HAM Repeaters and Frequencies in the Area

[FIGHT ON]

The Twin Peaks 220 repeater has been added to the list at the top of the topic.

These Twin Peaks? I didn't see a tower there. If there is one there seems like a good spot if you need to have visual contact with a tower. btw do you need to have visual contact with a tower to transmit?, or work properly?

[FIGHT ON]

is there a map pinpointing all the repeaters in the ANF? and surrounding areas? I've seen the list that Robert W posted and I guess I could search for the peaks that he has listed but there is one in pasadena listed. anyone seen a map of them? thanks.

[kn3ick]

There is a new repeater on the air in Adelanto on 2 meter! 146.025+ PL: 91.5 KI6IES/R. This repeater is a open repeater and is linked to the KR1IS repeater in Adelanto on 445.680 - PL: 100.0 via Echolink.

[BikingBrian]

Is anyone able to hit the Table Mountain 2 meter repeater from Orange County? No luck here with a chimney mounted J-Pole antenna. Playing around with mapping programs, I see that the only line of sight obstruction between Table Mountain and my place in the hills of Orange is the ridge by the Blue Ridge dirt road.

[Toolman]

Brian, you may want to try a modest yagi pointed towards the Cajon pass.  I'm in a worse vantage point than you are in OC and can hit it without running the amplifier. I don't point it directly at Table mtn. I bounce it through the pass. I'm not a big fan of Cushcraft antennas but they make a dual band yagi that works pretty good and is not as narrow beam width as a 20' M2 yagi such as on my VHF UHF tower. The Cushcraft doesn't have great back to front ratio or gain but it's a pretty decent yagi for the dough. It's model # A27010S

Or, I have another idea, get the ARRL antenna handbook and work out the formulas for building your own yagi. I made all my 440 yagi's and one 2mtr. from using the formulas in the book.

 Then you'll need a rotor, rotor cable, coax and new mast mount. Best to do this installation during the day while the wife and neighbors are at work. Now that I've planted that seed, just add water.

BTW, I think one of the questions on the new technician class pertains to bouncing signals. 

[BikingBrian]

Well, I need to go on the roof for sure anyway. Keller is now inexplicably coming in with more static, and I haven't done anything new with the J pole mounted on the chimney.

BTW, I think I got the exam question about bouncing signals wrong. 

[Tibia]

Brian,
Here's a pic of the Yagi Toolman mentioned.    (I appologize for the orientation.)     Actually 2 of them.   One pointed to Baker, CA   and one to Pahrump, NV with a GP-6 on top.    All are mounted on a Penninger Tilt-up 32' mast.   This was our (CPD CSV) Shoshone CP for the 2012 Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay.

    Double click on thumbnail for larger picture.

Bob

[BikingBrian]

Here's a photo of what I've got now: a homebrew J Pole and a TV antenna (which is actually a miniature Yagi) underneath. So far the setup works well.



I'd like to be able to squeeze a Yagi (I don't care if I can't rotate it) in between the J Pole and the TV antenna, but I'm concerned the spacing would be too tight. Or on second thought, I could put it on the mast *below* the top of the chimney. Unconventional, I guess, but it would need to point down and left in the photo, approximately in the same direction as the edge of the roof. Height on the mast is not an issue as there are no obstructions in that direction.

Or do I instead spend the dough on a taller vertical antenna and hope that it's good enough to pick up any reflections off the Cajon Pass?

Or maybe just stick the Yagi out the upstairs window when I need to use it. 

[Toolman]

Well, I need to go on the roof for sure anyway. Keller is now inexplicably coming in with more static, and I haven't done anything new with the J pole mounted on the chimney.

BTW, I think I got the exam question about bouncing signals wrong. 

Brian, you may have gotten propagation questions wrong too 

Weather and atmospheric pressures can effect 2mtrs. drastically. When the humidity is high Table comes booming into the So. Bay. When it's warm and dry I can barely hear it for Sunday night net. I don't bother rotating the antenna, 'cause it's not going to help and neither will the 200 watt amplifier with the built in pre-amplifier

Tropospheric ducting can get 2mtr. SSB signals into Hawaii I've done it before and into Las Vegas and Phoenix as well.

Looking at your chimney mount, it would be a squeeze to get the yagi in there. But fortunately they are small and end of boom mounted. You could go another 5' on the mast and it would work in a fixed position. J-Poles don't have much gain but they are efficient. A Diamond base antenna possibly would do the trick but it's still omni directional. Go with the Yagi if your serious about hitting Keller or Table. The beam width of that Cushcraft may just do the trick for both repeaters.


good luck

[Wrightwood]

Brian,
Here's a pic of the Yagi Toolman mentioned.    (I appologize for the orientation.)     Actually 2 of them.   One pointed to Baker, CA   and one to Pahrump, NV with a GP-6 on top.    All are mounted on a Penninger Tilt-up 32' mast.   This was our (CPD CSV) Shoshone CP for the 2012 Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay.

    Double click on thumbnail for larger picture.

Bob

[Toolman]

I forgot to mention Brian, I have that same yagi mounted below my big M2 yagi and the 220 beam in the middle. The 6mtr beam is on top. I'll switch between the two for Sunday nets. Reason is, sometimes the narrow beam width of the M2 get's stronger signal path and better with a stronger receive and send signal. Sometimes the smaller Yagi works better than the bigger M2 so it's a crap shoot on propagation on that given day but I've got the rotational degrees set in memory on the rotator because I'll move it around looking for 6mtr contacts when the band is open. Same thing with my HF tower. I know exactly were to point for frequent Qso's. across the continents.

