New Repeater Home!

Post date: Dec 02, 2016 3:39:50 PM

In mid-December a shiny new Sinclair SD224 four bay folded dipole antenna goes up on the tower at the new site.

The new site features:

• Backup power generator

• Complete climate control

• Broadband Internet access

The MRA has purchased a remotely controlled APC power switch, Ethernet router, and Ethernet switch to control the repeater.

The antenna is 700+ feet up the tower (AGL), and ~900 feet ASL. The new site is located in the central Richmond area, and continued wide area coverage is expected.

The tower climb to install the antenna occurs in mid-December. The antenna pattern has 6 dBi gain omni directional. The antenna will have clear line of sight to the west, to the north, and around to due south, with some “tower shielding” in the southwest quadrant. The sight has been spectrum analyzed for noise on the input frequency.

Long term observation has shown no impulse or spurious noise, so we expect the KG4MRA repeater will be “better than ever”.