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For over 40 years now,
one of the most widely used 2-meter repeaters in the area is the
146.940 (-) repeater,
located on
Chilhowee Mountain just
outside Pigeon Forge, TN.
Here
is the very latest on the 146.940 Machine:
After
only five months of service, the 146.94 antenna is defective, AGAIN.
Kevin, W4KEV, took some close-up pictures of the antenna, (shown below)
which indicate the two bottom elements are visibly broken. This is the
cause of the “static” or arcing noise that you hear. I know this
is hard for some to understand when their receiver is showing .94 at full
strength, but it is the repeater receiver that is experiencing
the problem.
So
now what? I have contacted the antenna manufacturer and expressed my displeasure
of only 5 month’s service for a $1400 antenna (not counting the $350 for
installation). I have had some response from them, but at this point they
do not seem to be interested in a warranty remedy. I am continuing
to correspond with them, but I’m not hopeful that they will replace the
antenna. Even if they do, I’m not sure that I will re-install it, given
the poor time of service.
So... What Now?!!
I intend to replace the
antenna once again. Right now, I am trying to decide between a Decibel
Products DB-224 (which is what the last .94 antenna was for 11 years) or
a RFS Stationmaster Antenna, which is what .47 presently has.
Both antennas have their
advantages and disadvantages, and I am still weighing the “pros” and “cons”
of each style of antenna.
Here’s
what I will NOT be doing:
That is asking for financial
help for this project!
Granted, this won’t be an
inexpensive adventure, as estimates vary from $700 to $1000. However, area
hams were more than kind enough to generously support the last purchase...
Therefore,
I DO NOT want the repeater
users to feel like I have my hand out once again.
I am also looking to possibly rebuild the old .94 antenna that was removed
in August. It was moved to the site as a used antenna, and it lasted 11
years after I installed it there. That’s a little better than the
five months that the new one lasted.
In
the meantime... I sincerely apologize to everyone that this problem has
happened once again. I hope to get a new antenna delivered and installed
shortly.
In
Other news....
We
have been on a bit of a mission lately to find out exactly when .94 went
on the air. For those of you who are recent additions to our great hobby,
you might not know that the 146.94 repeater was the very first 2-meter
repeater in East Tennessee. Its history is that of great and continuous
service. I am VERY proud to be carrying on the tradition started by George,
K4HXD, who was the creator and founder of this repeater. We lost George
in 1992. He was of my mentors.
With
all that being said, the bottom line:
this
repeater is the oldest continous service 2-Meter machine
still
on the air in East Tennessee!
The 146.940 Repeater, located on Bluff Mountain (Green Top) in Sevier County
| This wide coverage repeater is
located on the same tower as the commercial FM station WIVK, 107.7 FM.
This radio station, licensed to Knoxville TN, has a very wide coverage
area, which encompasses the majority of Eastern Tennessee, from Bristol
to Chattanooga. So, if you can hear this frequency on your regular
FM Broadcast radio, you can most likely also hear this repeater!
As everyone knows, it isn't how far a repeater
can transmit a signal that makes it a good repeater... it's how well it
can copy a low power station, to repeat it's signal that makes it a great
machine!
In the photo to the right, you will see that
the '.940 machine's antenna shares the tower structure with many other
primary service antennas, including police & fire departments, commercial
pager & repeater systems, and of course, the 7-bay FM antenna
of the radio station take up the very top of the tower.
Many thanks to WIVK for their use of this facility!
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In addition to the coverage benefits of being
co-located with it's "Tower-neighbors"... this repeater site also has many
other benefits as well. Since WIVK is the primary EAS Station in
east Tennessee... there is ample emergency power for use during power failures,
for whatever reason. This makes the 146.940 machine a very important
part of the emergency communications infrastructure, regarding amateur
radio.
This repeater is the primary relay for SKYWARN
in east Tennessee, where 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, due to it's wide coverage area, and it's reliability!
