MASTR II Base to Repeater conversion

Preliminary - 15 June 2003

For a MASTR II Base you need to modify the system board if it was using CG previously or was a multi-channel unit. Basically you remove all of the cards except the 10v regulator, modify the 10v regulator card if necessary and remove or add a few jumpers to the system board. As far as dealing with the amplifier T/R relay follow the instructions on the Repeater Builders site to deal with the T/R relay. Connect your controller.

1) Tune up radio

2) Remove all cards from the shelf except the following

10v Regulator card

3) Modify 10v Regulator card if necessary

Check jumpers 1,2,3 and 4:
Ensure that 1 is connected to 2 and 1 is connected to 3

4) Cut the following System Board jumpers if present

H41-H42 (RX Mute/CG Out)
H68-H69 (TX CG Disable)
H72-H73 (Voting) - was present in my base

5) Make sure the following jumpers are present

J933 Pin 4 to pin 8 (F1 for TX) on Exciter
H47-H48 (F1 for RX) on System Board

6) Deal with T/R relay

http://www.repeater-builder.com/ge/mastr2/m2-txrxrelay.html

7) Hook up a controller

Controller MASTR II Notes MASTR II Backplane location

TX Audio High Trans Audio Hi Inject the transmit audio into the microphone input of the radio. Be aware that this input has a +10V bias applied, which is intended to power the microphone preamp. You might need to insert a DC blocking capacitor here, probably an electrolytic in the range of 1-10µF (watch the polarity!). If you are planning to use a local microphone on the control head, you might want to insert a resistor in series with the controller's audio output to prevent the controller from loading down the microphone's output. 5K would be a good value to start with. J1205B-14

TX Audio Low Trans Audio Lo Audio ground J1205B-13

PTT Local PTT Ground to transmit J1205A-14

RX Audio High Volume / Sq Hi This source of receiver audio must be de-emphasized. The de-emphasis filter should have a -6dB/octave slope for proper frequency response. If the receiver audio is not de-emphasized, the repeater will sound really "tinny". Many controllers have built-in de-emphasis filters. If yours does not, you can make your own with a 15K resistor and a .22µF capacitor. Wire one side of the 15K resistor to the volume/squelch hi signal, and the other side to one side of the .22µF capacitor. Ground the other leg of the capacitor. Take the receiver audio from the capacitor-resistor junction. J1206B-11

RX Audio Low Volume / Sq Low Audio ground J1206B-12

COR RUS Be very careful of the CAS signal, it cannot source much current at all. You can convert the CAS signal to open-collector by using a 2N2222, with the emitter grounded and the base connected to the CAS signal through a 10K resistor. The collector of the 2N2222 will be pulled to ground when the squelch is open (signal being received). J1206D-12

CTCSS Decode CG Decoder Output J1207A-3

Ground (A-) J1205D-8

10v 10v TB1201-9

SCOM: Local copy of http://www.scomcontrollers.com/downloads/7kgem2bs.pdf
NHRC: http://www.nhrc.net/mastr2/

The System Board

Updated: 8 May 2003
kd4app@amsat.org

Controller	MASTR II	Notes	MASTR II Backplane location
TX Audio High	Trans Audio Hi	Inject the transmit audio into the microphone input of the radio. Be aware that this input has a +10V bias applied, which is intended to power the microphone preamp. You might need to insert a DC blocking capacitor here, probably an electrolytic in the range of 1-10µF (watch the polarity!). If you are planning to use a local microphone on the control head, you might want to insert a resistor in series with the controller's audio output to prevent the controller from loading down the microphone's output. 5K would be a good value to start with.	J1205B-14
TX Audio Low	Trans Audio Lo	Audio ground	J1205B-13
PTT	Local PTT	Ground to transmit	J1205A-14
RX Audio High	Volume / Sq Hi	This source of receiver audio must be de-emphasized. The de-emphasis filter should have a -6dB/octave slope for proper frequency response. If the receiver audio is not de-emphasized, the repeater will sound really "tinny". Many controllers have built-in de-emphasis filters. If yours does not, you can make your own with a 15K resistor and a .22µF capacitor. Wire one side of the 15K resistor to the volume/squelch hi signal, and the other side to one side of the .22µF capacitor. Ground the other leg of the capacitor. Take the receiver audio from the capacitor-resistor junction.	J1206B-11
RX Audio Low	Volume / Sq Low	Audio ground	J1206B-12
COR	RUS	Be very careful of the CAS signal, it cannot source much current at all. You can convert the CAS signal to open-collector by using a 2N2222, with the emitter grounded and the base connected to the CAS signal through a 10K resistor. The collector of the 2N2222 will be pulled to ground when the squelch is open (signal being received).	J1206D-12
CTCSS Decode	CG Decoder Output		J1207A-3
Ground	(A-)		J1205D-8
10v	10v		TB1201-9