Help me out here guys. The following piece of information came from our coordinating body:
<snip> To: Mike Besemer (WM4B) Subject: Re: Control Link/Repeater Linking There is much confusion and disagreement between hams as to what is legal in part 97. If you search the SERA band plan you will find auxiliary stations but no control links on 2 meters but 440 MHz has control links listed. Auxiliary station and a control link frequency are two different things. <End Snip> My reply to that was: <snip> Your losing me. According to Part 97: §97.213 Telecommand of an amateur station. An amateur station on or within 50 km of the Earth's surface may be under telecommand where: (a) There is a radio or wireline control link between the control point and the station sufficient for the control operator to perform his/her duties. If radio, the control link must use an auxiliary station. A control link using a fiber optic cable or another telecommunication service is considered wireline. (b) Provisions are incorporated to limit transmission by the station to a period of no more than 3 minutes in the event of malfunction in the control link. (c) The station is protected against making, willfully or negligently, unauthorized transmissions. (d) A photocopy of the station license and a label with the name, address, and telephone number of the station licensee and at least one designated control operator is posted in a conspicuous place at the station location. aAnd §97.201 Auxiliary station. (a) Any amateur station licensed to a holder of a Technician, Technician Plus, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operator license may be an auxiliary station. A holder of a Technician, Technician Plus, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operator license may be the control operator of an auxiliary station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held. (b) An auxiliary station may transmit only on the 2 m and shorter wavelength bands, except the 144.0-144.5 MHz, 145.8-146.0 MHz, 219-220 MHz, 222.00-222.15 MHz, 431-433 MHz, and 435-438 MHz segments. (c) Where an auxiliary station causes harmful interference to another auxiliary station, the licensees are equally and fully responsible for resolving the interference unless one station's operation is recommended by a frequency coordinator and the other station's is not. In that case, the licensee of the non-coordinated auxiliary station has primary responsibility to resolve the interference. (d) An auxiliary station may be automatically controlled. (e) An auxiliary station may transmit one-way communications. According to this, a control link IS an auxiliary station and an auxiliary station is allowed on two meters. Im pretty sure that Im reading the FCC rules correctly are you saying that SERA does not endorse control links on 2 meters? Im trying to understand, but what youre telling me appears contrary to what Im reading. <End Snip> Am I totally losing my mind here, guys? If a control link must be an Auxiliary Station (97.213.a) and an Auxiliary Station may transmit on 2 meters (97.201.b), how can a control link frequency be different than an Auxiliary Station? Mike WM4B From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Besemer (WM4B) Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 8:08 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Control Link Greetings all, Please pardon my ignorance, but with the group of experts who hang out on this reflector Id prefer getting the straight-poop from those who have been-there/done-that, rather than trying to find the correct answer the old-fashioned way! Im considering adding a control link to our clubs 2-meter repeater. Currently, we use the phone-line as control link, but itd be nice to have a second means of control. The controller is a CAT-1000, so I think I can just use the port for the 2nd radio (need to do some more reading in the manual to see what functions are allowed with that setup). Am I barking up the right tree? Any downside to this? Do I need to coordinate the link frequency through our coordinating body (SERA)? Can I eventually use this link to link two repeaters? Am I too stupid to attempt this? Again, pardon me asking prior to doing the research myself, but this place is a wealth of knowledge and with WAY too little time to do everything Id like to do I sure appreciate everybodys assistance. Mike WM4B
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