KD8BIW 224.580

The KD8BIW 224.580 repeater serves as the HUB of the network, and is located in Ashland, OH on the south side of town. The HAAT of this system is 522ft and the ground elevation is of the antenna is 1,536ft AMSL. The repeater is homebrewed, containing Hamtronics, Uniden, and Wacom as the main componets. The receiver and exciter are Hamtronic synthesized boards, and are less than 2 years old. The controller is an ICS Linker IIa with a Comm-Spec TS-64 providing CTCSS control. The power amplifier is a Uniden ARX-1250 with matching 28 volt power supply. The duplexers are Bp/Br type made by Wacom with 4 cavities on each side, 8 total. Feedline is LDF5-50A 7/8" Heliax totaling 340 feet. The antnna is a RFS 220-8N Super Stationmaster side mounted at 300ft. Power output from the amplifier is 120 watts, giving the system an ERP of approx. 320 watts.

The 224.580 repeater was originally owned and operated by Stan KE8X of West Salem, Ohio. It was purchased for $700 in 2008 as you see it. Original equipment consisted of a Spectrum Communication SCR1000 30 watt repeater, Micro Computer Concepts RC-100 controller, and Wacom WP-652 duplexers. The repeater was all purchased new in 1979. We received all original documentation, including the original screen shots from Wacom of the duplexer tuning results.

Phase II was a lengthy process, taking almost 2 years to complete in various stages. After purchasing the 224.580 repeater, we quickly realized that the performance of the original Spectrum Communications equipment was poor.  Contacting Spectrum had become a useless venture, as they closed soon after we purchased it, so factory service was out of the question.  Several attempts were made to fix and/or improve performance with no success.  It was decided that a rebuild was in order.  All the original equipment was removed with the exception of the newer RC-100 controller.  New Hamtronics boards were ordered and installed/wired to the controller. The original PA was moved installed into a custom enclosure and provided 25 watts.  Shortly after this, a Uniden power amplifier and matching power supply came available to us and it was purchased. At 28 volts it provided 120 watts with 2.5 watts of drive from the new exciter. The higher power combined with the extremly sensitive Hamtronics receiver resulted in quite a bit of desense.  Two addition duplexer cavities were obtained from Ken KC8BPE that were off a set of Wacom WP-652 duplexers he was not using at the time.  The additional 2 cavities eliminated the desense, and the repeater performed great.  A new Hustler G7-220 antenna was purchased and used as the repeater antenna, being mounted at 240 feet on the new repeater site in Widowville. Coverage was excellent, 30+ mils for portables, nearly 50 miles for mobiles and 70+ miles for fixed stations. Then came a Wireless Internet business to the site, and the noise floor raised so much, it decreased the range of the repeater by approx. 40%, sometimes more.  SO, a new home had to be found...

While a new site was being located, it was decided to completely rebuild the 224.580 repeater, as it had been pieced together over a few years and was not pleasing to my eyes.  A used 6 foot tall GE cabinet was donated by Kris KD8JBF to house the equipment.  New duplexers were purchased from Clay W8JVV, who was VERY patient with me and is excellent to deal with.  The new duplexers are model WP-747L3 made by Wacom for the 220-222 UPS system that never took off.  They are 8 cavity duplexers, with 3 Bp/Br type and one Bp on each side.  The RF equipment, including the new ICS Linker IIa controller were mounted into a scavanged slide tray from a GE MASTR II auxiliary receiver shelf. This part of the project took the longest, as the old equipment in the shelf had to be removed, it was sanded and painted, and the new equipment mounted with some custom fabrication and lots of wiring. The Uniden PA and power supply got new 12 volt LARGE cell site batteries, and the 12 volt side got a new switching power supply and battery.  A new bulkhead mounted polyphaser was also installed, and all new jumpers were made with RG214 double shielded coax with the appropriate ends on them, no more adapters!