Mountain Top Node Status :: WA7V.COM :: Columbia Basin Internet <-> Packet Radio Gateway

Mountain Top Node Status
Saturday, 21 June, 2008, 18:54 PST

The 2m and 70cm ports of the packet node stack at Spout Springs are a bit "under the weather."

Although both ALW:WA7V-7 and ALW96:WA7V-9 are technically operational, the RF performance of both nodes have been seriously degraded since about the middle of May. Since they share a common duplexer, feedline and antenna, the problem is expected to be found in one of those components. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to be associated with a severe weather event, of the sort that occurs routinely throughout the winter months.

Furthermore, an abundance of snow (including an additional surprise 14"+ snowfall on June 10) continues to prevent a leisurely drive to the radio site by automobile. Just before the most recent snowfall, it was reported that N7ERT encountered about 4' of snow at the gate which is roughly 2 miles from the site. Because of the lateness of the season, I've held off visiting the site until I can drive up there. Besides, I didn't really want to trudge up there through the snow, even if it was on skis or snowshoes, and then have a tower climb to look forward to. ;)

My current guess is that I'll be visiting the site in early July to determine the problem. The repair may not happen until a subsequent trip is made on another date, depending on what is needed to fix it.

73,

WA7V

Re: Mountain Top Node Status

(Score: 1)
by wa7v (Colonel.Panic@BlueScreenOfDeath.com) on 23 Mar, 11, 18:46
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The highly abbreviated report on what I discovered when I arrived: a very-broken dual-band collinear antenna. "It's dead, Jim."

The slightly longer version: I had horizontally mounted two sections of black ABS pipe on the tower to brace the upper levels of the flimsy, side-mounted vertical antenna. After a couple of years in the weather, the pipes had failed, and ended up destroying the antenna in the process. Why doesn't anyone build a dual band collinear antenna on amateur frequencies that is really suitable for mountaintop use?