[Waverley ARS] DTMF tones on 70cm echolink repeater

[Steven Booker]

Dear all,

Some people may have found that it can be a little difficult to get the
echolink node on the Paddington 70cm repeater to accept DTMF tones. 

IRLP is working fine.

I explored this issue last night and found that when I put the link onto a
simplex 70cm frequency and sent DTMF tones via another radio, they were
decoded 100% accurately, suggesting no issue with the link radio, interface
or PC.

When sending tones to the node using the repeater, I realized that echolink
will not recognize the first DTMF tone sent unless it is held (i.e. button
on DTMF mike pressed) for around 1 second. 

You can then send the remaining tones almost as quickly as you can hit the
keys. 

I think it has something to do with the DTMF tone audio taking a little
while to make it through the repeater back to the link but I'm not sure.

For those who might not have used the node yet, you need to put a # before
the node number (so that the system can tell the difference between you
wanting to dial up an IRLP node and an echolink node). 

Apart from that, all the other echolink commands (e.g. disconnect node - 73)
don't require a hash.

If anyone experiences any issues with the echolink side of the link or has
any suggestions, feel free to let me know.

Cheers, 

Steven
VK2HSL