The Greenstone mountain repeater (146.96 -600) has 2 links available. One connects the VHF repeater with the local Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) node (108) and the other connects to the Salmon Arm repeater (146.76) on Fly Hills.
While both links are intended to be left on for the most part they can be individually dialed up or down.
The codes for these links are set up slightly different from what has been common in this area in the past. The new code format is based on telephone prefixes. Each of the ports on the repeater is assigned a 3-digit code based on the telephone prefix of the area it connects to.
Greenstone has 3 ports; the local (VHF) port is 372, the IRLP port is 554 as the IRLP node is in North Kamloops and the Salmon Arm port is 832.
Each code has a suffix of 1 or 0 depending on whether you want the port turned on or off. In addition, because we must also send codes through the repeater to other locations, we must precede each local code with a * (star) to tell the controller that this code is for it. There are also 2 special codes that will link all ports together in a net mode or disconnect all ports.

For reference, here is a table with all the link codes for the 146.96 repeater.

Link FROM	Link TO	Code ON	Code OFF	CW response
Kamloops 146.96	IRLP	*5541	*5540	IRLP ON / OFF
Kamloops 146.96	Salmon Arm	*8321	*8320	EAST ON / OFF
Kamloops 146.96	Northern Network	*3961	*3960	NRTH ON / OFF
IRLP	Kamloops 146.96	*3721	*3720	DROP ON / OFF
IRLP	Salmon Arm	*8321	*8320	EAST ON / OFF
IRLP	Northern Network	*3961	*3960	NRTH ON / OFF
Salmon Arm	Kamloops 146.96	*3721	*3720	DROP ON / OFF
Salmon Arm	IRLP	*5541	*5540	IRLP ON / OFF
Salmon Arm	Northern Network	*3961	*3960	NRTH ON / OFF
Northern Network	Kamloops 146.96	*3721	*3720	DROP ON / OFF
Northern Network	IRLP	*5541	*5540	IRLP ON / OFF
Northern Network	Salmon Arm	*8321	*8320	EAST ON / OFF
All ports	All ports	*A1	*A0	ALL ON / OFF
		(A is the top right key on a 16 key tone pad)

On the VHF side (146.96) you can easily tell from the courtesy tones what links are on and which are off. Each port adds its own distinctive tone to the complete courtesy tone sequence. The VHF port being always on has a short 700 Hz tone. The IRLP port has a short 1000 Hz tone and the Salmon Arm port has a short 1300 Hz tone. Therefore, when you unkey, if all you hear is a single beep, that indicates that all links are off. If you hear 2 beeps that indicates that one link is on. The frequency of the second beep will indicate which link is active. Don't worry, you will get used to the sound of the different beeps. Three beeps (sounding like a ble-e-ep), indicates that all links are on.
Additionally, transmissions originating on the link ports can be identified by a single short beep. Again there are 2 distinctive tones used for the 2 ports. The lower tone indicates the transmission originated from the IRLP port while higher tone indicates the transmission originated from the Salmon Arm link.

Greenstone also has one other feature at the moment. If you want to see how you sound on the repeater or what kind of signal you are putting into the repeater, there is a "parrot" built in that is accessed with the code *411. To use the parrot, send the *411 code and unkey. You should hear a CW 'K' returned. You now have approx. 10 seconds to record a short message. When you are finished recording unkey your microphone. Nothing will happen until you next key and unkey your mic. at which time what you recorded will be played back to you.

Remember that these codes only apply to the local repeater and its links. For a link to be complete you must also tell the device at the far end what you want to do.
In the case of Salmon Arm, you must also tell the Salmon Arm repeater to connect its UHF link port to the VHF port. The codes to do this are:
#76 to capture the Salmon Arm controller followed in the same transmission by:
8321 to link the UHF link port to the VHF repeater.
To disconnect the link at the far end send #76 followed in the same transmission by:
8320 to disconnect the UHF link port from the VHF repeater.

IRLP is something new to Kamloops. The Internet Radio Linking Project uses the internet to link local VHF/UHF radio networks to other similar networks around BC and the world. As previously mentioned, the local IRLP node is accessed via the Greenstone repeater on 146.96 -600. The actual IRLP node is hosted on the VE7TSI Internet Gateway computer. The link port for the IRLP node should be up all the time but if it is not, send the appropriate code as indicated above to link the VHF port to the IRLP UHF link port.

At the present time there are approximately 100 other nodes around the world that we can connect to with more coming on-line all the time. Imagine talking to Hams in Hawaii or Washington, DC from your handheld. This is linking like we have not seen before!

The process to access the links are as follows.

1. Identify yourself! (e.g. SAY "VE7RKA from yourcall")
2. Send *5541 (Star - five - five - four - one)
3. You should hear "IRLP ON" in CW.
4. Identify yourself again as you are now transmitting on UHF. (e.g. SAY "VE7TSI from yourcall)
5. Send the 4-digit code for the IRLP node you wish to connect to.
6. You should hear "remote_node_call, remote_node_location, Link ON". (e.g. "VE7RVN, Vernon, Link ON")
7. Call your other station and have your conversation.

To take the link down, it is just as easy.

1. First disconnect the internet link with the 4 digit off code for the node you are connected to. (Note: you can also just send 73)
2. You should hear "remote_node_call, remote_node_location, Link OFF". (e.g. "VE7RVN, Vernon, Link OFF")
3. If you have brought up the local link you can leave it up.
4. Finally sign clear.

Click here for the current status of VE7TSI.

For a complete and current list of active node calls and locations, click here .

For more information on the Internet Repeater Linking Project, please feel free to surf to http://www.irlp.net .