PEARS REPEATER MAINTENANCE LOG: 1975 - 1999
A record of trips undertaken to various repeater sites by PEARS members or helpers (reverse time order)
DATE |
SITE
VISITED |
PERSON/S |
ACTION |
22 November 1999 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AAW |
Maintenace checks
UHF
Link to Cradock UHF
Link to EL: UHF
Link to PE: VHF
Repeater: |
6 August 1999 |
Garden Route club |
ZS2AAW |
Donations made to the Garden Route
club as follows:
Danabaai: Stilbaai: |
25-28 July 1999 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Bush fire! Wednesday HF 12V PSU
faulty - blown DC fuse Packet BBS PC PSU no good - brough down for repair |
|
Cradock |
ZS2JM, ZS2AAW |
VHF Repeater: Refilled batteries - VERY low Changed
top UHF co-linear, but had bad VSWR 2.7:1 Reset charger from 28.8 to 28V float (under no load) All
antenna checked OK on VSWR Left the link running on the 8el yagi (packet link) to GHT |
27 February 1999 |
Cradock |
ZS2AAW |
VSWR measurements: Set VHF packet o/p to 5W |
1999 |
|||
11 December 1998 |
Buffelsnek |
ZS2DD, ZS2AE, ZS2AAW, ZS2AZR |
Site is stand-alone due to faults
on the links Found the
simplex link to Kareedouw would key itself when
receiving! Fitted 10n
caps on all contrll cards to power up in the
combined/connected state Did
modification to kill the RX of the VHF repeater if the links key its TX. |
9 December |
Governorskop |
ZS2DD, ZS2AE, ZS2AAW, ZR2JH |
Replaced co-linear AGAIN - back to
the original one, but it has been extensively cleaned up, paying special
attention to the tuning ring contact area against the aluminium pipe
section. There was bad corrosion there before. Replaced
UHF link yagi to EL Fitted RX Osc delaying cct to link from Cradock, but still get a blip on the RX when keying down the TX to Cradock (far side is duplex UHF link) |
5 December 1998 |
Cradock |
ZS2DD, ZS2AE, ZS2AAW, ZR2JH, ZR2SC |
Complete installation: Top VHF RX
antenna heliax connector possibly loose Can't get
a good signal on the top UHF antenna from GHT |
November 1998 |
Lady's Slipper |
|
Power meter re-instated by PE Munic
6m Link
antenna fitted and 6m unit installed Batteries topped up Old 50mm
steel pipe cut down and removed, with its stay wires etc |
October 1998 |
Governorskop |
ZR2JH |
Repeater removed from GHT and
brought back to PE
Found an
intermittent problem on the control card causing the noise - a non-soldered
resistor! Refitted to GHT, but antenna crackle is still there |
8 October 1998 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AAW |
Bypassed all multi-core connector
pins with 10n caps To prove the antenna, will fit a 1/2wave end-fed to compare to. 24
October |
September 1998 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AE, ZS2AAW |
Change co-linear |
29 August 1998 |
Governorskop |
ZS2DD, ZS2AE, ZS2AAW |
Investigate crackle on the VHF
repeater 434.850MHz
UHF Link to EL: 431.150MHz
UHF Link to Cradock: 431.100MHz
UHF Link to Slipper: VHF
Repeater: |
|
Mount Rd |
ZS2AE, ZS2AAW, ZR2SC |
New repeater and link commissioned: |
11 June 1998 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Slipper BBS: |
29 May 1998 |
Uitenhage |
ZS2AAW |
New repeater commissioned: |
22 May 1998 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Interference: Sunday - still no sign of interference... Monday - back in full force Reported to SATRA ~ 28/5/1998 Seems clear after returning from Jhb 11/6/1998 |
22 March 1998 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
UHF Link: VHF
Repeater: VHF
Packet: |
20 February 1998 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Lightning damage: Visited again on Monday 23/2 to re-instate packet network Many trips
to finally sort out HF auto-patch |
1998 |
|||
? |
Governorskop |
ZR2SC, ZS2AE, ZS2AAW |
Tower repair day |
9 December 1997 |
Governorskop |
ZR2JH, ZS2AE, ZS2AAW |
Bad VSWR on Repeater Co-linear - 3:1 !!!
Found heliax is OK, but PL259 connector is corroded on centre
pin Cut off
& re-make heliax connector to N-type female Tower
is in poor condition: |
? |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW, ZR2SC |
Fit UHF Bosch rig for 9600bd
packet Configure
9600 port and check it out - all OK HF Rig has high VSWR > 2:1 and locked up the whole system on Sunday bulletin 7/12/1997 Re-netted
7066kHz (was 800Hz high) HF packet
o/p set to 40W in KAM |
20 November |
Buffelsnek |
ZS2AE, ZS2AZR, ZS2AAW, ZR2VM |
Change Batteries Leave keyed up - no intermod interference crops up VSWR on all four antennae is good Link to
George: 3W Links were
re-netted Codes
changed to |
17 October 1997 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Visit to remove HF rig to install
new crystals
Mods done to use HF packet when in standby mode from auto-patch relays |
15 October |
Governorskop |
ZS2AAW |
ROSE Switch: |
15 October |
Uitenhage |
ZS2CB, ZS2ML, ZS2AE, Gordon Harris |
Site visit to assess situation Tower
height: 30m |
12 October 1997 |
Governorskop |
ZS2DD, ZS2AE, ZS2AAW, ZS2NV &
XYL |
Change co-linear TX/RX antenna to
remove "wind crackle" Change VHF
packlet end-fed to a folded dipole - to improve
coverage VSWR on
VHF packet fdr: 1.5:1 into dummy load up top, 1.8:1
into folded dipole Earth Storno's together with 2.5mm green wire - must re-do this
though De-rust container rim (external) At home
later: |
25 September 1997 |
Lady's Slipper |
Investigate interference report -
146.175MHz Comspec - Johan Basson Remove 51.400 set Fit ex-GHT batteries & take others home for re-work Panel side & remove mains sockets |
|
30 August 1997 |
Governorskop |
ZS2PP, ZS2QN, ZS2DD, ZS2AE,
ZS2AAW, ZR2SC |
Re-install ROSE switch at repeater
site Fitted
ZS2WG's duplexer and one aluminium filter in TX line to notch out 144.675MHz
packet One aluminium filter in Packet VHF line to notch out 145.150 and 145.750 together Check VSWR on UHF links - EL & Cradock are both bad, PE is OK Top up all batteries - were on MIN mark PS: |
9 August 1997 |
Kareedouw |
ZS2AAW |
TX towards Slipper noted to be
very low. Have had poor link transmissions from Knysna
to PE for a week or two
UHF
Link to Slipper Has been a bush fire at some stage on the mountain 434.875 TX fine @ 1W, ~250kHz low |
4 August 1997 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
ZS0NTP BBS: Powered off-on, then OK |
31 July 1997 |
Fedlife Building
|
ZS2WG, ZS2DD |
438.650 UHF Repeater: |
4 July 1997 |
Longmore |
ZS2AE, ZS2U, ZS2AAW & young
family |
Temporary Rally Repeater VHF TX
Power 6W Had
problems with DC connectors on the solar regulators and a blown fuse. PS: |
? |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
HF Rig: Clean out rat droppings etc UHF 9600 port antenna and feeder is fitted & waiting for 9k6 rig installation PS: |
15 June 1997 |
Buffelsnek |
ZS2AE, ZS2AAW, ZS1J, ZS2AZR, ZR2SC |
Change repeater to 145.750 to
circumvent intermod problems on site Exchanged
UHF Link unit to Geroge to clean up distortion
problems on this link Netted
other UHF Link - a few kHz off Roger & Shawn changed TX antenna to a folded dipole Checked
solar regulator: Drops off load @ 21V, re-connects @ 25V - OK Stayed overnight at ZS2ZAR 16 June
1997: Also reported that the link distortion towards George still comes up on occasions |
5 June 1997 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW, ZR2JH |
Packet Backbone: Found HF antenna legs loose - rusted through. Need to replace these |
1997 |
|||
9 December 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
FBB software locked up two days in
succession |
? |
Governorskop |
ZS2AE, ZS2AAW, many helpers |
Relocate all equipment from old
telephone booth to the new Porta-Camp on site No Checks or changes done to the actual equipment ZS2PP, ZS2EN, ZS2QN later removed the remains of the telephone booth and all other scrap items from site - thanks guys! |
3 December 1996 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AE, ZS2PP, ZS2EN, ZS2DD,
ZR2ARB, ZS2UN, ZS2AZ, ZS2VM, ZS2AAW |
Delivery of Portacamp
"container" ex Eskom Alexandria Repeater site Cleared,
levelled and fence removed from around old telephone booth Cost R399.00 for transport ZS2ND to
deliver newer 45Ah batteries next week. BEFORE:
DURING:
AFTER:
|
18 November 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Early morning visit - site went
dead on Sunday am before builletin time.
Batteries ran flat Changed
parameters of UHF backbone port: Need to get a stock of fuses... |
4 November 1996 |
ZS2LR |
ZS2AAW |
Deliver UHF Bosch rig on
438.275MHz UHF Backbone) to Jim for forwarding to Slipper |
3 November 1996 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AAW, ZS2AE, ZR2EY, ZS2PP, ZS2EN |
Re-installed the ROSE switch at
Ian Alan's farm |
25 October 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Found blown AC fuse on charger -
need to get a stock of 3A slow blow fuses for AC Re-fitted mains fail alarm after repairs were done on it to ensure the alarm is reported every ~20 min Organised 45Ah Plante cells x13 for Slipper DC refurbishment sometime |
23 October 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Found the site to have no mains
supply Site
visited again later that day: PS: |
3 October 1996 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AAW |
Remove ROSE switch and take to PE |
24 September 1996 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AAW |
Re-install ROSE switch/Digi at Governorskop |
23 September 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Install BBS on the mountain |
24 August 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Re-install HF Rig with mods etc
Repair HF
dipole antenna - one leg broken off at lug on perspex
top insulator feed point Modify DTMF Repeater control card with diode as above to inhibit reply tone breakthrough Swapped
control cards around so now disconnect card is in UHF link, and straight card
is in VHF Repeater Reconnect mains-fail alarm and test - OK Reconnect 6m link with squelch tight |
? |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
HF Rig has gone high VSWR again Also added diode pin 7 (LM555) to pin 12 (U11) to inhibit tone oscillator when not required, so that no tone break-through occurs |
23 July 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Experience intermods
onto Eskom ch11 input Do
much-needed battery maintenance |
17 July 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Installed 2 more Storno's for packet corssband Remove 6m link due to interference |
20 June 1996 |
at home |
ZS2AAW |
Fetched BBS from ZS2WG before he
left for overseas
Investigate
KAM's reluctance to copy signals on 144.675MHz Received
new KPC9612 and interfaced it to the two Bosch's |
10 June 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Re-installed HF Rig with |
7 June 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Removed HF Rig from site to
install 2 more channels for auto HQ bulletin relays |
23 May 1996 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AAW, ZR2JH |
