Long time no blog…Is anyone listening?
It’s been a while since I did a blog entry. I’m not sure if folks are reading the blog or not. But today, I have some good news I wanted to share on behalf of several of the repeaters. If you receive this email, please drop me a quick email in return and let me know that the blog “list” is working. Thanks in advance! Now, on with the news…
146.94: Yesterday afternoon (June 3rd), I placed an order for a NEW 146.94 repeater antenna. I am purchasing a RFS (formerly Celwave…formerly Phelps-Dodge for those who remember) “stationmaster” antenna. It is a 20 ft long, sealed collinear type antenna. After much consideration, I decided on this type of antenna for several reasons: This is the same type of antenna that I have on 145.47, and that Todd (KA4OAK) has on his 147.36 repeater. Todd was experiencing the same “arcing” noise that I have been on .94, and the stationmaster has quieted his repeater down completely. My 145.47 repeater has not had any arcing or noise issues with the same kind of antenna whatsoever. 145.47 is located in a similar mountaintop environment to 146.94. For those of you that may be wondering why I am replacing the .94 antenna after less than a year, please read the prior blog entries. And if you would like to know the name of the company that sold me a $1400 antenna (that’s antenna only, no mounts or installation) that only lasted SIX MONTHS, give me a call. The manufacturer has steadfastly refused to offer ANY assistance, warranty or otherwise, on an obviously defective product. The sad part is that they sell these same antennae to the military, and the owner of the company is a ham. Kevin (W4KEV) and I spent a lot of time trying to present video evidence of the antenna failure to the company in hopes of *some* kind of concession, but they refuse to cooperate in any manner. I have consulted legal counsel on this issue.
The noise on .94 has gotten consistently worse in the past couple of days. While I intended to replace the antenna anyway, the noise issue has exacerbated the problem, and I felt like I needed to make a decision and move on. The new antenna should be here by the end of next week. I have already contacted my tower climber to schedule an install time. I will let everyone know when the installation time is…I will want signal reports! .94 will be down for a couple of hours or so while the change is made. Here’s hoping that 146.94 returns to its “normal” state of service after the antenna is replaced! In case you are wondering, the cost of the antenna and the side mount kit that I need to install it on the side of the WIVK-FM tower is $1200. That price does NOT include the tower crew. THANK YOU to those who have recently contributed to the “repeater fund” as this is where your contribution is going.
146.73: It’s on the air! In case you haven’t noticed, I have *finally* been able to visit the 146.73 site on English Mountain and make some adjustments. .73 has been off the air more than it’s been on, and there are still problems at the site. The repeater antenna is only 10ft off the ground, and I suspect that the mixing and “desense” that have plagued the repeater are direct results of the antenna being literally adjacent to the repeater with no vertical separation. Indeed, I found on the last service trip that the repeater will work perfectly at full power and the receiver pre-amp installed while connected to a 50 ohm dummy load. One thing is for certain…the coverage will certainly improve once the antenna is above the tree line! In the meantime, I have removed the preamp and lowered the repeater power down to 20 watts. This action has made it possible for the repeater to at least be useable. Imagine how .73 is going to work when the antenna is moved and the repeater is back at full power! Speaking of that, I do have permission to raise the antenna on the tower when the tower owner has a crew at the site to remove and relocate some of the other antennae on the tower itself. Since I am a “renter,” I must use the tower crew that the owner specifies and work within their schedule. I have already purchased a new antenna for .73 and it is here at my home awaiting installation. I firmly believe that the wait will be worth it! I can’t wait for 146.73 to return to the status that it had when Sam (WB4HAP, now SK) had it at in its prime. 146.73 is a “heritage” repeater that is one of the originals in East Tennessee…I would like to make Sam proud.
147.075: Have you noticed .075 was off? I had to shut it down after the repeater was inundated with an interfering signal that was cycling the repeater every 30 seconds. The problem was traced yesterday afternoon to a defective telemetry transmitter on a water tank off of Pellissippi Parkway. I want to say a special “THANK YOU” to Cleve Hayes, KB4UAL, who gave of his time and use of his test equipment to locate this source of interference. Cleve is a regular on .94, so if you hear him on- please thank him as well. The .075 repeater is still off while the defective transmitter is repaired.
Within the next couple of weeks, I hope to have the WB4GBI six meter repeater (53.15) back on the air. You may remember this repeater as one of the active six meter repeaters of the area when Sam had it on English Mountain. I acquired 53.15 from Sam’s estate at the same time that I acquired 146.73. The Motorola micor six meter repeater is tuned and ready, and the two-element repeater antenna is ready to go. Look for 53.15 WB4GBI/R on your six meter radio VERY soon!
As for the other repeaters, they seem to be humming along at this time. 145.47 continues to do its great job from atop Cross Mountain, and a few folks have “discovered” 146.625.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this blog. I apologize for the lack of activity…this thing called “work” keeps getting in the way of my hobby J. But for those of you who know me, you know that now is the time for me to get things done with the repeaters, as the Vol Radio Network will looking for their engineer in just a few short months!! If you like the blog entries, please drop me an email and tell others about the blog and the web site. Until next time, “73, ” and I hope to talk to you on the air!!
Tim Berry WB4GBI
www.wb4gbi.com
Tim Berry WB4GBI (check out my website at www.wb4gbi.com)
Chief Engineer
Citadel Broadcasting of Knoxville, TN
WIVK-FM WNOX-FM WNML AM/FM WNRX-FM WOKI-FM
Chief Engineer
Vol Radio Network
IMG College Sports
University of Tennessee
