Link
Communications
RLC-3
Controller
Sample
Programming
Rich Reese, WA8DBW - EN-91
Norton, Ohio
Allan, Steve and the rest of
the people at Link
Communications provide a varied line of repeater controllers. I
have an RLC-3
that is the most versatile of any controller I have owned.
The thing I first noticed after opening the box and powering it up was that, I had to figure out how to program the many functions. While much of the examples are written for the RLC-3, most are applicable for the Club as well as some of the other Link Controllers. You may have to change some minor parts of the code.
There
is a listing for additional
programming examples for the RLC-3 as well as other Link
Controllers located HERE at http://wa8dbw.ifip.com/otherprogramming.htm
Having owned an RC-850 since
the early 80's, I was spoiled by the ease of programming the 850. I found
myself disappointed that there wasn't any sample programming provided for my
RLC-3. After reviewing the manual I discovered that because the controller is
so versatile, it is difficult to provide samples for all of the varied configurations.
However, here are some that I use and they may be of use to some other users of
the Link controllers. Some are courtesy of Link and others are from myself and other users of the equipment. There are no
warranties expressed or implied as far as the examples presented on these
pages. If you have an idea and would like to share it with others, let me know
or send it to the RLC remailer.
For additional programming
hints or questions join
the RLC remailer and share your ideas with other controller
owners. This is an open list not sponsored by the company and not limited to
Link Communications equipment. You may also want to check out the Link
Communications sponsored re-mailer at http://www.link-comm.com.
Feel free to e-mail your hints, thoughts, and
programming examples to me. I will post them to this site in
text format so that by holding the shift key and clicking your mouse may
download them. You can then upload it to your controller as is, or after
modifying it to fit you individual needs. This way they will be shared with
other visitors.
Here is a simple example of code
to mute the remote base receiver audio (port 2) when there is activity on port
1 (the repeater). This was provided courtesy of Steven Riches, N6SOG. While
Steve wrote this for use on his RLC Club it is applicable on the "3"
as well as some others. If you wish to drop a line to Steve and thank him, you
can send him e-mail.
Hold the shift key and click here to Download the Sample Program. To view
the program, simply click.
A
QUICK START
Last Update 02/08/99
You have just opened the box and you see
this wonderful controller that Link Communications has designated the RLC-3.
You obviously have great expectations or you would not have invested in the
RLC-3. If you are like I was and had never owned a Link Communications product
prior to the purchase of the "THREE" - I had no idea how to program
thing to quickly get the controller up and running. I went over the manual for
a week and still was not confident where to begin. I had this HUGE manual
and this controller with a lot of DB-9 and DB-25 connectors. Where do I begin?
I know some of you will say "Begin at
the first page and go from there" Well I wanted to try and understand the
programming first. I still do not understand all of the programming methods but
the good thing is you are not required to understand every
thing. In fact you really do not have to understand anything. It's kind
of like when you get on the elevator. You push the number five and the next
thing you know the elevator starts moving, the door opens, and you are
magically on the fifth floor. You do not know how the elevator did it but it
took you to the floor you wanted. The controller operates much the same way in
that it is not necessary or in most cases desirable to know how it did what it
did. All you need to know is which buttons to push to reach your desired goal.
If you are in a hurry to
hook it up to the repeater or repeaters and remotes and links. You want to have it do its thing. Where do you begin?
This is what I recommend.
Have a frequency agile remote base? Want
to get it operating fast without the hassle of deciding what to program? Here is a basic program in text
format that you can upload to your RLC-3 as is. You can change the command
prefix to suit yourself. I have kept it simple with Port one being a repeater
and Port being the remote base. The remote base prefix is 7. The commands and
their functions are listed here:
7 - Recall band, frequency, and offset of remote base
70 - Remote base power ON = 701, Off = 700
71 - Place remote base in receive mode and read back frequency and
offset
71+ frequency + 0,1,2, or 3 - Set
frequency and offset of remote base
72 - Place remote base in transceive mode
73 - Disconnect remote base from Port 1
74 - Remote base POWER on-off (740 = OFF, 741 = ON)
75 - Recall ALL remote base settings
76 - Set remote base transmit power level ( 760
= Low, 761 = Medium, 762 = High )
77 + PL Frequency - Set remote base PL frequency (Note: exact
frequency not required. e.g. 110 will read back 110.9)
77 - PL encode on-off (770 = OFF, 771 = ON)
78 - PL decode on-off (780 = OFF, 781 = ON)
79 - Set remote base offset (790 = -20, 791 = minus, 792 = simplex,
793 = plus)
It should be noted that each
function could be any combination of digits desired. You may also wish to provide
some commands to control operators only.
Courtesy Tones - On the Akron 444.200 repeater, I use a distinctive tone
that sounds like a BELL. You may wish to experiment with the frequency
and duration. I used duration of 60 MS and frequencies of 750 and 751 cycles.
Why does it sound like a bell? Well because the controller can generate more that one tone at a time, you can pick any two frequencies
separated by one cycle and with the proper duration it will sound like a bell
as the tones beat with each other separated by the one cycle.
Click THIS for a
sample program.
I use the small DVR2 in my RLC-3. It
can be used to provide an AUDIO CHECK for users. A user simply enters the
proper command then unkeys. After hearing the
controller acknowledge the command, the user keys up and
speaks for a few seconds.
The user then unkeys and the controller plays back the recorded speech. After attempting to get the programming figured out and having no luck, I asked Steve at Link for much needed HELP! The following is what he sent me.
Click THIS for a sample
audio check program for port one. It can be modified for any or all ports.
Note: You can use the same tracks for all ports since the DVR can only record from one port at a time.
It's like flying - Any bird
will tell you, "Real simple when you know what
you're doing".
Are you like me in that you forget to reset the clock for "Daylight Saving Time"? Chuck Kimball, N0NHJ has written a nifty program. It
will reset the clock to automatically
"Spring Forward and Fall Back" through the year 2000! You can easily
modify this to take care of the clock for any desired time period.
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Last update
07/31/2014