Repeater
repairs (06/28/08):
As promised I restarted work on 147.03 after the ARRL VHF Contest. All
my bands, 50mhz thru 5ghz worked well this time!
Some of you know we had two problems with the 147.03 repeater in May.
The IRLP card I have hung things up a bit. Nothing illegal but not to
usable. Also its PA was
pulling way to much current for the power out. I had a look at it
tonight and it looks like the exciter was in oscillation. One of
the
final transistors is blown as a result so I plan to run the
repeater
on just the
driver stage which puts out 20 watts. I also do not like the
audio
into the controller. Always the painful part. I have a deviation meter.
As soon as I borrow the calibrated deviation source I will get this all
set up and back on the air. For now WITHOUT IRLP. K1JAW and maybe
KB1HZL will be helping me get
the repeater back on the air soon. When you hear the VOICE ID the
repeater will be up and running but only with 20watts. If it works good
for awhile I will need to pull the controller down for the IRLP
connection. More on that later.
Work and family are taking up a lot of
time this weekend. My 1st granddaughter is 4 years old today. Her
biggest wish was to go fishing with grandpa! She caught a fish and had
fun!
Signal reports
for the 50watt transmitter(04/09/08):
K1JAW/m Jim Icom Rig, 1/4wave antenna on vehicle reports:
At Kimbal Farms Lenox at traffic
light S7
On Mass Pike at top of first hill East of Exit 2 East Bound
S5
On Mass Pike West bound between hill and and exit ramp for Exit 2
WB S3 (S3 is barely communication quality)
K2WG Wayne from Canaan, NY at home reports S3 !
WT2Q Bob in Stockbridge, MA reports loud and strong antenna unknown.
WA1ZHM John in Pittsfield near coatsville reports full scale, Ant
unknown.
KE3HT/m Tim reports S3 on RT 9 near Dalton VFW with ICOM 706 and 1/4
wave antenna. Not heard at home with HT in Dalton.
PL is supposed to be 162.2 BUT at times it only responds to 77.0?
Something is flakey with the temporary controller.
The ARCCOM controller is being refitted for a newer IRLP card.
The PA is dead. A rewire to run just the driver nets us almost 20 watts!
For the most part the radio looks good now. The
T/R relay still needs cutting and the radio needs deviation setting but
that requires a meter. I also need to make up a new
controller
cable.
,, Tim
------pre April
2008-------------------------------------------
To Be Done:
- Krylon
the Hielicles.
- Rebuild
PA into a Driver only Amp for 20Watts out.
- Wire
in controller connections.
- Make up new RCA connections for double sheilded wire.
- TUNE
(need to borrow N1FGY sig gen).
- New
Fans (means making a new Fan
Controller
board and brackets!)
Completed:
- Refurbed radio case
- Removed all wasted wire.
- Tested receiver.
- Tested Exciter.
- Converted duplexers to ham bands (Assisted by Fran KB1HZL)
- Tested circulator.
Some notes on the radio refurb:
- PA is DEAD. was old PA from greylock. I will convert to driver
power only (20 Watts).
- Receive line was to short and in poor shape.
- Hielacle filter section IS NATIVE ON the HAM
BANDS!
- Oscillator is native for the ham bands!
- Receive sensitivity was only around -120dbm
(approx), should have been -135dbm or better.
- A GE repeater Controller board was found to be
controlling the Radio.
- Crystals
were from an unknown manufacturer, Mounted in NON-TEMPERATURE
Compensated 5C
Icom's. Solder job was a good one though. I will store these as Spares.
They
were pro-made I suspect.
- There was NO PL
deck in this repeater? ($75 to do
this right)
- Exciter was on freq and on the ham band! 300mw
out.
- There IS a RAB (Repeater Audio Board) so it will
be easy to remove any user introduced PL tone.
- Found a 120volt AC Fan on the inside cover of
the PA!?
-------------------------------
old stuff.
Notes on temporary installation:
Install
OLD status details for the Dalton site: