I think we had a meaningful and constructive conversation regarding repeater work and maintenance last night. Harley is burdened by the number of repeaters under him, needs help,?and will be letting?the?club/community know how we can all be involved and of use. We have plenty of folks that want to volunteer and have offered help in the past. We would all like to be in the loop regarding what needs to be done, where it needs to be done, and what's currently being worked on so?we can be of service and learn the systems.??
Hopefully Harley can help put together a list of other repeaters in despair and work that needs to take place. He mentioned there are 13 repeaters he takes responsibility for. I'm not sure how we organize and prioritize these.?
Any documentation?on site access and repeater configuration?would?be greatly appreciated and very useful to organize help.
Long Term Plan for the .82 / Buck Ridge Repeater:
-Building needs a roof. We had volunteers?ready to do the work, but never got the work scheduled. I will bump that?email chain. This will need to happen in June when the road opens back up to wheeled traffic. Road is restricted to 50" vehicles.
-Separate?non-profit and for-profit power systems, while maintaining good relations with commercial site users. We will still provide our services and collaborate.
-New batteries. Not recycled batteries. ERA has room in the budget for this. I recommend?AGM. QTY to be determined. I would like to start with around 200ah.
-Determine power requirements for both systems by measuring idle and transmit current.
-Reconfigure existing solar panels in series to minimize current loss on the lengthy?12 gauge?wiring.
-Add MPPT Solar controller?to utilize high voltage from new panel arrangement?and provide low volt disconnect to protect battery investment.?
? ? ?I had previously offered a modern controller, but the PWM got used instead. I have already ordered another. Hopefully 20a will carry our system. New controller can provide historical data for solar and load.
-Determine if higher gauge?wire can be pulled through existing underground conduit.
-Consider Bi-facial solar panels to make better use of vertically oriented panels at this site if funds become available.
Weather and time depending, this weekend I may try to make a quick motorcycle or ATV trip up to get some preliminary notes and data.
There will be more to this thread as information becomes available. This could also be a useful thread to organize and track progress and volunteers for the 82.
Here is the controller I will provide:
I can get these batteries for 50$ off retail:
These can get for 98$:
?
My corporate rate unfortunately cuts the warranty in half, so that will need to be considered.
Thanks for everyone's time and input.
-Trevor KG7KCV
