A sample set of system policies and rules.

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Back to Home A Sample Set of System Policies and Rules
HTML'd by Mike Morris WA6ILQ

The system policies and rules below originated in a multi-site linked private UHF repeater group that got started in the 1970s, flourished in the 1980s, and was history by the late 1990s (hence the references to MASTR IIs, MICORs, Mitreks and internet link (an early predecessor to IRLP)). Each system in the collection was privately owned, and the owners linked them together in an informal network. The topology of the linking allowed adjacent systems to be separated, and the sites on each side of the separation would / could stay linked.

The information below is offered here at repeater-builder only to generate thought and discussion. I would be very surprised if even 50% was applicable to any other group or location, but you may find some bits and pieces useful in writing your systems user manual or user guidelines. Just for reference, membership in this group was by invitation, and one new member made the comment once that joining was like pushing on a door that opened outwards towards you. You needed to wait for someone on the inside to open the door.

SYSTEM POLICIES AND RULES

All FCC rules will be followed on the repeaters at all times. Failure to follow FCC rules may result in all or parts of the system being turned off or in some way disabled with or without warning. This includes identifying your station and the remote base system and during a phone patch. Give your call sign when you first transmit (this isn't specifically required by the Rules, but we encourage it on the system), then once every 10 minutes, and once more when you sign off. Despite common belief, the FCC Rules do not require you to give anyone else's call sign at any time, although it is a nice acknowledgment of the person you're talking to, like a handshake. More comments in the "autopatch notes" and the "remote base notes" below.

Emergency traffic has the highest priority, system maintenance traffic is #2. Public service (even giving traffic directions to a visiting out-of-town ham) / special events is #3, normal everyday mobile and base station communications is #4. If one repeater in the system (or even the entire system) is being used to support a special event then that traffic has priority over normal day-to-day user communications. The most common special event scenario is that one site will be offlink to support that event, sometimes two sites will be linked together but offlink, and occasionally the entire system will be used.

Prospective members should listen to the system for a month or so to become familiar with its operation and procedures before trying to con or armtwist an existing member to submitting them for membership.

Pause (allow one second) between transmissions. This allows other members to use the system (someone may have an emergency). During normal operation we don't have a reset beep / courtesy tone because we (hopefully) have members with a functional IQ higher than that of egg white and since intelligent people don't need to be told to wait for a beep we don't have one. You listen, you hear the local repeater receiver squelch close, you pause, you key down, you pause a moment, you talk. What's so hard about that?
Note that we do have the ability to switch on a courtesy tone of 1, 2 or 3 beeps (at a frequency of about 1 kHz) and that feature will be used during a special event or an emergency situations (the more "urgent" the situation the more beeps). Also when the remote base is in transcieve you will hear a low-pitched beep on unkey that is sent back down the link so that other users will know that their conversation is being forwarded off-system. If there is an alarm condition at a site it will periodically send a Morse letter "A" (for alarm) followed by a number on the main channel and on the links. If AC mains power fails at a site and it goes on battery backup it will periodically send the Morse "B" (for battery) and its site number on the main channel and on the links. In other words, no beeps is normal, a beep means something and multiple beeps mean something urgent. An "A" or a "B" followed by a number means that we've got problems at a site. If you are the first to hear an "A" or a "B" alert it would be appreciated if you notified the appropriate sites tech staff.

The only tailgating that is allowed is you inserting your callsign followed by a word, for example, "Info", "Question" or Comment" to join an existing conversation. The word "break" is not used in everyday operation - it is reserved for urgent traffic. A "break-break" indicates emergency traffic and when heard everybody is expected to relinquish the channel and stand by.

Don't monopolize the system. Keep transmission short and thoughtful. You may be doubling and not know it, or your next-day rehash of Carsons monologue may prevent someone announcing an emergency. Each repeater in the system has a 3 minute timer. Regular timeout violators may have to buy a round at the next club party - it's the board's decision and there is no appeal. A lot of folks run full-duplex mobile and like it - they can hear when they get flaky into one box and can change channels and access a different site. There are several members that can show you how to modify a cheap bulletproof MASTR Pro, MASTR II, Exec II, MVP, MICOR, etc. to allow simultaneous receive and transmit without any in-vehicle feedback. The almost-wife-proof radio goes in the trunk, the control head goes up front, or you can build your own head, perhaps into a sheet metal panel that fits into the ashtray. Wife proof? Yep. It's hard to mess up a radio that has an almost bulletproof box in the trunk and nothing up front but a volume control, a squelch control, a multi-frequency switch, a speaker and a microphone (and some don't even have a squelch control). If you want one of those nice radios a few of our members have sources of complete kits. Plan on about $100-$120 for the complete kit of a radio with one set of crystals and already set up on the system channel for your area. That kit includes the radio, mounting tray, cable, head, mic and speaker and optionally an antenna (and if you ask real nice the provider will drill a perfect 3/4 inch hole in your roof or trunk with his very special $90 hole saw). If you want to add another channel or two you can plan on another $30-$50 per channel (4-frequency and 8-frequency models are available). If you want the radio to be full duplex you get to do the duplex mods yourself (and if you know which end of a pair of needle-nose pliers is the handle and which end of a soldering iron is the hot end you can do them). You will need separate antennas on the vehicle for the receiver and the transmitter not less than 18 inches apart, preferrably 30 inches or more, and ideally an odd multiple of 6 inches apart. If you can place one on the roof and the other on the trunk lid that offers some vertical separation which helps on the desense. One member replaced the car radio antenna with a disguise UHF antenna (made by StiCo) so that the vehicle appeared to only have the stock antenna. Another installed a 6" UHF whip in the flat area inside the back window.

Do not give out any details of the system sites other than the name of the mountaintop. Specifically we don't mention which building or which tower hosts the repeater. We have access to the sites due to long friendships and long personal relationships and we are not going to disturb them. Err on the safe side and make any site discussions on the wireline or in person.

Do not acknowledge, intimidate or otherwise argue with any user (non-member, member, guest, whatever) who intentionally interferes with or attempts to disrupt repeater/system operations. Please report all such offenses to a club officer via telephone or use another non-system frequency to contact them and get a phone number. Use the alternate system only to get contact info, not to make the report. And if the resident idiot or one of his copycats shows up, shut the port off that he's coming in on - deny him his audience. Even if it's your own port. And once we are positive of his identity we have ways to deal with him.

Be polite. No vulgarity. Avoid any language (like George Carlin's infamous seven words) that you wouldn't use in front of an impressionable five-year-old. Assume that your sainted grandmother, your boss and your pastor are listening at all times. Remember that your transmissions are being heard by many listeners including non-hams with scanners over multiple counties that together are larger than a few eastern states. One of our members reports that he has walked into several different Radio Shack stores and found a scanner listening to our system. Don't let your behavior give anyone a bad impression of our radio system or the amateur radio service. Move your arguments with your better half to your cellphone.

