines and squelch lines (see above), currently no other hardware is supported. The Velleman has an interface number, which is set to zero by default, which is set with jumpers on the Velleman card. The name of the interface type also reflects the state of these jumpers, and the correct value should be selected. It is possible to set "None" as the type, this is really only useful when debugging as in this state it's impossible to set the squelch inputs or test the transmit outputs. The DTMF Commands 1 and DTMF Commands 2 tabs are used for setting up DTMF commands that may be received on either the radio or external ports. The port to have commands enabled is set, along with a threshold for the DTMF tones. Each command may be up to ten DTMF characters, 0-9 A-D, sending a DTMF * clears the current command while a DTMF # ends the command. The commands may be set up to Shutdown the repeater, it will immediately unkey and no callsigns or beacons will be sent, it will be listening for further DTMF commands though. The Startup command will put it back into listening mode, as if newly started. The Timeout command will immediately timeout the current user regardless of the timeout timer, and Timer Reset will reset the timeout timer if it is running. The Output 1 to Output 4 commands flip the state of four output lines, if they are available. You do not need to have the repeater accessed to send commands, and commands can be sent via the Radio or External port, as defined, when the other port is in use. All valid commands to the repeater are logged into the log. Up to two external commands may be setup to run based on DTMF Commands 2. On the screen there are two entries each for Command 1 and Command 2, the first entry is the DTMF characters used to invoke them, the second entry is the command itself. This text is sent to the shell and is outside the control of the repeater software, so be careful! The final tab is named Active Output and sets the hang time to be used on the active line. This will remain high for the pre-defined period after the repeater has stopped transmitting, except in the case of a beacon transmission. Note that configuration changes do not take effect until the software is re-started. A log of actions and errors is to be found in the file AnalogueRepeater.log which is found in the users home directory. This may be disabled by giving the -nolog option on the command line. Logging is still performed, but it goes to stderr and therefore may easily be ignored, or redirected to another target. A copy of the last three lines of the log is displayed at the bottom of the GUI screen. Once running, the screen displays status information about the software. This screen is updated every one second and is therefore reasonably up to date, for example the timers appear in real-time. This status is split into four sections, Status, Radio, External, and Timers, and each reflect a different facet of the repeaters operation. The updating of the GUI can be switched on and off by choosing the "GUI Updates" menu item under the View menu, the default is on in the Debug build and off for the Release build. The State section shows the internal status as well as information about the audio passing through. The State entry has a number of values which include Listening, Timeout, Relaying Radio, Relaying External, and Waiting. The Level is the peak value of the input audio over a one second period, and the value is in dB relative to the peak accepted internal value, this is most useful when setting up the software. Likewise the Limiter entry shows how much attenuation is being applied to the audio, and this value is reset when a new transmission is received. The Radio section shows whether the radio is transmitting, whether the radio squelch is open. The radio squelch indication is only set to Open when a valid input signal is being received, therefore a carrier on the input with no tones, the repeater is closed, and tones are enabled, will not appear. Likewise an input signal on the repeater when relaying audio from the external input will also not show. It also shows the VOGAD level, which if VOGAD is not enabled, it will show any audio limiting that is happening. It shows whether reception of a 1750 Hz toneburst and/or CTCSS tones are happening. In practice the 1750 Hz indication almost never appears because of the length of the tone and the GUI refresh speed! The External section is analoguous to the Radio section, except for the external input, with the squelch input and transmit output being echoed. Like the RF Squelch, the Squelch value here is only valid if relaying external audio. Like the Radio section, it also includes a VOGAD level, which will show limiter levels if VOGAD is not enabled. The Timers section shows the state of the internal timers, all of their meanings have been discussed above, but they are fun to watch! The values are displayed as n1/n2 where n1 is the current counting value and n2 is the trigger value, the values of n1 may go over n2 in operation. A value of zero for n1 indicates that the time is not active as will be seen. There is a menu entry named Actions which allows local use of the remote commands for the software. These are Shutdown, Startup, Timeout, Time Reset, Command 1 and Command 2. Shutdown and Startup are self explanatory, while Timeout is used to force an early timeout for a user, maybe someone who is abusing the system. Time Reset is the opposite, this will reset the timeout timer