W3AHS Repeater
W3AHS Dot Com - Millionaire Amateur Radio Club - Williamsport, PA Amateur Radio Repeater 147.300
- WELCOME TO THE W3AHS and KB3AWQ REPEATER LINK SYSTEM WEBSITE -
W3AHS 147.300 + PL 151.4 hz
is RF linked by a UHF radio and NHRC-5 Controller to
KB3AWQ 444.900 + PL 173.8 hz
is internet linked by Allstarlink with a Raspberry Pi 2 to
52.490 FM Simplex PL 173.8 (they site next to each other and used to share the same controller)
29.500 FM Simplex PL 173.8 became part of the system in Nov 2020 with a Raspberry Pi 3 and Allstarlink at a diffeent site about 3 miles east of the UHF and 6m site.
The PL tone is on both receive and transmit on all equipment so feel free to program it in that way.
KB3AWQ-R Echolink Node # 277377 and Allstarlink Node # 513963 is part of the mix also so feel free to connect in.
No matter which frequency you talk on you will come out on the others. To hear a person on 6 or 10 meters talking, you need to be within simplex range to hear them directly or talk to them on one of the repeaters that are linked in or by using Alltarlink or Echolink.
Williamsport, PA - Lycoming County - FN11lf58
Each side has its own courtesy beep. If you hear a dit dah dah (W) in morse code that means they are on the local side of the repeater or frequency. If you hear dit dit dit (S), that means the input is from six meters or from UHF or 2 meters is a dit dit dah (U) for UHF as that is where it really is coming from. Dit dah (A) means its coming from Allstar and I believe Echolink. If you hear an dit dit dit dit (H) that means Hub which is 513963 and Dah (T) is ten meters.
Audio Test: Send "06" on your keypad and unkey, after the repeater acknowledges, give up to 11 seconds of audio and unkey and it will repeat back to you. This will work on 147.3 only.
On December 21 2019, 147.300 was lucky enough to get a set of Phelps Dodge Model 497 duplexers. This allowed the repeater to put out 50 watts after 18 years of being on the air. The squelch opens and holds the repeater open at .09 micro-volts which is pretty sensitive. With the location being just under 1000 feet elevation the repeater is more of a local repeater but is linked to high profile repeaters so has high profile capability.
Q and A... Question: You May Ask Why We Chose W3AHS For A Club Call-sign... Answer: Since the repeater is located at the Williamsport Area High School we thought that would be neat! (Williamsport Three Area High School). The club was named Millionaire Amateur Radio Club (Millionaire being the schools nickname as well as in past history the city had the most Millionaires per capita in the World in the Lumbering days as Williamsport was known as the Lumber Capital of the World. The Little League World Series is also held here each year in August and Little League itself was originated in Williamsport near Bowman Field/Memorial Park on West Fourth Street by the late Carl E. Stotz who was a city native. Another neat fact is the 147.300 repeater is the only Amateur Repeater to date as of December 31, 2018 that is physically located in the City of Williamsport (for those who may not be familiar with its location we are located in Williamsport's West End / Newberry). Most other repeaters including commercial listed for Williamsport are located on the Bald Eagle Mountain/Skyline Drive which is South of Williamsport and they are in multiple townships depending on their boundaries.
W3AHS membership: It would be great to have students and employees, like how it works at some schools and colleges throughout the country. The current bylaws were made to allow for the club to obtain the W3AHS call-sign. Other than that membership is pretty much anyone who has helped or who is or has been a student or faculty who has interest in Amateur Radio. Over the years there have been several students and staff that have been hams and even currently there are some.
This repeater was put on the air in 2001 to experiment with, learn and to add some extra coverage to the area. Equipment was donated by some local hams and is what made this repeater system get in motion. Special Thanks to The Williamsport Area School District, Bill's Electronics and the several hams who have helped make this happen and allowing this public service to grow and serve the communities of the Williamsport area.
World Wide via Echolink (Node # 277377) or on Allstar 51396. Since all the frequencies are linked, they are also linked to Echolink and Allstar. Be aware (if your in UHF range to the 147.300 site) by using the upside UHF repeater pair, in other words if you transmit on 444.900 PL 173.8 Simplex, you will also come out on 147.300 "only" if you are within UHF range of the 147.300 site.
Even though there are no dues, if something would happen to break down, donations are welcome and depending on what the issue is, it may depend on the future of this system. Donating gives no special privileges other than knowing that you have contributed to the hobby for all to use. It is always encouraged to support your local ham clubs. As you know this public service is far from free but the costs to keep things going has costs to.
Typical costs of a repeater
A controller ranges from $50 to near $1000
Duplexers range from a few hundred used to a couple thousand dollars new
A used repeater can be found between $100 and $600 but new run a thousand dollars or much more but can be done with the cost of 2 decent mobile radios that can hold the abuse of being used for repeater operation that have good duty cycle, many times commercial radios are chosen.
Hard-line which is much better than Coax - lets go with $2 per foot and hard-line connectors range from $10 to $40 each typically the latter.
Antennas range from under $100 to $1000 or more but again you get what you pay for. On a mountain, winds and weather is much more harsh.
Power Supply $150 - 200 average cost
Electricity - of course several factors including usage but just to idle will be a least a few bucks a month.
Building and Tower well lets just hope you have one and its in good shape.
Tower climbing - Try to find a person or two who can do it and some could charge several hundred dollars. A lift is possible but depends on the application but is $1000 a day to.
Probably a couple smaller things missed but just something to think about. The current W3AHS 147.300 repeater was a little over $2000 and we did the work so no labor costs.
Visit KB3AWQ Repeater page for other info
2001-present
Email to: W3AHS at W3AHS Dot Com
Constitution of the WAHS Amateur Radio Club.doc