[W2CRA] 444.85 on the Fritz!

[Bill Powell]

It seems that 444.850 - Cherryville is having some self-generated intermod problems, probably due to corrosion somewhere.  

I was up there till 10 tonite wiggling and whacking bits and pieces to no avail.  It either hears itself when it drops, causing it to key back up again or it hangs on-the-air continuously with "grunge" in the receiver and, eventually, times out.

I really hesitate to mention this but the grunge sounds like it is being modulated by the High School FM station.  However, I put a spectrum analyzer on their output and their transmitter is  clean up through 500 MHz so it is only a "contributor" and NOT the cause.  
PLEASE - NOBODY is empowered to complain (or even MENTION this) to ANYONE - not the to high school, the county or the FCC.  They (the High School) are a PAYING "customer" of the county and we are STRICTLY a guest.  The wrong word to the wrong person is likely to get the club COMPLETELY heaved from ALL county facilities.  I am, and will continue to "handle" the problem.

It looks like it is going to take the better part of a day to disassemble everything, clean all the connectors and reinstall them and it still might not work right as it could also be the receiver(possible) duplexer(possible), receiver preamp(possible) or the transmitter power amplifier(unlikely as the receiver remains "grunged" even after the transmitter times out).

With the other time-sensitive projects I have on my plate it is very unlikely that I'll have the "spare time" any time in the near future. 

Soooo...  If you are an 85 user, sorry.  I'll get "round tuit" but at the moment, the antenna is disconnected from the receiver so even if you hear it, you won't get in unless you are within about a half-mile of it.

Bill - WB1GOT