and, if needed, remove any existing timeout condition from the current user. There is a menu item named Outputs which allows access to the menu items that control the output lines. These items are labelled "Output 1", "Output 2", "Output 3" and "Output 4". These are toggles and they retain their state between invokations of the software. In the debug version of the software, an Open option appears on the File menu. This is used for testing, and the presence of an input file also triggers both squelch inputs within the software too. Any WAV file used for this input must be mono and sampled at 48000 Hz, otherwise it will be rejected. The DExtra Gateway ------------------ DExtraGateway.exe [-nolog] [config name] dextragateway [-nolog] [config name] dextragatewayd [-nolog] [config name] All versions have an optional parameter which signifies the configuration to be used, and this must be set on the command line when running as well as configuring the repeater. This name will appear on the title bar as well as affecting the name of the log file used. There could be issues in running more than one DExtra Gateway per repeater site if they connect to the same reflector or gateway. A log of actions and errors is to be found in the file DExtraGateway.log which is found in the users home directory. This may be disabled by giving the -nolog option on the command line. Logging is still performed, but it goes to stderr and therefore may easily be ignored, or redirected to another target. The configuration is relatively simple. The configuration is made up of two tabs. The Reflector tab sets most of the parameters for the program. The first entry, Callsign, is the callsign that the software uses to connect to the reflector/gateway with, and will appear in the status pages under. The Reflector is the reflector that is the default reflector/gateway, it is taken from the DExtra_Hosts.txt file, more about this later. Next to the reflector list, is the channel on the reflector to link to. Startup is a simple Yes/No choice. If set to Yes then the software will link to that reflector/gateway specified in the Reflector entry when it is started. Reconnect sets the operation of the software, if set to Fixed then the software will stay linked to the reflector specified in Reflector and all incoming commands to link and unlink will be ignored. If set to one of the times then incoming link and unlink commands will be acted upon (if valid) but after the specified period of inactivity will unlink and link to the reflector/gateway specified in the Reflector entry. If Reconnect is set to None then all incoming commands are acted upon (if valid) and the software will not reconnect to the refelector/gateway specified in Reflector. The Network tab sets the connection information to the Repeater software. Many of the comments about setting the Network options in the D-Star Repeater configuration also apply here. The list of available reflectors and gateways is controlled by the DExtra_Hosts.txt file which can either found in either the home directory of the current user, or in another location. This location is "/usr/local/etc" on Linux and the programs running directory, probably "C:\Program Files\Repeater" under Windows. The file in the home directory takes precedence. The installed example file lists the publicly known reflectors, the format is described within the example file. The commands to the software are held in the Your callsign setting of the radio, unless the software configuration doesn't allow it. They are very simple; the link command which also unlinks the software if it is already linked is the name of the reflector/gateway followed by an 'L' in the final position. For example to link to 'XRF010 B' the command would be 'XRF010BL', not the missing space. If the reflector/gateway is not known to the software then the command will be ignored and the software will remain linked if it is already in that state. To unlink the command simply has to have a 'U' in the final position of the Your callsign. It doesn't matter if there is any other text in the Your callsign before the 'U'. The D-Star Repeater ------------------- DStarRepeater.exe [-nolog] [config name] dstarrepeater [-nolog] [config name] dstarrepeaterd [-nolog] [config name] On Windows the D-Star Repeater program is named DStarRepeater.exe and is a GUI based program, as is the Linux version which is named dstarrepeater. Also on Linux is a program named dstarrepeaterd which is a command line version of the repeater. All versions have an optional parameter which signifies the configuration to be used, and this must be set on the command line when running as well as configuring the repeater. This name will appear on the title bar as well as affecting the name of the log file used. The program is configured by choosing the Preferences option under the Edit menu entry at the top of the screen. Configuring it is very simple, in the Callsign tab enter your chosen radio Callsign without the usual D-Star suffix. The suffix is one of A, B, or C with C for 2m, B for 70cms, and A for 23cms. Other bands like 6m, 4m, 220MHz, or 928MHz are more problematic. The program will append the two parts with the correct number of spaces. The Gateway callsign is also set here, typically it will be the same as the main callsign, but need not be, the G at the end of the callsign is appended automatically. The Mode allows for the selection of Simplex, Duplex, or Gateway with the default being Duplex. In