Several of our repeaters have operated in a deferred maintenance mode far longer than desired. It is no secret that several CNHARC repeaters have either been down or have operated with dramatically lower performance than expected.
Several members have already donated physical equipment to replace some failed gear but we can’t drain our treasury to complete all needed work. So we came up with with a Plan-B. Outright earmarked donations follow a long-established club precedent.
With this completion in mind, we have started a separate Repeater Restoration Donations Fund with a different bank account that never touches the CNHARC general operations checking account. This account will temporarily hold all donations which have been strictly earmarked for what is outlined below. All expenditures will be detailed to match our tightly-defined project plan.
Click here for the printed version earmarked donations form to mail in.
The PayPal earmarked donations site is coming soon.
Although a general membership vote is not required to accept and spend these “directed donations”, we are voting on it anyway. voting results here
This includes in priority order :
1- Replacement of all three Gunstock repeaters due to unreliability, age or loss.
Total replacements of the Gunstock 6M and 440 repeaters are currently being handled by members with outright equipment donations for a price close to zero!
ZERO COST DONATION 100W UHF repeater with simplex 2M “remote base” capability by member Bob DeMattia, K1IW
(actually a $1/yr lease for a minimim of five years to preclude it from being sold off as parts)
ZERO COST DONATION 6-meter repeater being donated by members and built-up by Dave Merchant, K1DLM
EARMARKED DONATION FULLY FUNDED! The primary Gunstock 2m repeater purchase is being funded by earmarked donations. This is to resolve an existing issue. This will fund a better-designed DR-2X to handle the heavier duty cycle as compared to the much older DR-1X which is likely to fail running at 50W for the needed coverage. (Update: we have recently received a $1000 annonoumous member donation/grant specifically to purchase this repeater. Nothing in this restoration donation project is using general or RSM club funds.)
2- ZERO COST GRANT Replacement of one of our non-functioning Franklin repeaters requires a narrowband frequency allocation which must use a narrowband mode such as DMR. FM cannot be used on 145.46 MHz. As an outright grant, NEDECN.org through CNHARC member Bill Barber NE1B, has delivered a pre-configured Motorola XPR-8400 DMR repeater for Franklin. This is currently in test mode but internent access is still pending per below. If Bill looks familiar, he has participated in past CNHARC Field Days.
3- EARMARKED DONATIONS PENDING Long overdue trimming of tree branches which are brushing against the tower and guy wires at our Franklin site. This is a high priority allocation for structural safety. Another almost-equal reason is that our internet access via Gunstock has been blocked by line-of-sight tree growth.
4- EARMARKED DONATIONS PENDING Restoration of internet access to the Franklin and Sanbornton/Steele Hill sites for FCC control and linking purposes. The Franklin tree branch trimming will critically enable this capability in due to path obstructions. Some of this might be funded by a grant from https://merrimackvalleyara.org/mv-digital-network/
5- EARMARKED DONATIONS PENDING Backup power for the Gunstock 2m repeater and possibly others on-site if viable. This will be a large LiFePO4 heated battery system with both AC and solar charging.
6- EARMARKED DONATIONS PENDING 100W continuous duty power amplifier for the Gunstock 2M repeater which, in many respects, is our crown jewel. This will enable the repeater to run cooler and extend talkout coverage especially for long duty-cycle use typical with nets, emergency and public event use.
We have no interest in funding new sites . Our primary goal is to standardize and simplify what we already operate but with far more reliability, better coverage, technical tranparancy and training to interested members.
OK, what’s the budget ?
Purchase the Yaesu DR-2X 2M repeater for Gunstock prior to end of September for a 60% off club promotion ($950) FULLY FUNDED in the first week of September!
Hire an insured tree service company for Franklin ($1900 est) This is the next priority and is pending our funding
Re-establish internet access to Franklin and Steele Hill ($800) pending but depends on the above tree trimming which might be helped by a grant
Battery Backup for Gunstock 2m ($1000) pending
Purchase 100-watt PA for Gunstock 2m ($1,300) pending
Goal: $6000
Earmarked cash received: $1700 as of 9-11-2024
(in process)
Earmarked PayPal received: $
New grants: $
Pledged: $
Remaining: $
Recveived in cash to date:
$1,000 Anonymous
$250 K1UAF
$150 KK1RZ
$100 KC1SJP
$100 W1RJ
deatails on additional donations awaiting audited confirmations by Bank Deposits
Pending pledges via US mail:
K1RE:
K1DLM:
WF1V:
more
On Line/PayPal earmarked donations:
– not yet on line… working on it.
Any contribution is welcomed! As a thank you, any member who contributes $100 or more will receive a custom CNHARC name badge but as a recognition, this will include a small star. Dick, N1LT would have been pleased that his name was used in our sample.
Click here for the printed version earmarked donations form to mail in.
The PayPal earmarked donations form is coming soon.
