6  Meters 2 - Meters    220  440 900 Mhz   DMR  D-STAR         REPEATER STATISTICS: REPEATER: Motorola MTR-2000 100 watts CONTROLLER: Computer Automation Technology CAT-260 DUPLEXER: Phelps-Dodge PD-497-1 Six-Cavity BpBr ANTENNA: Commander Technologies PD-220 "Super Stationmaster" Andrew LDF 7/8" Heliax GROUND HAMSL: 3100 ft ANTENNA HAAG: 260 ft NETS:  Middle East Tennessee Emergency Radio Service (METERS):  Monday Evenings 7:30 PM  Hospital Net:  Last Friday of Each Month DISTRICT 5 SKYWARN:  As needed during severe weather events or training

The 146.940 MHz and 444.300 MHz repeaters are dedicated to the memory of their founder: George W. Shaver, K4HXD, 1943-1995 OPERATIONAL STATUS:  ON THE AIR!! PLEASE NOTE: THE 146.940 REPEATER MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE  A 118.8 Hz DECODE TONE ACTIVE. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ACCESS THE REPEATER, PLEASE VERIFY THAT YOU ARE TRANSMITTING A 118.8 Hz  TONE. IF THE REPEATER HAS THE TONE DECODE ACTIVE, IT WILL BE RETURNED TO CARRIER SQUELCH AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  73 de Tim WB4GBI For more than 50 years, one of the most widely used 2-meter repeaters in the East Tennessee area is the 146.940 (-) repeater, located on  Bluff Mountain, also known as "Greentop," just outside Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  From Tim, WB4GBI: " For those of you who are recent additions to our great hobby, you might not know that the 146.94 repeater was the very first 2-meter repeater in East Tennessee. Its history is that of great and continuous service. I am VERY proud to be carrying on the tradition started by George, K4HXD, who was the creator and founder of this repeater. We lost George in 1995. He was of my mentors."    The 146.940 repeater is the  oldest "continuous service" 2-Meter Amateur Radio Repeater  currently on the air in East Tennessee, and celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2017!  In addition to our in-depth investigation into the history of this machine... we have uncovered a few tidbits of this history.  You can see the fruits of this effort on the newly created HISTORY PAGE of the 146.940 Repeater! Simply click HERE to check out the History Page!             The 146.940 Repeater, located on Bluff Mountain (Green Top) in Sevier County      This wide coverage repeater is located on the same tower as the commercial FM station WIVK, 107.7 FM.  This radio station, licensed to Knoxville TN,  has a very wide coverage area, which encompasses the majority of Eastern Tennessee, from Bristol to Chattanooga.  So, if you can hear this frequency on your regular FM Broadcast radio, you can most likely also hear this repeater!      As everyone knows, it isn't just how far a repeater can transmit a signal that makes it a good repeater... it's also how well it can copy a low power station, to repeat it's signal that makes it a great machine!      In the photo to the right, you will see that the '.940 machine's antenna shares the tower structure with many other primary service antennas, including public safety systems, commercial repeater systems, and of course, the 7-bay  FM antenna of the radio station take up the very top of the tower. The .94 repeater antenna is in the topmost tapered red section of the tower Many thanks to WIVK for their use of this facility!        In addition to the coverage benefits of being co-located with it's "Tower-neighbors"... this repeater site also has many other benefits as well.  Since WIVK is the primary EAS Station in east Tennessee... there is ample emergency power for use during power failures, for whatever reason.  This makes the 146.940 machine a very important part of the emergency communications infrastructure, regarding amateur radio.       This repeater is the primary relay for SKYWARN in east Tennessee, where weather spotters can contact the National Weather Service, directly, during inclement weather, to officially log in unusual weather observations.  It is also used as the primary repeater for METERS, an EMCOMM group serving the Middle East Tennessee area. It is also used by other groups for emergency communications, due to it's wide coverage area, and it's reliability!         EQUIPMENT LIST FOR THE 146.940 REPEATER:  Motorola MTR-2000 100 watt VHF commercial-grade repeater (Thanks to Todd, KA4OAK, for making this equipment possible!)  CAT-260 repeater controller   Phelps Dodge (now Celwave) six cavity duplexer  UHF Motorola CDM 300  UHF control receiver  7/8 foam heliax from duplexer to antenna Commander Technologies (formerly Phelps Dodge/Celwave) "Stationmaster" antenna  (@ approx. 265 feet up the 330 ft tower) - Newly installed in 2012 This repeater combination was placed in service in February 2014.  It replaced a Motorola "Micor" repeater  which George, K4HXD, had constructed in the 1980's.  The Micor repeater is being refurbished, and may return to the air again soon! The 146.94 repeater celebrated its 50th Anniversary of service in 2017! The Front cover of the November 2017 SERA Repeater Journal features the 146.94 tower site. The 50th anniversary article is the "Guest Column" inside. You can read the entire article here.

