The year 2004
In 2004 there were additions of the Winlink PMBO with the callsign W5AUU. With that we had to change the FBB bbs callsign to W5AUU-1, the alias ADEM is still on the packet bbs. There were 4 TelPac nodes installed during the year to support the PMBO. During one of the DEC meetings a KPC3Plus was delivered to each DEC area for the purpose of installing a new TelPac node. Some of these were installed, hopefully during 2005 the rest will come online. W5ENL had its hard drive replaced, HRO and ASH's power supply problems, NCA50 waiting to be installed, NCA495 noise problems solved, vandals broke into the NEA site. Alot of time and work went into working on the APN sites from repairs and installing new sites. We have some of the best volunteers to work and keep up the APN, Thanks!!
Nov 17, 2004 - The way to connect to the 2m W5AUU Winlink port is to connect to the APN node ARLINK then connect to W5AUU. This is change is final. The way it was first on was to just get it on the air for users.
October 28, 2004 - W5AUU BBS now has an SSID, please use W5AUU-1 when connecting to the BBS, the alias didn't change so you can still connect to the alias ADEM from an APN node and reach the BBS. There is now a Winlink port on 145.010 and you can connect to CONWAY then connect to W5AUU to reach it. The Winlink port has the callsign W5AUU.
October 22, 2004 - New TelPac node, KC5TEL nearest node NEA495. This is the District C TelPac node. It is located in Jonesboro at the Craighead County OEM using DSL.
October 22, 2004 - The W5AUU Winlink PMBO is now operational on HF on the following frequencies: 3626.9 , 7068.9 , 7101.2 , 10146.20 . Your HF dial frequency will vary with what tnc you are using. Putting these frequencies into Airmail will give you the right dial frequencies to set your HF radio by.
September 25, 2004 - N5XFW reports the antennas were installed at SEA. The SEA node will be on 145.010 at 130ft and the 6m antenna is at 110ft. The tower site is around 300ft above sea level. These node are not online yet but will be soon. It is located 10 miles north of Monticello at a Civil Air Patrol tower (thanks to Chuck Bishop). Thanks to the tower crew, many of the people involved drove a long way to do the work and we all appreciate that.
September 4, 2004 - KB5WBH reports that vandals visited the NEA site on Aug 27, 2004. They broke the lock hasp on the door and knocked some of the equipment over unplugging the power to the tnc's. Nothing was stolen or damaged. They left their tire tool leaned up against the door, maybe they will have a flat soon. A police report was made since this was the second time this year, the first time they didn't get in. A new lock hasp and a security cable around the door jam will now make it harder to get into. Hopefully after them seeing what was in there they will leave the site alone.
August 28, 2004 - A big thanks to John W5AR and Bill W5BXJ for a tireless effort in getting the Malvern node on the air. They were at the site will 11:30pm gettings on the air.
August 22, 20004 - J.M. reports a new TelPac node online in Hot Springs. Connect to SPA then N5XFW-2 to reach it. Thanks J.M. for putting it online.
August 22, 2004 - The node NEA495 was off the air. Mike KB5WBH removed the battery jumper and reset the tnc. It cleared the problem.
August 21, 2004 - Another TelPac node (KG5KS) is now online(24/7), connect to IND495 then KG5KS. Thanks Kenny for putting one online.
July 30, 2004 - A TelPac node (KB5WBH) is on the air(24/7), connect to MON495 then KB5WBH. This is part of the Winlink system. Connecting to it will telnet you to one of the Winlink servers.
May 31, 2004 - Randy KG5NE reports that he made it up to Cavanal Mtn this weekend and fixed the FSM antenna. It is back on the air with the micor, but he has plans to try out a different radio soon to see if it would improve things. It is hearing many stations again, but we hope to establish a link with the TUL node in Tulsa. Keep up the good work, Randy!
May 23, 2004 - Kevin AC5DK took the original TNC and new radio for BAX50 up to the site and installed it. The equipment is working okay, but the paths to IND & ASH are still poor. The new radio has an 'S' meter (which the earlier one did not) and may have revealed the real problem. When the radio is connected to the antenna, there is full scale white noise across the entire 6m band. This is preventing the receiver from getting good tones from IND50 and for sure from ASH50. A look at the heard lists, shows that ASH50 isn't hearing BAX50 that well either, so that may just be the path. BAXTER has trouble communicating with ASH at times, especially in the heat of the day. - The culprit on the 6m noise could be general line noise from all the power lines around town or an FM broadcast transmitter on the other side of the hill; there is no way to tell and we are unsure what to do at this time. Perhaps when HRO gets back online, there will at least be a good path there. There is a new picture of the equipment in an enclosure built by Jim K5JFG on the BAX webpage; click on BAXTER on the map above. Thanks, Jim!
