Repeater Report

Annual repeater report 2013 – 2014
No major projects have been completed but an interim MM 60 service at the Emerson Street water tank in Concord has been operational for some time. The linking interface equipment has been built but not tested,and remaining necessary equipment for the permanent installation has either been ordered or is being ordered at present. Fundraising is underway with one application being processed.

Weather Sked operators
Our numbers remain very thin on the ground. Moeraki no longer has an operator as Martin Finnie has
retired and no replacement has been located. Keith and I carry the duty shifts with Rowan Leck currently the only back up as Terry Thomas has moved and currently cannot access the repeaters.
Consideration is being given to deleting the midday weather round-up and we seek member’s opinions. The current voluntary tracking of weather fronts as they move up from the south would always continue as it is one of our strongest safety measures.

Our repeater and linking sites.
Swampy summit linking site.
No work apart from routine checks by our landlord.
MM 66 on Cape Wanbrow.
No work or development on this site. It continues to appear to underperform but all on site checks
indicate all is well. It is better than it was before the analogue TV shut down, but still has to preform
with a very high level of local interference on this very busy site .
MM62 on Hautai Hill
Apart from the apparently reduced coverage from our main aerial, everything continues to test fine and works satisfactorily.
MM 64 on Hinahina Hill
No specific maintenance visits but the site has been visited and checked several times while on unrelated business and continues to work well. We have a good bench mark every morning with Mary Leask accessing it from Bluff during the morning weather roundup’s.

I note again that with the exception of the Cape Wanbrow and Swampy Summit installations, most of our aerials, aerial infrastructure and repeaters radios are now fully or near fully depreciated and over 10 years old. There is no immediate need to replace any of the equipment and we hold adequate spares but within 3 to 4 years, we will need to be budgeting for some replacement/upgrades.

Martin Balch
RepeaterTrustee

Repeater Report - 2013

Annual repeater report 2012 – 2013
No major projects have been undertaken this year after the significant work at Hautai Hill last year. The next planned major project is the installation of a fourth repeater at the Emerson Street water tank, previously our linking site. We still have our secure equipment cupboard on the site and a current lease for the use of the site. Some of the infrastructure from the linking installation is able to be re-used for the new repeater. Work is progressing on assembling the technical equipment and preparing to manufacture the linking hardware. Fund raising applications and licensing are the first items to cover and then the work of the final assembly of the technical equipment can begin in earnest.
Weather Sked operators
Our numbers remain thin on the ground. Moeraki no longer has a permanent operator with John McLellan in the “Rendall on Reed” rest home. Martin Finnie helps out with local conditions most evenings during the year. Keith and I carry the duty shifts with Rowan Leck and Terry Thomas filling in on occasions.
Our repeater and linking sites.
Swampy summit linking site.
No work apart from routine checks by our landlord.
MM 66 on Cape Wanbrow.
No work but a suspicion this site is now working better with the analogue TV transmitters on the site switched off. It is known that other VHF operators on the site were suspicious they were also suffering similar de-sensing problems but no concise tests have been carried out to confirm our suspicions. On other sites where tests could be accomplished, the analogue switch-off has resulted in improvements to VHF communication operations.
MM62 on Hautai Hill
Apart from the apparently reduced coverage from our main aerial, everything continues to test fine and works satisfactorily.
MM 64 on Hinahina Hill
A routine visit unearthed no problems. The stays on the pole supporting our antenna were re-tensioned to straighten the pole. The site was inspected again this weekend with no problems in our department although another user’s aerial had fallen down and was repaired.
The repeater system continues to provide an excellent service but Dunedin area coverage will be much improved with the advent of the fill-in repeater at Emerson Street. The channel that will be used is yet to be allocated. I note again that with the exception of the Cape Wanbrow and Swampy Summit installations, most of our aerials, aerial infrastructure and repeaters radios are now fully or near fully depreciated and over 10 years old. There is no immediate need to replace any of the equipment and we hold adequate spares but within 4 to 5 years, we will need to be budgeting for some replacement/upgrades.

Martin Balch Repeater Trustee

Annual repeater report 2011 – 2012

There are two major items to report on this year.

Hautai Hill power

Development and expansion of Nature’s Wonders, our hosts business, brought about a necessary power cable upgrade. As work progressed it became obvious the old cable had a number of previous repairs, was inappropriate for the job and could not be legally re-installed.  With the considerable assistance from the landowners, Perry with his son Martin, a new trench was dug between the power source in their new wool shed and the “igloo” (our equipment hut), on the top of the hill, 350 rugged metres away. Many members and some non-members were involved in this project. We were also well assisted by the Bendigo Valley Sports and Charity Foundation who responded favourably to our funding request.  Without the generous assistance of the Read’s and their heavy equipment, and the volunteer spade gangs, this would have been an extremely expensive project.  The trenching was a major exercise with heavy digging through a mix of broken and solid rock.

