There is some misconceptions and misunderstandings being circulated in certain venues about the ability to link and use the 147.390 repeater and its associated Allstar function.
The only changes that have been enacted to the 39 system for network linking are as follows:
- As has been announced for months on the air, at meetings, and on the website — incoming links for 39 traffic should be made to Allstar node #48496 and not #43211. Node #48496 is tied 24/7 to the 147.390 repeater and will hear and transmit all RF traffic. This change was made to reduce Internet network congestion and load on the repeater controller that was causing performance problems and audio quality problems. As has been previously announced, #43211 no longer takes incoming connections after a transitional period.
- The Net and Net Controller Standards require Executive Committee approval to regularly link directed nets to 39 so as to prioritize local users and local RF traffic.
- The scheduled daily linking of the RCWA Boredom Breaker Net has been discontinued due to member feedback as has been announced for a few weeks now.
No other changes to the operational state have been made. All users are still able to use the *3/*1 functions to link and unlink from remote nodes. Please note that linking to remote nodes, including from a hotspot to 48496, is subject to the vagaries of the Internet. Allstar does not provide very useful feedback when a node isn’t on the air, isn’t registered, or isn’t reachable. The best error you may get is a “connection failed” but that isn’t always the case in all situations. Several users recently reported problems with linking that were, fortunately but also unfortunately, not on the SARA-side of things.
If you have any questions about Allstar linking, please reach out to me or another member of the Tech Committee.