Duplex mode the D-Star repeater acts just like an Icom D-Star repeater and requires the use of seperate transmitters and receivers, as well as cavity filters, etc. In Simplex mode only one transceiver is required, and any valid input signal is transferred over to the network without being transmitted, and any input from the network is transmitted, no acks are generated in this mode. This allows for a simple D-Star point of presence to be established. The Gateway mode allows the software to be used as a remote access to the D-Star network (with appropriate gateway software) to a standalone D-Star repeater. This mode uses either a simplex or duplex radio and appears as a normal user to the standalone repeater with network access. The callsigns being sent through the standalone repeater will appear a little different to using a fully connected D-Star repeater, but it will be very similar to use. The Ack setting is to make the repeater software send a short transmission after each transmission, this can be thought of as an acknowledgement. This is switchable via the Ack option. Typically this will be enabled in Simplex or Duplex mode, this makes no sense in Gateway mode and is disabled, and set to Disabled when the mode is set to Gateway. In previous versions there was a Parrot mode, this has now disappeared as a seperate mode, instead the D-Star Repeater should be configured in Simplex mode with Ack set to Disable. The Parrot mode, is designed to be used with an extra program which records the D-Star data and then retransmits it once it has ended. This external program can also save the recorded data, and also periodically transmit pre-received data for use as a simple D-Star voice beacon. Details of the external program which is used when this mode is selected are given later. The Network tab is for entry of the IP address, not hostname, of the Gateway to the D-Star Reflector. This should be in standard dotted IP notation. Leaving the IP address as blank stops the Repeater from communicating with a Gateway. The port of the Gateway is set here and should be between 1 and 65535 with the default being 20000. An entry for the Local Address is also available so that the repeater can be bound to a specific interface, real or virtual. Like the gateway address, this is in dotted IP address notation and not a hostname. Setting this entry to blank allows the repeater to bind to all network ports, the default. The local port can also be set, with the value being between 1 and 65535 and the default being 20000. The Network Delay is used to delay data coming in from the network such as replies from software such as DPlus which send replies too quickly to the software and are therefore lost. The D-Star repeater only talks the "Open G2" protocol which means that it will work with the included Parrot Controller or with Scott's KI4LKF Open G2 gateway software. In order to work with a real Icom G2 gateway, you will need to run the Multiplexor written by Scott to translate the protocols. The Timers tab controls the repeater timers, the timeout, the period of time between a transmission ending and the ack being transmitted, and the beacon timing. The defaults for these are 180s, 500ms and 10 minutes respectively, setting the timeout to zero removes the timeout. Changes to the configuration only take effect once the software has been restarted. Note that the timeout only affects radio users and not ones coming in from the network, it is expected that the remote systems will provide the required timeout. The ack timer has a different use when in Gateway mode (see above), in that mode it is the time after the last transmission coming in via the network before the next transmission coming in via the network will be handled. This is to ensure that the repeater has time to send its ack, before the next one is transmitted. The beacon timer sends a short beacon transmission when the repeater is not in use. The beacon transmission is very similar to an ack transmission but only including the repeater and gateway callsigns. If the beacon timer setting is set to zero then the beacons are suppressed. The Radio tab contains the audio ports, mode and GMSK inversion. The audio ports are the ones where the audio from the discriminator and the drive to the modulator is set. Testing has shown that the best results are obtained when using the cheapest external USB sound card that you can find! Probably due to the lack of filtering on them. The RX and TX Levels are used for equalising the levels between the Analogue and D-Star repeaters when they share the same transmitter and receiver, if you are not running in such a configuration then just set leave them at 100% and forget about it. The GMSK inversion is set when the signal from the discriminator is inverted compared to what the software expects, and a seperate inversion is settable for transmission when the same is true for the modulator. The GMSK inversion is set when the signal from the discriminator is inverted compared to what the software expects, and a seperate inversion is settable for transmission when the same is true for the modulator. The Controller tab sets hardware device used to control the transmitter, take input from the receiver and also the watchdog output is sent. Although not very useful, this may set to None for testing. A PTT Delay can be set here to ensure that the transmitter operates at exactly the same time that the D-Star audio is present. If the delay is positive then the