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CNHARC repeater discovery,
operations and maintenance log
(updated
11/06/2024)
Overview 7-26-2024: CNHARC operates repeaters from four (now three) sites and all are going through a full on-site inventory and other due diligence. - Gunstock Summit
To date, the three sites that we visited were all well-built in a professional manner. All sites were well secured, clean, labeled, organized, had appropriate surge suppression, professional cable management, hornet spray and locked cabinets. Franklin even had a broom and dust pan with a dust-free floor! We were very impressed.
We have four challenges:
But if you
read on, there is some unexpected good news at zero cost to CNHARC... x3 !
Gunstock first visit 7-5-2024
N1VAU, WF1V, KK1RZ,
later KB1COL Three cabinets, no physical problems observed. Two held duplexers, one held all of the electronics and that rack was suspended far off of the ground to keep rodents and water out. Very creative! All locks were upgraded to new heavier duty versions. The UHF repeater had to be removed because the owner wanted it back. Before any other work was started, comprehensive baseline RFI measurements were recorded with a lab-quality, desktop spectrum analyzer. The tests revealed that the microwave dishes were NOT the likely cause of the known 10dB higher noise floor. The baseline noise was conclusively originating from the Ubiquiti router and switch in the rack and not the Microwave equipment on the tower. A replacement router and switch are being sourced. High speed wired internet access with a primary and backup ISPs is generously provided for free by Gunstock Mountain Resort. Gunstock has no emergency power available to any Gunstock summit buildings (more on that later). The UHF and VHF antennas were frequency swept and neither were resonant for their portions of the bands. Two new exposed dipole arrays were ordered from Ukraine. The UHF antenna has already arrived and the VHF antenna has shipped. Under $375 each. Fed by half-inch LDF-450A Heliax. The 6M repeater was removed for better testing in a bench. Likewise the 2M repeater was removed for better bench testing. As
of this writing, Gunstock has no active repeaters on the air but all three will
be repaired or replaced as our top priority. More on that later.
Gunstock electronics rack. Still to specify and replace:
A router and switch with very low RFI generation.
(in process as a priority)
Previous CNHARC Secretary Rich Kumpf, WF1V with the
existing Gunstock antennas.
Franklin, Veterans
Memorial Recreation Area
7-9-2024 49ft ROHN-25 tower with a small but weatherproof summit building. KK1RZ last visited the site well over 15 years ago. We were impressed at how clean and organized the inside was being kept. The D-Star MMDVM D-Star controller card had to go back to the owner meaning that the 145.56 very-narrowband repeater was now off the air. The 220 FM repeater seemed to be in good shape as was the 147.300 FM repeater. Fed by half-inch LDF-450A Heliax. We couldn’t stay much longer for more thorough testing due to the extreme heat wave. Significantly, there was substantial near-tower tree growth that was banging into the guy wires that made a noticeable pinging sound. That will lead to tower structural issues so the tree growth will need to be addressed. All locks were upgraded to new heavier duty versions.
The 145.46 MHz repeater MMDVM controller card was not owned by CNHARC, and on request, has been returned to it's owner. The 145.46 narrowband repeater is now non-operational, has been removed and is not shown here. The duplexer and antenna remain.
Tree branches definitely
need a trim
Sanbornton/Steele Hill 7-12-2024 WF1V, KC1SJP and hubby Frank, KB1COL, KK1RZ Two repeater racks were located inside a Steele Hill Resort landscape storage room. A single fiberglass antenna on the side of a roof top corner. Fed by half-inch LDF-450A Heliax. The non-CNHARC-owned duplexer for the UHF D-Star repeater was removed to be returned to it’s owner. The 146.67 repeater seems to be operating well as a dual mode FM and C4FM Fusion system. The method of internet access MIGHT be provided by Steele Hill Resort WiFi service via a WiFi router. Need to confirm. All locks were upgraded to new heavier duty versions.
Red Hill/Moultonborough Visit pending once the repeater committee gets the keys. The UHF duplexer will need to be returned to it’s owner. An important 7-30-2024 Red Hill update is below.
In review: All four sites had some non-CNHARC-owned equipment that, on request, were returned to their owners. All were critical to the operation of certain repeaters and they are now offline. None were FM repeater-related. All were DStar-related repeaters.
