From k9gtj at sbcglobal.net Mon Nov 10 22:12:55 2014 From: k9gtj at sbcglobal.net (Jim Hunt) Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 19:12:55 -0800 Subject: [KokomoHams] Repeater Update Message-ID: <1415675575.39840.YahooMailNeo@web181706.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Hello, As you may have noticed, we are once again having trouble with the 240 repeater. As President of the Kokomo Repeater Club, it is my desire to provide reliable repeaters for everyone to use. In the past couple of months, all four club repeaters have experienced problems. Unfortunately, this seems to be occurring with greater and greater frequency. Our three current VHF repeaters are Motorola commercial repeaters of various models and versions. They are not easily portable to being to a bench to service. Motorola service and programming software is not easily obtained. They are old and complex beasts. All three also have three different and aging controllers. Our UHF repeater adds a fourth repeater model and fourth type of controller into the mix. While we continue to keep working on them to get them working again, it is pretty clear that these repeaters and controllers are at the end of their life. The repeater club officers along with a few members have evaluated our options and came to one conclusion. It is time for new and modern equipment that is easy to programmable, easy to maintain, and most importantly, reliable. Purchasing used equipment will not help us standardize and we might be buying someone else?s problem. The good news is new modern equipment is affordable with everyone pitching in a few dollars. We plan to use Vertex Standard repeaters for three of the repeaters. These are going to be sourced locally with support from a ham friendly dealer. For the fourth repeater, are planning to use a new Yaesu repeater. While the Yaesu does add a second repeater type and deviates from a standard, Yaesu offered clubs one repeater for $500 or about one third the cost normally. We felt this was too good of an offer to pass up. To fund this repeater, a handful of repeater club members each pledged the funding necessary to make this purchase. Yaesu has approved our request and in December, we should have the repeater. For controllers, we have decided on Arcom controllers. They are reliable and have an easy to use programming interface. One has been purchased and is already delivered. The Kokomo Repeater Club authorized this purchase at the last quarterly meeting. Besides new repeaters and controllers, we are proposing a Henry amplifier for the 240 repeater to make a great signal across the region. For the antenna and feed lines, we think everything is solid and does not need replaced. We also think the duplexer cavities are in good shape with the possible exception of one location. That is still to be determined. In an effort to keep this short, I won?t go into all of the details of the equipment but hope to get something out in detail in a couple of weeks. I will let you know we are exploring the possibility of linking the 70 cm UHF repeater to other repeaters stretching from Indy to South Bend and Fort Wayne. This upgrade will facilitate that should the project happen and we join with them. The updates will make the 375 Echolink system much more reliable. Also, this new equipment will allow us to comply with recent Indiana Repeater Club rules requiring PL Tones on every repeater. (Please note that 131.8 is the new PL Tone for our region. At the last Repeater Club meeting in October, we decided to change our PL Tone to 131.8 where possible on January 31, 2015 (Saturday). Please plan accordingly.) For this project to happen, more funding is needed than is currently available in the Repeater Club treasury. Howard County Emergency Management Agency (Janice Hart) has pledged some of the funding. EMA relies on amateur radio and knows of our plight. We won?t know about the funds available from EMA for another month or more. We need to come up with the rest. Simply put, the number of due paying members have dropped over the years. While the expenditures have not been great, each year we do need to pay for liability insurance and have had some expenses to keep equipment working. While increasing membership and collecting club dues is needed long term, I?d like to challenge each of you to send in a donation of $25, $50, $100, or more to help facilitate these upgrades. Membership is $15 per year. Member dues and donations can be sent to Bob Hulka, WB9FND 4678 S 500 East Kokomo, IN 46902 You can also feel free to attend Kokomo Radio Club meeting to ask questions and donate in person. Bob is vacationing but I can get things squared away. The next Kokomo Repeater Club meeting is not until January due to its quarterly schedule. As time allows and as more details are available, I will send out emails. I want to encourage to share this with other amateurs in the area which you may know from the various nets using the repeaters. In the meantime, if the 147.240 is acting up, QSY to the 146.910 repeater. Also, Steve Jones, N9KYB, has a great working UHF repeater in Russiaville that has very good coverage. The frequency is 444.025+ and does require a PL of 131.8. Feel free to give that a try as well. Thank you for taking the time to read this message. Again, please share. 73?s Jim Hunt K9GTJ From k9gtj at sbcglobal.net Mon Nov 24 22:00:21 2014 From: k9gtj at sbcglobal.net (Jim Hunt) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 19:00:21 -0800 Subject: [KokomoHams] Repeater Update Message-ID: <1416884421.27798.YahooMailNeo@web181704.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Hi, I want to share some exciting news on our repeater update project. To recap, all four club repeaters fail one or more times in recent months. After examination and discussion, it was decided that we need to do a wholesale upgrade of all four repeaters with new modern repeaters and controllers. Unfortunately the Kokomo Repeater Club lacked the funds to do the entire project. Howard County Emergency Management offered to assist us with a funding through a grant. The good news is the grant has come through in a big way leaving us to do a little more fund raising to get this project done. How much do we need to raise? Another $450 of donations would get this project completed. I would like to see if we can get some additional donations in the next couple of weeks to raise the $450. (This is above and beyond any membership due being paid.) Send donations to Bob Hulka, WB9FND, our treasurer. Bob Hulka, WB9FND 4678 S 500 East Kokomo, IN 46902 You can also send in your repeater club membership dues of $15 there as well too. To recap, current raised funds, available club funds, EMA grant monies, and combined with an additional $450 will provide four new repeaters, three new controllers, one new amplifier, and any additional odds and ends necessary to get these repeaters on air. This will greatly increase reliability. The Kokomo Repeater Club appreciates your support in getting this done. 73's Jim Hunt - K9GTJ