Weekday "drive time" is reserved for the normal round table conversation. Keep your transmissions short during this prime time. Remember that the system is a shared resource similar to a gigantic party line with a huge RF footprint. And system members sometime use the system autopatch to call in an accident to the Highway Patrol. Our RF footprint covers several areas that are complete dead spots for cellphones.

If you need to break in to a conversation, to use the autopatch, pick up or drop a link, etc., just tailgate someone, ID and say "Controlling". You will be recognized and given the frequency. Just let them know why you're butting in and punching buttons. Do what you need to do, say "thanks" and let them get back to their conversation.

Autopatch users are not to conduct any business communication of any type on the system. This is one area where the system owners have collectively decided that they need to be more restrictive than the FCC. Tough. Each system is privately owned and they are letting you play with their toys in their sandbox. Deal with it. If you want to call in an order for a pizza use your home phone, a pay phone or your cellphone. More "autopatch notes" below.

The system owners and the tech committee maintain the repeaters and ancillary equipment at considerable expense of their money and of their time. The club dues have never come close to even half of the total expenses. If you are a regular user of the system, you are expected to contribute to the support of it. That includes volunteering your skills and your time as well as donating your dollars to the maintenance kitty (maintaining a repeater system this extensive is an expensive undertaking - replacing just one antenas is $600-$700!). Please do your "fair share" by contributing. And remember, support can be as trivial as transportation - for example, if you hear one member of the north site tech committee mentioning that a piece of equipment has to go to the south site group and you are driving that direction as part of your day then stick your head up and volunteer your back seat or car trunk for the equipment.

Or if you hear them mention that one of the sites is getting a new antenna on the tower and you have that saturday free, please volunteer. You don't need any technical expertise to be the ground man that fetches and carries stuff to the tower mans lift bucket, or hauls the bucket up via the rope and pulley. Just be prepared to wear jeans, sturdy shoes, a long sleeved shirt, a pair of gloves and a hard hat (we can provide the last two - several sets live inside each radio site building). When we do tower work you always need at least one more than who is on the tower, in many cases replacing an antenna or feedline requires two or even three folks on the tower so it's an absolute minimum of two people on site, frequently three or even four, hence the extra person). If the equipment rack needs some work on the same trip that may be one or two more - but they are inside the building and can't fetch and carry for the tower man. Bring your handheld - we use the system simplex channel as an on-site intercom. If you have a speaker-mic for for your handheld, bring it. Being able to clip the s/m to your collar and leave the radio on your belt is really convenient.

Do not talk about system technical details, system tricks or command codes on the system - or on any other system. Likewise don't discus the codes for another system on our system. Don't discuss dues or finances - including those for other systems. Code lists (and updates) are considered part of the confidential user manual that is distributed only by the membership committee. Each copy is individualized to preclude xeroxing.

No "CB style" or "good-buddy" language is acceptable. Please minimize the Q signals, phonetics, slang and jargon. Family members are very important, and codes and ciphers make them feel excluded... in other words, plain language works quite well and is understood by all. HF Q-codes are un-necessary, they were invented to speed up CW traffic, and we've not had a MCW QSO on the system in years. Common land mobile ten-codes are barely OK. Several of the system owners and board members work in public safety and / or commercial 2-way and would really rather leave that environment at work.

ARES / RACES / DCS / Sheriffs Volunteer Communications / Mountain Search And Rescue / Civil Air Patrol / Red Cross Amateur Communications, etc. membership is encouraged. The system is used frequently in support of those groups. There have been several times in the past when the ARES, RACES or Red Cross repeaters were down for repair and they used one of our repeaters for their weekly net.

New members will be on probation for at least ninety days, sometimes longer if the board feels like it. There is no appeal to a board action to extend a mew members probation. Each system in the network is run as a benevolent dictatorship by its owner(s), and the board runs the network.

When commandeering the system for an emergency call (autopatch or calling another station to make the call for you) and the system is in use just tailgate someone, ID and say "Emergency Autopatch" or "Emergency Call Needed". You will be recognized and given the frequency. Then identify with your call sign and punch the DTMF buttons. If your emergency call uses the patch (as opposed to having some base station make the call for you), please remember to ID before and after completing your phone call.

Don't worry about apologizing to the other users for the commandeering until after the emergency call / phone call is over. We recognize that sometimes an emergency / 911 call has to be made right now. And remember that the station who declared the emergency has control of the frequency, and unless they ask for your help just leave your microphone in the clip or lying on the seat (i.e. stay off the air until the frequency is announced as being clear).

Don't just kerchunk the repeater without ID'ing (at least on the fourth or fifth kerchunk). No one will get annoyed if we hear "W6xxx testing" occasionally (maybe on the 14th time in one day - that's what ThruLine wattmeters and dummy loads are for...).

If using the far-end remote base in transcieve mode you need to pause for at least one second ("one thousand and one") after hitting your PTT before speaking to allow the far end relays enough time to function. Especially if you are going to give one-word answers or comments. If you are using the near-end remote base you still have to wait a moment but you won't have to pause to allow for the pickup time of all of the links in the middle.

Please don't tie up one repeater (or the entire system) if you are talking to another vehicle convoying down the freeway. That's what simplex is for. And we shouldn't have had to mention it in the guidelines.

Use a microphone hanger in your vehicle to avoid sitting on the microphone and inadvertently keying up the system until your radio goes into meltdown. And if you have a commercial rig like one of the MASTR IIs, MICORs or Mitreks mentioned above please realize that there are timeout timer option boards that simply plug in, and one is usually provided with that radio (if you have a Maxtrac or similar newer radio it's built in and just has to be switched on in the programming). Please use it! The system members (and scanner listeners) all over the southern half of California don't really want to listen to your private argument with your wife about the time and money you waste on ham radio.

Keep your radio(s) in good working order. Please operate it properly:

Don't shout into the microphone - it's not going to talk farther if you do.

Excessive microphone gain, distortion and high background noise make it difficult to hear and understand. The high background noise is more common than you think. Most vehicles have a higher noise level when crusing at speed on the highway over driving on city streets. People unconsciously tend to raise their voices in that situation. You have to remember to deliberately lower the volume of your voice to compensate. Several group members have access to service monitors and other test equipment that can measure deviation. Any of them will be happy to help you adjust your mic gain and transmitter deviation.

Don't give one-word answers or make cryptic comments. It takes almost a full second for the links to pick up from one end to the other in each direction, and sometimes the first word gets dropped in the middle.

