[HCARC] "Big" repeater

[SARA SANDSTROM]

Well, once again, I wasn't going to get involved in this repeater discussion, but.... 

Our club is a relatively small club with many diverse interests.  We have a few members  who are quite involved with the repeater, perhaps half a dozen.  We have about 20 more who manage to get on the Monday night Hill country FM Net.  That is probably less than a quarter of our active members.  

A wide area coverage repeater on a 400' tower is a very different animal than the repeater we currently have.  It will take a lot more people to support a "Big" repeater than the half dozen or so we have supporting the current club repeater.  How many Austin and San Antonio area hams do we think will be using a "big" repeater?  Right now our repeater is underutilized because it has a small coverage area.  We really don't have any problems with users because of this.  If we have a wide area coverage repeater, do we really think we won't have a lot more problems?  Speaking of problems, at times we have a fair amount of problrms with intermods and spurious signals from other local VHF users (non-ham).  How much worse do we think it will be on a 400' tower?  Do we have the technical people who have the knowledge and interest to put together a repeater that won't be overwhelmed by these intermods and spurs?  

Lets talk finances for a minute.  Lee kind of touched on this with the requirements to get the repeater installed.  Right now our club dues are $20.00 per yeasr.  We seem to be doing quite nicely at this level.  The repeater costs are really quite minimal.  The biggest one being the need for a new repeater a couple years ago and the only recurring ones being phone and power.  Do we really think that a repeater on a 400' commercial tower will be as inexpensive?  I doubt it.  

Finally, we need to think about the kind of club we are.  I can see with a "Big" repeater, the repeater will come to dominate the club, both financially and manpower.  Many of the clubs that have repeaters have ended up splitting into two clubs, one for the repeater and one for other ham activities with separate dues, meeting and officers..  I don't think we have the people out here to do that.  I don't think there are enough people really interested in the repeater that could maintain and operate it for very long.  I also see most of the club not particularly interested in a repeater and being less than willing to work on it and finance it. 

Incidently, while there are a few club members who are involved with SKYWARN and the NWS and with the Red Cross and their emegency communications, it is by no meaqns a majority.  The primary usefulness of a "Big" repeater would be to support those activities, in my opinion. 

These are the things that an executive committee needs to think about.  One of the worst things that can happen, in my opinion, is open something like this up to a popularity vote by the general membership most of whom haven't been involved with this kind of operation nand have little idea of what it entails.   It doesn't matter how great an idea something is if the club doesn't have the people and finances to support it. 

Kerry