On
Saturday the 11th of July The fourth DMR Repeater, EI7LRD, was installed on-site at Knockroe, Loughrea Co Galway. Steve, EI5DD, had the Repeater running on the bench for the previous week prior to installation. at 11:00am Aengus, EI4ABB and Steve loaded up the equipment destined for the Loughrea site. Following the drive to Loughrea we met up with Des, EI5GT.
After the equipment was unloaded, there was a trek to the top of the hill. Fortunately, the load was not too heavy and could be carried among three people.
This is the location at the top of the hill with the antenna already rigged some months beforehand. Our antenna was at the very top of the tower. Weather and the COVID-19 lockdown had prevented our travel to the site. Steve, EI5DD, was stuck in the UK for 3 months which delayed the installation further. Two possible dates were suggested but the weather was not great so they were abandoned. Despite the cloud as seen in the picture the weather was turned out to be sunny and very warm.
The antennas were already installed and initial SWR checks revealed all was well. Aengus tuned the cavity filters into the antenna system to ensure that there was no desense to the received signal. Whilst tuned into a perfect load at ground level it is always wise to fine-tune into the system on-site as the impedance may vary and the notches may be slightly off frequency. Aengus has this technique down to a fine art at this stage and the tuning was completed within 10 minutes. Aengus is an invaluable member of our team.
Whilst Aengus was finalising the Cavity tune-up, Des was busy connecting up the remote power controller. This system was installed to allow the Repeaters to be switched on or off remotely as required. Once the power controller was installed it was possible to install the DM Repeater.
The 2 metre Fusion Repeater had been installed on-site a few weeks earlier and there were good reports from many far-reaching areas such as Westport, Roscommon, Kinnegad, Mullingar, Kildare and South of Limerick. We were hoping that the 70cms would cover a good distance also.
Our 70cm DMR Repeater fitted into the 19" rack perfectly along with the power supply and Procom Filters. The 2m fusion repeater is located at the bottom of the stack with its cavity filters below. Next is the Hytera power supply. and the Repeater above. The power controller sits above the Repeater and the Router above.
Power was applied to the Repeater and the system booted up without any problems. It was necessary to apply a few changes to the Repeater's internal Programmming to ensure that there was connection ot the Brandmeister DMR Server.
Adjustment of all parametes is possible via a programming lead. A fineal check of everything before turning up the power to 40 Watts and this concluded the installation.
A quick peek at the SYSOP's dashboard on the Brandmeister Netowk showed that all Galway devices were now connected.The Green Circle shows that everything is connected and the little green plug symbols to the left indicate the individual item that is registering on the Brandmeister Server.
This was the view from the bottom of the tower.
A quick peek at the SYSOP's dashboard on the Brandmeister Netowk showed that all Galway devices were now connected.The Green Circle shows that everything is connected and the little green plug symbols to the left indicate the individual item that is registering on the Brandmeister Server.
This was the view from the bottom of the tower.
A few shots of the horizon were taken as follows:
This was the view towards Clifden with the Connemara mountains to the right.
The view towards Mayo was clear and it is possible to make out Croagh Patrick on the Horizon. North East is also very clear.
Finally the view due East was very flat so coverage is expected to be good in that direction also.
Our Predicted coverage for the EI7LRD Repeater is shown above. This should produce some excellent results for mobile operators.
Combining the Coverage of the entire Galway Network, it can be seen that we will have achieved a good wide area from a mobile operator's perspective. Base operators, from distant locations, may find a way into the system.
The map above shows the Galway and the Waterford DMR facilities. Dundalk may have a Multi-mode Digital Repeater shortly and it is possible that the Cork Area will also be covered with an additional Repeater from the Southern Ireland Repeater Group
The map above shows the Galway and the Waterford DMR facilities. Dundalk may have a Multi-mode Digital Repeater shortly and it is possible that the Cork Area will also be covered with an additional Repeater from the Southern Ireland Repeater Group
Roaming can be set up on commercial radios and also on the Anytone 578 series radios. It is possible to move seamlessly from one coverage area to another with the radio automatically selecting the repeater with the best signal strength.
In Conclusion:
In Conclusion:
Tests on the journey home showed that all was working well. Further tests will be carried out with the roaming between repeaters to see how well this system works.
We are confident that this Network will serve us well and look forward to the activity it will bring to the Galway area. Special thanks to all involved in the set up of the network, the guys that put up the antennas, and the site owners for giving us the use of their facilities.
Many said that Digital Radio was going nowhere in Ireland - at this stage we have proven them wrong many times over!