Use only the English language on the system, remote base and the autopatch. Control operators are required to listen to the system 24x7 by FCC rules and all users are to assume that they are unable to understand anything else.

DON'T FORGET: AMATEUR RADIO EXISTS BECAUSE IT IS A SERVICE.... in fact, the FCC calls it the Amateur Radio Service, not the Amateur Radio Hobby.

Help contribute to the "public service" aspects of repeater operations, such as accident reporting, supporting area emergency groups, etc. And don't complain if a site is off-link for a special event or if it is loaned out as a replacement repeater for a net.

Autopatch Notes

First ID yourself and ask if the repeater is in use, unless you have been monitoring for a while and KNOW it's not in use.

Station identification must be strictly observed during a patch call - ID yourself before the call with something like "w6xxx on the patch" (or "w6xxx on the emergency patch"), then every 10 minutes during the call, and once more after hanging up (even if you did it one minute ago) by saying something like "w6xxx clear the patch at (time)". All of the patch activity plus 15 seconds after hangup are tape recorded on a slow speed reel-to-reel recorder and the tapes retained for at least two months. We included the "+15 seconds" timer so that we can capture your last ID to tape and show closure of any emergency situation.

The autopatches are there for the owners and users convenience, however, it is not to be used in place of a cellphone, payphone, nor is it to be used to evade toll charges. Each member system was / is designed and intended as a local radio communications system first, then linked together as a wide area radio communications system second, as a remote base system third, as a four-and-a-half county intercom system next, and as an autopatch last. There are other systems out there that have the patch as their primary purpose. And the system patch is outgoing only, you can't call in and have it ring on the air.

Remember your mobile or handheld radio is half-duplex and phone lines are full-duplex. You may have to volunteer to the person on the other end that you can't hear them while you are talking (unless your mobile is full duplex - and that's not hard to do on many mobiles). In fact, if you are calling a public safety dispatcher (i.e. an autopatch call) it's probably a good idea to start out with something like "I'm on the road, calling through an amateur radio repeater system and can't hear you while I'm talking..."

If at all possible the person you call on the patch should be familiar with the patch procedures. In other words, during prime time / drive time don't teach them about the patch while ON the patch. And when you do, make sure you tell them that 5,000 (or so) people will be listening to their conversation. Do the introduction during some slack evening or weekend time by taking your local system off link and demonstrating it by using your handheld or mobile to call your home phone, then when you are done please put the system back on link.

Autopatch users are not to conduct any business communication of any type on the system. This is one area where the system owners are more restrictive than the FCC. If you don't like it, tough. The board decided long ago that all of the liberties added by "the Pizza rule" (Part 97.113) do not apply to our repeaters. The "Pizza rule" was implemented to facilitate public service operations by making it clearer and easier for amateur radio to provide communications for organizations who raise funds for public benefit (i.e. communications for a Marathon where the financial beneficiary is the Red Cross). As a side effect of the particular wording used in that section it happend to say that indeed a ham radio could be used to order a pizza as long as the radio operator didn't have a pecuniary interest in selling pizzas. That's all well and good, just don't do it on our system. Drop a dime, use a pay phone or cellphone - you won't have to worry about us recording it.

No business or extremely personal phone calls, (i.e., family disagreements, etc.) should take place while using the autopatch... remember it has a huge RF footprint and the system is listened to by lots of users and scanner listeners. You would be surprised at just how many places have a scanner listening to the system... Drop a dime, use a pay phone or cellphone - you won't have to worry about us recording it.

If, while using the autopatch, you are placed on hold, every 10 to 15 seconds please keyup and advise you are on hold - something like "W6xxx is on hold". This will prevent someone who just arrived on channel from transmitting into your autopatch call inadvertently.

Be sure you are within the RF footprint of the repeater when making your call. And yes, if you are on link you can change sites diring a call. If you are not solid into the repeater(s), the person you call will not understand why you are breaking up or why you went away in the middle of your conversation. Keep your transmissions short so you will quickly know if you have moved into a poor path to the repeater. Remember, if you can not hear the repeater full quieting (without background noise), then you will most likely not be able to transmit to the repeater full quieting. The system characteristics are balanced for a 20-50 watt mobile, and handhelds will have a much better receiving range than transmitting range. Get into a good area or stay in a good area to make your call. If you are poor copy to the repeater, you may not be understandable or be able to disconnect the autopatch. Autopatch calls are a good reason to get yourself a full duplex mobile radio. And we have a few members that can set you up with a 40, 60 or 90 watt full duplex trunk-mount radio for a lot less money than you would think.

Use only the English language on the system, remote base and the patch. Control operators are required to listen to the system 24x7 by FCC rules and all users are to assume that they are unable to understand anything else.

The call should be terminated by the calling person should any illegality or improper use occur. If a control op has to do it he will NOT be happy, and you will probably have to buy him / her a tall cool one at the next system party. Multiple violations will result in you losing your patch privileges and maybe your system membership.

Our RF coverage footprint covers all or part of eight area codes in multiple counties. The patch microprocessor is programmed with autodial memories for over 40 common public safety numbers plus each user has several "slots" for his/her personal frequently dialed numbers (see the patch cheat sheet in your user manual). For all others just dial the eleven digits (1+area code+phone number) and let the systems least-cost-call-traffic-routing routine handle it. Yes, ALL manually dialed patch calls are eleven digits - that's one side effect of the least-cost-call-traffic-routing. If you don't like how the tech committee did it then drop a dime or use a cellphone. Or go build your own radio system.

The repeater autopatch controller has over two dozen emergency numbers pre-programmed into it and the call length timer is bypassed when using the emergency autodial numbers. A unique courtesy beep is added to the system when an emergency autodial call is in progress so that the other users know what is going on. The system command 911 is disabled as we have had mobile flutter drop a digit or duplicate a digit from other x91x commands. Instead of 911 use 910. The 910 command DOES NOT call the normal 911 number as that displays the calling location street address on the dispatchers screen, and we don't need ANOTHER 2AM visit by the fire department paramedics and an ambulance to the repeater autopatch site (the home of one of the board members). Instead, the 910 command actually calls the local Communications Center of the California Highway Patrol as that is the most-used emergency call made by our system members, and upon request the Center can instantly redirect your call to any of the other CHP Comm Centers, or to any local police or fire agency or even the Humane Society. And note that our patch calls the CHP on a phone number normally used by other public safety agencies (please don't ask how we got that number) so conduct yourself as the communications professional you pretend to be: Tell the nice dispatcher what, where, and how bad (i.e. "at the corner of X street and Y road we have a multiple victim, two car plus truck accident. We have moderate injuries to two victims and minor injuries to a third. You will need paramedics for three victims, one tow truck, and one rollback or flatbed hauler". If it's on a freeway and you know (and are absolutely, positively sure of) the nearest usable on-ramp you can add "...accessible from Z onramp...". And THINK about what you are going to say BEFORE you punch the DTMF buttons. Professionals don't say "ahhh", "errrr", or "ummmm" etc. They think about what they are going to say and say it to themselves once. Then and only then do they punch the PTT button, speak concisely, and unkey so that the dispatcher can ask any relevant questions. And when you are done with the patch, make sure you thank the nice dispatcher, then punch the DTMF to hang up, look at your watch, and then say "w6xxx clear the patch Wednesday January 4th at 3:30 PM" (or whatever the day and time is).

