11/19/2023
News for the W4SNA VARA Winlink RMS Gateway.

1. The W4SNA VARA HF RMS gateway is on the air. It is active on 30 meters and 10 meters from Tobaccoville. Licensed and evaluation copies of VARA can access the gateway.
2. The W4SNA VARA FM RMS gateway is on the air. It is on 145.030 mHz. The call is W4SNA-10. Licensed and evaluation copies of VARA can access the gateway.
3. The VARA FM digipeater is on the air and is located on Sauratown Mountain. It is on 145.030 mHz. The call is W4SNA-4. A licensed copy of VARA is required to access the digipeater

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News for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. The 53.31 repeater is down again. Cause unknown. Low priority.
2. The 146.79 repeater is having intermittant issues. Problem will be investigated in a few days.

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03/06/2023
News for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. The Young Mountain, NC 443.700 DMR repeater is connected to Brandmeister.

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02/26/2023
News for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. The Young Mountain, NC weather station has been repaired and is online. http://aprs.fi/weather/a/W4SNA-4
2. The 53.31 repeater is on the air using a temporary antenna. Coverage is reduced.

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11/13/2021
News for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. TYT MD-UV380 Brandmeister codeplug for King DMR repeater

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11/13/2021
News for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. The 442.6375 King DMR repeater has switched to the Brandmeister network.

• Color Code: 2
• Time Slot 1 is for Dynamic connections
• Time slot 2 is dedicated to local traffic and repeater linking
• Local talkgroup is 313715 on time slot 2
• Refer to https://brandmeister.network/ for additional info.
• A sample TYT UV-380 codeplug will be available soon.

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11/09/2021
News for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. The 442.6375 King DMR repeater is switching from the PRN network to the Brandmeister network. Cutover will be announced here.
2. The 53.31 repeater is down due to antenna problems. Return to service is unknown.

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7/20/2020
News for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. The 146.79 has noise on the remote RX link. Time to fix unknown.
2. The 53.95 repeater is back to full power.
3. The 53.31 repeater has RX problems. Will investigate ASAP.

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6/4/2019
Major changes for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. The 444.750 has been shut down
2. The 53.95 repeater is back to full power
3. The 146.79 repeater has a new DB Products DB-224 antenna. Coverage is improved
4. The 146.79 repeater is experiencing intermittent noise interference from an unknown source
5. The 53.31 repeater is back to full power

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10/20/2017
Major changes for the W4SNA repeater system.

1. The 444.750 on Sauratown Mountain is shutting down and moving to Tobaccoville. The repeater will be converted to DMR.
2. All links including IRLP and Echolink are down while I build a new 146.79 repeater and linking system.
3. The Sauratown APRS weather station is temporarily down.
4. The DMR repeater is moving to the site once occupied by the 444.750.
5. The 53.95 repeater will remain on low power due to intermod interference.
6. The 53.31 repeater is on low power due to power supply problems. I will fix it eventually.

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08/05/2016
The Echo/IRLP node is repaired and on-line.

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07/26/2016
The Echo/IRLP node is off-line due to hardware failure. Estimated time to repair is unknown.

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11/1/2014
The 146.790 repeater has been moved to the former 147.045 site on Sauratown Mountain.

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10/17/2014
The 147.045 repeater has been decommissioned. It is returning to Fancy Gap, VA and K4EZ's system.

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08/24/2014
The 147.045 repeater is up and linked to the system.

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05/10/2014
Duplex operation of the 147.045 repeater has been disabled due to severe desensing and duplex noise. The repeater frequencies can still be used to access the rest of the link system.

Time to repair is unknown.

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04/27/2014
The Sauratown 442.6375 DMR repeater is on the air from Sauratown Mountain. Coverage should be similar to the 444.750 analog repeater . The repeater is Internet connected and is full time on PRN.

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03/30/2014
DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) is coming to the W4SNA system sometime in the next few weeks. The repeater will be co-located with the 146.790 repeater on Sauratown Mountain. The repeater wll be digital mode only and will be connected to PRN full time on time slot 2.

