SkyHubLink Wires-X repeaters operate currently on 448.350 (Locked to SkyHubLink, not linkable to other rooms)449.600, 449.625 in the Denver metro area, 447.800 Loveland/Mt. Milner covering Wyoming to about 120th and I-25 including Ft. Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and Longmont, 447.950 Dilllon/Silverthorne/Frisco/Breckenridge, and 447.900 Pueblo. SkyHubLink room 46361 is also full time but the repeaters are switchable on the K6IOK 147.360 repeater in the Auburn/Rocklin/NE Sacramento CA area, and the AE7RJ 444.500 repeater in the Spokane WA area. And, NOW ON AIR! the 449.775 Fusion Wires-X repeater covering South Eastern Wyoming from Cheyenne!
We would love to have you link your Wires-X system in the SkyHubLink Wires-X Room. Contact Jack KE0VH@outlook.com if you are looking for a great system to get activity on your repeater!
Concerning Wires-X operations, SkyHubLink does not use the VW (voice wide) mode. None of our repeaters uses that mode due to co-ordination and bandwidth. If you attempt to do so your audio and signal will not be heard. If you want to operate one of our FUSION repeaters on another link, our Wires-X connections are available on 447.800 Loveland, 449.625 Denver, 449.600 southwest Denver, 447.900 Pueblo, and 447.950 Dillon Fusion repeaters. Please, before switching, announce with your callsign and that you want to change the particular repeater to another Wires-X room. Say your callsign and repeater frequency when you do as you are on many repeaters. Others listening will not understand what repeater you are changing if you don’t identify the particular repeater. We ask that you don’t just do it cold without identifying. But otherwise, feel free to operate the Wires-X system on these repeaters and HAVE FUN!
448.350 Lakewood/Denver is Fusion digital and locked on SkyHubLink Wires-X room 46361. The 448.350 Digital machine is NOT Wires-X switchable being locked to SkyHubLink permanently. Do not engage your Wires-X mode on your radio for this repeater as you don’t need to be in Wires-X mode but simply in C4FM digital mode “DN” on your Yaesu radio to talk on the SkyHubLink system.
-For those of you who may be joining the net digitally thru a hotspot and using the YSF REFLECTOR 92722 – US_SKYHUBLINK-DENVER SKYHUB, PLEASE turn OFF the “Wires-X Passthrough.” This is on the Configuration page of your Pi-Star software in your hotspot.
-Remember, you don’t have to have your Yaesu Fusion radio in “Wires-X” mode to operate with digital audio into the repeaters or your hotspot. Just set the audio mode to “DN” and leave the RED Wires-X button alone.
So, what is the difference between YSF and Yaesu “System Fusion”? This is a subject of confusion for some, so here is a simplified explanation:
Lets go over some terms that will make it easier to understand.
- “FUSION” is simply Yaesu’s marketing name for the FCC designation of the C4FM modulation scheme.
- YSF is using the same modulation system, but is not part of the Yaesu company. C4FM stands for Continuous Four Level Frequency Modulation, which is a special type of 4FSK, which is used in conjunction with FDMA – Frequency Division Multiple Access.
- YSF, while the acronym stands for “Yaesu System Fusion” really isn’t part of anything to do with Yaesu the company. Another group of brilliant minds got together to use the C4FM modulation system and created the YSF Reflector network that allows bridging of systems like SkyHublink and allows users of Yaesu radios to then be able to communicate across modes using the Pi-Star software, YSF linked digital repeaters, and hotspots to access as the Yaesu Wires-X system is proprietary and doesn’t allow this to be done easily, if at all.
- WIRES-X is simply Yaesu’s marketing name again for their proprietary system of linking repeaters across the internet. Again, being proprietary, it doesn’t allow bridging in its own rights to other modes. That is where the YSF link and SkyHubLinks Hub server comes in to serve.
SkyHubLink uses a server computer running software that interconnects the YSF Reflector system with the rest of the AllStar and DMR and other modes. See the diagram of this at: https://skyhublink.com/connections/ We employ a node link radio that is on the YSF Reflector network, YSF 92722 on SkyHubLink, on the frequencies of the Moffat Water treatment plant on 448.350. This repeater is always locked to WIRES-X SkyHubLink room 46361 for this reason. From the main SkyHubLink Hub server connected to the YSF Reflector network, it goes out over the “node” radio that talks to the 448.350 Fusion WIRES-X repeater using the C4FM “System Fusion” modulation, making the connection work, and thusly, if you are any of the SkyHubLink repeaters, you are heard on the WIRES-X portion of the system, and vice versa.
Here is a great website for explaining in more detail the differences between DMR and C4FM:
https://n2rac.com/dmr-vs-yaesu-c4fm-two-increasingly-popular-digital-radio-platforms-bc1cdce852df
and see these pages:
A Comparison of Digital Voice Modes of Amateur Radio (socialhams.net)
Jack KEØVH will be adding more to this page here shortly.