Just remember that the repeater, the remote base and the patch are there to use and feel free to use them as needed. Both system members and the public (on scanners) are listening so don't say anything that you would not like to see printed on the front page of the local newspaper in two-inch high headline type, or repeated to a close friend or your pastor. It can be embarrassing!

If you have ANY doubt that any autopatch call would not be legal... >>> DON'T DO IT <<<

Link Notes

The system has a number of point-to-point full duplex RF links to connect the central site with the outlying member repeater systems so what goes in on one comes out on all. The autopatch is located at a separate site and has its own independent links to two system sites. The northernmost and southernmost sites are connected through one of the other sites into the hub.

Since the links are implemented with point-to-point radios they need maintenance now and then just like a repeater radio. As mentioned above system maintenance traffic has priority over everything but emergency traffic. If you punch a command some day that involves links (inter-site links, autopatch links, or the remote base) and get a long beep then a morse "NA" that means that the link is down for a reason and is marked as Not Available.

Users are asked to NOT change system link configuration without direction from a tech committee member or a control operator, and without a prior walkthrough of how to do it and how to avoid multi-hop feedback loops. And DO NOT discuss the necessary codes over the air. If you find a repeater offline, and are going to switch it online for a reason, you should switch it on but in monitor mode first and listen first before going into transcieve mode. You may just find that particular box is down for maintenance, offlink for a local public service event, or whatever.

Remote Base Notes

The remote base has four separate radios (HF, 10 meters, 6 meters and 2 meters) interfaced to one radio port on the control system. It has several preprogrammed modes per band, plus a temporary memory for each band. The HF remote is at ground level, everything else is on a hilltop somewhere. Selecting a preprogrammed mode sets the frequency, offset and PL appropriately for that mode. When initially interfaced the remote base defaults to the two meter radio and sets it to 146.460 MHz simplex, low power, and no PL encode or decode. If you select 220 MHz it defaults to 223.50 MHz simplex, low power, and no PL encode (the 220 radio does not have decode yet). If you select six meters it defaults to 52.525 MHz simplex, low power, and no PL. Ten meters comes up on 29.60 simplex with no PL, at 60 watts (the only power level it has), and that band is not frequency agile (yet). 440 MHz is like 10m as it is a single mode device and is on 446.0 MHz (and making a 446 remote base work on a UHF repeater took some serious engineering...) If the HF gear is online it comes up on 7.255 MHz (F1) or you can select 3.996 MHz (F2), 14.258 MHz (F3) or 21.390 MHz (F4). At the moment there is no remote tuning of HF but as soon as the system kitty can afford a frequency agile HF radio and an automatic antenna tuner we will upgrade that. At the moment the two meter radio is FM only, but the controller hardware is designed to support an FM or SSB radio at some point in the future. All it takes is money. And that is why we have the kitty-shaped cookie jar (labeled "Toys") on the table at the system parties - we expect the users to feed the kitty.

When you switch the remote base on it comes up in monitor mix mode. If you want monitor mute you must specifically select it.

The remote comes up with the transmitter disabled. You must specifically select transcieve mode in order to transmit. Changing modes, the offset (plus, minus or zero) or PL encode disables the transmitter and you will need to re-select transcieve once you have the proper parameters configured. The simplest thing to do is to set everything up first then switch to transmit mode. If you want to switch back to monitor mode just reselect something to what it already is - for example, if you are on 146.52 simplex and encoding 100 Hz and want to switch the transmitter off just reselect 100 Hz, or reselect zero offset or reselect the same frequency. Note that when in transcieve mode you need to identify yourself and the remote on the standard identification timing guidelines (i.e. every 10 minutes) as mentioned at the top of this document. As an example, "w6xxx through the w6yyy remote base".

Taking the autopatch off hook switches the remote base off completely. If you want to let a person on the phone hear and speak on the remote base you will have to establish the telephone call, then switch on the remote base. The proper sequence would be to set the remote up on the band, channel, offset and PL then "save" it in the temporary memory. Then establish the autopatch call, then switch the remote back on, select temporary memory, and select transcieve. When the telephone user needs to talk over the air (i.e. to transmit) you will have to squeeze your PTT, and remember your local microphone audio will mix with the person on the phone, so cover the mic (if you are driving just press the microphone grille against your leg) or be in a quiet area. As rare as we need to couple the remote base to the patch (so far twice in six years) fixing this weirdness is not a high priority item on the "to-do" list.

Do not put the southern remote base and the northern remote base on the same channel, and one in transcieve... you will have an instant feedback loop that renders all on-line system user frequencies unusable within a five county footprint plus whatever frequency the remote base is on. If you can't fix it then it may require intervention from a control op or a tech committee member. He / She will not be happy and you will probably have to buy him / her a tall cold one at the next system party. And both the control ops and tech committee members have very long memories.

Other details and frequency command information for the remote base is in your system manual. And remember that we didn't write that manual and its multiple revisions and additions for you to shelve it and ignore it. Asking questions that are answered in the book on the air will result in dead silence (remember the caution above about discussing system configuration and codes?), and asking in person will result in an "RTFM" answer and a dirty look. And both the control ops and tech commitee members have long memories.

Net Linking Notes

The internet link connection is under development. As a short term we may put a relay between the controller and the remote base to select one or the other, but we'd really like to have both online at once. In the long term it will take rebuilding one of the control systems to add an internet port (another full duplex "radio" port). And there are very few full duplex repeater controllers larger than three ports available. With the existing intersystem links, the patch link, the local repeater, and the remote base we've filled the five ports of the existing homebrew controllers. We're working on a whole new design that can have cards plugged in as needed to expand to up to 12 ports.

Your tech folks are still figuring out the SunOS operating system and linking software. Then they get to learn how to make a computer live at a repeater site (fallback option is to link it in just like the HF remote and the patch is now). When it's fully operational the net-link connection will behave like another remote base - only instead of dialing up different frequencies you will be dialing up different repeaters around the world.

