Today, on October 4, 2017, Jeff, K4OLW generously gave me a day of his time for a trip to the Heards Mountain site. The main purpose of the visit was to install the new 220 antenna on the second pole at the site, and to install the relocated 224.760 repeater and duplexers, etc., as well. This ended up consuming a bit longer than expected for several reasons, mainly the weight and bulk of the pole, but also some delays due to avoiding lots of yellow-jackets that had moved into the area over the summer.
Alls well that ends well. My Kenwood TH-F6 acted up again while we were there, so I couldn’t ask for signal reports while there, but the repeater definitely does work as evidenced by the noted performance on the service monitor.
I had checked and fine tuned the duplexer prior to the trip, so with the new Hustler G7-220 antenna at about the same height as the Hustler G6-2/70 in use for the 146.760, I think it should give good coverage to most of Charlottesville and certainly areas south of Charlottesville towards Lynchburg.
I had discussed this move with SERA officials prior to the move, and I’ll now update it’s location on the SERA database.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
73,
Bill, N0WP
