[W3GV] 61/82 Repeaters

Fri Aug 10 23:40:11 EDT 2012

Wow, what happened here?! sounds like some history, but…seriously…isn't this supposed to be a hobby? You know, like, fun? Sure, maintaining a couple machines and links is a lot of work. Kudos to Matt and Adam and the repeater guys for doing what they do, in their spare time, and as they can. A "Thanks, atta boy guys" wouldn't go amiss here; and, really, is a link between two repeaters *in the same town* that all fired critical? Really? Look, we're hams. We pride ourselves for being adaptable. One of our strengths is that we're flexible and "Infrastructure? We don't need no stink in' infrastructure." So, like, let's adapt. It's what we do. No link? No problem. It'll be back when it's back. It's probably better to not have a link than to be interfering with, you know, professionals. If we can't provide emergency comms without *one* piece of our  infrastructure, then maybe the guys that want to have our spectrum and want us to go away have a point. (I don't think they do, but I've been wrong before.) I don't think we've outlived our usefulness, but if we've really lost our ability to be adaptable, maybe we have. So sad to see my hobby come to such a state in my home town…and Erie *is* my home; has been for 10 years, and I intend for it to stay that way. 

Mind you, I don't actually believe we've lost this ability, nor do I really believe we've outlived our usefulness. So I'll say it for whoever, lapsed non-member (because I procrastinate, I admit it) that I am. Keep up the good work, guys. And, thanks to everyone who contributes back to this hobby for the rest of us to enjoy. 

Now if we don't quit this sniping, it's a pretty safe bet that we'll sooner or later do our own selves in, not any outside forces. I personally want the ham radio I've loved for 25 years to be around another 250 years, which means we need to present a welcoming and friendly face to the noobs and prospective hams. This ain't that. 

So, go to your corners or something. 

Vy 73,
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY

On Aug 10, 2012, at 11:13 PM, Matt Fuller <mfullererie at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well John -- how interesting...
> 
> First of all, way to be a man about it and have to call me out on the list
> serve. I don't know what you plan on accomplishing by doing this, but you
> definitely made yourself look like a fool in front of everyone. Kudos...
> 
> Secondly, I'm sure it must be a bummer for you to not to be on the
> committee, therefore not having your finger on the pulse of what is going
> on. Let it be known that it is being worked on, but it is more than a
> programming issue. It is above Adam and I, and Jeremy is out of town and
> unavailable for the foreseeable future, it makes it difficult -- unless you
> have access to a scope, etc. Just know that it is being handled as quickly
> as possible.
> 
> Sorry that I have a life full of responsibility John. I work, on average,
> 50+ hours a week at 3 jobs, plus have responsibilities as a husband,
> father, as well as at church and the fire department, yet, I still make
> time (and I literally "make" time) to work on the repeaters, because it is
> something that I love to do. I know that you don't have a 1/10th of
> those responsibilities, so I won't further bother you with trying to
> explain that to you.
> 
> Also, the way that the committee has been established, it is not just me.
> The repeaters are worked on by a TEAM. Although I am the "leader" of the
> team, it is all of us, working together, to accomplish a goal.
> Unfortunately, we all have other responsibilities. The RAE does not give us
> a paycheck, it is all volunteer, as a hobby, and therefore, it gets done
> when we can get stuff done. I feel that we have the best group of people
> together right now working on these repeaters, and to change it now, would
> be detrimental to the people who use the repeaters.
> 
> *The club still has two functioning repeaters, even though they are not
> linked, they still function independently.*
> 
> John -- the next time you have a problem with me (and that seems to be it
> -- a problem with me), then man up and come to me directly. There is no
> need to throw a temper tantrum over the list serve...
> 
> 
> *For the rest of you, here is where we stand with the repeaters:*
> 
> Approx 3 weeks ago, just after we had storms roll through the Waterford
> area, we were alerted by Erie County Department of Public Safety (who
> maintains the Sharp Rd site) that every time they key up on their low band
> fire tower, it was keying up our repeater. The next morning, I went out to
> the site with one of the techs from Erie County to try to troubleshoot the
> problem. We determined that their radio was keying up the 220 radio. We did
> some troubleshooting, and noted that when the radio was receiving a signal
> on 220 from SVHC, that it try to transmit as well as receive. We replace
> the radio, figuring that it may have taken some sort of lightning strike or
> surge, but the same problem occurred. We visually checked the controller
> and didn't see any signs of a lightning strike (no charring, etc).
> 
> Right now, Jeremy (who is my main tech) is busy with his job out of town,
> and so we have found someone else to help us find out what the possible
> problem is, but right now, the problem looks to be in the controller. I
> will be directly contacting Arcomm to see what our options are.
> 
> If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me --- DIRECTLY --
> at mfullererie at gmail.com, and not through the list serve.
> 
> Matt
> 
> On Fri, Aug 10, 2012 at 8:30 PM, Steve <slajohn at neo.rr.com> wrote:
> 
>> Oh dear
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: w3gv-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:w3gv-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
>> On Behalf Of John Lis
>> Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 5:49 PM
>> To: RAE LIST
>> Subject: [W3GV] 61/82 Repeaters
>> 
>> It has been 3 weeks and the link is still down.  Whats the status?  We
>> don’t hear anything from the repeater chairman.  I think it is time for a
>> new chairperson.  I think we need someone  who is more available to work
>> with the repeaters and has been around them.
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