EQUIPMENT LIST FOR THE 146.940 REPEATER:
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Motorola "Micor" series receiver
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Motorola "Micor" series exciter (output 500 milliwatts)
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Motorola "Micor" series PA
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Homebrew control panel, fashioned after the General Electric "KC-19" panel
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Phelps Dodge (now Celwave) six cavity duplexer
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WACOM tuned pass filter on transmitter output for additional filtering
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7/8 foam heliax
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Decibel Products DB-224 antenna (@ approx. 265 feet up the 330 ft tower)
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A brief history of 146.940...
The 146.940 repeater is
the oldest and original repeater on the air in the Middle-East Tennessee
area. We have been gathering information about this repeater's history
over the past several months and have come to the realization that machine
went on the air in 1967. George Shaver, K4HXD, placed it on the air at
a State of Tennessee tower site on top of Chilhowee Mountain in Blount
County. It remained on the same mountain top (moving to an adjacent tower
site) site until George sold the repeater to Tim Berry in 1985. Tim moved
the repeater to the now-146.625 site in 1986 where it remained there until
1998 when it moved to its present home at the WIVK-FM transmitter site.
Incidentally...
Tim's first experience with 146.940 repeater was accompanying George on
a repeater maintenance trip... that was waaaay back when Tim was only 13
years old!
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The photo on the left is the
actual 146.940 repeater...
It shows the Motorola micor exciter and 100 watt
Micor PA. Motorola stopped making the "Micor" series in the early
eighties, but plenty of this equipment is still out there and in everyday
service. The top piece of rack mounted equipment is the 100 watt PA. The
middle box is the 146.940 exciter, and the lower panel with the homebrew
plug in modules is the control panel. The control panel is fashioned after
the old GE KC-19 panel used in the "MASTR PRO" series of base stations.
You can see the top of the six cavity Phelps Dodge (now Celwave) duplexer
in the left of the picture. |
This photo (to the right) is a more full view of the 146.940 repeater
cabinet. It shows a overall picture from the side of the side of the cabinet
which also shows the filter cavity installed between the transmitter and
duplexer - and the duplexer itself.
The duplexer is the six cavity set
of filters mounted on the side of the cabinet.
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As we have said before.... this repeater location
is probably one of the best sites in all of Eastern Tennessee, as you can
almost see every inch of the Tennessee Valley - which makes up the majority
of the eastern third of the state.
The footprint of this repeater is absolutely
unbelievable, as folks have been known to converse with hams all the way
from Virginia, Kentucky - and in some cases parts of northern Georgia -
all from this machine!!
Below, is a view from near the repeater site,
looking back toward Knoxville....
(Notice the Seymour community in
the lower-right... with the city of Knoxville in the Distance)
Click on the photo for a larger version!
Also located on Chilhowee
Mountain just outside Pigeon Forge, TN. is the
444.300 (+) repeater (T-100.0)
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The 444.300 machine looks very similar
to the 146.940 repeater, because it's made of the same type of equipment
(Motorola Micor) ! The major difference between 444.300 and 146.940 is
the power amplifier, which was upgraded to a Vocom products commercial
grade 100 watt continuous duty PA.
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In the photo on the LEFT, you can see a
close-up view of the 44.300 machine. The receiver is mounted at the
bottom of the rack-mounted equipment, then another home brew control panel
similar to 146.940 is on top it, then the exciter, Vocom PA, and the six
cavity Phelp-Dodge (now Celwave) six cavity duplexer at the top of the
cabinet |
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Meanwhile, the photo on the RIGHT
depicts the bottom of the Rack cabinet, containing the the 50 AMP homebrew
power supply, which was built by Bill Nobles
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Below, is a view from near the repeater site,
looking back toward Knoxville....
(Notice the Seymour community in
the lower-right... with the city of Knoxville in the Distance)
Click on the photo for a larger version!
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