[HCARC] Big Repeater

[Terry Hipskind]

As I sit in my office working on Red Cross, ARES, Church and personal projects, I have my Yaesu parked on 146.980.  Rarely do I hear traffic and when I do it is usually between K5HV and KE5DDR.  There are a handful of others that use the repeater while mobile and then perhaps 20 on a good night participate in the Monday night net.  And let’s not forget the Skywarn net which has not met in the last four months.  Our repeater is way under-utilized.  The question to ask is “Would a Big Repeater increase the activity by club members?”  If not - why spend the effort, time or money.  If the reason to upgrade is to better support the Red Cross, the Big Repeater still will not cover the eight counties in our Chapter’s area nor will it allow communications to the Chapter’s headquarters in Austin.  FM 2m is not the way to go to better support the Red Cross.  This is my two cents worth but I will get with the Executive Committee and we will go from there.  I value all the opinions that has been received on this subject.

73

Terry Hipskind
President / WØHIP
Hill Country Amateur Radio Club