Category: 146.920 – Ft. Stockton (Sibley Ranch) Repeater

146.920 Glass Mountains Repeater

Filed by: w5ato

13-JULY-2016

Crew; No trip.

ISSUE: Site has lost link to BBARC hub again.

Shortly before the weekly 2-meter net we lost the link from the 146.920 repeater site to our BBARC System hub. Once again we have been unable to restore it remotely.

CURRENT STATE OF SITE: The 146.920 repeater is functioning but is NOT linked to our system. It does seem to be linked just fine to the West Texas Connection system.

FOLLOW UP ACTIONS: The exact problem has still not been identified. It is likely that we have a bad link radio. It is also possible we may have a problem with the controller. It is going to require at least one or two more trips to the site, and possibly some, “try this and see what fails where the next time,” steps before the exact problem can be pin-pointed.

It will be some time before anyone can schedule another trip, but we hope to get to the site within the next 3 to 4 weeks.

146.920 Glass Mountains Repeater

Filed by: w5ato

10-JULY-2016

Crew; N5HYD, KB5R, W5ATO

ISSUE: Site has lost link to BBARC hub

Why the hub link to the 92 site went down and could not be re-established could not be determined. It seemed a power recycling of the link radio may have been what restored normal operation. These particular radios are somewhat unpredictable when voltage levels become unstable.

CURRENT STATE OF SITE: Fully functional as designed. The link to the BBARC repeater system has been restored.

While on site, a change was made to the link radio to the West Texas Connection repeater system which we use for the region wide emergency link to connect us to Midland/Odessa. In the past we had linked that radio to the WTC repeater at the Notrees. That has now been changed to link to the Odessa WTC repeater hub. We now hear no extra repeater drops that tell us we are linked to the WTC, and the audio is much better.

FOLLOW UP ACTIONS: We will, in the future, add some type of tone, courtesy beep, or something that will let us know when the WTC is linked to the BBARC system.

146.920 Glass Mountains Repeater

Filed by: w5ato

4-JUNE-2016

Crew; N5HYD, N5MVV, W5ATO

ISSUE: Follow Up Repairs from 28-MAY-2016 Trip

Of the two solar panels that were removed for bench repairs, one was repairable, one was not.

The one repaired solar panel was reinstalled.

A 3-element 440 yagi was installed for the WTC link. The coax feed lines were re-connected to put the WTC link radio to the 3-element antenna and the Wink link radio back to the 7-element antenna.

While installing the new WTC antenna, a field test was conducted using a 5-watt HT through the new antenna. It was found we have a full strength signal from the WTC Odessa repeater, and contact was made with KB5JXO Benny, in Ft. Stockton. Benny was on the Ft. Stockton branch of the WTC so his link was going through Notrees and on to Odessa and then to the 146.920 repeater site on our WTC link radio, or my HT in this case. The signal and the audio were strong and clear, with intermittent break up, likely in the WTC system between Ft. Stockton and Odessa. But the signal from Odessa to Glass Mountains was strong and solid.

An attempt was made to reprogram the “Personality” of the repeater controller. The “Personality” of the controller refers to several elements of its operation. It determines what control codes are accepted and what actions to take, and what CW responses to send back in response. The new Personality did not behave as intended so the pre-existing Personality was restored.

CURRENT STATE OF SITE: Fully functional as designed.

FOLLOW UP ACTIONS: The Link radios we are using (440 links to the HUB, WTC, and WINK,) require programming on the bench to establish memory frequencies for use. Another WTC radio will be programmed for the Odessa repeater frequency and installed on the next trip. The Personality program will also be reviewed and re-written. Both will be installed as soon as they can be completed and another trip to the site scheduled.

146.920 Glass Mountain Repeater Repair Trip

N5HYD, W5ATO, N5NYM

28-MAY-2016

Little or no power in mornings. Suspect weak battery.

Arrived on location to find one solar panel torn from its rack and laying on ground, link antenna to WTC torn off its mount to the tower leg, and link antenna to Wink had been twisted from its aim to the north to aiming east with the tip of the boom against the guy wire. This all looked to have been done by very high winds from about a week previous.

   

Electrical inspection revealed two of the older solar panels were not generating power and they were removed to be inspected closer on the bench to see if they can be repaired. There was no physical damage to them. One side of the 100 watt panel frame had been torn from the panel, still bolted in the mounting frame. The wires were torn from the butt connectors, but the panel was un-broken and still generated power. Field repairs were made to re-mount the 100 watt panel in the mounting frame and it was reconnected to the power circuit.

Jumper cables were used to recharge the batteries from the truck while repairs were being made. After repairs, the charging system and the batteries all seemed to be in good working order. More permanent repairs will need to be made as soon as practical.

The one destroyed antenna was removed, the other antenna was re-aimed, and coax was switched to connect the remaining antenna to the WTC link radio. The Wink radio has been left off-line until the next repair visit.

The 146.92 repeater is still working and linked to the system and should work normally, the only exception is the temporary loss of the 440 MHz Wink Link radio.