More details will be added to this section when the net-link system is fully operational.

We plan on having the net-link computer get the time from the NBS / WWV and set the repeater controllers time automatically as needed. The Fred Flintstone 5 o'clock weekday whistle will no longer be a little earlier every day until manually reset.

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The original user policies page was written as part of a revision to the system user manual in 1978.
This web page was HTML'd in Feb-2003 from a xerox of a xerox with a blurred revision date that could be 1982 or 1992.

This web page, this web site, the information presented in and on its pages and in these modifications and conversions is © Copyrighted 1995 and (date of last update) by Kevin Custer W3KKC and multiple originating authors. All Rights Reserved, including that of paper and web publication elsewhere.

	All FCC rules will be followed on the repeaters at all times. Failure to follow FCC rules may result in all or parts of the system being turned off or in some way disabled with or without warning. This includes identifying your station and the remote base system and during a phone patch. Give your call sign when you first transmit (this isn't specifically required by the Rules, but we encourage it on the system), then once every 10 minutes, and once more when you sign off. Despite common belief, the FCC Rules do not require you to give anyone else's call sign at any time, although it is a nice acknowledgment of the person you're talking to, like a handshake. More comments in the "autopatch notes" and the "remote base notes" below.
	Emergency traffic has the highest priority, system maintenance traffic is #2. Public service (even giving traffic directions to a visiting out-of-town ham) / special events is #3, normal everyday mobile and base station communications is #4. If one repeater in the system (or even the entire system) is being used to support a special event then that traffic has priority over normal day-to-day user communications. The most common special event scenario is that one site will be offlink to support that event, sometimes two sites will be linked together but offlink, and occasionally the entire system will be used.
	Prospective members should listen to the system for a month or so to become familiar with its operation and procedures before trying to con or armtwist an existing member to submitting them for membership.
	Pause (allow one second) between transmissions. This allows other members to use the system (someone may have an emergency). During normal operation we don't have a reset beep / courtesy tone because we (hopefully) have members with a functional IQ higher than that of egg white and since intelligent people don't need to be told to wait for a beep we don't have one. You listen, you hear the local repeater receiver squelch close, you pause, you key down, you pause a moment, you talk. What's so hard about that? Note that we do have the ability to switch on a courtesy tone of 1, 2 or 3 beeps (at a frequency of about 1 kHz) and that feature will be used during a special event or an emergency situations (the more "urgent" the situation the more beeps). Also when the remote base is in transcieve you will hear a low-pitched beep on unkey that is sent back down the link so that other users will know that their conversation is being forwarded off-system. If there is an alarm condition at a site it will periodically send a Morse letter "A" (for alarm) followed by a number on the main channel and on the links. If AC mains power fails at a site and it goes on battery backup it will periodically send the Morse "B" (for battery) and its site number on the main channel and on the links. In other words, no beeps is normal, a beep means something and multiple beeps mean something urgent. An "A" or a "B" followed by a number means that we've got problems at a site. If you are the first to hear an "A" or a "B" alert it would be appreciated if you notified the appropriate sites tech staff.
	The only tailgating that is allowed is you inserting your callsign followed by a word, for example, "Info", "Question" or Comment" to join an existing conversation. The word "break" is not used in everyday operation - it is reserved for urgent traffic. A "break-break" indicates emergency traffic and when heard everybody is expected to relinquish the channel and stand by.
	Don't monopolize the system. Keep transmission short and thoughtful. You may be doubling and not know it, or your next-day rehash of Carsons monologue may prevent someone announcing an emergency. Each repeater in the system has a 3 minute timer. Regular timeout violators may have to buy a round at the next club party - it's the board's decision and there is no appeal. A lot of folks run full-duplex mobile and like it - they can hear when they get flaky into one box and can change channels and access a different site. There are several members that can show you how to modify a cheap bulletproof MASTR Pro, MASTR II, Exec II, MVP, MICOR, etc. to allow simultaneous receive and transmit without any in-vehicle feedback. The almost-wife-proof radio goes in the trunk, the control head goes up front, or you can build your own head, perhaps into a sheet metal panel that fits into the ashtray. Wife proof? Yep. It's hard to mess up a radio that has an almost bulletproof box in the trunk and nothing up front but a volume control, a squelch control, a multi-frequency switch, a speaker and a microphone (and some don't even have a squelch control). If you want one of those nice radios a few of our members have sources of complete kits. Plan on about $100-$120 for the complete kit of a radio with one set of crystals and already set up on the system channel for your area. That kit includes the radio, mounting tray, cable, head, mic and speaker and optionally an antenna (and if you ask real nice the provider will drill a perfect 3/4 inch hole in your roof or trunk with his very special $90 hole saw). If you want to add another channel or two you can plan on another $30-$50 per channel (4-frequency and 8-frequency models are available). If you want the radio to be full duplex you get to do the duplex mods yourself (and if you know which end of a pair of needle-nose pliers is the handle and which end of a soldering iron is the hot end you can do them). You will need separate antennas on the vehicle for the receiver and the transmitter not less than 18 inches apart, preferrably 30 inches or more, and ideally an odd multiple of 6 inches apart. If you can place one on the roof and the other on the trunk lid that offers some vertical separation which helps on the desense. One member replaced the car radio antenna with a disguise UHF antenna (made by StiCo) so that the vehicle appeared to only have the stock antenna. Another installed a 6" UHF whip in the flat area inside the back window.
	Do not give out any details of the system sites other than the name of the mountaintop. Specifically we don't mention which building or which tower hosts the repeater. We have access to the sites due to long friendships and long personal relationships and we are not going to disturb them. Err on the safe side and make any site discussions on the wireline or in person.
	Do not acknowledge, intimidate or otherwise argue with any user (non-member, member, guest, whatever) who intentionally interferes with or attempts to disrupt repeater/system operations. Please report all such offenses to a club officer via telephone or use another non-system frequency to contact them and get a phone number. Use the alternate system only to get contact info, not to make the report. And if the resident idiot or one of his copycats shows up, shut the port off that he's coming in on - deny him his audience. Even if it's your own port. And once we are positive of his identity we have ways to deal with him.
	Be polite. No vulgarity. Avoid any language (like George Carlin's infamous seven words) that you wouldn't use in front of an impressionable five-year-old. Assume that your sainted grandmother, your boss and your pastor are listening at all times. Remember that your transmissions are being heard by many listeners including non-hams with scanners over multiple counties that together are larger than a few eastern states. One of our members reports that he has walked into several different Radio Shack stores and found a scanner listening to our system. Don't let your behavior give anyone a bad impression of our radio system or the amateur radio service. Move your arguments with your better half to your cellphone.
	Weekday "drive time" is reserved for the normal round table conversation. Keep your transmissions short during this prime time. Remember that the system is a shared resource similar to a gigantic party line with a huge RF footprint. And system members sometime use the system autopatch to call in an accident to the Highway Patrol. Our RF footprint covers several areas that are complete dead spots for cellphones.
