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Ok, there are a few things that we need to continue to
build out everything that we can and make this new D-star
repeater the biggest and best and more importantly the most
fun of any repeater in the state.
One thing that we will be needing is a Duplexer for the
1200MHz portion of the repeater. TX-RX makes a perfect
companion for this repeater. We have both the data and
voice modules for 1200MHz, so we have more than one 1200MHz
transmitter. Fortunately TX-RX makes a device just for this
that will allow us to have both transmitters and recievers
hooked on to the same antenna. This is a cross between a
conventional repeater duplexer and combiner. The cost on this
item is going to be about $1300. Why do we want such an expensive
item? Simple, at 1200MHz the feedline needed to go up to the top
of a 500' tower will cost us about $5000. We already have the first
run of feedline in place, and $1300 is much cheaper than another
$5000.
The next thing that we need is an antenna to put up at the top end
of that feedline. The antenna MUST be a high quality commercial grade
antenna that is encased in a fiberglass radome (commonly refered to as
a fiberglass antenna). This specification has been made by the owner
of the tower. These rules were made for a good reason and all renters
and or occupants of the vertical realestate must adhere to them. The
antenna must be approved by the tower owner prior to our installation.
Just to make it clear, the tower owner is a really great guy, and his
rules are what keeps his tower from falling over every time there is
a little ice storm. Our following his rules helps him to have vertical
realestate for us to use.
Beyond that, we are in need of a multicoupler for the UHF receive side
of the system. Ideally it would be nice to go out and spend the big money
to get a set of ports identical to what are on all the commercial radios
attached to these antennas, but we have devised a plan that will allow
us to work without compromising signal and without spending as much money.
To make a long story short, we want a filter from DCI that is going to
cost just a little short of $500 (that is half the price of the other
method). If you are so inclined to contribute please contact Sam or
Dan via the email address listed below.
I know these are expensive priced items, but please keep in mind that
we are not getting paid to operate this repeater, and we do not have a
club or club dues. Remember that those of us that build these repeaters
also need our money to be able to purchase radios to use and test the
system, cause nobody buys it for us and we would like to keep it that way.
Ok, we would like it if some wealthy person would buy all of our gear
for us, but that is not what I meant. We would prefer to see any donations
put directly to use on the repeater so it benefits everyone.
For more information about making a donation to the WMPORN D-STAR Repeater
project please send email to "dstar at wmporn.net" .
It isn't that hard to figure that out, and doing it that way helps to
keep that email address from being sent a bunch of garbage email.
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