Unexpected Surprise #1 Gunstock : July 15, 2024 Bob Demattia, K1IW offered to replace the now-missing Gunstock UHF repeater with a fully operational repeater system that has been burning in at his house. Bob just wants it to be used “someplace” and not at his garage. He has offered to formally lease the entire repeater system in writing to CNHARC for $1/year and doesn’t expect to see it again for at least five years or more. Why a lease? We cannot sell Bob's UHF repeater on him as a fundraiser but we can use it long-term as a formal yearly lessee. Everything is in writing. We also have the option to buy the equipment outright at any time at his cost but as Bob said with a smile, "Why?" It is a Yaesu DR-1X dual-mode on FM plus C4FM Fusion. It comes with an external power amplifier, controller breakout box as well as a frequency-agile simplex 2M “remote base” system. This means that if ARES or anyone else wants to conduct a 2M net on simplex, they can BUT the simplex base station will happen to be on Gunstock. We didn’t request that option, it just came as part of the package. CNHARC already owns the required UHF duplexer and S-Com 7330 repeater controller. Fortunately, Bob’s system is already pre-configured to operate with the 7330 controller and he has volunteered not only reprogram controller to operate with the rest of our system, he also offered to hold training for those CNHARC members who want to work on the technical side. This is a huge change!
The officers, repeater committee and SC/Board all gave this a green light.
Much like our lease with Gunstock, this is a $1/yr replacement for what we lost.
(since approved at the August board meeting and
the actual agreement text was reviewed and again approved at the September Board
meeting, lease document signed by an officer)
Unexpected Surprise #2 Gunstock : July 16, 2024 Our Gunstock 2M repeater has a history of being intermittent and the MTR-2000 repeaters are rugged but have been out of production. The proprietary power supplies have been known to fail and there are no replacements available. The former Franklin (now off the air) Motorola MTR-2000 VHF repeater is now available to be swapped in as the primary Gunstock 2M repeater. The frequency programming cable and software are still pending delivery. Our top priority is to restore the Gunstock 2m repeater. We expect that the cost is close to zero or zero. We even have a net control station ready to restart a 2M net on Tuesdays!
A change: Following our stated goal of simplification and standardization, the actual Gunstock 2M repeater was replaced by a Yaesu DR-2X. Due to the outstanding performance of the Yaesu DR-2X, the he Motorola MTR-2000 was approved by the board to sell. The funds will be placed into the RSM fund and not the Repeater Restoration Fund because it was originally funded by RSM funds.
Unexpected Surprise #3 Franklin : July 24, 2024 Use it or lose it! The former Franklin VHF 145.46 D-Star repeater and controller system is now off the air as previously explained. That frequency coordination assignment is only usable on one of two very-narrow modes, D-Star and DMR, but either one will require an investment of both time and money. If we voluntarily decide to permanently abandon the system, that highly desirable 2M frequency coordination will involuntarily be cancelled and go back into the frequency pool for immediate re-assignment. They called us, we didn’t call them… On July 24, 2024, CNHARC member Bill Barber, NE1B of www.NEDECN.org contacted CNHARC to see if we had any available club sites that would cover the I-93 corridor. NEDECN recently lost their wide coverage digital voice repeater site in Bow. I-93 coverage north of Concord will be greatly reduced. Bill offered for NEDECN to give CNHARC a grant to deploy a Motorola MTR-3000 VHF DMR repeater at zero cost. The CNHARC Franklin site has the now-unused frequency, antenna, duplexer and other infrastructure to support a very-narrowband repeater. We just don’t have the repeater. And NEDECN will provide for one as long as it stays on their New England-wide network. This is a common NEDECN model where a club will accept and own the repeater. In fact, NEDECN now has over 90 New England repeaters on their network. The concept works. For members: That also implies that if CNHARC members want to try out DMR, we will need to hold workshops to help willing members program their DMR radios which start at under $100. Fine… that’s what clubs are supposed to do. All DMR end-user radios are dual mode FM + DMR. The DMR repeaters are DMR-only. Disclaimer: NEDECN already operates VHF and UHF DMR repeaters on the north side of the Gunstock summit but neither one has solid coverage on I-93 due to shadowing. Franklin will-fill in that hole. Any DMR repeater is only a portal into the network. They are all linked together as one huge network. That has no effect on CNHARC's other FM and C4FM repeaters.
