Repeater Page
The AARO VHF Repeater
The club repeater was originally built using a Motorola Micor
modified
for duplex operation. We are currently using a Kenwood repeater
purchased in 2001. WaCom
duplexers,
a Decibel Products DB-224 antenna, 1/2" Andrews heliax, and
a
LINK RLC-CLUB controller.
Our VHF repeater is a co-coordinated repeater on 145.490 Mhz.
with
a minus 600 Khz split. We use a 88.5 Hz PL Tone Encode and Decode
to
eliminate QRN & QRM from and to other areas.
The machine itself is located in Galva, Illinois, on top
of The Gateway Co-Op Grain Elevator, which is around 150 feet tall. The base is
840 feet above sea level.
The exact location is 41:09:52N Latitude and 90:03:03
Longitude.
We are running 30 Watts input, but cover a 60 mile
circle.
The machine is open to all hams wishing to use it,
but, please respect it and use it as a true Ham Operator
would.
In time when a severe weather watch is in effect in the area,
our
repeater serves as a link to the National Weather Service at
the
Mount Joy Airport, the home of the Quad Cities
Weather Bureau. Please do not interfere with these weather
nets, but you
are welcome to join in if you should see a threatening
situation.
The repeater and club call was originally KB9OYH but in
Memorandum
we requested W9YPS from a Silent Key , Frank Oberlander,
a Ham from
Kewanee, Illinois. Frank passed away during 1990 but we were
forced to
wait for the vanity call program to start before we could
request
his former call letters. His wife of many years, Mary, W9NCZ,
still
resides in Kewanee. Frank was an Elmer for many a Ham in the
area
right up until he became a silent key.
If you should use our repeater,
when you hear his call, pause just a second and pay respect to
Frank
for leaving such a legacy, and hope someone else, will some
day
"pick up the ball" and
be an Elmer to an aspiring new Ham. We acquired the club call
AA9RO in August of 2000 and began using that call for the new repeater when it
was put into service in 2001
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