PTT is delayed with respect to the audio, and if it is negative then the audio is delayed with respect to the PTT. The PTT inversion setting is for interfacing to radios that have the opposite sense. The Control 1 and Control 2 tabs are to allow remote control of the D-Star repeater using values of Your, RPT1 and RPT2 callsigns. The use of these commands is enabled or disabled at the top, and if enabled then values should be entered into the four fields. They do not need to be valid callsigns, and they will not be relayed through the repeater. The correct combination of RPT1, RPT2 and the Shutdown value in Your callsign will shutdown the repeater, while the correct combination of RPT1, RPT2 and the Startup value will restart it if it is shutdown. The Output 1 to Output 4 commands flip the state of four output lines, if they are available. Up to two external commands may be setup to run based on combinations of Your, RPT1, RPT2 callsigns. On the screen there are two entries each for Command 1 and Command 2, the first entry is the Your callsign used to invoke them, the second entry is the command itself. This text is sent to the shell and is outside the control of the repeater software, so be careful! Note that configuration changes do not take effect until the software is re-started. All commands are logged along with the My callsign, even for failed commands that have the correct RPT1 and RPT2 but not the correct values of Your callsign. It should be noted that the value used for RPT1 used here must be different from the callsign used for the repeater otherwise it will not correctly relay users. The final tab is named Active Output and sets the hang time to be used on the active line. This will remain high for the pre-defined period after the repeater has stopped processing an incoming D-Star transmission, this includes timeouts and inputs with an invalid RPT1 setting. A log of actions and errors is to be found in the file DStarRepeater.log which is found in the users home directory. This may be disabled by giving the -nolog option on the command line. Logging is still performed, but it goes to stderr and therefore may easily be ignored, or redirected to another target. The last three lines of the log appear at the bottom of the GUI screen. The main screen simply shows the status of the repeater, and there are no controls to operate. You'll see a summary of any received stations, and a simple status panel to show what the repeater is doing. A log of actions is to be found in the file DStarRepeater.log which is found in the users home directory. The Status section shows the internal status of the repeater. The RX State entry has a number of values which include Listening, Frame Sync, Header, and Processing which is all to do with the reception of a D-Star transmission. The Rpt State has a number of values including Listening, Waiting, Timeout, Valid and Invalid. An incoming D-Star transmission may not have the correct value in RPT1 or some other setting, and such a transmission would be received correctly but counted as Invalid and not relayed. The TX value mirrors the transmit output pin on the hardware interface. The Headers section shows information about the currently received D-Star transmission, the callsigns in the header and the header flags (in hex). This header is shown only if the header isn't corrupt but is shown even if it isn't valid from the point of view of the repeater. The Timers section shows the state of the internal timers, all of their meanings have been discussed above, except for the watchdog. The values are displayed as n1/n2 where n1 is the current counting value and n2 is the trigger value, the values of n1 may go over n2 in operation. A value of zero for n1 indicates that the time is not active as will be seen. There is a menu entry named Actions which allows local use of the remote commands for the software. These are Shutdown, Startup, Command 1 and Command 2. There is a menu item named Outputs which allows access to the menu items that control the output lines. These items are labelled "Output 1", "Output 2", "Output 3" and "Output 4". These are toggles and they retain their state between invokations of the software. In the debug version of the software, an Open option appears on the File menu. This is used for testing, and the presence of an input file also triggers both squelch inputs within the software too. Any WAV file used for this input must be mono and sampled at 48000 Hz, otherwise it will be rejected. The GMSK Repeater ----------------- GMSKRepeater.exe [-nolog] [config name] gmskrepeater [-nolog] [config name] gmslrepeaterd [-nolog] [config name] On Windows the D-Star Repeater program is named GMSKRepeater.exe and is a GUI based program, as is the Linux version which is named gmskrepeater. Also on Linux is a program named gmskrepeaterd which is a command line version of the repeater. All versions have an optional parameter which signifies the configuration to be used, and this must be set on the command line when running as well as configuring the repeater. This name will appear on the title bar as well as affecting the name of the log file used. The program is configured by choosing the Preferences option under the Edit menu entry at the top of the screen. Configuring it is very simple, in the Callsign tab enter your chosen radio Callsign without the usual D-Star suffix. The suffix is one of A, B, or C with C for 2m, B for 70cms, and A for 23cms. Other bands like 6m, 4m, 