Use-it or lose-it: This offer is a grant towards CNHARC ownership and is not a long term lease. Since this is a zero-cost replacement for what we have recently lost, a full member vote is not required but we don’t want to return to what we had just prior. We are asking that the elected club decision-makers are on-board. The CNHARC repeater committee has had zero “no’s” from it’s members who replied. The SC/Board just received the offer today (7-26-2024) but we don’t expect any no’s. It is important that we have ongoing member communications, checks and balances to influence the direction of our repeaters. This is exactly why we now have a new, formal repeater committee and Chairperson with 7 members to discover and present these opportunities. As much as possible, everything will be made public beforehand. On the other hand, we need to act quickly because NEDECN will be purchasing the repeater at a one time “friends and family” price from the seller before it goes on sale via eBay which will be within a few days. So this grant to CNHARC really is a use-it-or-lose-it, zero cost opportunity.
A change: we lost the opportunity of the grant of for the MTR-3000 due to the short time window but instead NEDECN did provide a Motorola XPR-8400 repeater. For our purposes at the Franklin site, there is little difference.
CNHARC member Bill Barber, NE1B configuring the XPR-8400 repeater for use at Franklin.
Gunstock repeater controller reprogramming: 7-28-2024
This 7330 will control the Gunstock 2-meter and 70cm repeaters as well as the frequency-agile 2-meter remote base station.
Red Hill/Moultonborough repeater site landlord end-of-tenancy notice:
received 7-29-2024
Forwarded via Mark, W1DDI From Arthur Abbott, N1WMI 'Red Hill' site owner.
Dear CNHARC,
A change: The former Red Hill 147.39 repeater is being relocated to Boyd Hill also in Moultonborough. This location is about 750ft AMSL and is expected to provide good coverage of the Lake Winnipesaukee area. Gunstock has far superior coverage but Boyd Hill in Moultonborough will offer a good backup solution for EMCOMM uses if Gunstock is off the air. Unlike Red Hill, Boyd Hill comes with internet access.
Tuesday, July 30, 2024 Today, Rick Zach, KK1RZ had a telephone discussion with a representative from NESMC - New England Spectrum Management Council (frequency coordinator) about our changing repeater frequency situation. Many other clubs have experienced a similar issues with lost sites and/or equipment and NESMC is sympathetic to clubs forced into that situation. As long as CNHARC keeps NESMC updated as to the status of the off-the-air repeaters and frequencies (all are D-Star), they won't pull the coordinations away from CNHARC without plenty of dialog. Keeping them updated is the key concept. They don't take kindly to frequency hoarding when there is no intent of returning a repeater to the air. They also don't take kindly to a NEW entity with a re-issued frequency pair to just hoard it as a "garage repeater". NESMC wants to see operational repeaters with realistically good coverage for the benefit of all hams.
CNHARC now has three options with
respect to frequencies of the repeaters in question. All of the repeaters
are D-Star related, none are mainstream FM repeaters.
For now, we will engage in active
member and board discussions as to what we intend to do with our coordinated
frequencies and keep NESMC in the loop. Again, these only relate to our
former D-Star repeaters but they do not need to stay as D-Star repeaters.
CNHARC's FM repeaters remain unaffected. Board Meeting Friday, August 1, 2024 With one abstention and no negatives, the CNHARC Board/Steering Committee voted to accept the following offers to replace the lost functioning of these repeaters. This will also protect our coordinated frequencies.
These are not handshake deals. Both offers will be in writing as legally binding contracts subject to Board review and an officer signature. (Only an officer can sign a legally-binding document). Re-use of the former Red Hill equipment and frequencies were discussed as an evolving topic. The NESMC frequency coordinators are being kept in the loop as our plans evolve.
Sunday, August 3, 2024 Mark Persson, W1DDI and Jim Craver,
N1XBD delivered the former Red Hill equipment owned by CNHARC to Rick Zach's
garage. The non-CNHARC-owned duplexer and MMDVM card were returned to Mark
Persson. The Gunstock MTR-2000 UHF repeater was earlier returned to Chris
Reed, N1HD.
Other peripheral gear is off camera. This larger microwave dish may be relocated to replace a dish at the Franklin site.
Repeater Committee discussions: After background information was shared by Mark W1DDI, long-term internet connectivity options to the Steele Hill/Sanbornton site were discussed with the committee. The existing public WiFi connectivity provided by Steele Hill is not viable for "call in" connectivity. Any use that uses "phone home" technology is viable such as going TO a web location FROM the repeater. These discussions seem to lead to re-aiming the of former Gunstock microwave shot from Red Hill to Steele Hill. This may require use of a smaller dish for aesthetic reasons.