Frequency: 442.6375
Offset: +5 MHz
ID: 313715
Color Code: 1
Local Talk Group: 27715 Time Slot: 1

The point-to-point wireless network link hardware is backordered and should be shipped in the next week or so. The repeater will be installed after the network connection is established on Sauratown Mountain.

The Connect Systems CS700 is a reasonably priced DMR/Analog HT.
http://www.connectsystems.com/products/top/radios%20CS700.htm

NC PRN Wide-Area Digital Amateur Radio Network
http://www.ncprn.net/

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03/23/2014
147.045
The main duplex noise problem was traced to the Kenwood TKR-720 repeater transmitter. The back-up repeater was installed. The 147.045 is back on-line. CTCSS decode/encode aren't working. The repeater is running carrier squelch and without CTCSS encode for now.

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03/14/2014
53.310
The power amplifier has been repaired and reinstalled.

The 6 meter Dominator antenna on Sauratown was in need of an overhaul. It has been removed and the spare Dominator installed.

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03/07/2014
53.310
The power amplifier has failed. The repeater is running low power. The amplifier has been removed and brought to the shop for repair.

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02/28/2014
53.310
The primary repeater has been taken out of service for a major
overhaul and has been moved to my shop in Tobaccoville. A
back-up single site repeater is in service on Sauratown Mountain.
All voting receivers are offline. I estimate three to four weeks to
complete the overhaul. Site noise is affecting the RX sensitivity. Not
much I can do about it.

147.045
The repeater has a new DB224E four bay dipole antenna. All of the
dipoles are pointed SSE toward Winston-Salem to maximize
coverage there. We located and eliminated several duplex noise
sources which were causing severe interference when the repeater
amplifier was on. Things are relatively quiet at the site for now so
the amplifier is online and the repeater is at full power. The
repeater seems stable and is in maintenance only mode for now.

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01/31/2014
The 53.990 repeater has been decommissioned and removed from Pops Peak, Fancy Gap, VA. The remote voting receiver for the 53.310 repeater has been reinstalled and is operational.

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01/31/2014
The nets are back online.

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01/22/2014
The repeater system is experiencing technical problems which are interfering with the nets. The nets are suspended until the problems can be resolved.

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01/09/2014
The 147.045 GE repeater has been replaced with a Kenwood repeater. There are Duplex noise problems at the site which will be addressed next Spring. The repeater will be running low power until then.

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12/28/2013
The 147.045 TX has problems and is off the link until it can be repaired.

Stations using the 444.750 repeater can no longer make outgoing IRLP and Echolink connections. Incoming connections are as before. The 6 meter repeaters are not affected by this change.

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12/21/2013
The temporary Workman antenna has been replaced with a Hustler G7-144. Hopefully the DB224 antenna will be available some time in early Spring. The G7 seems to be working well. I just don't know if the G7 can handle the weather on Sauratown.

An intermittent problem in the repeater receiver which caused low sensitivity has been found and repaired. Repeater RX coverage is much improved.

N4TZD and I spent several hours on Sauratown Mountain installing the link radio and tuning up the repeater.

The 147.045 is on the network full time.

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12/15/2013
Hi all.

The 147.045 and 146.79 repeaters are joining the W4SNA repeater system. Both repeaters are located on Sauratown Mountain. The repeaters are on the air. PL tones will not change.

The 147.045 was moved from Fancy Gap to Sauratown Mountain a couple of weeks ago. The 147.045 will be full time linked to the network. The 147.045 is on a temporary antenna. Coverage isn't what it should be. The DB224 antenna that goes with the repeater is still on the tower on Pops Peak. Most likely it will be Spring before the DB224 is relocated to Sauratown. The antenna pattern will be directional to the South after the DB224 is installed. I'm working on a Kenwood based repeater to replace the existing 147.045 hardware.

The 146.79 will eventually have network capabilities but normally will be run as a stand-alone repeater.

Of course plans are subject to change.

