History of the 147.030 Repeater

By: John Hilliard, W8OF
Revised 11/2007

The 147.030/63 repeater was first placed "on-the-air" in 1976. Prior to that, local repeaters were in experimental operation from 1973 to 1977. The first repeater was a combination of used tube type General Electric equipment that was 25 years old before being converted to the Amateur Radio 2-meter band. In 1982, both the transmitter and receiver were upgraded to newer solid state GE and Motorola equipment. A new controller was purchased from Advanced Computer Controls in 1984. In 1987, the repeater was moved from a local amateur's house to the present site on a 160' radio tower at the city water reservoir. In 2006 and again in 2007 the transmitter and power amplifiers were upgraded and a new TPL amplifier was purchased. Ground elevation is about 1175' above sea level. This is the second or third highest point in Fairfield County and offers great coverage to the surrounding counties and communities. In 1997, the controller was replaced with a model CAT-1000 purchased from Computer Automation Technology, Inc. This repeater offers the best coverage for Fairfield County. An auto-patch is available for club members.

Statistics
RF power output	75 watts continuous duty (Motorola Micor + TPL amp)
Receiver	Motorola Micor w/pre-amp (1985)
Controller	CAT-1000B (1997)
Duplexers	Wacom 4 cavity 90db pass/reject type (1993)
Receiver & Transmitter Antenna	Motorola Station Basemaster, 7db ground plane, 160' on tower (2004)
Repeater coverage	Approximately 50 miles
Average "in use" time per day	2 Hours
Site equipped with emergency automatic generator power?	Yes