SDRG Information
SDRG Information
SOUTH DORSET REPEATER GROUP
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! GB3SD was 45 years old in 2019
Update 13/6/2023
An intermittent fault on GB3SD has been traced to a damaged coax cable and will be repaired soon,
Update 19/05/2022
GB7SD is now back on the South-West Cluster. Took rather longer than I hoped due to difficulties accessing the sockets on the back of the repeater. Ed G3VPF 22 Mar 2022
To those of you who use GB7SD please note that the South-West Cluster is currently going through a major change as it moves to a new fixed IP address. The service is likely to be disrupted for a few days until all the repeaters have moved to the new address. I hope to change GB7SD Thursday afternoon so the unit will be off-air for several hours so I can get it back here and re-program it.
Ed G3VPF 8 Mar 2022
The storms Dudley, Eunice, and Franklin in February 2022 caused significant damage to the Ridgeway tower. Many thanks to Rob G0ECX, John G8IKP, and Kelvin G4TRW for their repair work. More information in the latest newsletter .
In October 2021 new receive antennas (full-wave dipoles) for GB3SD and GB7SD were fitted by Rob G0ECX aided by Kelvin G4TRW. The old antenna connectors were badly corroded due to water ingress and preliminary tests indicate that the new antennas have given an improvement in the receive coverage.
The Voice Repeater GB3DR has been installed in it's new location on Portland and is now operational. Input on 145.1375 MHz and output on 145.7375 MHz. A CTCSS tone of 71.9 Hz must be used for access. It seems that the coverage is as good as expected from the simulations and tests. The new repeater is analogue and Yaesu Fusion compatible. By the way, there are no "pips" between transmissions; when you drop carrier so does the repeater. If you are using an analogue only rig, it's best to use tone squelch, if available, to avoid hearing the Fusion data signal. More information in the May 2022 newsletter.
Update 12/08/2021
The GB3SD and GB7SD 70 cm repeaters carry on operating as usual. There has been some minor maintenance through the summer.
Investigations are still under way to find a new site for GB3DR the 2 m repeater, which remains out of service.
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News about the Mast.
Update 22/09/19 The replacement mast is now up and in use.
The October 2019 Newsletter is now available here: Newsletters
The Group has purchased a second hand 60 foot 3 section mast in good condition along with 2 winches, a set of new wire cables, cable guides for coax and a top cage section.
This will be delivered to our site in a couple of weeks time. There will be a need for some welding of the pivot point bracket if we need to fit the new bottom section and the fixing point where the bolt locks the lower section into position. The hope is however that we can reuse the bottom section of the existing mast and then sell on the new bottom section of the replacement mast.
We would hope to get this work done within the next few weeks so if anyone would like to help Edward G3VPF and I would appreciate it. While we are at it the plan is to renovate the cabinet by stripping off the old layers of paint and repainting with galvafroide paint. We will also paint the sections of mast with this paint before installing the new mast. We hope that the work on the mast can be completed in a couple of days.
Rob G0ECX - August 2019 Chairman SDRG2000
The August 2019 Newsletter is now available here: Newsletters
As noted on the front page, Geoff Watts G0EVW / G8BCH went silent key in the spring of 2020.
The Repeater Keeper for GB3SD is now Rob, G0ECX and for GB7SD is Edward, G3VPF
Historical and Archive notes
On April 5 2018 our mast at the Ridgeway Site suffered catastrophic damage. Only two sections of the mast are now in use and the aerials are mounted on what was the middle section, which is bent. As a result the aerials are no longer vertical and about 20ft lower than they were. Although at this time both GB3SD and GB7SD are still working, their performance has been seriously affected on both RX and TX.
The above picture shows the current state of our mast and aerials.
Much of our Primary service area, particularly to the South of the site is seriously compromised.
Just to make it quite clear: reports confirm that coverage in all directions is effected but South and East are the worst. However, overall both repeaters - GB3SD and GB7SD are severely effected and even going back to the very early days at the site GB3SD has never had such poor coverage.
Geoff G0EVW Repeater Keeper 04/06/19.
Update 25/06/2019
Well over 12 months on from the above incident it is still not known when the mast replacement will take place. However I have recently heard from Edward G3VPF that the committee is now negotiating with a new supplier and hopes to place an order for a new mast soon.
Update 12/01/19
The January 2019 Newsletter is now available here: Newsletters
Update 22/11/18
Annual General Meeting 2018
The AGM of the South Dorset Repeater Group will be held on Wednesday 5th December 2018 starting at 7:30pm. More details can be found in the October Newsletter here: Newsletters
Update 11/06/18
The SDRG held a committee meeting on Thursday June 7 and decided to replace the tower. A newsletter is being produced and will be sent out to supporters and users as soon as possible and also published on this website.
Update 12/06/18
The June Newsletter is now available to read here: Newsletters
Update 21/06/18
A further Newsletter will be published within the next few days.
The June (3) Newsletter is now available to read here: Newsletters
Geoff, G0EVW (Repeater Keeper) 13/11/18
SDRG 2017 AGM
2017 AGM The Annual General Meeting of the Group was held on Tuesday February 6 2018 at the studios of the Ridgeway Community Radio Station in Dorchester. All users and supporters of our Repeaters were urged to attend.
The 2017 Newsletter and an AGM report is available here: Newsletters
GB3SD GB7SD AND GB3DR
GB3SD and GB7SD Aerials (06/06/15)
The above image shows how GB3SD and GB7SD are configured.
The Group has to fund all the equipment provision and maintenance, plus site rent, electricity and third party insurance. Our site rent has more than doubled in the last twelve years and annual running costs are now estimated to be around £600.00. However the annual subscription has not kept pace with running costs and as a result in 2014/15 a modest increase was necessary - the first one for five years! This was set at £20.00 with family membership at £30.00 and life membership at £200.00 and remains unchanged this year.
To pay your subscription and/or make any donation you wish towards the running costs of GB3DR, GB3SD and GB7SD please click this donate button. See also 'Subscriptions' lower down this page.
GB3YS
http://jbrepeaters.org.uk/index.html
(Updated 04/06/18)
The Yeovil Repeater GB3YS was 'rescued' by Chris, G6WHI and Mike, G8NIC and came back on air on 21/02/13. Chris, G6WHI built a brand new repeater that is identical to GB3SD and they also sorted out the aerial system. In March 2016 Dave, G3ZXX took on responsibility for the Repeater and is now the Repeater Keeper: gb3ys.mail@gmail.com
SDRG2000
In 1999 the original founder members of the SDRG retired and the Group was re-formed as SDRG2000. This was to enable a 'clean break' and enable the Group to move forward with a new committee and constitution. However it is still known by most as the 'South Dorset Repeater Group', as it is on these web pages.
Subscriptions: Anyone wishing to contribute financially to the Group can either send a cheque, made out to 'South Dorset Repeater Group 2000' to the Treasurer (see SDRG front page) or apply to the Treasurer for bank transfer details if preferred. The annual subscription for 2018 - 19 is £20.00 or £30.00 for family membership. Life membership is also available at £200.00. Please do not send cash by post! Please include your full name and address (including post code) and if you have one, your e-mail address. Please be aware that your personal information may be held on a computer data base for the exclusive use of the Group only.
COPYRIGHT: Except where copyright is shown to belong to a specified person or organisation, all the material on this site may be freely used for non commercial purposes, providing acknowledgement is made as to the source of the material used.