Ocean Park
Pacific County, WA
46.516555, -124.044333
80 Feet
Call: NM7R
145.170 -600kHz 118.8Hz
Ocean Park VHF Repeater
This repeater is located on
high ground adjacent to
NM7R's
home, and is used
occasionally
as a remote
base station to
assist in more
conveniently
monitoring and
controlling
other network
repeaters as
part of oversight
and maintenance of
the
BeachNet system.
For exam-
ple, It may be linked
to the
Nicolai station, either
on the
repeater itself or on its
con-
trol frequency to monitor
the
solar battery voltage and
op-
erate the
back-up generator,
or it could
be linked to
the
IRLP repeater
for more
convenient
access
while
monitoring or operating
portable on a hand-held
around home. Usually, this
repeater is available for
normal use, tied to the rest
of the BeachNet system.
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Location: Two miles northeast of Ocean Park, between
Nahcotta and Oysterville, on the ridge east of Sandridge Road, overlooking
Willapa Bay on the
northern part of the Long Beach Peninsula. This site is called "Rental
Ridge" as it is, even at 50-feet above sea level, one of the higher
locations on the north peninsula.
The repeater itself
is in a corner of the garage of the rental house owned by one of
BeachNet’s
owners (NM7R).
Yes, I even inflict my radio hobby on those that rent from us.
The antenna is 40-feet above the ground,
making the antenna height about 90-feet above sea level. Please do not bother the residents at this location.
They are not Radio Amateurs, know nothing about the equipment or hobby,
and my occasional visits to tend the
machinery are imposition enough.
Coverage: Although there are several
area repeaters that work well mobile, hand-held coverage
has always been elusive in Ocean Park and the surrounding residential area,
especially to the north.
This repeater is easily usable from Ocean Park, including the Fire Hall. With the
Fire Hall being a major shelter and nerve center during
an emergency, the repeater is potentially quite useful. Expect to use
this repeater within 3-4 miles hand held, and 7-10 miles mobile.
Normally linked to the rest of
BeachNet,
this repeater can be linked to the 444.925 IRLP repeater
on Megler Mountain, by a Control
Operator. This provides a 2-meter, north Peninsula
port to the world-wide connectivity and just plain fun of IRLP
for those in the North Peninsula area who may not have a UHF rig.
It also provides a
potential connection to the
Ilwaco 146.860 repeater,
located at the south end of the Long Beach Peninsula, and
owned and operated by the Pacific County ARC, which can also
be linked to the same UHF repeater. During a disaster
situation, the Ocean Park 145.170, Ilwaco 146.860 and Megler 444.925
repeaters could be linked
in this way to provide a Peninsula-wide mini-net for
Fire and Emergency Medical support.
Hardware: The repeater consists of a
GE Mastr-II 110-watt
continuous duty
base station (running 50-watts)
with an Arcom RC-210 controller in a 30-inch GE cabinet with a
Mastr-II power supply. The duplexer is a 4-can, 8-inch Wacom BpBr feeding a
Hustler G6-270 dual band antenna through 60 feet of LDF4-50
half-inch hardline. The remote base uses a GE Rangr 16-channel
UHF transceiver running 30-watts, which shares the dual-band antenna through
a diplexer.
History: 02/28/09, The Ocean Park, 145.170 Repeater was installed
at the Ocean Park Fire Hall. K7KID, K7WAT, KC7BFU and NM7R participated.
03/01/09 repeater on air from Fire Hall, NM7R, K7KID, K7WAT.
11/19/09 replaced 10-amp line fuse, K7KID, K7WAT.
01/24/10 replaced 10-amp line fuse, K7KID, K7WAT.
09/18/10 intermittent problem, moved to shop, K7KID, K7WAT.
09/23/10 reinstalled repeater at Fire Hall, K7KID, K7WAT.
06/24/11 replaced power supply, K7WAT.
07/17/14 removed repeater from Fire Hall and reinstalled at
Rental Ridge (new location north of town), NM7R.
07/30/17 replaced original Link RLC1 controller with Arcom RC-210, retro-fitted
control shelf with slide-in Regulator and Audio cards, changed Rangr link radio,
and suite of remote base UHF channels. NM7R.
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