TACTICAL REPEATER & RETRANSMITTER SYSTEMS and REMOTE BASE OPERATIONS Special Presentation to the 2019 ASRC Winter Retreat Gene Harrison ASRC – NCRC – CAP - MARS 12 Jan 2019 Revision 3.1 Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

COMMUNICATIONS IS YOUR LIFELINE!! FUNDAMENTAL RULES * IN FIRST! OUT LAST! * ALWAYS ON & LISTENING! * COVERAGE EVERYWHERE! * ALWAYS ABLE TO SUPPORT & COORDINATE! * EVERYBODY IN FIELD OR AT RISK NEEDS COMMS! * ALWAYS HAVE BACKUPS! Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

RELAYS, REPEATERS & RETRANSMITTERS? COMMS QUESTIONS WHAT ARE RELAYS, REPEATERS & RETRANSMITTERS? But must understand:: What are the actual operational mission needs for sar, cave & other tactical operations? Why are our tactical & deployed operations & needs so different, and so hard to accomplish? Why do we need “good” communications? What are good (essential!) Communications? What do we mean by reliability, availability, suitability, viability, security, range, coverage, propagation, capacity, contention, *interoperability*… (insert many other buzzwords!!) (lots more questions, issues, concerns…!) Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

CONTENTS Star & multipoint networks Isolated nets Manual voice relay Automatic repeaters Automatic retransmitters Local & remote base systems Retransmitter design & costs Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

STAR NETWORK (SIMPLEX) F1 Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

MULTIPOINT NETWORK (SIMPLEX) F1 Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

MULTIPOINT NETWORK (SIMPLEX) F1 Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

ISOLATED NETS! (BAD NEWS!) Simple Simplex Signals F1 Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

MANUAL VOICE RELAY (TIME DELAY SIMPLEX) Simple Simplex Signals F1 Manual Relays Awkward & Unreliable Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

MANUAL VOICE RELAY (2-STEP BASE to FIELD) Simple Simplex Signals Manual Relays Awkward & Unreliable F1 Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

MANUAL VOICE RELAY (2-STEP FIELD to BASE) Simple Simplex Signals Manual Relays Awkward & Unreliable F1 Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

AUTOMATIC REPEATER (1-WAY DUPLEX RELAY) BOTH Repeater & ReTrans F2 F1 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

AUTOMATIC REPEATER (1-WAY DUPLEX RELAY) BOTH Repeater & ReTrans F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

AUTOMATIC REPEATER (BASE to FIELD) BOTH Repeater & ReTrans F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

AUTOMATIC REPEATER (FIELD to BASE) BOTH Repeater & ReTrans F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

AUTOMATIC REPEATER (FIELD to FIELD) BOTH Repeater & ReTrans F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

AUTOMATIC REPEATER (“TALKAROUND” CHANNEL) BOTH Repeater & ReTrans F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

RETRANSMITTER (2-WAY DUPLEX RELAY) ONLY ReTransmitter! F2 F1 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

RETRANSMITTER (2-WAY DUPLEX RELAY) ONLY ReTransmitter! F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

RETRANSMITTER (FREQ REUSE & MONITOR) ONLY ReTransmitter! F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

REMOTE BASE (BASE to FIELD) ONLY ReTransmitter! F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

REMOTE BASE (FIELD to BASE) ONLY ReTransmitter! F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

RETRANSMITTER (FIELD to FIELD) ONLY ReTransmitter! F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

AUTOMATIC REPEATER (Using RETRANSMITTER) BOTH Repeater & ReTrans F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

LOCAL & REMOTE BASES TYPICAL FIELD USE ONLY ReTransmitter! F3 F1 F2 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

LOCAL & 2 REMOTE BASES TYPICAL FIELD USE ONLY ReTransmitter! F5 F1 F4 F2 F3 R T Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

RETRANSMITTER DEPLOYMENT Battery & Power Supply Antenna Mast Handy High Hilltop... BOTH Repeater & ReTrans Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

RETRANSMITTER BLOCK DIAGRAM ReTrans Changes [ 2 Transceivers vs RX & TX ] T/R F2 1-5W F1 RF Amp 25W Cavity Filter Retrans Controller Battery & Power Supply F2 (Control) F1 (Tactical) On/Off Control Receive Audio Receive COR Transmit Audio Transmit PTT Control 12 VDC External Power Inputs Antenna Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

RETRANSMITTER COSTS NOTE:: THIS IS A BIG EXAMPLE! VERY SMALL SYSTEMS ALSO AVAILABLE! Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

SUMMARY RELAYS, INCLUDING REPEATERS & RETRANSMITTERS PROVIDE LONGER RANGES & WIDER COVERAGE AREAS CONNECT FORMERLY REMOTE OR ISOLATED USERS & NETS ENHANCE INTEROPERABILITY SEEM SIMILAR, AND ALL ARE NEEDED AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS ARE SUPERIOR TO MANUAL RELAYS RETRANSMITTERS ALWAYS OUTPERFORM REPEATERS IDENTICAL RANGE & COVERAGE ADVANTAGES SIMILAR OPERATIONAL MISSION SUPPORT CAPABILITIES DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS IN MISSION & COVERAGE FLEXIBILITY SUPPORT EXISTING SAR RADIOS & CONFIGURATIONS MINOR (OR NO!) TRAINING CHANGES MODEST EQUIPMENT & SIZE/WEIGHT/POWER CHANGES MINOR COST DIFFERENTIALS RECOMMENDATIONS:: ALWAYS IMPLEMENT RETRANSMITTERS, NEVER REPEATERS! Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison

QUESTIONS?? Gene Harrison ASRC – NCRC – CAP – MARS bats@starpower.net Rev 2.0 10JAN03 (C) G.Harrison Rev 3.1 12 Jan 2019 © G.Harrison