Thursday, August 8, 2024 A slight change to Gunstock 2-meter repeater plans to speed-up deployment. The main reason to use the commercial Motorola MTR-2000 was it's superior tolerance to on site RFI. But it also had several disadvantages:
All of our sites have used the much simpler Yaesu DR-1X or DR-2X repeaters with good success.
Now that we think that we have identified the source of the RFI at Gunstock (the internet router and switch) those items are being replaced with RFI-quiet versions. The new plan as of this date is to deploy the Yaesu DR-1X as the primary Gunstock 2-meter repeater. The $1 leased repeater will still be used on UHF. If RFI continues to be a problem, we can always use the Motorola MTR-2000 as a backup plan but with the compromises as noted above.
In case you wondered how the DR-1X and DR-2X repeaters are different, the major differences are:
Sunday, August 11, 2024 The replacement Gunstock 2-meter and 440 repeater antennas were discussed as far back as the February meeting. This kind of replacement antenna is call an "exposed dipole" and has characteristics of being very rugged, very tolerant of other nearby antennas and good survivability from long term weather deterioration. They also present a very wide RF operational bandwidth that can easily cover an entire ham band. The antennas have arrived and are being assembled and tested. SWR tested as very good. This design will permit the antennas to be side-mounted to the tower. Special rust-proof tower clamps are being ordered and we may have a member willing to climb the tower to mount the antennas for us.
The SCOM 7330 repeater controllers are taking longer than predicted to be reprogrammed for the required equipment changeovers. In the interim, we will likely be installing a temporary, standalone repeater to at least get the Gunstock 2-meter repeater returned to the air as quickly as possible. A change: The existing KREKO coaxial dipole antenna at Gunstock is now performing far better than expected. "If it works, don't fix it." The exposed dipole antenna planned for Gunstock will now be used in Moultonborough.
Monday, August 12, 2024 Our 147.39 FM repeater formerly at Red Hill in Moultonborough has been relocated to another site in Moultonborough. Frequency coordination changes are now in process and the repeater will return to operation very soon. More details to follow.
Saturday, August 17, 2024 Our Gunstock 2-meter repeater has finally returned to the air at full performance. 146.985 - PL 123.0 . We have totally replaced the repeater hardware with equipment that was removed from our Red Hill/Moultonborough site. As a test, there is currently no operational IT networking equipment at the Gunstock summit and the RFI-noise floor has been greatly reduced. The antenna has not been changed. The results have shown a dramatic improvement in both talk-out and talk in coverage. Some examples:
Reported via texting: "Ossipee: Awesome job on the gunstock repeater it's the best it's ever been I can hit it mobile in Ossipee in my driveway full quieting I used to have a hard time hitting it from a 50 ft Tower"
OTHERS from live on-air reports
Thursday, August 29, 2024 Lots going on... The 53.77 GE-MASTR-II repeater that has served us so well since 2008 is now 42 years old and is showing it's age. It was decided rather than to continue fixing it, the 6-meter repeater is being replaced at a cost of almost zero. The power supply, antenna and duplexer are being re-used. One member donated two commercial, high-end Kenwood TK-690H radios to replace the GE repeater. We already own the NHRC-5 controller and the FCC-required UHF control receiver so the primary cost so far was to purchase the Kenwood programming software for a whopping $12.95 plus some heat sink fans for about $20. There may be more costs as we proceed but it won't be much. The bench work is being performed by David Merchant, K1DLM who is reconfiguring the repeater controller to function with the above equipment as well as fabricating all of the mechanical work of making it rack-ready.
On the same day, Rich Kumpf, WF1V was working to relocate the former Red Hill/Moultonborough 147.39 repeater to another location in Moultonborough. Although lower at 750ft, it does favor the south where most members live.
The Red Hill repeater hardware
Friday, August 30, 2024 To test coverage, the Gunstock 146.985 repeater was running at a full 50-watts which is not recommended for continuous-duty nets. So on Friday, four members of the repeater committee visited the Gunstock site for hands-on training on setting up the Yaesu DR-1X repeater. The power was reduced to 20W. To our surprise, after testing with several users in the area, the talk-out coverage was significantly reduced. Another trip was made to the Gunstock summit to restore the 50W power level but that very evening, the repeater committee decided put forward a motion to replace the DR-1X repeater with the newer DR-2x which was designed to overcome the TX duty cycle issue. A special "repeater restoration fund" is being started to cover the costs. Yaesu is offering a temporary deal for clubs to purchase a DR-2X for about 60% off MSRP. Details at the Sept-3 meeting. The DR-1X will become a spare to be available should any other FM repeater site go down. Jamie Tuttle, KC1CAM is a firefighter/EMT as well as a tower climber. The old Diamond UHF antenna was removed and the tower made ready for the new UHF antenna. That project is continuing.
