June 20, 2019 - Trip to the VE7EGO Site on the Commonage for IRLP Node 1050 Troubleshooting and PiEGO Installation
Summary:
Technical team members went to the VE7EGO repeater site to check out what was going on with the IRLP 1050 node computer. It turned out that the internet connection was no longer working. Additionally, the PiEGO shack automation solution was installed at the site.
Attendees:
Terry VE7TRZ
Ted VE7UIH
Mike VE7KPZ
Access:
The usual route was taken to access the VE7EGO Commonage site. Ted drove his truck and Mike drove Jane VE7WWJ's Jeep.
Just before heading up to the site, Mike telephoned Kevin at 250-744-0732 who is in charge of exploding/disposing of WW2 munitions still in the hillsides. Upon departure from the site, Mike texted Kevin to notify him of our departure. Kevin likes to know both the ins and outs of our visits to the site.
Tasks Undertaken:
Terry and Ted went to work on the PiEGO installation while Mike focussed on the IRLP setup.
For the PiEGO installation, AC power needed to be run so it was perfect to have Ted, our commercial electrician there to assist. The power-supply and control cabling was run, the door sensor installed and relay board populated with AC line cords from the repeaters.
For IRLP, Mike rebooted the host followed by a fsck. All appeared ok hardware-wise, but then checking networking a ping of a known external IP showed no response. The internet connection was dead.
With PiEGO installed, the team loaded the IRLP node into the Jeep to be taken down to Brad VE7WBM's house as a temporary service location while the internet connection was sorted out with our provider. There had been many requests to have IRLP up this weekend so it was great that Brad and wife Jennifer obliged to temporarily host the IRLP node again.
Next Steps:
Mike and Terry met other club members at Boston Pizza for dinner and then proceeded to install the IRLP node at Brad's QTH, but the node can't stay at Brad's for long. Brad already hosts the club's WIRES-X node... and both IRLP and WIRES-X nodes run UHF. Without filtration, it's not a great plan to have two UHF nodes at one location. So, we need to find another host for the IRLP node until VE7EGO internet is sorted out. David VA7SZ has volunteered to take the IRLP node for a bit, so the next steps will be to move it to his QTH.
PiEGO won't be online until we again have an internet connection at the VE7EGO site. Terry is already talking with our provider and appears to have figured out the issue. Next steps will be for him to re-visit the site and sort the connection and then for us to finally bring the IRLP node back to the site where it belongs. Once internet is back on line, we'll have full access to the PiEGO system. In the meantime, it works to manage the shack on it's own.
FYI and 73,
Mike VE7KPZ
NORAC Vice President 2018/2019