IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM WB4GBI

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM WB4GBI

 

 

As many of you already know, Todd (KA4OAK) and I spent the day last Friday working on Cross Mountain, the home of the 145.47 and Todd’s 147.36 repeaters.  While it appears that we have correct some of the problems with 147.36, the noise on 145.47 still persists.  Therefore, I will be changing out the old stationmaster repeater antenna and heliax line later this week. The tower crew is tentatively scheduled for Thursday morning, May 1^st. This will not be an inexpensive process, but it is necessary, as the existing 145.47 repeater antenna has some age on it and it showing the classic signs of failure (“arcing” noise on duplex, reduced range, etc.). Please be patient with me as I attempt to get 145.47 back to its high level of performance. Thank you!

 

 

Tim Berry  WB4GBI

www.wb4gbi.com

 

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ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK...

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK…

Well, phooey. This time last week, I was reporting that the 146.94 repeater had failed. On Friday, of course, thanks to Todd (KA4OAK), I was able to get .94 back on the air with a spare repeater. Now, today, I have to report that the 145.47 repeater has failed, most likely due to a defective power amplifier (PA).  I had to shut down the repeater at the end of January,  due to a spurious emission problem. It was interfering with other repeaters and their users. While it seemed to be behaving this time, I knew that I would eventually need to pay it a visit and see what it's status was. 

As I write this, there is almost three inches of snow on the ground at my home. I can only imagine how much there is at the top of Cross Mountain. Fortunately, the weather is supposed to improve over the weekend. 

In the meantime, the SKYWARN group that uses 145.47 has moved to 146.73. The 470 amateur radio group net, normally held on .47 on Thursday evenings, will be on 146.94 this week. As of this writing, all of the other repeaters are on the air and serving the East Tennessee amateur radio operators as they are supposed to. Please bear with me and I will get 145.47 back on the air as soon as possible. Thank you! 

73 de Tim WB4GBI 

www.wb4gbi.com

146.940 is BACK ON THE AIR!!!

As many of you know, the 146.94 repeater had a malfunction on Wednesday afternoon as I was doing some routine maintenance at the repeater site. I had to leave it off the air, as the Tennessee Basketball broadcast for the Vol Radio Network awaited me in Nashville. As I traveled West,  I missed being able to hear .94 all the way to the Cumberland/Putnam County line as I usually do. After the basketball game on Wednesday Night, I was unable to go to the repeater site yesterday (Thursday) as I had other work-related obligations. However, I also knew that too many people and organizations depended on .94, and I didn't want it to be off the air any longer than I had to be. 

Today, Todd (KA4OAK) and I went to the 146.94 site in the early afternoon. Once there, I determined that the receiver for .94 was going to need to be removed for more service work than could be done at the repeater site. Todd and I placed a spare repeater on the air to serve until I can get my receiver repaired and back up the mountain. 

146.94 is BACK ON THE AIR!!!  The initial reports from the spare repeater are very encouraging! 

A HUGE THANK YOU to Todd, KA4OAK, for without him there would have been no return to service for .94 today. Those of you who know Todd already  know that he is a class act gentleman. Today was just further proof of that. I am proud to be his friend. 

73 de Tim WB4GBI 

www.wb4gbi.com 

I hate to write this one, but...

146.940 is off the air! 

I need to inform everyone that the 146.940 repeater is OFF THE AIR. While at the transmitter site yesterday, I was able to restore 444.300 and another commercial repeater back to service. While doing some routine maintenance to 146.94, it stopped passing repeat audio. The problem was worsened by the fact that I had no time to troubleshoot it, as I had to leave immediately for Nashville for the Vol Radio Network. I do not take having ANY of my repeaters off the air well, especially the .94 machine. I will be going back to the mountain as early as this evening or tomorrow morning. Thank you for your patience!  

Tim Berry
timb447457@aol.com

Some repeater updates from WB4GBI

January 26, 2014

 

Well, it's been a while again...but here are some repeater updates that I hope you might be interested in....

 

1) The 145.47 repeater is temporarily off the air. I had to shut the repeater down late Thursday night after it was determined to be causing interference to other repeaters and frequencies. I hope to be able to pay a visit to the repeater site within the next day or two to restore it to service. I *definitely* want it back on the air before the 47 Net on Thursday Evening!

 

2) In case you haven't heard or seen the news on my website...I am THRILLED to announce that I have taken over operation of the 146.85 repeater, formerly the WA4KJH repeater. Keith and I went to Cove Mountain back in October and I brought the repeater to my home for repairs and upgrades. I have replaced the duplexer with a newer model pass/reject duplexer, retuned the receiver, and am in the process of installing the remote control equipment that all of my repeaters must have. I hope to have the repeater on the air in "test mode" very soon from a temporary location. But I am also very pleased to inform everyone that the 146.85 repeater will be returning to its home on Cove Mountain as soon as possible! I have been able to reach an agreement with the site landlord that will allow its return. I hope you will be looking for 85's return to the 4000+ AMSL site very soon!  146.85 is another "Heritage" repeater in East Tennessee, tracing its roots back to the early seventies. I will add some historical information (and maybe some pictures) to the website as they become available.

 

3) While traveling for the Vol Radio Network, I have had some time to revise and upgrade the website. I still have some more work to do, but I hope you will pay it a visit- www.wb4gbi.com.

 

With the exception of 145.47, ALL of the repeaters are up and running. A HUGE "Thank you" to Todd Overbay, KA4OAK, for tuning the new .85 duplexer, and to Kevin, W4KEV, for re-setting the 224.34 repeater when it failed earler this week. And, last but not least,  Thank you for using the repeaters!

 

Thanks for reading! I subscribe to a repeater group's listserver in Georgia where the owner frequently updates everyone on the goings on with his repeaters. If you would like to hear more from me, how about an email letting me know that you got this one? Thanks in advance!

 

73 de Tim WB4GBI

www.wb4gbi.com