KAGE Repeater Site Maintenance and Changelog
From WARCWiki
05/19/2008
Jim N9MFI and I made a trip to the KAGE site Monday afternoon with Gary De Jarlais of La Crescent Erection to look at the tower climbing part of the project. Gary was very helpful.
He suggested that we check heliax condition before changing it out. If we want to upgrade for the sake of upgrade, that's one thing. But if we are concerned about aging or condition, he suggested we first check the feed line/antenna system with a RF wattmeter (power in/power out) or he could test the feed line and antenna separately with an Aritsu Cable & Antenna Analyzer ($70 fee to come back for the Aritsu test). He said that heliax should have an almost indefinite life unless water got into it or it was physically damaged.
He assessed the heliax length and came up with a figure a little longer than Jim and I had estimated--195 to 200 feet total length. I will update the spreadsheet. With copper prices jumping so much, Gay warned us about keeping close track of cost estimates for the project.
He made let us know about some other cost items--hoisting grip, feedline grounding kits, feedline ties, etc., and he made some recommendations. He told us where we can buy these direct if we wish.
He also made some suggestions about commercial grade antennas and gave me a Hutton catalog with commercial equipment. I haven't had an opportunity to examine it yet.
He examined the antenna mount with binoculars. It looked OK, but at that distance, it is hard to tell. His experience is that commercial mounts are generally plated steel and hold up quite well. Maybe this is an area where we send "one of our own" up the tower to examine the antenna mount and stabilizer early in the project.
Finally, on the tower work itself (remove old feedline, antenna, miscellaneous related items & install new feedline, antenna, grounding kits, ties) he quoted a price considerably less than the original $1,000 estimate provided we would handle the ground crew support--tag lines, etc. He would train the ground crew regarding good practices as necessary. He estimated one day of time and indicated that his price would be fixed--any additional time within the discussed scope of the project would be absorbed by him.
Jim and I agreed that we should explore the possibility of testing the feedline--or feedline and antenna--early on to see if its condition warrants replacement of the feedline or are we changing it for the upgrade only.
04/04/2008
Jim N9MFI and Len KC0RSX went to the site to collect details regarding the equipment at the site as part of the KAGE site club equipment upgrade. Jim took a number of photos of the rack and installed equipment. We will attempt to upload some of the better pictures to the club Photo Gallery. The details of equipment ID are in the upgrade project proposal and cost estimate spreadsheet.
Equipment seemed to be operating well--no issues observed.
