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The
146.625 (-) repeater is located on Chilhowee Mountain in Blount County,
TN. near a community known as the "top of the world". This
is a very beautiful place in east Tennessee... but just as you might imagine,
it is in a very rugged area, where access to this area is not very easy.
The troubles are worth it though... as the high elevation of the terrain
makes for a perfect Repeater site!
The image to the left is
the actual cabinet with the repeater installed... while the tower on the
right is the main support structure of this facility. It holds both
the 146.625 repeater antenna... as well as several other antennas for repeaters
outside the amateur service.
This photo is
of the repeater receiver and exciter in the swing-out enclosure. The 100
watt power amplifier is visible thru the shield in the back, as is the
control shelf with the plug in control cards. The bottom of the ID unit
(gray box) is also visible.
There are several other commercial
& non commercial repeaters located at this site, along with the amateur
radio service machines.
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This repeater is another of many relay repeaters for SKYWARN,
where weather spotters can contact the National Weather Service, directly,
during inclement weather, to officially log in weather observations.
It is also used by many other amateur groups for emergency communications,
nets and general club uses.
A brief
history of 146.625...
This machine utilizes a Factory-Stock
132-150Mhz GE Mastr II Repeater combo... which was acquired back in 1982..
This machine originally went on the air in 1988, on Sharp's Ridge in North
Knoxville. Later, it was moved to Chilhowee Mountain (the original
146.940 site). It remained there until that site was abandoned in
2004. This forced the repeater's move to it's present location near
the Top of the World Community in Blount County.
EQUIPMENT LIST FOR THE 146.625 REPEATER:
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GE Mastr II Factory-Stock 132-150Mhz repeater
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Phelps Dodge (now Celwave) six cavity duplexer
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1/2" foam heliax
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Decibel Products DB-224 antenna (@ approx.140 feet at the top of the tower)
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Hamtronics ID Kit (Built by Tim)
Below is the VIEW from this repeater site... so
you can see why this repeater site is such a great one.... |