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On Tuesday 22/12/15 4 persons made the trip to St Valentines Peak. Those persons being Graeme and John Rand, the helicopter pilot David, and myself.
The purpose of the trip was to investigate the fault with the 70MHz Forestry system. I was invited along on the trip to assist with that, and also fly my equipment to site.
My equipment consisted the VK7RVP 6 metre repeater, the 2 metre antenna array, power divider, duplexer and some Heliax, and the 70cm dipole array.
Initial tests were made on the Forestry system, and it was found that a significant voltage drop was in the power supply cabling. The cause was a high resistance joint which was quickly and easily repaired.
While Graeme was doing some tests and alignments on the system, John offered to help with anything that needed to be done outside. I suggested that he could help mount the 6m dipole, and he gladly accepted.
While John assembled the boom clamps onto the tower, I assembled the dipole, with the help of the pilot. Timing was good, and just as I finished the dipole, John was ready to accept it.
I assisted with the installation of the dipole from the ground.
Shortly after, the antenna was ready to be tested. Graeme used his Anritsu Site Master to check it, and it was found to be excellent. John proceeded to seal the connector and tie the cable off.
The home made rack frame was slightly too narrow to accept the converted Unilab repeater, so some modifications were necessary to let it fit. Luckily Graeme had his cordless angle grinder and offered to do the modifications for me.
With the mods done, the repeater and duplexer could be mounted, cabled and powered up. I proceeded to do that work, with some help from the pilot.
With everything in place, it was time to power it up.. It works!
Some photos,
We were lucky enough to be graced with the presence of a Wedge-tailed Eagle. I think he was a little envious that our wings were bigger than his. :)
Special thanks must go to Graeme and John. I could have done it myself, but it would have meant another trip back to site to do the installation at a later date, and that means at least a 2km walk, carrying tools and other gear.