220MHz, or 928MHz are more problematic. The program will append the two parts with the correct number of spaces. The Gateway callsign is also set here, typically it will be the same as the main callsign, but need not be, the G at the end of the callsign is appended automatically. The Mode allows for the selection of Simplex, Duplex, or Gateway with the default being Duplex. In Duplex mode the GMSK repeater acts just like an Icom D-Star repeater and requires the use of seperate transmitters and receivers, as well as cavity filters, etc. In Simplex mode only one transceiver is required, and any valid input signal is transferred over to the network without being transmitted, and any input from the network is transmitted, no acks are generated in this mode. This allows for a simple D-Star point of presence to be established. The Gateway mode allows the software to be used as a remote access to the D-Star network (with appropriate gateway software) to a standalone D-Star repeater. This mode uses either a simplex or duplex radio and appears as a normal user to the standalone repeater with network access. The callsigns being sent through the standalone repeater will appear a little different to using a fully connected D-Star repeater, but it will be very similar to use. The Ack setting is to make the repeater software send a short transmission after each transmission, this can be thought of as an acknowledgement. This is switchable via the Ack option. Typically this will be enabled in Simplex or Duplex mode, this makes no sense in Gateway mode and is disabled, and set to Disabled when the mode is set to Gateway. In previous versions there was a Parrot mode, this has now disappeared as a seperate mode, instead the D-Star Repeater should be configured in Simplex mode with Ack set to Disable. The Parrot mode, is designed to be used with an extra program which records the D-Star data and then retransmits it once it has ended. This external program can also save the recorded data, and also periodically transmit pre-received data for use as a simple D-Star voice beacon. Details of the external program which is used when this mode is selected are given later. The Network tab is for entry of the IP address, not hostname, of the Gateway to the D-Star Reflector. This should be in standard dotted IP notation. Leaving the IP address as blank stops the Repeater from communicating with a Gateway. The port of the Gateway is set here and should be between 1 and 65535 with the default being 20000. An entry for the Local Address is also available so that the repeater can be bound to a specific interface, real or virtual. Like the gateway address, this is in dotted IP address notation and not a hostname. Setting this entry to blank allows the repeater to bind to all network ports, the default. The local port can also be set, with the value being between 1 and 65535 and the default being 20000. The Timers tab controls the repeater timers, the timeout, the period of time between a transmission ending and the ack being transmitted, and the beacon timing. The defaults for these are 180s, 500ms and 10 minutes respectively, setting the timeout to zero removes the timeout. Changes to the configuration only take effect once the software has been restarted. Note that the timeout only affects radio users and not ones coming in from the network, it is expected that the remote systems will provide the required timeout. The ack timer has a different use when in Gateway mode (see above), in that mode it is the time after the last transmission coming in via the network before the next transmission coming in via the network will be handled. This is to ensure that the repeater has time to send its ack, before the next one is transmitted. The beacon timer sends a short beacon transmission when the repeater is not in use. The beacon transmission is very similar to an ack transmission but only including the repeater and gateway callsigns. If the beacon timer setting is set to zero then the beacons are suppressed. The GMSK Modem tab allows for the product id (address) of the GMSK modem. The default is 0x300 which is also the default for the GMSK modem, however in order to have more than one GMSK modem attached to a PC, they need to have unique addresses. The value given here must match the value set in the firmware. The Control 1 and Control 2 tabs are to allow remote control of the D-Star repeater using values of Your, RPT1 and RPT2 callsigns. The use of these commands is enabled or disabled at the top, and if enabled then values should be entered into the four fields. They do not need to be valid callsigns, and they will not be relayed through the repeater. The correct combination of RPT1, RPT2 and the Shutdown value in Your callsign will shutdown the repeater, while the correct combination of RPT1, RPT2 and the Startup value will restart it if it is shutdown. The Output 1 to Output 4 commands flip the state of four output lines, if they are available. Up to two external commands may be setup to run based on combinations of Your, RPT1, RPT2 callsigns. On the screen there are two entries each for Command 1 and Command 2, the first entry is the Your callsign used to invoke them, the second entry is the command itself. This text is sent to the shell and is outside the control of the repeater software, so be careful! Note that configuration changes do not take effect until the software is re-started. All commands are logged along with the My callsign, even for