For a long while, I operated an Allstar Link radio node 42527, which is hand built using an instructions from the internet. The node worked, but I was never really happy using it.
My original node was built from a Baofeng 888 radio, which directly connected to a DMK engineering URRx radio interface. In order to utilize this setup, I needed to void the warranty on the cheap Baofeng radio by building a cable to from the radio to a DB29 to connect the the URIx. The URIx is then connected to a Raspberry Pi which provided the radio control. Using this setup, I sort of suffered through a variety of issues but overall was never really happy with the setup, which of coarse, was my fault.
The audio quality was never great. The cabling for all of the connections was basically a mess. The baofeng would overheat, the battery would drain and overall was just unreliable. Recently, I organized my server cabinet and the under utilized Allstar node was one of the biggest issues.
Initial Update Ideas
Originally, I thought the easiest way to update my node was the update the just the radio. Every plan involved updating the Raspberry PI to a desktop computer, which was done with no issue. Updating the radio, I had many options but I didn’t really like them. I could build a cable to interface with my Yaesu FT-2900, but this seemed like a waste of a good radio. Then, one night, I was listening to the Winsystem repeater network while another HAM was long winded. Because my radio with transmitting from the remote node, I was unable to disconnect using the radio interface and needed to use the allmon3 web interface. Just annoying…
Rethinking
Replacing the Raspberry Pi was a given. I have a computer available, so that is just done with no added expense. In searching around for radios and the interface. I went back and forth between several options until I happened across Allscan.info. Allscan is a company which builds radio interface boards for the AllstarLink radio network, echolink and the approach taken is spot on in my opinion. Their introductory statement made complete sense to me and caused me to rethink my approach and assumptions. Most importantly, their AllScan ANF101 board completely addressed all of my issues with my old radio and node hardware.
I ordered the AllScan ANF101 radio controller board and quickly I received a confirmation email from David Gleason with payment instructions. During the entire purchase process, he gave me updates and clear timelines, which set me at ease from purchasing from a small company.
Node Assembly
Once my ANF101 board is delivered, it only took about one hour to get the hardware configured. I choose to purchase two dual band Antenna 2meter 70cm Mobile VHF/UHF Ham Radio (137-149, 437-480 Mhz) Mag Mount Magnet Base PL-259 Connector, 10 Ft RG58 Cable from Amazon. I bolted the radio controller board to the outer door of my server cabinet and the routed the antenna cables through the upper access hole to the antennas which are magnetically mounted to the top of the server cabinet. Ferrite Chokes are install on both antenna lines to keep the RF at bay.
I really appreciate the fact that allscan.info offers a complete settings guide for setting up and configuring the node and each of the node radios. The design and documentation provided was outstanding and so far the audio quality of dramatically improved over the little Baofeng.
One change that I made aster listening the the Artemis II launch news conference, was I increased the transmit time-out time variable. The news conference would typically have people talking for extended periods of time, and the repeater would stop transmitting after 5 minutes. The “totime” setting is found in /etc/asterisk/rpt.conf and once asterisk was is restarted I was in business.
Overall, I am really happy with my long overdue upgrade to my Allstar node. The Allscan ANF101 radio board made everything a breeze to setup, and I look forward to having a lot of fun playing around with it. The secondary benefit, is that my cabling and radio setup if dramatically improved.