Elevated Wire Radio Group: Brian Ward/KG4KGW - Viewing Profile - Elevated Wire Radio Group

I looked for this silly latch for two days. Finally had begun to give up and let it go as lost and started searching for a new one on the internet. These are hard to find and when you do they are often expensive! This is the top latch for the amplifier case. I'd prefer one that locked and may still install a safety lock that has a combination or a key before it is over with. These voltages are extremely dangerous inside this case.

The parts are starting to gather together and I'm going to begin work on the power supply this week. I hope to use the original transformer for the high voltage, but will be adding in a step start and latching relay system as well as some line voltage filtering. These are not part of the original amplifier circuitry so it will have to be put on a separate board out of the way. There is very little room to play with inside the amplifier. The addition of a bulkhead to keep the power supply separate from the RF Deck makes space even more of a commodity.

I got in my T-Shirts that Nancy sent to me the other day. My 6yr old wanted to take a picture of me in it so I gave him the camera. here it is:




Yeah I know I could lose 30 or more pounds, but hey I'm a good eater! I think the shirt is great and actually bought 2 of them.

I got a request to add sound card selection to this software. This is something I've never done before so am having to do some research into the Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound SDK to find out more on how to get this done. You can expect an update to this software in the near future with this feature added after some testing has been done to ensure the functionality of the IDer after edits.

Please feel free to send me a message if you feel there is something else that also needs to be added or changed in the software.

There is currently 31 updates that have been done since this software was first written. Originally in VB and then completely redone in C# on the .Net Framework this software has seen many changes to come into the simple application you see today. Thanks for you continued support and information.

A special thanks to those of you who have beta tested this application over multiple platforms for me.

Turns out the board is $295 + Shipping for the power supply. The old machine is still up and running on the DC input power, but it truly needs to be pulled onto its own power.

The desense issues we've been having seem to be nothing new with some of these repeaters while using an external duplexer. However this does seem to be an easy fix. Service bulletin 0711-1A shows a TX mod using a 470pF capacitor to solve this problem on some of the machines. The capacitor is only .17 cents. If shipping is included for the main power board and the cap we'll be sitting right around $300.00 for repairs.

We are starting to gather the parts together for the new antenna. Currently I've split off the TX and RX into two antennas to cure some of the desense. However they are both fairly low gain and at low elevations. The RX antenna is about 35 feet and is a vertical dipole. The TX antenna is currently an 11 element Cushcraft (I didn't have another spare antenna). We are planning on moving the antennas back up to the 60 or so foot mark with standoffs. I've got to get a couple of eye bolts and ratcheting straps before I can get it up where it needs to be.

If the TX mod fixes the desense problems we've been having we should be back to covering all of Escambia county and some of Santa Rosa county. We are taking baby steps to get things going, but at the very least trying to get about 15 miles of HT input into the repeater.

Say a prayer for us and if you can help us with the costs of parts, replacement boards, or whatever it is that you can donate to the club, we'll be thankful and happy to have it!

Brian / KG4KGW