[CALV-AUXCOMM] Net Instead of a Meeting for March 17

[Shawn Donley]

All,

No point in meeting face to face with the current COVID-19 guidance, plus availability of the usual meeting spot could change depending on the county government's office status.

So rather than a meeting on March 17, we will have a net on 28.350 USB at 7:30 PM local.

I'd like to poll everyone to find out if you have 6M FM capability.  Please let me know if you can get on 6M FM.    If there's enough, I'd like to try 6M on the W3PQS repeater after the 10M net.  The W3PQS repeater is 52.170 input, 53.170 output, PL 100.0 Hz.   The RX site for this split-site repeater is at my QTH and uses a 6M ground plane at about 65 ft height.   So your 6M antenna would ideally be a vertical, not horizontal.

A brief status of our other repeaters:

The 2M repeater is down.  The 2M antenna and/or transmission line at PF is severely compromised.  The SWR is acceptable but very little power is actually radiated (i.e. it's a leaky dummy load).    But a fortuitous recent relocation of Maryland DNR radios may result in permission to use the abandoned DNR VHF and UHF antennas at PF.  One of these VHF antennas was tested this week and found to be completely suitable for 2M amateur radio.   Working on getting the 2M repeater up again but timing and location not 100% clear at this moment.  We did install a permanent 2M antenna at the hospital this week but the adjacent equipment room is not ready to receive our equipment yet. 

The K3CAL 444.950 MHz repeater is up and running at the Sunderland site.  Coverage is good in the mid and north county but poor in the south county.

W3PQS is up and running on 53.170 MHz.

The K3CAL-1 digipeater is up and running at Sunderland on 145.750 MHz

The K3CAL-10 digipeater is running at PF on 145.070 MHz but it's connected to the known-bad 2M antenna and has a very small coverage footprint.


N3AE
Calvert EC