Nov 11, 2020

Rosstown tower is back online.

Oct 23, 2020

Rosston tower remains offline until repairs can be completed.

August 19, 2016

The DStar system now has dextra installed on both gateways. Please review the documentation for new commands you'll need to know.

The automatic linking feature has been disabled for now. Users are welcome to manually link and unlink.

June 23, 2016

W5NGU DSTAR gateway is back online and running on the new server.

June 17, 2016

W5NGU DSTAR gateway is offline for system upgrades until further notice. The RF modules are still online for local use.

Oct. 21, 2015

The KE5YAP Rosston D*Star is now up with internet connection.

Sept 7, 2015

The primary 92 machine has been taken offline for upgrades and enhancements. The backup machine is online.
The KE5YAP DSTAR stack is online with no internet or gateway features.

May 2, 2015

KE5YAP D-Star repeater system has been restored to full operability.

April 19, 2015

The Fusion digital repeater was placed back on line Saturday, April 18, after Bob Storey, AF5RS, re-aligned the duplexer. Initial reports indicate the repeater is working much better.

March 30, 2015

The 443.525 Fusion repeater is experiencing problems with poor sensitivity & reduced coverage. The cause has been identified and will be corrected ASAP.

March 07, 2015

The new 224.920 repeater with a 110.9 pl and -1.6MHz offset was put online at Stark Hall. In addition, the new Yaesu Fusion repeater is online at Stark Hall on 443.525. The Fusion is currently in digital-only mode until some control system issues can be addressed. Thanks to all that showed up Saturday, March 7 to help with this repeater deployment project.

October 01, 2014

All systems on Rosston tower are online with exception of internet access on the KE5YAP D-Star repeater system due to computer configuration problems. Internet access on the tower is functioning ok. APRS iGates are online.

August 13, 2014

Rosston equipment is down.

May 4, 2014

The Stark Hall digipeater/igate is back on line. The SD card failed Friday night.

January 23, 2014

Three weeks ago, the 146.92 repeater abruptly failed. Guy, KC5GOI and Don, KG6LE made a site visit and determined that a 12 volt power connector had overheated and failed. They made temporary repairs and got it back on the air. At this time it was determined that the backup repeater located at the City of Denton’s site would not respond to commands to turn it on. A later site visit to power cycle the repeater fixed that problem.

A week later, after switching over to the City backup repeater, the primary 92 repeater was brought down to WB5NZV’s shop for permanent repairs and upgrades. The 12 volt power distribution was redesigned to split up the loads more evenly. In addition, bypass coaxial relays were installed to allow bypass of the final power amplifier.

Under normal power, the final RF amplifier is on line and producing 100 watts output. If commercial power fails, the systems reverts to battery power, the amplifier drops out and is bypassed by the relays. This now allows the repeater’s 20 watt transmitter to be connected directly to the antenna. This will greatly reduce the load on the backup batteries. Calculations show that the repeater can run for over four days on the batteries if the repeater use is kept to a minimum.

Other changes were updates to the programming. A new sensor was installed to monitor temperature inside the repeater cabinet. Cooling fans were cleaned and some replaced. Voter receiver radios were tested and repaired. And additional equipment grounding was installed.

Changes were made to the commands for placing the repeater in Skywarn, Event, and other modes of operation. Most notable is the switch from normal to Skywarn mode and back to normal mode. The command macros run a little longer, with “please standby”, “please wait”, messages while the changes are being made. It is requested that all repeater traffic stand by until the message that says the mode is up or has returned to normal.

The repeater was reinstalled at TWU Guinn Hall and placed back on the air Wednesday, January 22 by Don-KG6LE, John-KC0L, Doug-KE5WTL, and Gerald-WB5NZV.

January 22, 2014

The primary 146.92 repeater is back on the air as of this afternoon!

January 3, 2014

The 146.92 backup repeater is back online now and acting as the primary. The real primary is in the shop for repairs and updates.

December 31, 2013

The .92 repeater is down with an apparent power failure. The backup repeater failed to come up via remote command. The .17 repeater is now the temporary primary. Repair team to work on .92 tomorrow.

