Greetings,
Well here we are at the Thanksgiving time of the year. Another year has flown by! I heard they go faster when you get older, and I surely believe that now. I am sure we have all had trials and things happen throughout the year , some good and maybe some not so good. What ever the circumstance we are truly blessed to live in this country despite its shortcomings it is still the best place on this earth , in my unsolicited humble opinion.
The one thing we call be thankful for is we have a vibrant, active and supportive HAM family in this area and in particular this club.
We had a great work day on Saturday. Thank You all that participated helped clean up and organize our Dundee site. The photo with this email shows the new repeater rack that we installed. Here is the items from top to bottom.
- Yaesu DR2 Fusion repeater ( current main repeater)
- Yaesu DR1 Fusion repeater ( spare 1)
- Duplexer for the repeater
- Tray- 50 watt UHF amp (operating currently at 38 watts)
- 35Amp switching power supply
- Bottom tray Vertex 700 UHF 48 watt repeater (spare 2)
- Floor two 12 volt back up batteries that will run the repeater for a few hour at 5 watts output for emergency communications.
The VHF machine in Lake Wales has undergone a major change. We are still working with the City to clarify the permission and reasoning for moving our antenna. As you can see the tallest antenna on the tower was our 4 bay folded dipole antenna. It was relocated to the catwalk rail , inverted and on the west side of the tower by contractors secured by the city. The repeater was not operation until today. Thanks to W5DBH Dan for assisting me in getting the repeater tested and back on the air today. It is operational and has an acceptable SWR of 1.1.
The relocation will certainly affect range, however, we have had several stations check from the west, including northeast Lakeland with very respectable clarity. The VHF machine is available for regular use as needed or desired.
This week in Ham will be turkey ( my vailed attempts at food humor) We will have our net Tuesday as usual. I will be Net Control for the net this week. On The UHF machine 442.425 +5 MHz 127.3 TX and RX 7:30 PM. Followed by the ‘informal’ net on the same repeater.
If you are out of range please check in via the LWRA Club Chat on SIGNAL or I will also monitor the VHF 147.330 MHz +.6 with 127.3 TX and RX CTCSS.
As far as I know all other local nets on other repeaters are still scheduled.
Again, thanks to a GREAT group of friends and fellow HAM in this organization. I would be remis if I id not also thank your XYL’s and our members that are our GMRS members as well. Have a great , safe, and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.
‘see ya on the air’
KB4FHP
Mike Lunsford