Repeater Update

It’s time once again to give everyone an update on the club repeaters.

Through your generous donations, we've been able to purchase two new repeaters and make substantial upgrades to our system recently.  

Our most recent purchase was a new Kenwood 750 VHF repeater for our flagship station on 147.24 MHz.  The old Motorola Micor units we purchased used 15 years ago were 30 years old and have provided good service until lately when they started acting up.  It was going to cost more in time and money than it was worth to repair and we’d still have old equipment.  Thus, the club board of trustees approved the purchase of the new Kenwood which was put on the air within 2-3 weeks before the winter weather set in on the mountain.   

In early 2008 a new High-Pro R1 1.25 meter repeater was purchased to replace the temporary one made from used mobile transceivers.  The mobile units are no longer available and they were hard to maintain.  The new 224.36 repeater is now on the air and is doing a great job.   

We also purchased a new Arcom RC-210 repeater controller which will manage the 147.24, 224.360 and 443.925 repeaters on Mt. Livingston. The repeaters are controlled via a reverse patch on a phone line for maximum security.  Since installing the new system, we have had very few problems and we are able to control all three repeaters remotely.  

A new Triband antenna has been installed at the Mt. Livingston site.  This antenna is triplexed for the 224.36 repeater, the 144.99 packet node and for future 70 cm band linking.  The 147.24 and 443.925 repeaters have their own dedicated antennas on the tower at approximately 1920 ft above sea level.  

The 23-cm repeater frequency has been changed to 1292.50 and will return to the air as soon as we can reinstall the antenna.  

A note to remember when accessing the 6 meter repeater.  The offset is -1.700 MHz.  Most radios default at 1.000 offset and must be changed to the standard used in the northwest.  See your technical manual for directions on how to do this.  Also, most HT radios don't work well on 6 meters due to the antenna and power.  Best results are obtained with a base or mobile radio.  

Our clubs repeater coverage includes all VHF and UHF bands from 6-meters through 23-cm.  We’ve been able to add these repeaters and upgrade our coverage with the help our technicians and our members.   

Fixed expenses for these repeaters include rent and a telephone control circuits which amounts to approximately $50/month.  Ongoing maintenance for all the repeaters comes from the repeater fund as well.  Fortunately, we have good commercial grade repeaters which don’t require much maintenance.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank all those who have provided donations and their technical assistance for our repeater projects.  I’d especially like to thank the following for providing their technical expertise and assistance:  John Stein, AB7F; Loren Flindt, KB7APU; Jim Coville, W7RY; Wes Allen, K7WWG; Larry Johnson, K7LJ.  Thank you all so much for being on call when we need you.

As you know, we have a repeater fund which pays for ongoing expenses related to the repeaters. This fund pays for the site rent and utilities. Money left over pays for maintenance and upgrades. The repeaters have been pretty much self-supporting without asking the club to dip into the general fund reserves.  All this is made possible by your generous donations to the repeater fund.  For that we thank you again.  If you haven’t joined ‘friends of the repeater’, I’d like to invite you to do so today.  Any amount is sincerely appreciated and we’ll add your name to our donor’s list in the annual awards banquet program booklet in February.  All donations will be spent strictly on our repeater projects.  Of course all donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by IRS law.  CCARC is a 501c3 non-profit organization.  

Thank you very much for your support.

Wayne Schuler, AI9Q, CCARC Repeater Manager.  ai9q@arrl.net