	If you need to break in to a conversation, to use the autopatch, pick up or drop a link, etc., just tailgate someone, ID and say "Controlling". You will be recognized and given the frequency. Just let them know why you're butting in and punching buttons. Do what you need to do, say "thanks" and let them get back to their conversation.
	Autopatch users are not to conduct any business communication of any type on the system. This is one area where the system owners have collectively decided that they need to be more restrictive than the FCC. Tough. Each system is privately owned and they are letting you play with their toys in their sandbox. Deal with it. If you want to call in an order for a pizza use your home phone, a pay phone or your cellphone. More "autopatch notes" below.
	The system owners and the tech committee maintain the repeaters and ancillary equipment at considerable expense of their money and of their time. The club dues have never come close to even half of the total expenses. If you are a regular user of the system, you are expected to contribute to the support of it. That includes volunteering your skills and your time as well as donating your dollars to the maintenance kitty (maintaining a repeater system this extensive is an expensive undertaking - replacing just one antenas is $600-$700!). Please do your "fair share" by contributing. And remember, support can be as trivial as transportation - for example, if you hear one member of the north site tech committee mentioning that a piece of equipment has to go to the south site group and you are driving that direction as part of your day then stick your head up and volunteer your back seat or car trunk for the equipment. Or if you hear them mention that one of the sites is getting a new antenna on the tower and you have that saturday free, please volunteer. You don't need any technical expertise to be the ground man that fetches and carries stuff to the tower mans lift bucket, or hauls the bucket up via the rope and pulley. Just be prepared to wear jeans, sturdy shoes, a long sleeved shirt, a pair of gloves and a hard hat (we can provide the last two - several sets live inside each radio site building). When we do tower work you always need at least one more than who is on the tower, in many cases replacing an antenna or feedline requires two or even three folks on the tower so it's an absolute minimum of two people on site, frequently three or even four, hence the extra person). If the equipment rack needs some work on the same trip that may be one or two more - but they are inside the building and can't fetch and carry for the tower man. Bring your handheld - we use the system simplex channel as an on-site intercom. If you have a speaker-mic for for your handheld, bring it. Being able to clip the s/m to your collar and leave the radio on your belt is really convenient.
	Do not talk about system technical details, system tricks or command codes on the system - or on any other system. Likewise don't discus the codes for another system on our system. Don't discuss dues or finances - including those for other systems. Code lists (and updates) are considered part of the confidential user manual that is distributed only by the membership committee. Each copy is individualized to preclude xeroxing.
	No "CB style" or "good-buddy" language is acceptable. Please minimize the Q signals, phonetics, slang and jargon. Family members are very important, and codes and ciphers make them feel excluded... in other words, plain language works quite well and is understood by all. HF Q-codes are un-necessary, they were invented to speed up CW traffic, and we've not had a MCW QSO on the system in years. Common land mobile ten-codes are barely OK. Several of the system owners and board members work in public safety and / or commercial 2-way and would really rather leave that environment at work.
	ARES / RACES / DCS / Sheriffs Volunteer Communications / Mountain Search And Rescue / Civil Air Patrol / Red Cross Amateur Communications, etc. membership is encouraged. The system is used frequently in support of those groups. There have been several times in the past when the ARES, RACES or Red Cross repeaters were down for repair and they used one of our repeaters for their weekly net.
	New members will be on probation for at least ninety days, sometimes longer if the board feels like it. There is no appeal to a board action to extend a mew members probation. Each system in the network is run as a benevolent dictatorship by its owner(s), and the board runs the network.
	When commandeering the system for an emergency call (autopatch or calling another station to make the call for you) and the system is in use just tailgate someone, ID and say "Emergency Autopatch" or "Emergency Call Needed". You will be recognized and given the frequency. Then identify with your call sign and punch the DTMF buttons. If your emergency call uses the patch (as opposed to having some base station make the call for you), please remember to ID before and after completing your phone call. Don't worry about apologizing to the other users for the commandeering until after the emergency call / phone call is over. We recognize that sometimes an emergency / 911 call has to be made right now. And remember that the station who declared the emergency has control of the frequency, and unless they ask for your help just leave your microphone in the clip or lying on the seat (i.e. stay off the air until the frequency is announced as being clear).
	Don't just kerchunk the repeater without ID'ing (at least on the fourth or fifth kerchunk). No one will get annoyed if we hear "W6xxx testing" occasionally (maybe on the 14th time in one day - that's what ThruLine wattmeters and dummy loads are for...).
	If using the far-end remote base in transcieve mode you need to pause for at least one second ("one thousand and one") after hitting your PTT before speaking to allow the far end relays enough time to function. Especially if you are going to give one-word answers or comments. If you are using the near-end remote base you still have to wait a moment but you won't have to pause to allow for the pickup time of all of the links in the middle.
	Please don't tie up one repeater (or the entire system) if you are talking to another vehicle convoying down the freeway. That's what simplex is for. And we shouldn't have had to mention it in the guidelines.
	Use a microphone hanger in your vehicle to avoid sitting on the microphone and inadvertently keying up the system until your radio goes into meltdown. And if you have a commercial rig like one of the MASTR IIs, MICORs or Mitreks mentioned above please realize that there are timeout timer option boards that simply plug in, and one is usually provided with that radio (if you have a Maxtrac or similar newer radio it's built in and just has to be switched on in the programming). Please use it! The system members (and scanner listeners) all over the southern half of California don't really want to listen to your private argument with your wife about the time and money you waste on ham radio.
	Keep your radio(s) in good working order. Please operate it properly: Don't shout into the microphone - it's not going to talk farther if you do. Excessive microphone gain, distortion and high background noise make it difficult to hear and understand. The high background noise is more common than you think. Most vehicles have a higher noise level when crusing at speed on the highway over driving on city streets. People unconsciously tend to raise their voices in that situation. You have to remember to deliberately lower the volume of your voice to compensate. Several group members have access to service monitors and other test equipment that can measure deviation. Any of them will be happy to help you adjust your mic gain and transmitter deviation. Don't give one-word answers or make cryptic comments. It takes almost a full second for the links to pick up from one end to the other in each direction, and sometimes the first word gets dropped in the middle.
	Use only the English language on the system, remote base and the autopatch. Control operators are required to listen to the system 24x7 by FCC rules and all users are to assume that they are unable to understand anything else.
	DON'T FORGET: AMATEUR RADIO EXISTS BECAUSE IT IS A SERVICE.... in fact, the FCC calls it the Amateur Radio Service, not the Amateur Radio Hobby. Help contribute to the "public service" aspects of repeater operations, such as accident reporting, supporting area emergency groups, etc. And don't complain if a site is off-link for a special event or if it is loaned out as a replacement repeater for a net.