Found VHF TX to be spurious,
causing howling lock-up whenever temperature was right PS: |
14 May 1996 |
Kareedouw |
ZS2AAW, ZS2AE |
Brief trip to fit power-off relay,
controlled by saltmine telemetry system, so that the
links can be switched off completely for interference tracing Also tracked 145.100MHz bursty interference and also continuous carrier interference. Latter is EMCOM base station at Humansdorp RSC workshop (& vehicles) - Local Oscillators are on 145.100MHz Checked
J-Bay alarm companies with IFR spectrum analyser, no problems noted. |
3 May 1996 |
Kareedouw |
ZS2AAW |
Replace antenna change-over relay
in link to Slipper Check both
antennas, VSWR is <1.4:1 so both OK still Trying to trace howling type lock-up interference. Thought it was originating at Kareedouw, but all looks clean here |
29 April 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW, ZS2AE |
Bulletin yesterday was chaos - HF
TX distorted everything, and could not disconnect via DTMF... Found a
loose connection on HF dipole which caused >3:1 VSWR! Tracing VHF (145.100MHz) interference with spectrum analyser - could not discern which transmission is spurious. Seems like a distant/weak signal, on-channel. Could not determine from which direction either Re-netted HF TX back onto 7098 & 3640 kHz |
8 March 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Refit bypassed original control
card to VHF Repeater Had to put
DTMF card into VHF Repeater & mains fail card into link to cure the
distortion problem. Need to come back to analyse problem with HF transmissions Noticed a heterodyne on VHF TX when keyed...? |
4 March 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Simple control card with mains
fail alarm fitted to repeater - fixes distorted audio & low level on VHF TX Filled batteries with de-ionised water, 2 litres used Checked operation - HF TX causes distortion on VHF o/p, so replaced old spare control card (without mains fail alarm) but still poor. Will have to bypass all audio leads to GND with suitable caps. Leave spare control card in repeater, but with good op-amp in place of LM324 Fitted & wired relay across rectified supply in charger to act as mains fail detector Checked HF VSWR - still 1.2:1 - OK |
1 March 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Change repeater and link control
cards around: Change 7098 MHz HF Crystasl and nett new one onto frequency After
leaving the mountain, audio is low on VHF repeater and also broken up on
louder passages. Control card has a definite fault Batteries are low on electrolyte Mains fail alarm must be fitted to good control card and re-installed ASAP. |
23 February 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Re-instate the 6m link which was
disconnected for the QSO party |
18 February 1996 |
Spare Repeater |
ZS2AAW |
Fit the Squelch and IF boards from
Knysna into the spare (mobile) repeater and leave
on soak test at home, awaiting the open-squelch problem |
17 February 1996 |
Buffelsnek |
ZS2RS, ZS2AE, ZS2AZR, ZS2ABZ,
ZS2AAW, ZR2EY, ZR2VM, Pat
|
Trip to repair VHF repeater -
intermittent SQ open problems |
13 February 1996 |
Fedlife Building
|
ZS2AAW |
Experiments done while at home on
test: |
2 February 1996 |
Lady's Slipper |
ZS2AAW |
Re-netted the HF TX frequency to
7098kHz |
2 February 1996 |
Fedlife Building
|
ZS2WG |
Wolf removed the UHF repeater for
maintenance - low TX power suspected. |
20 January 1996 |
Governroskop |
ZS2AE, ZS2AAW |
Refit repeater after repairs to TX
in PE. Recoonect aluminium TX filter until
