News [FR]A word of wisdom
We, as amateur radio operators, must ensure and continually persist to secure RF spectrum for future growth and developments. This to ensure an ongoing and interesting future of our hobby for the younger generations who are computer savvy, and have both the internet and cellular networks to play with, as compared to the days of the xtal sets, short-wave radios, and vinyl (78/45/33rpm disks) that most of us grew up with.
Claude VE2YI - President
Well as you know, real Hams never do anything important site/antenna work in good weather. Claude (VE2YI) gave me a call and said, “in accordance with our discussions at the Annual meeting, we now have the OK to move the repeaters from Lac Echo to Montreal”. I said “Sure let me know when and we will do it” of course I emphasized that we should do this before the snow arrives”!
And what do you think happened, after quite a good snowfall, the day was chosen. It was a bright, sunny day, but cold with lots of snow. We had to leave the car parked at the top of the Lac Echo hill and walk down to the site. Dean VA3BS and Marsh VE3SX were kind enough to offer to drive all the way from Cornwall (Ontario) to Lac Echo which is approximately 120 KM, with his Toyota Tundra 4x4.
By the time they arrived, Claude and I had dismantled everything and had everything ready to be loaded into the pickup truck. There were two full racks. One consisting of the filters for both he UHF and VHF Repeaters, and the other rack held the Motorola MSR2000 and the MSF5000 repeaters along with their power supplies. This Rack was very heavy but we were lucky to be able to load it into the truck and have the protective cover slide over everything so everything was protected from the elements.
We then proceeded to drive down the mountain and take the Autoroute South towards Montréal. Where now, for over forty years plus the VE2RMP repeater has been located in the north country, it now resides where the majority of our members are living, “in Montréal”. So it truly stands to reason to have the repeaters situated in the Montréal area. We are fortunate to be able to have them where they are on the “Mount Royal”, so coverage is now simply put “Amazing” around the city.
Once arrived, we unloaded the truck and carried the racks, test equipment and patch cables to the elevator. Once there all went easy and the main physical work was completed! Claude (VE2YI) and I Cliff (VE2YU) slowly connected and routed the cables for the VHF repeater and powered “ON”. Everything lit up “Normal” and was immediately operational. Preliminary testing showed all was good but needed to be improved. Stan (VE2QXP) and Marsh (VE3SX) assisted with testing from “off-site” and helped us iron out issues, and helped us decide which was to be the best combination of antennas to use.
Everyone is now happy and pleased that we have moved the repeaters. We also,now no longer worry if there is a problem during the winter months-as we can now simply go inside the building, and use the elevator to get up to the equipment room and then can work on the repeater in a warm and comfotable enviroment. A big thank you to all involved in moving the Repeaters. It went very well. This is what happens when everyone works together.