[TNham] Mt. Mitchell repeaters to be removed (?)

[k4hsm at knology.net]

Forum on QRZ.com is discussing the repeaters on Mt. Mitchell in NC be removed come end of July:

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=206595

One message posted:

The General Manager of WMIT has ordered that all amateur equipment be removed from their facility which has housed repeaters per gratis on Clingman's Peak (Nr Mt Mitchell) for 27 years.

WMIT is owned by Blue Ridge Broadcasting which is part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. We don't know why they have been asked to leave. The high-road answer is that this is probably an uninformed decision.

But we do know that contacting Dr. Franklin Graham with a straightforward, polite and meaningful mesage regarding the impact this decision will have on the amateur community may help reverse this decision. Dr. Graham is the founder of Samaritan's Purse a disaster relief organization. He should understand the benefit of amateur radio and also be in a position to effect a decision.

Please contact him via his executive secretary at - rwinkler at samaritan.org and express your concerns.

Dean Blair ~ k2jb
Western Carolina Amateur Radio Society President
k2jb at bellsouth.net