BEECN SW Portland Repeater: Difference between revisions
From Portland NET Wiki
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[[File:2014.10.03.BR full kit.Blitzer(8).jpg|thumb|400x400px|''The repeater and power supply in the back of the PBEM truck. Mast, antenna, and solar panel not pictured.'']] | |||
BEECN UHF radios operate on line-of-sight. That can make comms in SW Portland's hilly neighborhoods challenging. To work around this issue, PBEM has fielded a UHF repeater in SW Portland for BEECN. The repeater is stored near [https://maps.app.goo.gl/2xLFWBdx9KiBUsKM9 Markham Elementary School], with the intention that it would be deployed in the field behind Markham ES if a crew of volunteers can access it and stand it up. The purpose of this article is to describe equipment specifications; and the deployment, set up, and demobilization of the BEECN repeater. | BEECN UHF radios operate on line-of-sight. That can make comms in SW Portland's hilly neighborhoods challenging. To work around this issue, PBEM has fielded a UHF repeater in SW Portland for BEECN. The repeater is stored near [https://maps.app.goo.gl/2xLFWBdx9KiBUsKM9 Markham Elementary School], with the intention that it would be deployed in the field behind Markham ES if a crew of volunteers can access it and stand it up. The purpose of this article is to describe equipment specifications; and the deployment, set up, and demobilization of the BEECN repeater. | ||
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== Program/Policy Background == | == Program/Policy Background == | ||
[[File:2025.04.06.BR .Erdmann (4).jpg|thumb|''Jeremy tried to read squirrel-eaten repeater instructions. In the background is the mast kit bag, filled with chewed up pinecones, that evidently served as a squirrel nest.'']] | [[File:2025.04.06.BR .Erdmann (4).jpg|thumb|''Jeremy tried to read squirrel-eaten repeater instructions. In the background is the mast kit bag, filled with chewed up pinecones, that evidently served as a squirrel nest. Photo by Candice Erdmann, 2025.04.06.'']] | ||
PBEM Operations purchased the repeater kit in the Spring of 2014 and it arrived at PBEM in July that year. It was tested twice, and then stored at the Jerome Sears Center. Institutional knowledge on how to use the repeater was forgotten at PBEM. A family of squirrels also took up living in the mast bag and they ate one of the instruction manuals. The repeater was moved to volunteer care in 2024 after PBEM was booted from Sears. The repeater was successfully tested again in April 2025. | PBEM Operations purchased the repeater kit in the Spring of 2014 and it arrived at PBEM in July that year. It was tested twice, and then stored at the Jerome Sears Center. Institutional knowledge on how to use the repeater was forgotten at PBEM. A family of squirrels also took up living in the mast bag and they ate one of the instruction manuals. The repeater was moved to volunteer care in 2024 after PBEM was booted from Sears. The repeater was successfully tested again in April 2025. | ||
Note about the mast kit: the BlueSky mast was cannibalized out of PBEM's Go-Kit program because it is superior to the mast kit spec'd with the repeater kit. The original mast was a 32 ft. tubular antenna mast in four foot sections. However, the mounting tripod to that mast is missing. | Note about the mast kit: the BlueSky mast was cannibalized out of PBEM's Go-Kit program because it is superior to the mast kit spec'd with the repeater kit. The original mast was a 32 ft. tubular antenna mast in four foot sections. However, the mounting tripod to that mast is missing. | ||
