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If you are an owner of a TRBO repeater
on Amateur Radio frequencies and looking for an IPSC network
to join, then you may wish to consider the "Open IPSC
Manager".
DCI can provide you an opportunity to try out IPSC
networking without any commitment to stay with us.
This enables a repeater owner to demo a network environment
and better learn more
by a hands-on approach to
IPSC, multiple talkgroup use and also to experience DCI's style of
DMR Ham
radio.
You can join as a single repeater
network depending on how many
repeaters are currently visiting the Open IPSC Manager. Either way, you
have access to DCI's basic talkgroups. You are welcome to stay
as long as you wish. This page will lay
out exactly what you need to know and a bit of what DCI
needs from you to get your repeater(s) onto our Open ISPC
Manager.
The current line-up of talkgroups and their
timers are shown on the
talkgroup matrix
and it is always the best source for determining what is
available on the IPSC Open Manager or any manager for that
matter.
There are also 2 additional control only
TG's available to turn on ALL
available TG's for 55 minutes or turn off most TG's for 15
minutes. Add these TG's to your radios (CT On=16771491
on TS1, CT Off=16770491 on TS1) and simply "kerchunk"
to switch on for 55 minutes or off for 15 minutes. It
is a simple method have instant activity or almost no activity from
these networked talkgroups. All normal settings will
be reset once either or both these 2 Control TG timers
expire. More info on
PTT or much more
PTT details,
just click on them. All repeaters on the open IPSC
manager are affected by use of the CT ker-chunks, so you
should be aware that your activity can affect other visiting
repeater that may be on the Open IPSC manager.
So jump in, get your feet wet, learn DMR, TRBO
IPSC and more while you are here, with no strings or
expectations. Stay as long as you wish...or find a
better fit with another c-Bridge group. The
point of the Open IPSC Manager is to be able to learn, get up to
speed and maybe enjoy your time here but not make a long term
commitment upfront. The choice is yours. Over
the years, many other repeater owners have started out here
and have gone on to add more repeaters, switched over to
MARC, purchased their own cBridge and some even sticking
around to make DCI their home.
OK, some details, rules and other
odd stuff:
Typically, you must first get your repeater on the
air. We do not handle details with RF, towers, frequencies
or other stuff one deals with in a standard analog repeater
system as we expect you to have that basic knowledge. We can help with Internet settings, router UDP
pin-holing (port-forwarding), ISPC settings, Talkgroups, codeplugs and
user/system management. If you have your repeater
operational or nearly so, you still may be
able to join the Open Demonstration Manager. Our focus is on
TRBO aspects rather than the normal RF overhead of a typical
analog repeater installation. We are happy to help you
get up to speed on TRBO even if you are in the early stages
of a desktop or garage repeater or simply on a dummy load
without a duplexer. We would hope that you eventually
are able to deploy a networked repeater on a wide area
coverage site to be able to share the benefits of Ham DMR to
more users.
The initial minimum information needed is: your repeater(s),
location(s), freqs, color code, ID, Call Sign, owners/trustee/system
manager's names,
Email and phone numbers. You may add as much
additional information as you like beyond the minimums.
MARC maintains a
database set of
client radio and repeater ID numbers. Please insure
that your repeater, HT and mobiles have an issued radio ID number
that it is programmed into your equipment. If you are
using a client radio that is issued by your employer or
otherwise is using a non-standard ID, this can cause issues.
If you are in this situation, mention it to MARC and the details
so that they can determine if that will work on the Ham DMR networks. We expect you to
use our settings in your codeplugs when operating on any of
our networks and additionally, when operating on our
affiliated networks that are available through your use of
DCI.
We will provide you with
the master IP, master UDP port and the network authorization
key. We publish all our information otherwise on this
website. Data is supported throughout our c-Bridge and
across to many other c-Bridges. Use of Private Call is
not permitted on the Open IPSC network. Encrypted
transmissions or personal TG's are not
permitted at all. No encryption ever;
your repeater will be immediately booted from the network
without notice.
We encourage the use of an IP
Power Switch ($90 plus; inexpensive to pricey examples:
IP9258,
Web PS 7,
NP-05,
ICT-180S-121 ) and that one be deployed with
your repeater especially if your repeater will be located a
significant distance away from physical control. This
will enable easy power cycling that may be needed from time to
time but also and more importantly, it enables powering your
repeater off so that network diagnostics can be run when we
experience network issues. Taking repeater off an
Ethernet connection
remotely vastly simplifies locating a problematic router or
Internet connection. It is also useful as a router
failsafe as well as remote control of other AC devices.
We are not asking for control of your switch but only that
one be available to help you and us when things go wrong.
Client radios have many more operational
settings than your repeater and that programming can have a major adverse
impact if not programmed correctly. DCI has published a
standard
network codeplug for US repeaters and networks and we highly encourage you to clone or
paste in our settings as an example of how best to program
for DCI, not so much for the current repeaters, as the plugs
tend to become stale. Then copy one of the DCI zones
for your own zone and then change the freq and color code
for your use on our network. DMR-MARC, NorCal and
others may have slightly different setting and these setting
are customized to match each network. This is very
IMPORTANT stuff. Do NOT simply use a new radio's
default codeplug and change the freq/color code and call it
job well done. Incorrect programming of client radios
adversely affects our networks and can further affect other
networks that we are linked into. This includes
Transmit Interrupt and overly
loud client radio audio into the network, so Digital Mic
AGC should NOT be enabled in Gen 1 TRBO radios (unless
using R01.02.xx or newer firmware) but
should be set to match the users
voice and style with the use of the
VU Meter. If you
are not able to enter
all the settings correctly, please ask us for
help. If you or your users operate with poor TX audio and will not or cannot fix
it, your connection to the network could be in jeopardy. Did I mention
how important this portion of programming is? Do not use
Net watch, RDAC, Air Shark or other 3rd
party clients unattended or for long periods of time as they can cause problems.
Please do not run any services that
require ARS or otherwise poll or load the network with data.
Ask first if you are considering a data project and maybe it
can be incorporated into the network.
We want to play and learn but we all have other networks
that frown on adding drag to their repeaters and networks.
This is much dependant on how many repeaters are on the
network you join.
More details on how to program your
repeater and your client radios for our network operation
are linked below. We strongly suggest that you follow
our programming details as it will help the entire network
to run more smoothly. Not all of our suggested
programming follow Motorola default settings as we have developed these setting during our
first 4 years of
Ham TRBO IPSC experience. So use ours unless you have more
experience and if you do, please share it with us. We
are all about helping others and not keeping anything but
our network keys, hidden from the TRBO community.
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