147.045 +600 kHz offset PL 103.5
146.790 -600 kHz offset PL 107.2

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12/10/2013
The 53.990 PA is out of service. The repeater is running exciter power only. Time to repair is unknown at this time.

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11/18/2013
IRLP simplex node 3569 is on the air. The node is open. No access code required. Node frequency 440.775 MHz with a PL of 100.0 Hz.

Outgoing Connections
IRLP- 4 digit node number
Echolink- # then Echolink node number
Disconnect- 73

PLEASE NOTE
This is not a repeater. Only incoming IRLP traffic is transmitted by the node on 440.775. Stations using the node must be aware that they might not be able to hear other stations using the node.

I will occasionally use the node to monitor nets and other activities not carried on the W4SNA repeater system.

I plan to upgrade the node antenna at a later date.

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11/12/2013
IRLP node 3569 is moving from Hillsville, VA to Tobaccoville. The node will be simplex on 440.775 MHz with a PL of 100.0 Hz. There are some technical issues to overcome before the node goes live. Also, the frequency is subject to change based on an activity survey in progress.

The node will be open to all. Coverage should reach 10 to maybe 15 miles from Tobaccoville for base stations.

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11/11/2013
53.310 is running reduced TX power. There was a cascading failure in the TX chain which took out the PA. The bad PA was replaced with a lower power spare.

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11/1/2013
After listening to the first give-away net it is obvious that the nets are going to run close to two hours. I have readjusted the automatic disconnect time to allow two hours for the nets.

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11/1/2013
The IRLP node is scheduled to automatically disconnect from the morning and Friday evening nets 1 1/2 hours after the nets start even if the net is still running. If you wait until the last minute to check in to the net you might be missed.

We switch to Eastern Standard Time this weekend. The IRLP node automatically connects to the morning net at 9:55 AM and disconnects at 11:30 AM. Starting Friday November 8 the node automatically connects to the evening net at 7:55 PM and disconnects at 9:30 PM.

This system will participate in the New Year's Eve World Wide QSO Party. The node will connect to the QSO Party reflector on December 31 at 5:30 AM EST just before New Zealand's midnight. Folks are encouraged to get on the air and make some contacts.

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10/31/2013
The 53.990 repeater on Pops Peak at Fancy Gap, VA is on the air. There are some technical issues forcing the repeater to run low power for the time being.

53.990 MHz, Offset: -1.0 MHz, PL: 100.0 Hz

The FNN group is holding their annual New Years Eve radio give-away again this year. Starting November 1, checking into the Friday Night Net and select Morning Nets enter you into the drawing. Information and rules can be found at http://fnnirlp.net/giveaways.html

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09/21/2013
Hi folks. I'm in the process of switching from the Yahoo Group to an email distribution list for repeater status updates. When the switch is complete I will lock the Group and leave it for reference purposes only.

Repeater status information will be posted on this page. Newest items will be added to the top of the list. Users will be notified of significant repeater system outages, changes and events via the email distribution list. Routine news and status info will be posted here only. I will work out how to handle comments from the group later.

Please send an email to w4sna "at" tobaccovilleweather.com with your Amateur Radio call as the subject if you want to join the new email distribution list .

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02/18/2012
I have coordinated a 6 meter repeater for Young Mountain in NW Rowan County near
Barber, NC and Cleveland, NC. The coordinated frequency is 53.950, offset of -1.0 MHz with a PL tone of 100.0 Hz. The repeater will be located at the Barber Junction Repeater Association 146.730 site. Here are the coordinates if you want to look it up on Google Earth.

LAT: 35.737713° LON: -80.647264°

The repeater will basically be the same hardware as the Sauratown 53.310 minus the remote receiver capabilities.

The repeater antenna is a DB Products DB212-4 four element folded dipole array with custom phasing harness. The antenna will be side mounted for omni directional pattern on the 100' Rohn 25 tower at the site. The center of the antenna will be located 412' above average terrain.

I am expecting 40+ mile mobile range. The repeater should provide good mobile coverage in Charlotte. The repeater will be linked full time to the Sauratown system.

Estimated on air date is late March or early April.

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