July 17, 2013

The Justin remote voter receiver on 146.920 was placed back in service July 17th. It was moved from the Justin fire station radio tower to a water tower on the northwest side of the city. This location is 75 ft. higher than the previous location and should help mobile and portable operations from the Justin area. In the next few days, an APRS weather station will be installed at this site that will show wind direction, speed, and temperature.

At this time, remote voter receivers at Celina, Slidell, and Grapevine are in service. The Frisco and Little Elm sites are off line at this time but should be back on line soon.

February 7, 2013

The W5NGU-4 weather station on the 1500 ft. Rosston tower is online. Access the data at: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=W5ngu-4&last=12

December 19, 2012

The KE5YAP D*Star repeaters have no Internet access at this time. Local RF only is available.

The W5NGU-4 APRS Digipeater is in for testing at a temporary site. This will probably continue for a couple of weeks.

November 25, 2012

Gerald and Mike have forcibly evicted the gremlins from the 444.050 repeater and all is well once again.

November 23, 2012

The primary 146.92 repeater is back on the air. The three voter sites in Celina, Slidell aand Grapevine are in service.

The 444.050 repeater has an interference problem that is being investigated. It may be turned off at times. This will affect Echolink users.

November 13, 2012

Gerald reports the Echolink is back online after a new USB soundcard was installed. May need to have levels tweaked, but seems to be working OK now.

November 1, 2012

The "A" portion(1.2GHz voice) of KE5YAP is now online.

October 25, 2012

Gerald has reported that the Echolink system is offline again due to audio problems

October 18, 2012

Gerald has reported that the Echolink system is back online on the 444.050 repeater.

October 15, 2012

Gerald (WB5NZV) and Don (KG6LE) have repaired the 145.490 WD5U repeater on the Rosston tower today. The power supply had failed on it last week.

September 27, 2012

The primary 146.920 repeater was taken off the air Wednesday evening in preparation for installation of the new voter system and other upgrades. The backup repeater is turned on. It does not have a courtesy tone and does not have remote voter receivers therefore it will sound different and the coverage will be reduced for some, but it does have reasonably good coverage of the county.

It is uncertain how long this upgrade will take. Meanwhile, don't forget the other DCARA repeaters on 145.170 (110.9), 444.050 (110.9), and 443.525 (118.8) as alternative channels.

September 19, 2012

Gerald reported:

The W5NGU Echolink server has suffered a hard drive failure and is currently off line. A replacement computer is being built by Guy, KC5GOI, and should be back on line in a week or so. In the meantime, some of the nearby Echolink nodes are KD5OEW-R in Coppell, WA5CKF-R in Irving, KM5HT-R in Hurst, and K5AAM-R in Ft Worth to name a few. The host repeater here in Denton, 444.050-W5NGU, is still fully operational. The W5NGU Echolink node computer is co-located at my home station and is linked to the repeater via a UHF link.

September 9, 2012

Gerald reported the Echolink computer is down with a hardware failure.

June 25, 2012

Gerald reported that the Echolink system is back online.

June 13, 2012

The Echolink control system is out although the repeaters themselves are working.

May 22, 2012

Gerald reports that the amplifier has been installed on the 146.92 repeater. He also reported that the 1.2 voice and data modules on KE5YAP Rosston D-Star are still offline due to technical problems and inability to access the site due to an elevator problem.

May 9, 2012

Mike Chittendon reports that the amp for the 146.92 repeater is fixed and will be scheduled for installation shortly. The Rosston D-Star repeater work is on hold until the tower elevator is repaired.

February 25, 2012

Gerald reported the KE5YAP-A repeater is offline for about a week of testing and the KE5YAP-G data link is also down at this time.

December 12, 2011

Gerald reported the Internet connection to the new D-Star repeater (KE5YAP-G) is now stable and available for use.

December 11, 2011

Gerald reported the 444.050 repeater is now online.

December 06, 2011

Gerald reported that the 145.17 repeater is up on the new machine. Currently running standalone with no controller.
The 444.050 repeater is down due to a blown chip. No duplexer.

November 17, 2011

Gerald reported that the KE5YAP-G Data Access is now working on the Rosston tower. It's not 100%, but can be used for testing until a more suitable Internet access point is established.