failed commands that have the correct RPT1 and RPT2 but not the correct values of Your callsign. It should be noted that the value used for RPT1 used here must be different from the callsign used for the repeater otherwise it will not correctly relay users. A log of actions and errors is to be found in the file GMSKRepeater.log which is found in the users home directory. This may be disabled by giving the -nolog option on the command line. Logging is still performed, but it goes to stderr and therefore may easily be ignored, or redirected to another target. The last three lines of the log appear at the bottom of the GUI screen. The main screen simply shows the status of the repeater, and there are no controls to operate. You'll see a summary of any received stations, and a simple status panel to show what the repeater is doing. A log of actions is to be found in the file DStarRepeater.log which is found in the users home directory. The Status section shows the internal status of the repeater. The RX State entry has a number of values which include Listening, or Processing which is all to do with the reception of a D-Star transmission. The Rpt State has a number of values including Listening, Waiting, Timeout, Valid and Invalid. An incoming D- Star transmission may not have the correct value in RPT1 or some other setting, and such a transmission would be received correctly but counted as Invalid and not relayed. The TX value mirrors the transmit output pin on the GMSK modem. The Headers section shows information about the currently received D-Star transmission, the callsigns in the header, and the header flags (in hex). This header is shown only if the header isn't corrupt but is shown even if it isn't valid from the point of view of the repeater. The Timers section shows the state of the internal timers, all of their meanings have been discussed above, except for the watchdog. The values are displayed as n1/n2 where n1 is the current counting value and n2 is the trigger value, the values of n1 may go over n2 in operation. A value of zero for n1 indicates that the time is not active as will be seen. There is a menu entry named Actions which allows local use of the remote commands for the software. These are Shutdown, Startup, Command 1 and Command 2. The Parrot Controller --------------------- ParrotController.exe [-nolog] [config name] parrotcontroller [-nolog] [config name] parrotcontrollerd [-nolog] [config name] All versions have an optional parameter which signifies the configuration to be used, and this must be set on the command line when running as well as configuring the repeater. This name will appear on the title bar as well as affecting the name of the log file used. A log of actions and errors is to be found in the file ParrotController.log which is found in the users home directory. This may be disabled by giving the -nolog option on the command line. Logging is still performed, but it goes to stderr and therefore may easily be ignored, or redirected to another target. The Parrot Controller is designed to act as an alternative to a full gateway either for testing, or for operating in a different mode, as a D-Star Parrot. Firstly the Parrot mode needs to be selected in the D-Star Repeater, and the Parrot Controller needs to be configured. The Parrot Controller has two modes, Parrot and Beacon. In Beacon mode, the Parrot controller will keep sending the same DVTOOL file to the repeater as pre- defined intervals, therefore acting as a repeater. The file and the interval are selectable. DVTOOL files can either be created by using my D-Star Client software, or from DVTOOL program, or using this software as a Parrot and saving the file(s) generated. The configuration is relatively simple. The configuration is made up of four tabs, the Mode tab sets the operating mode, Parrot or Beacon. The Network tab sets the connection information to the Repeater software, and is required to be valid whichever mode the software is operating in. Many of the comments about setting the Network options in the D-Star Repeater configuration also apply here. The Parrot tab has to be set when running in Parrot mode. There are two settings, the Turnaround Time and whether to keep the intermediate DVTOOL files. The Turnaround Time is the delay between retransmitting the received data after receiving it. Two seconds is the lowest feasible value, but longer may be needed if the connection to the repeater program is not local. The program creates temporary DVTOOL files which it then retransmits, these would normally be deleted after transmitting, but by setting the Keep File option to Yes, then they will be kept. They are stored in the users home directory. The Beacon tab is used to set the configuration in Beacon mode. A suitable DVTOOL file should be selected, this is easiest done by pressing the Browse... button and selecting the file wanted. The other setting is the time interval between sending the beacons. In Parrot mode, the software will listen for a valid D-Star transmission that is being received by the repeater, and save the contents in a temporary DVTOOL file, which is saved in the users home directory. Once the transmission has ended, this software waits two seconds and then resends the data back to the repeater to be retransmitted. At the end of this transmission, the file is either kept or deleted, depending on the setting in the configuration of the Parrot Controller. These DVTOOL files can be used for a beacon later.