(Photographs may be viewed on an earlier post.)

Fill-in Repeater testing

This is subject to a second report which will go before the committee initially. The test site was the Emerson Street water tank that was previously our linking site and still has some equipment installed.  Unfortunately, someone took exception to the testing leading to the early abandonment of the tests. In the short time we had available, tests showed signals at Kaka Point were similar but other areas to the south were significantly improved – Taieri Mouth was slightly improved, while over the city beaches, the city, parts of the Taieri and importantly, the Upper Harbour signals were significantly improved. The remaining critical areas – Tow Rock, Nuggets anchorage etc. were unable to be tested.

Maritime Radio access to “User Group Repeaters” for SAR purposes

This subject had been raised at National Search and Rescue meetings.  I had a meeting with Maritime Radio staff to discuss the subject. The outcome is while it could happen sometime in the future, it will not happen in the short to medium term. 

Weather Sked Operators

We have maintained the full service during the year despite the ever decreasing number of operators. This is a common problem that is occurring around the country with volunteer Coast Stations.   Moeraki no longer has a permanent operator with John McLellan in the “Rendall on Reed” rest home.  Martyn Finnie provides Moeraki reports to the evening sked when he is available. In Oamaru Ted Gilbert maintains a constant listening watch ably assisted by Jim Fraser and Archie Thomas, while Robert George helps when necessary with reports from the upper harbour.   Sadly, during the year, we have lost several of our strong supporters. Heather Simon lost her long battle with cancer. Her familiar voice, friendly assistance, and watchful eye from her kitchen over that notorious Taieri Mouth bar is sadly missed by all. John McLellan’s wife Pauline has lost her long battle with failing health. While her voice was rarely heard on the air, Pauline was always in the background supporting John and no matter how ill she was, hot buttered scones and other delicious goodies were always on the table for visitors. Bruce Walker, the Chief Signalman at Harbour Control and one of our original weather watch reporters passed away suddenly last Friday after a brief illness. 

That leaves only Keith and me carrying the duty shifts with Rowan Leck from Marine SAR recently stepping in to assist when we were both away.

To our repeater sites.

Swampy summit linking site.

No work apart from routine checks by our landlord.

MM 66 on Cape Wanbrow.

No work but testing work is planned as it does not seem to have the coverage it should. This is waiting for a convenient time when Terry and I are in Oamaru and have the several hours necessary available. Otherwise, the installation is working well.

MM62 on Hautai Hill

Apart from the reduced coverage from our high aerial, everything tests fine and works satisfactorily.

MM 64 on Hinahina Hill

Has not been visited and continues to work well.

Generally, the system continues to provide excellent service to our prime target areas.

All equipment is in good condition and working well but it must be recognised that with the exception of the Cape Wanbrow and Swampy Summit installations, most of our aerials, aerial infrastructure and repeaters radios are now fully or near fully depreciated and over 10 years old. There is no immediate need to replace any of the equipment and we hold adequate spares but within 5 years, we will need to be budgeting for some replacement/upgrades.

Martin Balch

Repeater Trustee

                                            

Repeater Report 2011

Annual Repeater Report  2010-2011

The major change this year was the completion of the new linking system to the Hina Hina Hill site enabling us to close down the Emerson Street site and cancel the respective licences.

Cape Wanbrow, Channel MM 66 has needed no maintenance this year. When possible, we are continuing to run tests on the site to confirm it is not being interfered with by other services – so far nothing conclusive has been found.

Hautai Hill, Channel MM 62 had several weather related power failures but in all occasions, service continued uninterrupted on the back-up battery supply. The landlord is extending his farm sheds over our buried cable so work has been undertaken to mark the cable route and allow the landlord to do his foundation work.  At some time, we will need to excavate the lower half of the cable and re-route it much deeper as the farmer cannot cultivate the paddock it crosses as the existing cable is too shallow. The repeater has required no work during the year.

Hina Hina Hill, Channel MM 64.  This site had a power failure that required a visit. It was found our power supply had disappeared and we were sharing a power supply and battery with DOC. The DOC power supply had failed and the battery had also failed. We believe it was our battery.  A new battery and power supply were installed and the two systems separated. A re-furbished set of radios were subsequently installed with the new linking system. The aerials all tested fine.

Tests have been approved and will be carried out shortly to see if the Emerson Street site can be used to enhance coverage into the city beaches and Kaka Point area, known coverage shadow areas at present.

Generally, the system continues to provide excellent service to our target areas, and to many areas beyond our targets with continued good response to our weather information services.

All equipment is in good condition and working well but it must be recognised that with the exception of the Cape Wanbrow installation, most of our aerials, aerial infrastructure and repeaters radios are now fully or near fully depreciated and over 10 years old. There is no immediate need to replace any equipment and we hold adequate spare transceivers, but within 5 years, we will have to budget for some replacements.

Martin Balch

Repeater Trustee