	First ID yourself and ask if the repeater is in use, unless you have been monitoring for a while and KNOW it's not in use.
	Station identification must be strictly observed during a patch call - ID yourself before the call with something like "w6xxx on the patch" (or "w6xxx on the emergency patch"), then every 10 minutes during the call, and once more after hanging up (even if you did it one minute ago) by saying something like "w6xxx clear the patch at (time)". All of the patch activity plus 15 seconds after hangup are tape recorded on a slow speed reel-to-reel recorder and the tapes retained for at least two months. We included the "+15 seconds" timer so that we can capture your last ID to tape and show closure of any emergency situation.
	The autopatches are there for the owners and users convenience, however, it is not to be used in place of a cellphone, payphone, nor is it to be used to evade toll charges. Each member system was / is designed and intended as a local radio communications system first, then linked together as a wide area radio communications system second, as a remote base system third, as a four-and-a-half county intercom system next, and as an autopatch last. There are other systems out there that have the patch as their primary purpose. And the system patch is outgoing only, you can't call in and have it ring on the air.
	Remember your mobile or handheld radio is half-duplex and phone lines are full-duplex. You may have to volunteer to the person on the other end that you can't hear them while you are talking (unless your mobile is full duplex - and that's not hard to do on many mobiles). In fact, if you are calling a public safety dispatcher (i.e. an autopatch call) it's probably a good idea to start out with something like "I'm on the road, calling through an amateur radio repeater system and can't hear you while I'm talking..."
	If at all possible the person you call on the patch should be familiar with the patch procedures. In other words, during prime time / drive time don't teach them about the patch while ON the patch. And when you do, make sure you tell them that 5,000 (or so) people will be listening to their conversation. Do the introduction during some slack evening or weekend time by taking your local system off link and demonstrating it by using your handheld or mobile to call your home phone, then when you are done please put the system back on link.
	Autopatch users are not to conduct any business communication of any type on the system. This is one area where the system owners are more restrictive than the FCC. If you don't like it, tough. The board decided long ago that all of the liberties added by "the Pizza rule" (Part 97.113) do not apply to our repeaters. The "Pizza rule" was implemented to facilitate public service operations by making it clearer and easier for amateur radio to provide communications for organizations who raise funds for public benefit (i.e. communications for a Marathon where the financial beneficiary is the Red Cross). As a side effect of the particular wording used in that section it happend to say that indeed a ham radio could be used to order a pizza as long as the radio operator didn't have a pecuniary interest in selling pizzas. That's all well and good, just don't do it on our system. Drop a dime, use a pay phone or cellphone - you won't have to worry about us recording it.
	No business or extremely personal phone calls, (i.e., family disagreements, etc.) should take place while using the autopatch... remember it has a huge RF footprint and the system is listened to by lots of users and scanner listeners. You would be surprised at just how many places have a scanner listening to the system... Drop a dime, use a pay phone or cellphone - you won't have to worry about us recording it.
	If, while using the autopatch, you are placed on hold, every 10 to 15 seconds please keyup and advise you are on hold - something like "W6xxx is on hold". This will prevent someone who just arrived on channel from transmitting into your autopatch call inadvertently.
	Be sure you are within the RF footprint of the repeater when making your call. And yes, if you are on link you can change sites diring a call. If you are not solid into the repeater(s), the person you call will not understand why you are breaking up or why you went away in the middle of your conversation. Keep your transmissions short so you will quickly know if you have moved into a poor path to the repeater. Remember, if you can not hear the repeater full quieting (without background noise), then you will most likely not be able to transmit to the repeater full quieting. The system characteristics are balanced for a 20-50 watt mobile, and handhelds will have a much better receiving range than transmitting range. Get into a good area or stay in a good area to make your call. If you are poor copy to the repeater, you may not be understandable or be able to disconnect the autopatch. Autopatch calls are a good reason to get yourself a full duplex mobile radio. And we have a few members that can set you up with a 40, 60 or 90 watt full duplex trunk-mount radio for a lot less money than you would think.
	Use only the English language on the system, remote base and the patch. Control operators are required to listen to the system 24x7 by FCC rules and all users are to assume that they are unable to understand anything else.
	The call should be terminated by the calling person should any illegality or improper use occur. If a control op has to do it he will NOT be happy, and you will probably have to buy him / her a tall cool one at the next system party. Multiple violations will result in you losing your patch privileges and maybe your system membership.
	Our RF coverage footprint covers all or part of eight area codes in multiple counties. The patch microprocessor is programmed with autodial memories for over 40 common public safety numbers plus each user has several "slots" for his/her personal frequently dialed numbers (see the patch cheat sheet in your user manual). For all others just dial the eleven digits (1+area code+phone number) and let the systems least-cost-call-traffic-routing routine handle it. Yes, ALL manually dialed patch calls are eleven digits - that's one side effect of the least-cost-call-traffic-routing. If you don't like how the tech committee did it then drop a dime or use a cellphone. Or go build your own radio system.
	The repeater autopatch controller has over two dozen emergency numbers pre-programmed into it and the call length timer is bypassed when using the emergency autodial numbers. A unique courtesy beep is added to the system when an emergency autodial call is in progress so that the other users know what is going on. The system command 911 is disabled as we have had mobile flutter drop a digit or duplicate a digit from other x91x commands. Instead of 911 use 910. The 910 command DOES NOT call the normal 911 number as that displays the calling location street address on the dispatchers screen, and we don't need ANOTHER 2AM visit by the fire department paramedics and an ambulance to the repeater autopatch site (the home of one of the board members). Instead, the 910 command actually calls the local Communications Center of the California Highway Patrol as that is the most-used emergency call made by our system members, and upon request the Center can instantly redirect your call to any of the other CHP Comm Centers, or to any local police or fire agency or even the Humane Society. And note that our patch calls the CHP on a phone number normally used by other public safety agencies (please don't ask how we got that number) so conduct yourself as the communications professional you pretend to be: Tell the nice dispatcher what, where, and how bad (i.e. "at the corner of X street and Y road we have a multiple victim, two car plus truck accident. We have moderate injuries to two victims and minor injuries to a third. You will need paramedics for three victims, one tow truck, and one rollback or flatbed hauler". If it's on a freeway and you know (and are absolutely, positively sure of) the nearest usable on-ramp you can add "...accessible from Z onramp...". And THINK about what you are going to say BEFORE you punch the DTMF buttons. Professionals don't say "ahhh", "errrr", or "ummmm" etc. They think about what they are going to say and say it to themselves once. Then and only then do they punch the PTT button, speak concisely, and unkey so that the dispatcher can ask any relevant questions. And when you are done with the patch, make sure you thank the nice dispatcher, then punch the DTMF to hang up, look at your watch, and then say "w6xxx clear the patch Wednesday January 4th at 3:30 PM" (or whatever the day and time is).
	Just remember that the repeater, the remote base and the patch are there to use and feel free to use them as needed. Both system members and the public (on scanners) are listening so don't say anything that you would not like to see printed on the front page of the local newspaper in two-inch high headline type, or repeated to a close friend or your pastor. It can be embarrassing!
	If you have ANY doubt that any autopatch call would not be legal... >>> DON'T DO IT <<<