such time as the duplexer is tested and returned to site |
18 January 1996 |
Kareedouw |
ZS2AAW |
Fit new UHF Yagi
towards Slippr, but VSWR is still not good at
1.5:1 However the linking equipment is happy - no self-interference |
17 January 1996 |
Governorskop |
ZS2AE, ZS2WG, Otto & wife
& son, ZS2AAW
|
145.750 VHF Repeater Duplexer could not be aligned satisfactorily - insufficient rejection obtained, causing chopping on weak signals, even with a tight squelch setting. SINAD is not good , at >1uV for 12dB Attempt to tune TX output stage for "minimum noise" and in the process, short out the finals trimming plates, taking out the final transistors! Repeater is removed and brought back to PE for repairs 12el Yagi to East London re-installed to reclaim my N-type barrel connector. Link left enabled, so traffic EL - PE unaffected by removed repeater Wolf also lost a tyre on a hidden tree stump... Replaced repeater audio interface board with narrow (mobile) version incorporating mains fail alarm - previous control card suffered intermittent low TX audio levels |
14 January 1996 |
Kareedouw |
ZS2AE, ZS2AAW |
Howling interference noticed on
links from Knysna towards PE |
1996 |
|||
5 July 1992 |
Cockscomb |
ZS2AAW, ZR2BB (Seween
Bosman) |
Water in TX coax, suspected from
damaged denzo tape barrel
connector. BUT... |
17-18 October 1991 |
Cockscomb (not visited) |
- |
Repeater reported out of action
following electrical storm on 17/10/1991 |
11 June 1988 |
Cockscomb |
Tony/Zane, ZS2AE, ZR2EY (now
ZS2AAW), ZS2WG, ZS2AO
|
Modules changed |
1 May 1987 |
Cockscomb |
? |
Repeater box found full of
water. |
15 March 1987 |
Cockscomb |
- |
Repeater failed - no Audio
talk-thru, lots of noise
|
31 January 1987 |
Cockscomb |
ZS2AE, ZR2EY (now ZS2AAW), Rob
Salmon, ZS2AO, ZR2ED and daughter Colleen |
TX Replaced Note: 4WD vehicle not available for Nov-Dec 1986 |
24 January 1987 |
Cockscomb |
ZS2AE, ZR2EY (now ZS2AAW), ZR2AAT,
ZS2G, ZS2WG |
Cockscomb Repeater antenna repairs: |
1 November 1986 |
Cockscomb |
ZS2RS, ZS2RL, ZS2WG, ZS2AE, ZS2AL,
ZS2RT, ZS2AO, ZR2ED
|
? |
10 October 1986 |
Cockscomb |
ZS2RS, ZS2RL, ZS2WG, ZS2AE, ZS2AL,
ZS2RT, ZS2AO, ZR2ED
|
Planned trip was rained out. |
11 June 1986 |
Cockscomb |
- |
Repeater failed |
7 June 1986 |
Cockscomb |
ZS2AO, ZS2WG, ZS2G, ZS2BO, ZS2HG,
Etienne |
Plan is to exchange the RX antenna
for a 3dB gain antenna provided by ZS2RS |
February 1986 |
Cockscomb
|
ZS2AE, ZS2AO, ZR2EY (now ZS2AAW) |
Repeater RX and crystal filter brought back to PE for
repair - lightning damage thanks to the temporary 1/4 wave RX antenna not
being DC grounded
|
7 September 1985 |
Cockscomb
|
-
|
Repeater failed |
7 June 1985 |
Cockscomb
|
ZS2AB, ZS2RS, ZS2AE and XYL Julie |
Repeater Installed Chopper arrives:
Work Party: ZS2RS, ZS2AB, ZS2AE
Work Party: ZS2AB, Pilot (??), ZS2AE
On its way to the top...
|
Pre June 1985 |
Cockscomb
|
ZS2AE
|
Construction complete COMPLETE UNIT
RECEIVER MODULE
TRANSMITTER MODULE
CONTROLLER MODULE
REGULATOR MODULE
|
Pre-1985
|
Cockscomb build |
ZS2AE, ZR2EY (now ZS2AAW) |
Facilities Required: PYE Europa boards available. 14V regulator on TX board is redundant - done by solar array regulator. 10V regulator for TX and RX is on RX board. Move to controller box. Make RF proof. TX switching of 10V line is missing from RX board. To be re-instated and used to switch TX. Make RF proof. Use this to inhibit TX in 2 and 4 above DC Specs: |
1975
|
Governorskop |
ZS2AB, ZS2RS, ZS2RD |
Repeater Installed
- article in Radio ZS:
|
Before time... |