May 11, 2004 - Kevin AC5DK and Jim K5JFG met up with Mark K0XXX to go out to ASH site and return the power supply. It seems to be working okay and the power output and antenna SWR was checked while there. Seems to be all good and working fine.
May 10, 2004 - Royce N5UFC reports that he has changed out the controller board on the 145.91 Clinton repeater and the interference to the NCA495 packet node is gone. Also he says, he is going this evening to pick up a pole for the 6m antenna and believes he has a CB ground plane antenna available to him he wants to trim up to 6m. Thanks for keeping after it, Royce.
May 6, 2004 - Kevin AC5DK worked on the BAX50 equipment today, only to discover on the bench that the receiving problem may have been the TNC all along. It appears to be beyond the scope of a quick repair as it is not decoding any signals. If it cannot be fixed, a replacement will be looked into. - A decision has been made regarding NCA495 to try switching the frequency to 145.01 MHz for a trial and if all is okay, then the node will get a new EPROM and become NCA permanently. Royce N5UFC will try to go up in the next day or so and switch the radios frequency.
May 5, 2004 - Charles K5NRC, reports on progress at NBO site. The VHF antennas appear to be severely damaged due to continued high winds on the mountain. The NBO495 radio is repaired but only has a 9 watt output. He is going to work on decreasing the amount of wiring involed with radio hookup by removing the micor control heads and wiring them up more directly as well as adding better fusing at the same time. The 6m radio, which was not transmitting at all on the mountain, suddenly sprang back to life on his work bench. Obviously, it has some kind of intermittent connection and he will go through the unit when he has time. Thanks for taking over the reins there, Charles, very much appreciated!
April 28, 2004 - ASH power supply was found to have a "blown" AC fuse. Wrong fuse installed; a 10 amp fast blow instead of an 8 amp slow blow. Fixed and awaiting return.
April 26, 2004 - ASH & ASH50 went offline this morning around 4 am. Power supply is suspected.
April 21, 2004 - TXK equipment has been taken offline for an overhaul. -- FSAARC has approved monies to purchase a new radio for FSM.
April 20, 2004 - BAX50 equipment was removed from service to diagnose reason for path loss to IND.
April 14, 2004 - Mike KB5WBH reports that some TNCs have been swapped around and BLY is on the air, providing a link to Tennessee node network & BBSes on 145.01 Mhz.
April 10, 2004 - Royce N5UFC reports that NCA495 has been off the air because of computer noise ON the packet frequency coming from the 146.91 repeater controller sitting next to it. The interference renders the node virtually deaf. He has some fixes in mind, but if all else fails, the node can be moved in frequency (145.01 MHz probably) once the 6m node is operational. And on that front, all Royce lacks is time and an antenna, but he MAY have one located. We'll be looking forward to that, Royce, but understand that you are quite busy right now.
April 9, 2004 - Paul KA6VAN made it back over to ASH site this morning and reinstalled the power supply that had gone down. Kevin AC5DK reported that three of the pass transistors on the RS-35M were bad; two shorted and one open. All four were replaced. the node is back to running normally.
March 20, 2004 - The HRO power supply has been installed but there is another problem. Also, NBO495 radio appears to still be off the air, NBO50 radio appears off the air both TX & RX, NCA495 is off the air, NCA50 still waiting to be installed. TXK seems to be gone. Hopefully these will be looked after soon.
March 9, 2004 - The ASH site is off the air at the moment, power supply problems.
March 6, 2004 - W5ENL packet bbs had to be worked on. It maybe having hard drive problems. If the problem returns again Mike KB5WBH will replace its hard drive. Also, Kevin AC5DK reports that the power supply for HRO has been delivered and is awaiting installation.
January 12, 2004 - There is a packet net held weekly on Thursday nights at 8pm. From your local node connect to CONWAY then enter BBS ,once on the W5AUU bbs enter: C to enter the conference bridge on the bbs. That is where the net is held. Once every 10 minutes you will need to hit your enter key to send a blank line, if you don't you will time out and be disconnected. To exit the packet net enter: .Q don't forget the " . " before the Q If this is your first connect to the bbs it will ask you for your info, for the bbs just simply put in W5AUU, unless your a user of the other bbs in the state (W5ENL). Remember, packet is slow so don't get discouraged if it seems to take some time. Learn the node system. Knowing your way around will be one of your best pieces of info during any disaster.