Were is the repeater located and what is the coverage area?
The purpose of the Wrightwood Communications Group aquiring their own repeaters here in Wrightwood is so that Wrightwood won't be as dependant on more high profile repeaters like Table, Keller and Frost, whose "footprint" or area of coverage is tremendous and covers a large amount of the population. It is hoped that the KW6WW repeaters will be able to provide communication for Wrightwood and adjacent areas in the advent of a major emergency, as there is no doubt that in a large emergency the more high profile repeaters, if working, will be completely jammed with traffic.
With that in mind and as part of design, the repeater is not sitting on top of Table or Frost. It currently and temporarily is positioned near the bottom of Heath Canyon. There are plans, that upon approval, it can be moved in the future to a little higher location and a little more East.
Because of its location and the propagation features of 440MHz in the mountains the "footprint" is not tremendously large. In testing we have good coverage up and down the Swarthout Valley to Big Pines, portions of the High Desert, into Apple Valley, Victorville, Hesperia and down to the bottom of Lone Pine Canyon. Interestingly in testing on Saturday it was usuable at Inspiration Point.
A 2 meter repeater is also in the works with an application in process and with KW6WW waiting for a frequency pair to be assigned.
As recognized by many agencies, Wrightwood continues to be the leader in community proactiveness in preparing for disaster.