[FADCA] Lake Panasoffkee Site

[COMCAST.NET]

Hi Guys,  Just a note to ask advice.  The Sumter ARES Group is using a site 
at Lake Panasoffkee for Voice and Digital systems.  Lately, the Voice 
repeater has been "plagued" by popcorn on the signal.  It has gotten worse 
of late to the point we are thinking of shifting to simplex even though it 
would keep some of our members from checking in.
    My Question is:  Does anyone have experience decontaminating a repeater 
site?
The tower is very old and although very well grounded with multiple ground 
rods on a 20 foot circle and even heavy ground connections to the ring going 
to the guy wires which are also bonded together.  The power comes in 
underground from the Lake Pana Fire station.  The tower was put together 
with galvanized screws which have rusted when the zinc coating wore away. 
The tower itself is galvanized steel with feet that are screwed together by 
circular pads with three screw holes.  No maintenance has been done at the 
connection plates which are rusty.
    Is this tower worth saving?  Would all the work to save it be a waste of 
time and money?  A new tower with stainless steel hardware might be wise, 
but the noise is so bad the digital repeater is basically in-operative.  All 
of the digital equipment works beautifully at a new different site, but 
which is poorly located for our purposes and on a very short tower (30 ft).
    I would appreciate any suggestions and advice from those of you who may 
have experience with fixing noisy sites.      73, Ed Crowell, W5TWR