The photo on the left is the actual 146.940 repeater (from top to bottom): This is a full-length photo of the 146.940 repeater. From top to bottom: The Computer Automated Technologies CAT-260 repeater controller. Just below the controller is the Motorola MTR-2000 100 watt VHF repeater.  At the bottom of the cabinet is the Motorola CDM-300 control receiver and its associated power supply.

The photo to the right shows the repeater and duplexer to the left of Tim, WB4GBI.  The celwave six-cavity duplexer is to the right of the repeater cabinet. The WB4GBI 444.300 repeater is shown in the far left of the photo.

The 146.940 MHz and 444.300 MHz repeaters are dedicated to the memory of their founder: George W. Shaver, K4HXD, 1943-1995 OPERATIONAL STATUS:  ON THE AIR! New repeater receiver installed 4-25-2018. New S-Com 7330 controller installed 10-25-2020. Allstar node active 11-15-2020. Echolink and IRLP nodes active 1-3-2021 PLEASE NOTE: CTCSS decode tone of 118.8 Hz is now active.  Please program your transcievers to ENCODE  a 118.8 Hz tone. THE WB4GBI/R 444.300 NOW HAS THE FOLLOWING INTERNET BASED SERVICES ACTIVE! ALLSTAR 49616 ECHOLINK 581224 IRLP 4865 A HUGE "THANK YOU"  to Stephen Brown, K1LNX, for his expertise and labor in setting up the S-Com 7330 controller, and the Pi-based node controllers for Echolink, IRLP, and AllStar!  6  Meters 2 - Meters     220  900 Mhz   DMR  D-STAR               REPEATER STATISTICS:  Motorola "Spectra-Tac" UHF receiver  SCOM 7330 Controller  Rasberry Pi-based Allstar node   PiRLP IRLP/Echolink controller GE MASTR II UHF exciter  100 mw Crescend Technologies  100 watt UHF amplifier  Decibel Products DB-413 antenna            The 444.300 machine is a combination of Motorola Micor and General Electric (GE) MASTR II equipment, and a  Vocom products commercial grade 100 watt continuous duty power amplifier  (PA). An Scom 7330 controller was installed in October 2020, to facilitate the addition of the internet-based linking services.  Two Rasberry-Pi based devices wewre installed in November 2020 and January 2021.   In the photo below, you can see a close-up view of the 444.300 machine.  The power supply is installed at the bottom of the rack. The  Motorola "Spectra Tac"  receiver is mounted in the rack, above the Simrex receiver preamp and the hombrew repeater COR interface. Above the receiver is the shelf of rasberry-pi based nodes and internet connectivity devices. The Scom 7330 repeater controller is above the rack shelf, and just below the exciter. The GE MASTR II UHF exciter is in a homebrew enclosure built by K4HXD. Closer to the top of the rack is the Vocom Products 100 watt UHF continuous duty power amplifier. The Celwave PD-526-4 six-cavity duplexer is at the top of the rack cabinet.  The WB4GBI 146.94 repeater is to the right, and the WB4GBI 146.85 repeater is to the left.  The photo above is the rear of the 444.300 repeater. The Motorola "Spectra Tac" receiver is visible at the bottom.  Above is the rack shelf with the interface devices, then the rear of the Scom 7330 controller. The exciter is housed in the metal enclosure between the Scom unit and the Crescend 100 watt PA. The PA has a fan which is active anytime the repeater is up to facilitate cooling.  The bottom of the Celwave PD-526-4 duplexer is visible at the top of the photo.  In case you're interested, below is a photo of the "other" transmitter in the building...the 40KW  Harris transmitter for WIVK-FM  Below, is a view from near the repeater site, looking back toward Knoxville....  (Notice the Seymour community in the lower-right... with the city of Knoxville in the Distance) Click on the photo for a larger version!

 

6  Meters 2 - Meters  220  440   DMR  D-STAR               REPEATER STATISTICS:  Motorola Quantar repeater Decibel Products 2-cavity duplexer Commercail grade 900 Mhz paging antenna (brand unknown)  Input: 902.0625 Output: 927.0625 PL tone: 151.4  NAC code: 293

This repeater is a Motorola quantar machine, with the internal high stability oscillator. It has been installed on the same tower as the  146.940, 146.85, 444.300, and 440.575 DMR... along with  commercial radio station WIVK-FM 107.7!  The repeater is capable of analog and P25 digital modes. If you are using P25, please use NAC code 293.  The repeater was purchased from a Repeater group in Northern Ohio,  due to the fact that they had lost their site.  The duplexer on this machine is a 2 cavity decibel products unit,  and the machine delivers 80 watts out of the duplexer to the antenna. The antenna is installed at about 120 feet up the tower, and was a leftover gift from a paging company when they moved to a different location. The WB4GBI 927.0625 repeater was placed into service on Tuesday, March 8th 2011, and is currently available to all licensed amateur radio operators who have the proper equipment. Enjoy! Photo of the Repeater being tested before installation..... This is the inside-rear of the repeater cabinet The inside-front of the cabinet.  Note the 900 Mhz duplexer in the bottom of the rack     A photo of 927.0625, in servivce and on the air!