NEWSLETTER
Issue Number One
August 23, 2005
A Special Thanks
On May 7th a group gathered on Medicine Butte to get Reliance back on the air on .34/.94 and back on the SD Link to complete the linking across the state again. The crew consisted of WØRTD-Eldon and KDØS-Jim of Pierre; NØTAW Rob of Clear Lake and his brother Mike from Highmore; WØSD-Ed of Salem and AAØF of Forestburg; KCØMOH-Mike of Lesterville; KCØAXR Kevin of Tabor and Al-NØOII of Tyndall.
A special thanks to Eldon WØRTD of Pierre for use of his site to make this possible. Eldon also has provide his site at Murdo for our use so Eldon has been a major contributor to the SD Link. Thanks Eldon!
There is no road to the site so we just went through the pasture. It was not muddy. We were able to drive right to the tower. We installed two sections, getting us to 8Ø feet. We did not have a gin pole so Rob -NØTAW and Ed WØSD arm-stronged the first one, Rob did the second one. Bless the Yankton group as they showed up with a wonderful assortment of supples. They furnished all the tower sections, guy wire, UHF antenna's and numerous other items. We put up one more section getting us to 9Ø feet. Rob and Ed arm-stronged it in. This was about 11:3Ø am and the wind had come up more than earlier. We then installed the third set of guy wires. We only had a 3 hole equalizer plate so only three sets of guys were possible which put us to 9Ø foot rather than 1ØØ feet.
We took a lunch break about 1:2Ø pm and the wind really came up. Rob and Kevin worked in bad winds all afternoon installing the VHF antenna at about 8Ø feet and the two 44Ø yagi's and all the coax. There was lots of work done by all getting the guys installed, coax runs ready, hardware, getting the building leveled up, fencing and a number of other details. The VHF two meter antenna has 1:1 SWR and the signals were very strong on the 44Ø link so things look good there.
Thanks to the Pierre group for furnishing the two meter antenna and mount and all the 1/2" heliax for the UHF and two meter antenna, guy wraps and other items.
UPDATE:
All, Just wanted to confirm the obvious. Brian, Don, and
myself made the journey over the dam and through the rocks
(barely) to the new Reliance site. Installed the rack of
equipment with new 440 radios. The batteries were in the process
of charging when we left, and everything seems to be working good
so far. I will try and post a few more pictures I took
tomorrow.
The whole system should be up and working minus Garden City at this point, so take note of anything that isn't working correctly.
73, Howard, KG0R
Don, AAØF, does some final checks of the Equipment at Reliance.
Big thanks to Ed (W0SD), Floyd (WB0MZB), and Jim (KD0S) for the big effort in cleaning up the Wessington Springs site and repairing (replacing) the fences around the building and guy points !!!
Rapid City UHF "extension" of the State Link
Tuesday 08/16/2005
Rapid City State Link UHF node returns to service
To all:
The SD State Link UHF extension in Rapid City is now back in service. This node is tied to the SD State Link two meter repeater network that covers all across the state.
Thanks to Ed W0SD for transporting and his crew for reinstalling the radio. It operates on 449/444.750 with a CTCSS tone of 146.2 required to access the node. (You transmit on 449.750 with a tone of 146.2, and listen on 444.750.)
Please remember that kerchunking (keying it up just to see if it or your radio is working) will light up radios all over the state. Please be courteous, and refrain from "testing" the link. Your activities will be heard all over the state.
If I can answer any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Thanks very much
73 de John WB6GHA SD State Link Official Reporter
Terry Peak 147.030 MHz transmitter Update
Friday morning 08/19/2005
Lead, SD
Terry Peak 147.030 MHz transmitter Update -
As you know from earlier messages, the Terry Peak State Link two meter repeater transmitter on 147.030 MHz failed last week.
To keep the site in service although with a significantly reduced signal level, the broken power amplifier was removed and the exciter signal was routed directly to the duplexer.This morning the repaired transmitter power amplifier was re-installed, and subsequent tests show that the coverage area has been restored.
Thanks very much for your support while these repairs were being made.
The rest of the State Link system seems to be functioning properly, and is available for your use.Please remember to take long pauses (about one second) AFTER you press the PTT button to insure that all of the sites have had time to key-up before you begin talking. The beeps that you hear on the State Link system are reminders to pause. Failure to pause will guarantee that the first part of what you say will be lost as the various sites come up to power. Needless to say, users that are "quick on the mic button" will experience problems in communicating on the link.
Please let us know if we can answer any questions.
73 de John WB6GHA
Technical Committee Janitor
Consider Serving on the South Dakota Link Repeater Committee
This SD LINK SYSTEM web page is to share information about the SD LINK SYSTEM which is operated by the South Dakota Amateur Radio Council INC.(SDARC) which is a non-profit corporation under South Dakota law and has 5Ø1 (C)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service.
This Newsletter Last Updated on: Tuesday, August 23, 2005
08.23.2005 23:40