PL 114.8 (2A)
Wisconsin’s Only 10M Repeater
last update 11/04/2009
The 29.640 repeater system is a split site repeater system. This means that the transmit of the repeater is at a different site than the receiver and the two units are linked together via phone lines or RF. In this case, the 29.540 receiver at Rib Mountain is connected to a UHF link transmitter that transmits the signal to a UHF receiver at Mosinee Hill that controls the 29.640 transmitter. The split for this system is 100khz, so the receive (your mobile transmit) is 29.540 and the transmit (your mobile receive) is 29.640. The main reason that this repeater runs as a split system is that the duplexer needed for 10M with 100khz separation would be too large to fit in most tower buildings and is also very expensive.
The 29.540 receiver and UHF link transmitter are located at Rib Mountain which is just southwest of Wausau. The 29.540 10M receiver is hooked to a Cushcraft BR-2 antenna. This antenna is a heavy duty antenna and is similar in design to the Ringo Ranger. The antenna is located at 90ft on the tower and is hooked to the receiver with 1/2″ hardline that is approximately 120 ft long. The receive radio is a Motorola Radius M216 and is connected to a Pyramid UHF radio that is acting as the link to Rib Mountain. This link radio, a UHF Motorola Radius M10, transmits 10 watts on a Comet GP15 antenna at 70 ft on the tower. This antenna is connected to Comet triplexer with about 100ft of Belden 9914 coax.
The 29.640 transmitter and UHF link receiver are located at Mosinee Hill. The UHF radio is another Motorola Radius M10 radio that receives the signal from Rib Mountain. This antenna is an omni antenna (Comet GP9N) mounted at 50 ft on the north leg of the tower. The antenna is connected to the UHF radio with approximately 80 ft on 1/2″ hardline. The UHF Motorola radio is connected to the Motorola Radius M216 through a interface circuit that generates the hang-time, strips the PL during the hang-time, and generates the ID. The 29.640 transmit radio is connected to a Cushcraft BR-2 antenna mounted at 50 ft on the north leg of the tower and is connected by approximately 80 ft of 1/2″ hardline. The radio transmits about 60 watts.
11/23/08 – Had Pete AB9PJ and Eric KG9GH from the Marinette-Menominee HAT team over to help with tower work at Mosinee Hill. Also had help from Jack N9LIA, Dave N9KNY, Dave KB9PON, Mark N9MEA, Mike KB9DED, and Michael KB9VBR. Thanks to everyone that helped.
11/26/08 – Got the final antenna line work done today. I still need to do a couple of items before I can bring up any radio equipment
12/1/08 – Installed a cabinet and power supply. Installed polyphasers on the coax and grounded everything.
2/12/09 – Mounted a shelf and the UHF link radio and ran the rest of the RF cables to the UHF radio and to where the 10M radio will be. Hooked up power for the UHF and 10M radios.
5/15/09 – Installed 10M transmitter at Mosinee Hill and programmed UHF link to coordinated frequency. Turned site on. I forgot to bring a jumper to go from the 10M radio to the PL259 connector. Will need to bring that up at a later date. Installed extension cord for cooling fan.
5/19/09 – Installed jumper from 10M transmitter to coax. This site is on the air.
10/27/09 – Set up the receive side of the repeater at a testing site. Marathon County doesn’t want us to install our equipment and antenna until they get all their new equipment installed. Did some testing and heard something key up the transmitter, but nothing came in on the receiver. Something must be getting into the link receiver at Mosinee Hill.
10/28/09 – Heard the interference again and noticed that it was only when there was activity on the 147.135 repeater. Might be one of the link transmitters from the .135 satellite receive sites getting into the link receiver at Mosinee Hill. Turned off the link transmitter at the 10M receive site.
11/3/09 – Haven’t heard the interference over the last week or so. Turned the link transmitter back on.