November 9, 2011

The Packet BBS and the Digipeater at TWU Stark Hall have been moved to 145.030.

October 27, 2011

Stewart has advised he has received new coordination for his KE5UT repeater. New frequency: 444.5125MHz +5MHz PL=123.0. Narrow band. 2.5KHz deviation.

October 25, 2011

Guy has the KC5GOI-10 RMS gateway online now. You will find it on 145.030. Some stations may have to use W5NGU-4 to get to it. It is a public RMS Gateway not an EMCOMM gateway.

August 13, 2011

The D*STAR repeater KE5YAP is on the air. It is located at the Rosston site. Both the C (VHF) and B (UHF) ports are operational. It is not connected to the internet yet. So you will not be able to use the reflectors or see your status online. The internet connection is a separate project that will be performed at a later date.

KE5YAP frequency info:
KE5YAP AD 1259.200 simplex data (Not online until internet connection)
KE5YAP AV 1293.200 - 20khz down voice
KE5YAP B 440.7125 + 5mhz up
KE5YAP C 147.490 - 1mhz down

Rosston Analog 145.490
The 147.020 WD5U repeater located on the Rosston Tower has now been returned to its old coordinated frequency of 145.490 - PL 85.4

W5NGU DSTAR
The C port on the D*STAR repeater is back on the air.

W5NGU Analog 146.92
The 146.92 repeater amplifier is back in place and the repeater is at full power.

July 9, 2011

The main DCARA repeater on 146.92 is fully operational at its usual location on Guinn Hall. It will be operating at reduced power for the time being.

All DCARA repeaters will be upgraded with new equipment in the near future. 146.92 will be the first to be upgraded. Specific equipment and time frame have not been finalized at this time.

D*Star: The Rosston equipment has been installed. The plan is to put it on the air next week. It will be UHF & SHF at that time. VHF will not be placed on air due to frequency coordination issues. It will not have internet connection until that specific equipment can be installed.

Denton/W5NGU D*Star VHF is being turned off for now due to coordination issues as well.

May 30, 2011

Sunday, May 29th, a trip was made to the 146.92 repeater site on TWU Guinn Hall by Mike/AE5IV, Guy/KC5GOI, Jerry/K5JLG, and Gerald/WB5NZV. It was discovered that the final transmit amplifier had failed. It was removed and taken to Mike's shop for repair or replacement. All other systems, power supply, batteries, control equipment, antennas were in good working order. We will continue to operate on the backup 146.92 repeater until the amplifier can be repaired or replaced.

May 26, 2011

The Rosston 147.020 went off the air Tuesday May 24th during the storms. Don Roberson/KG6LE, Dwayne Rohmer/KE5EFY and Gerald Marchant/WB5NZV went up to the site Thursday the 26th and found what was left of the antenna on the ground about 200 yards out from the tower after its 1500 ft free fall. High winds broke it off just above the mounting bracket.

The repeater was placed back on the air with a temporary antenna.

May 17, 2011

The main 146.920 repeater is experiencing power issues and is now offline and the backup is operational. The backup does not utilize the voter system, but you should still experience good coverage.

This is a good time to try out some of our other repeaters in the Denton area.

March 14, 2011

The 145.490 WD5U repeater located at 1500 ft on the Rosston Tower is now on the air in test mode with new equipment on 147.020 +.600 110.9 pl

The new DCARA D*Star repeater is now on the air at a temporary location in north Denton for beta testing. It is connected to a 30 ft antenna, therefore coverage is limited. The repeater call is KE5YAP and is running a full ICOM D*Star stack of VHF, UHF, 1.2 voice, and 1.2 data modules with internet connection. This new system will be installed on the Rosston tower at 1500 ft in the near future.

The W5NGU D*Star repeater located at the Denton County EOC continues to perform well. EchoLink is on line on the 444.050 repeater. The 146.920 is working well and now has a NWS alert receiver that will automatically broadcast weather alerts over the repeater. The 443.525 repeater is on line and has excellent Denton County coverage. Some noise issues have been reported on the 145.170 repeater and this is under investigation.

February 18, 2011, The 145.490 WD5U repeater located on the Rosston Tower has now been repaired and is back on the air on its new coordinated frequency of 147.020 +.600 110.9pl.