Elephant Head – 145.29 Repeater Trip
 

Some might say it takes great fortitude to venture up the steep, rough mountain road to the 145.29 MHz repeater site. Nevertheless, on Wednesday, 5 September, nine hearty adventurers made the journey! They included Gene, WØKAD, Ron, AA7RP, Terry, AD7EL, Wes, W7UO, Bill, K6WWH, Linda, AD7FP, Bob, AD7FQ, Dee, AD7NM, and Ron, AD7FV.

The .29 repeater resides in a shared facility on a mountain top just behind Elephant Head. Some of the antennas belonging to various commercial and ham radio organizations that share the site can be seen in the background in the picture above. GVARC's 449.375 MHz (PL-107) repeater is installed in the same building. The one-lane road leading to the repeater site is very rough and quite severely eroded in many places. There is a turnout about a half-mile from the site where everyone stopped to look at the spectacular view — and to prepare for that last half mile, which is not only rough and eroded, but steep as well. A 4-wheel drive vehicle is a necessity for making the trip!

The purpose of the trip was to:

• replace the repeater's oscillator crystal, which had been found to be near the limit of its tolerance,

• install the capability to link the 145.29 repeater with the 145.27 and 449.375 repeaters for greater coverage and usage,

• replace some fasteners on the repeater tower,

• enjoy the great views and,

• have a time of fellowship and FOOD!
   

Terry, AD7EL, and Ron, AA7RP, provided the technical expertise for the repair effort. At left, Wes, W7UO, Ron, and Bob, AD7FQ, look on while Terry replaces the crystal and completes the alignment work.
 

Wes, W7OU, had the challenging job of climbing the GVARC tower to replace some hardware. When asked how he felt about his task, Wes said, "It's no big deal — I climb my 180-ft towers at least once a year to do rotor maintenance!" WHEW! What some of us would give to be in such good shape!

Of course, no GVARC outing is complete without food! Everyone brought something. Gene, WØKAD, brought fried chicken. Bob, AD7FQ, and Linda, AD7FP, brought various kinds of chips and other items. Bill, K6WWH, brought chips and cookies. And Dee, AD7NM, brought two salads, a pie, cookies, chips and dip, water, and soft drinks. [my apologies to anyone I left out—Ed.] No one went home hungry!

All in all, it was a rewarding and fun day: a time of accomplishment, as well as a time of just enjoying the company of like-minded folks...

There is still more to do, however. The repeater linking problem has still to be solved. The necessary test equipment was not available on site, so the .29 repeater had to be removed and brought down the hill to a better equipped testing location. Hopefully, the repeater will be reinstalled the 2nd week of September.