Conifer Mountain Site

The CRA's Conifer Mountain site was our first site and continues to be the focus of club activity. The site is located 35 miles west-southwest of Denver at an elevation of 10,000 feet. All repeaters located here have wide-area coverage from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to the north, Pueblo to the south, beyond Limon to the east and South Park to the southwest. There is a shadow in Denver along the foothills west of Wadsworth Boulevard.

53.050 -- the 53.050 MHz (input -1.000 MHz) W0CRA/R six-meter repeater is one of the few six-meter repeaters operating in Colorado. The repeater is a split-site repeater with its receiver located on Conifer Mountain and transmitter located on Squaw Mountain.

The repeater normally requires a CTCSS tone of 107.2 Hz for access. For users without a CTCSS encoder, enter 1* to enable the repeater for carrier access; enter 0* to return the repeater to CTCSS operation. The repeater transmits a CTCSS tone of 107.2 Hz. You can program your radio to only receive signals with the tone to prevent reception of noise and intermod.

The repeater receiver site is comprised of a General Electric Master II receiver and link transmitter, an S-COM 5K controller and a quarter-wave ground plane mounted at the top of a 100-foot tower.

144.990 -- the 144.990 MHz (simplex) W0CRA-6 AX.25 digipeater provides wide-area coverage. To digipeat, use the digipeater name of CRA.

The digipeater is comprised of a General Electric Master II transceiver, an MFJ-1270B TNC-2, and a 6-db antenna mounted 70-feet up a tower with an omnidirectional pattern.

147.225 -- the 147.225 MHz (input +.600 MHz) W0CRA/R two-meter repeater is the primary repeater of the 147.225 System. One of the club's Denver Metro autopatches may be accessed here. This repeater is linked full time to the 224.980 Conifer Mountain and 145.160 Cheyenne Mountain repeaters. The 145.460 Boulder repeater can be linked by any user from that repeater.

The repeater requires a CTCSS tone of 107.2 Hz for access. The repeater transmits a CTCSS tone of 107.2 Hz. You can program your radio to only receive signals with the tone to prevent reception of noise and intermod.

This repeater is comprised of a General Electric Master II repeater, an S-COM 7K repeater controller, a Decibel Products duplexer, assorted homebrew supporting equipment and a 6-db antenna mounted at the top of a 100-foot tower with an omnidirectional pattern.

224.980 -- the 224.980 MHz (input -1.600 MHz) W0CRA/R 1-1/4-meter repeater is linked full time to the 147.225 System. One of the club's Denver Metro autopatches may be accessed here. Having a 222 repeater linked to a two-meter repeater allows a family member with a Novice-class license to join in the fun on the busy 147.225 System.

The repeater transmits a CTCSS tone of 107.2 Hz. You can program your radio to only receive signals with the tone to prevent reception of noise and intermod.

This repeater is comprised of a Kendecom 222 MHz repeater and controller, a Wacom duplexer and a 9-db antenna mounted 70-feet up a tower with a directional pattern aimed at Denver.

447.150 -- the 447.150 MHz (input -5.000 MHz) W0CRA/R 70-centimeter (UHF) repeater is one of the busiest UHF repeaters in the Denver area with 15 to 20 hours of use every week.

This repeater is comprised of an General Electric Master II repeater with an S-COM 7K controller, and shares a Wacom transmit combiner, Decibel Products duplexer, Lunar preamp, receiver multicoupler and a 9-db antenna at the top of a 100-foot tower with a directional pattern aimed at Denver.

447.200 -- the 447.200 MHz (input -5.000 MHz) W0CRA/R 70-centimeter (UHF) 9600 Baud Digital Repeater provides 9600 baud digital services (TCP/IP and AX.25) to Northeast Colorado and acts as the hub of the Northeast Colorado TCP/IP Backbone (44.20.4/24).

This repeater is comprised of a Motorola Micor repeater, TAPR 9600 baud modem, MFJ-1270B TNC-2 operating as an IDer, and shares the antenna system with our 447.150 repeater.

1287.900 -- the 1287.900 MHz (input -12.000 MHz) W0CRA/R 23-centimeter (1.2 gig) repeater has users from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs. The propagation on this band is quite interesting -- even a 100-milliwatt handheld works from many areas.

This repeater is comprised of a Motorola Motrac repeater, homebrew varactor tripler and converter, an S-COM MRC-100 repeater controller, a Wacom duplexer and a 10-db antenna mounted 70-feet up a tower with an omnidirectional pattern.

History of the 222 repeater -- The decision to link the 224.980 repeater full time to the 147.225 repeater was prompted for many reasons. First and foremost, the CRA has a "rag-chew" philosophy. Activity on the 222 band in the Denver area was virtually non-existent. Yes, there are other 222 repeaters, but a study showed very little activity on them. Therefore, in keeping with the "busy-is-better" idea, we continuously linked a very busy two-meter repeater to the 222 repeater and, instantly, there is a 222 repeater where someone can go and find activity. This still leaves the other 222 repeaters quiet so a person who likes a quiet repeater can have a choice. An added benefit of the two-meter/222 continuous link is the ability of a Novice class licensed amateur to have a gateway to our two-meter repeater. A family with two-meter equipment having a new Novice class amateur can purchase only one piece of radio gear (a 222 rig) to have the ability to speak with its new amateur. The FCC, due to amateur radio operators requests, passed the Novice enhancement rulings. This is a clear indication to us more amateurs wanted Novices to have voice privileges. The CRA responded with a 222 repeater that is the busiest in the West.

Last Modified: 22 February 2002, Dave Maciorowski, WA1JHK

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