W9LY Repeaters - Michigan City, Indiana

               

                                                 146.970 MHz                                                        441.950 MHz

                                                 Repeater:  Vertex VXR-7000                               Repeater:  Kenwood TKR 850

                                                 Power Output:  50-Watts                                     Power output:  40 Watts

                                                 Duplexer:  Wacom Pass/Notch 4-can                  Duplexer:  Telewave Pass/Notch 4-can

                                                 Ant:  Hustler Omni  6 db                                      Antenna:  Hustler Omni 6 db

                                                 Pre-amp:  A.R.R. (15 db gain – 1.5 NF)                         

                                                 Sensitivity:  .20 microvolts  (12 db quieting)               

 

See a short tour of the repeater by clicking:

Here

 

 

Both the UHF and VHF transmit antennas are mounted at 170 feet above ground level and 1100 feet above sea level.  VHF receive antenna is at 220 feet AGL.  Repeater is located on a former AT&T microwave structure, southeast of Michigan City and northwest of LaPorte, Indiana.

In 2006, the National Weather Service added a one-kilowatt transmitter at the top of the structure, which provides weather information to the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan.  Their antenna is the four-dipole stack on the front, shorter tower section in the photo below.  At first we had trouble with the wx transmitter overloading our 2 meter receiver, but in September 2007, we separated out the receive antenna which is now above the wx antenna, instead of being at the same elevation.  It’s at the very top of the tallest tower in the picture.  This reduced the overload problem almost totally and allowed us to add a preamplifier.  As a result, sensitivity returned to nearly what it was before the wx transmitter was installed. 

 

The tower to the right supports a modified Cushcraft 4218xl two meter beam, 432 K1FO 22-element beam, and six meter three element beam.   Oh, and a ‘star’ !?

 

The top of the repeater site high above Northwest Indiana

 

 

 


W9LY Repeaters are operated by the Michigan City Amateur Radio Club

and are open to all amateur radio operators.

Check into our club information net, Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. Central Time on the  146.970 repeater.

 

MCARC
PO Box 148

     Michigan City, Indiana 46361