[BikingBrian]

Looking at your chimney mount, it would be a squeeze to get the yagi in there. But fortunately they are small and end of boom mounted. You could go another 5' on the mast and it would work in a fixed position. J-Poles don't have much gain but they are efficient. A Diamond base antenna possibly would do the trick but it's still omni directional. Go with the Yagi if your serious about hitting Keller or Table. The beam width of that Cushcraft may just do the trick for both repeaters.

I have a 10 foot mast in the photo. There's about 3.5 feet of that mast above the top chimney bracket, and 5 feet of the J-Pole above that.  I'm concerned about adding more mast, as I live in an above average (for LA/OC) Santa Ana wind area. The number I've seen thrown around for maximum height (without guying, I'm not going there if I want to stay married!) is 10 feet above the top chimney bracket.  Perhaps that's based on a worst case scenario of 10 feet of mast above that top bracket with a big, wind grabbing TV antenna on top.

Right now I'm thinking of seeing how the monoband Diamond CP22E <http://www.diamondantenna.net/cp22e.html> works out. It's about 9 feet long, though I haven't decided if I'm going to add 5 feet of mast or not. I don't mind taking a chance on it, since it wasn't too much $$, and if it doesn't work out, I can always bring it up to WW. 

[BikingBrian]

I ended up just getting a higher gain Diamond dual band antenna. Toolman is right, I would have needed a Yagi to hit Table from my location in OC. But I decided I didn't want to go through the trouble, at least at this point in time. Though now with the Diamond, at least Keller comes in with a lot less static.

Photos and more info here: http://www.kj6vzv.com/2012/05/18/raising-up-the-antennas/

In Wrightwood, I just have a J Pole on the roof of my garage which I hook up to my HT. It does fine for Table, Keller, and Wrightwood's 2 meter repeaters. Though I haven't tried simplex on 145.520 yet. I'll hear static at the frequency on my HT, then run out to the garage to hook it up to my antenna, and then everyone stops talking. 

[RennMan]

For those wanting to test their radios on the KW6WW Emergency Repeater #2, currently online.

The frequencies are:
Receive: 144.930 MHz
Transmit: 147.585 Mhz
PL tone of 91.5

These are TASMA-specified frequencies, and note that they are not the standard 600 KHz offset.  This is known as a Split-Frequency pair.
(TASMA is the frequency-coordinating agency in Southern California http://www.tasma.org/ )

KW6WW has two emergency repeaters, both have the same frequency pair, Emergency Repeater #1  PL tone is 100.

The International Space Station (ISS) also uses a Split-Frequency pair, when astronaut amateur operators are making ground contacts with us regular folk!

It would be a good idea to set up your radio early for use of both these repeaters when necessary.  I helped activate the Emergency Repeater #2 earlier this morning, and verified I can connect to it with all of our mobile and handheld units.

73
N4MAN

[Wrightwood]

Two local simplex frequencies are being changed effective Feb 2, 2014 to comply with the TASMA bandplan

WW2 Simplex (old) 145.520  (new) 145.525
WW3 Simplex (old) 145.550  (new) 145.555

[Wrightwood]

Current Local Frequencies and Net listing

WW1         146.050     Simplex
WW2         145.525     Simplex (KW6WW primary simplex) (Net Sunday approx 6:40pm)
WW3         145.555     Simplex
WW2MR     147.240 +  (Enc/Dec) 91.5  (KW6WW 2m repeater)
WWTC1     147.525     Simplex (TAC)
TableMtn    145.280 -  (Enc/Dec) 131.8 (WR6AZN 2m repeater) (Net Sunday 6pm)

WW220     222.140     Simplex
WW220R   224.400 -  (Enc/Dec) 91.5   (KW6WW 220 repeater)
TableMtn    223.960 -  (Enc/Dec) 156.7 (WR6AZN 220 repeater)

WW440R  445.240 -  (Enc/Dec) 127.3 (KW6WW 440 repeater)
TableMtn   447.200 -  (Enc/Dec) 94.8   (WR6AZN 440 repeater)

WW2ME1  Rx 144.930   100.0     Tx 147.585    (KW6WW Emergency Repeater 1)
WW2ME2  Rx 144.930    91.5      Tx 147.585    (KW6WW Emergency Repeater 2)
(Emergency Repeaters do not operate at all times)

HF 80 meter       3.9875        (Net Sunday at 5:30pm)
HF 40 meter       7.235

CERT FRS Frequencies        (Nets Sunday at 5:30pm)
Division A             Ch 8            467.5625
Division B             Ch 9            467.5875
Division C             Ch 10          467.6125
Division D             Ch 11          467.6375
Division E             Ch 12          467.6625
Division F             Ch 13          467.6875
Division TAC         Ch 14          467.7125

[Dcbuilder]

 Due to recent events I am interested in getting my ham license.  I learn better by hands-on use than reading a manual or study guide. I was looking to see if there are any group trainings or if anybody would be interested in training me as an individual. I would be more than happy to compensate someone for their time. I currently have two Kenwood handhelds, a Kenwood and Icom radios in vehicles. Also looking to purchase a base station for home. Please let me know if anyone is interested. Thanks

[Wrightwood]

There's no current classes scheduled in Wrightwood.

Here's a link for 2016 Tech and Gen classes being taught at the Fire Station on the Fairgrounds in Victorville.

For studying online, an excellent source is the QRZ.com website.
You'll want to study the Technician Exam Practice Test at this webpage:
http://www.qrz.com/hamtest/

[Tall Trees]

I recently renewed my Ham License and KI6PRC is good for another ten years.  Thanks Jim Young for your assistance!

[ForestGal]

Do we get a renewal notice, or are we supposed to just remember and figure it out?  Mine will be coming up this summer.