2 - Meters




220

440

6-Meters

900 Mhz

 
 



     This repeater is also 
used for SKYWARN 
reports in East Tennessee,
specifically in Skywarn
District 6, which includes
Jefferson, Hamblen and
Sevier Counties. 
Here, weather spotters 
can contact the 
National Weather Service,
directly, during inclement
weather, to officially log 
in unusual weather
observations. 
It is also used by many 
other groups for 
emergency communications
as well!

Fall on English Mountain


Images courtesy of 
Anthony Smith, N4TFU

Images courtesy of 
Anthony Smith, N4TFU

BIG NEWS: 
The Repeater is Back at FULL Power!
     For those of you who remember 146.73 as Sam (WB4HAP, SK) and Matt (WB4IOB) Kirby’s repeater, and how well it worked from it’s English Mountain home, you know that I have not been able to duplicate their great success since I returned .73 back to English almost two years ago. It’s been a “work in progress,” and I’m happy to report that progress is being made! 

If you have tried .73 lately, you have noticed that it has had a “squeal” in the audio on occasions when it has been keyed up, or when it has been up with a QSO in progress. The squeal is a result of an “intermod hit,” or two or more (in this case three) signals that mix together and produce a different signal that is the sum or difference of the others. Intermodulation, or “Intermod,” has long been a nemesis of Mountaintop repeater operations, but sometimes it is misdiagnosed, or confused with other problems. 

Latest Update: 
I installed the $500 isolator on 146.730, and unfortunately 
the intermod problem did not completely go away. 
It is very weak, however, and I hope that moving the antenna higher up the tower 
and away from the offending UHF antennae will eliminate the problem altogether. 
Please “cross your fingers…”  that the vertical separation will help, 
and also it will get the .73 antenna above the tree line 
and help its coverage that way as well!. 

    For more information as the work progresses... Stay tuned here & on my Repeater blog…
or better yet, fire up your 2-meter rig, and check 146.730 for yourself! 
 

The Repeater is located in a new "Climate Controlled" space in the building!
The NEW Duplexer for the 146.730 Machine has been INSTALLED, and seems to be
working perfectly... improving the overall performance!

Yes... this brand-new duplexer is now in service high atop English Mountain, 
and has already proven to enhance the performance of the 146.730 reepater!
We have been able to increase the power output of the machine to near TWICE what it was... 
and the machine is able to recieve very weak signals much better than before!

Repeater maintenance in the middle of the winte can pose unusual circumstances -
just in getting to the tower site!!! Welcome to a winter wonderland on English Mountain!

Just a quick note of thanks to all the Amateur operators in East Tennessee who have been patient 
in waiting for this machine's return to English Mountain... and especially those who have 
donated money, to help get this duplexer in place. 

We thank you for your patience!

Installation on English has been accomplished!!
Finally, we can say the '730 machine 
has been installed on top of the Mountain - at it's brand new home there!

Yes... for a long time now, we have been waiting, patiently, for the 
146.730 machine to make it's way back up 
English Mountain... 
and that day has now finally arrived!!

The repeater was placed back in service on the crest of English Mountain 
at about 3pm on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008!


Here you see the antenna farm within which
the 146.730 antenna is located, as seen
from the OLD 146.730 Site.

This repeater is dedicated to the memory of
Sam Kirby, WB4HAP-SK
Thank you Sam for your service to Amateur Radio

 

Look very closely.  That tiny tiny town 
down there, is actually NEWPORT Tennessee!

To the Right, you can see the only remnant of the
old 146.730 repeater site.  The abandoned
building is all that's left of where this machine
USED to live, years ago.


 
 
 

(You can click on any of the photos for an even-closer look!)
We are very happy this machine is now back at it's original home atop 
English Mountain in East Tennessee 
(in extreme southern Jefferson County, near the borders of Cocke & Sevier Counties)

By the way... here is a view from the mountain, looking back toward the smokies. 
(Notice the mountain tops are not very high... this is because from this vantage point, 
the mountain tops are only a bit higher than the repeater site!) 

Although the 146.730 (-) Repeater is the most recent acquisition of the WB4GBI Repeater System... it certainly isn't new to East Tennessee Amateur Radio Operators.  Second only to the 146.940 machine... this machine had been one of the most prominent repeaters in this part of the country... 
spending the majority of it's useful life atop English Mountain.
The history of this repeater dates back to when there were only a handful of 2-meter repeaters available in Eastern Tennessee


Some Final Adjustments...
...and an appropriate tribute.

     Until recently this machine had been maintained by Sam Kirby, WB4HAP... now SK. Tim acquired this repeater from Sam's estate on September 12, 2007... and moved the machine from Sam's home, to his own home... where it underwent some major refurbishing.

     As mentioned before... this machine had occupied space on top of English Mountain, a very high profile location, which enabled this repeater to enjoy a very wide area footprint of the Eastern Tennessee landscape.  However, due to economic and political reasons, the machine was forced to evacuate it's strategic position, and was put into a much lower profile service at Sam Kirby's home.  There it remained, awaiting a better climate, which might allow it's return to English Mountain. 

      Sam's untimely death in August of 2007 placed those plans in jeopardy... but only temporarily, as Tim was determined to follow through on Sam's vision.  Now that it is once again back on English Mountain, with a new duplexer in service, it is hoped that it will once again become a valuable resource to the East Tennessee Amateur community!

 




2 - Meters





220

440

 

900 Mhz

 



 

  The 53.150 (-) Repeater was acquired by the WB4BGI Group along with the 146.730 machine, from Sam Kirby (WB4HAP-SK) on September 12, 2007.  Although Tim has maintained other 6-meter repeaters in the past, this marks the first venture into 6-meter territory in quite some time.

     Like the 146.730 machine... it is undergoing some refurbishing... and will hopefully be back on the air very soon!



 
 

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