Update: On 9-18-2024, the "repeater restoration earmarked donations fund" was approved by a majority vote the general membership with a 100% margin, zero opposition. The DR-2x installation is now the top priority.
Sunday, September 15, 2024 The recent member repeater survey revealed that about 89% of our members have never used the Franklin 220 repeater due to:
In response to that survey, the CNHARC 220 repeater is being relocated to Gunstock to provide more centralized coverage.
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Bob DeMattia, K1IW traveled to a garage location in Gilford to integrate and test all relevant Gunstock 2m and 440 repeaters that connect via our permanent SCOM 7330 controller. Comprehensive training via Zoom will follow soon.
The SCOM 7330 controller uses a command-line interface that requires much skill to program but is easy to use for control ops. CNHARC owns at least four 7330 controllers.
Some audio paths
and control logic needed to be worked on and were corrected.
Pre-visit: Sunday, September 22, 2024 The Gunstock lifts will be closing for the season soon and we are running out of time. A major installation trip to the
Gunstock summit is planned for Sunday, September 22 at 10AM. To install and train as a group:
The 6-meter repeater will be addressed on the next visit. Lots to do!
Post-visit: Sunday, September 22, 2024 This 2024 installation was similar to CNHARC's first visit to the Gunstock Summit in 2008.
The 220 repeater will be installed soon but for now, the rack and duplexer are installed.
Repeater Restoration: Most of October 2024 Lots of progress! Many antennas were changed out on the Gunstock tower by Jamie, KC1KAM.
Trees removed from the Franklin site and paid for by a grant from MVARA and ARDC .
Many antennas were changed out on the Franklin tower by Jamie, KC1KAM.
And the bad news:
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Sunday, Oct 27, 2024 Battery backup system and charger installed. This was built by Rich, WF1V and his XYL, Deb. She likes to say that she has been studying for her license for over 40 years. Summit installation assist by Gordon Masterson (not yet licensed).
2-meter repeater automatic failover to batteries with power reduction from 50W to 20W was also tested and passed. The K1IW 100-Watt UHF PA was activated.
Monday Oct 28, 2024 And now for the bad news... Since the battery backup system was installed, the repeater receiver is experiencing severe interference even though it was bench tested with a lab-grade spectrum analyzer for RFI. Due to the poor 2M performance, the Tuesday Gunstock net had to switch to 447.775 -5 MHz PL-123.0.
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024 An idea from Rick Zach, KK1RZ (copied from an email)
Gunstock Saturday, November 2nd The lifts closed to the public on October 27th but on November 2nd we somehow got a ride up so we'll just leave it at that.
Gunstock
2-meter repeater interference Even though the battery charger might have been ruled out as an RFI source, the charger assembly was removed to add isolation relays to prevent some unwanted back-feeding.
Microwave link re-aiming to the Franklin DMR repeater site This link is critically important to allow our new DMR repeater to join into the NEDECN.org network. The link "fade margin" was borderline leading to random disconnections as noted above. Jamie Tuttle, KC1KAM climbed the Gunstock tower to re-aim the Gunstock side of the link. Between the leaves falling off of the trees and re-aiming of the Gunstock dish, a 13 dB gain improvement was measured. That kind of improvement is significant leading to much better reliability. The Franklin-side trees still require additional trimming but for now, the improvement is genuine.
Member Ed Lawson, K1VP just happened to be on a group hike to the Gunstock summit so he stopped in to see what was going on.
Remote repeater site essentials that you may have never thought about.
Still to do as of 11-3-2024 Gunstock
Franklin
. What a great club!
* = Proud members of the
CNHARC "Repeat Offenders Club"
Members are invited if not
encouraged to participate in our repeater site visits!
As always, you'll know more when we
know more.
(updated
11/06/2024)
Rick Zach
Please help out via our Repeater Restoration Fund
(updated 11/06/2024)
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That
DR-1X
DR-2X