	The system has a number of point-to-point full duplex RF links to connect the central site with the outlying member repeater systems so what goes in on one comes out on all. The autopatch is located at a separate site and has its own independent links to two system sites. The northernmost and southernmost sites are connected through one of the other sites into the hub.
	Since the links are implemented with point-to-point radios they need maintenance now and then just like a repeater radio. As mentioned above system maintenance traffic has priority over everything but emergency traffic. If you punch a command some day that involves links (inter-site links, autopatch links, or the remote base) and get a long beep then a morse "NA" that means that the link is down for a reason and is marked as Not Available.
	Users are asked to NOT change system link configuration without direction from a tech committee member or a control operator, and without a prior walkthrough of how to do it and how to avoid multi-hop feedback loops. And DO NOT discuss the necessary codes over the air. If you find a repeater offline, and are going to switch it online for a reason, you should switch it on but in monitor mode first and listen first before going into transcieve mode. You may just find that particular box is down for maintenance, offlink for a local public service event, or whatever.

	The remote base has four separate radios (HF, 10 meters, 6 meters and 2 meters) interfaced to one radio port on the control system. It has several preprogrammed modes per band, plus a temporary memory for each band. The HF remote is at ground level, everything else is on a hilltop somewhere. Selecting a preprogrammed mode sets the frequency, offset and PL appropriately for that mode. When initially interfaced the remote base defaults to the two meter radio and sets it to 146.460 MHz simplex, low power, and no PL encode or decode. If you select 220 MHz it defaults to 223.50 MHz simplex, low power, and no PL encode (the 220 radio does not have decode yet). If you select six meters it defaults to 52.525 MHz simplex, low power, and no PL. Ten meters comes up on 29.60 simplex with no PL, at 60 watts (the only power level it has), and that band is not frequency agile (yet). 440 MHz is like 10m as it is a single mode device and is on 446.0 MHz (and making a 446 remote base work on a UHF repeater took some serious engineering...) If the HF gear is online it comes up on 7.255 MHz (F1) or you can select 3.996 MHz (F2), 14.258 MHz (F3) or 21.390 MHz (F4). At the moment there is no remote tuning of HF but as soon as the system kitty can afford a frequency agile HF radio and an automatic antenna tuner we will upgrade that. At the moment the two meter radio is FM only, but the controller hardware is designed to support an FM or SSB radio at some point in the future. All it takes is money. And that is why we have the kitty-shaped cookie jar (labeled "Toys") on the table at the system parties - we expect the users to feed the kitty.
	When you switch the remote base on it comes up in monitor mix mode. If you want monitor mute you must specifically select it.
	The remote comes up with the transmitter disabled. You must specifically select transcieve mode in order to transmit. Changing modes, the offset (plus, minus or zero) or PL encode disables the transmitter and you will need to re-select transcieve once you have the proper parameters configured. The simplest thing to do is to set everything up first then switch to transmit mode. If you want to switch back to monitor mode just reselect something to what it already is - for example, if you are on 146.52 simplex and encoding 100 Hz and want to switch the transmitter off just reselect 100 Hz, or reselect zero offset or reselect the same frequency. Note that when in transcieve mode you need to identify yourself and the remote on the standard identification timing guidelines (i.e. every 10 minutes) as mentioned at the top of this document. As an example, "w6xxx through the w6yyy remote base".
	Taking the autopatch off hook switches the remote base off completely. If you want to let a person on the phone hear and speak on the remote base you will have to establish the telephone call, then switch on the remote base. The proper sequence would be to set the remote up on the band, channel, offset and PL then "save" it in the temporary memory. Then establish the autopatch call, then switch the remote back on, select temporary memory, and select transcieve. When the telephone user needs to talk over the air (i.e. to transmit) you will have to squeeze your PTT, and remember your local microphone audio will mix with the person on the phone, so cover the mic (if you are driving just press the microphone grille against your leg) or be in a quiet area. As rare as we need to couple the remote base to the patch (so far twice in six years) fixing this weirdness is not a high priority item on the "to-do" list.
	Do not put the southern remote base and the northern remote base on the same channel, and one in transcieve... you will have an instant feedback loop that renders all on-line system user frequencies unusable within a five county footprint plus whatever frequency the remote base is on. If you can't fix it then it may require intervention from a control op or a tech committee member. He / She will not be happy and you will probably have to buy him / her a tall cold one at the next system party. And both the control ops and tech committee members have very long memories.
	Other details and frequency command information for the remote base is in your system manual. And remember that we didn't write that manual and its multiple revisions and additions for you to shelve it and ignore it. Asking questions that are answered in the book on the air will result in dead silence (remember the caution above about discussing system configuration and codes?), and asking in person will result in an "RTFM" answer and a dirty look. And both the control ops and tech commitee members have long memories.

	The internet link connection is under development. As a short term we may put a relay between the controller and the remote base to select one or the other, but we'd really like to have both online at once. In the long term it will take rebuilding one of the control systems to add an internet port (another full duplex "radio" port). And there are very few full duplex repeater controllers larger than three ports available. With the existing intersystem links, the patch link, the local repeater, and the remote base we've filled the five ports of the existing homebrew controllers. We're working on a whole new design that can have cards plugged in as needed to expand to up to 12 ports.
	Your tech folks are still figuring out the SunOS operating system and linking software. Then they get to learn how to make a computer live at a repeater site (fallback option is to link it in just like the HF remote and the patch is now). When it's fully operational the net-link connection will behave like another remote base - only instead of dialing up different frequencies you will be dialing up different repeaters around the world.
	More details will be added to this section when the net-link system is fully operational.
	We plan on having the net-link computer get the time from the NBS / WWV and set the repeater controllers time automatically as needed. The Fred Flintstone 5 o'clock weekday whistle will no longer be a little earlier every day until manually reset.