So myself and a few other hams volunteer each year to lend a hand to a local motorcycle club that holds their enduro to raise funds for their club. Great fun and good operational experience. Runs two days as the second day is a smaller family event.
Anyway, we have use of a local 2 meter repeater at our disposal that covers a majority of the course very well. The only poor spot happens to be the area of the start/finish of the race. This is where race admin is, along with medical and law enforcement. Shadows have a hard time keeping up with their assignment and hitting the repeater with a hand-held.
This year we will try a cross-band repeater configuration where all members in the hole will use UHF to bounce back to the VHF repeater. This is what I built to try to ease the pain.
The lower section of the weather tight box contains an Alinco DR-635 dual bander. The reason we went with this radio is it very easy to operate and select cross-band repeat, and also it was on close out at HRO (#frugal). The bottom section also has a 20Ah battery and room to store coax and a hardware/tool pouch. The lid has the solar charge controller, a master switch to not only shut off the battery but the PV panel as well as so not to cook the charge controller. Also note a DC timer. Because we will not need to use the repeater at night and the whole thing draws just south of half an amp when on, the timer disconnects the radio between the hours of 9:00pm to 6:00am to conserve battery.
The solar panel (20 watt) and antenna coax are fed through a weather tight receptacle cover at the back of the box. The PV panel can also shield the entrance when propped up against the box if the weather looks inclement.
The antenna mast is a ten foot chunk of EMT. I store the antenna (a Diamond NR77HA) along with the base mount radials in the pipe. A dummy SO-239 with velcro attached keeps the antenna in place inside. Instead of guy lines, I'm using a concrete base kinda like what you'd see for a patio umbrella. The base antenna mount sits nicely with velcro to the lid of the hard case and the hose clamps are in the tool bag.
I intend for this to operate at low power (5 watts) on both bands. Will have to monitor the unit to see how bad the heat build-up gets with the cover closed. If need be, an exhaust fan is not out of the question but I'm trying to keep the penetrations at a minimum for now. The beta test is coming up soon.
Anyway, we have use of a local 2 meter repeater at our disposal that covers a majority of the course very well. The only poor spot happens to be the area of the start/finish of the race. This is where race admin is, along with medical and law enforcement. Shadows have a hard time keeping up with their assignment and hitting the repeater with a hand-held.
This year we will try a cross-band repeater configuration where all members in the hole will use UHF to bounce back to the VHF repeater. This is what I built to try to ease the pain.
The lower section of the weather tight box contains an Alinco DR-635 dual bander. The reason we went with this radio is it very easy to operate and select cross-band repeat, and also it was on close out at HRO (#frugal). The bottom section also has a 20Ah battery and room to store coax and a hardware/tool pouch. The lid has the solar charge controller, a master switch to not only shut off the battery but the PV panel as well as so not to cook the charge controller. Also note a DC timer. Because we will not need to use the repeater at night and the whole thing draws just south of half an amp when on, the timer disconnects the radio between the hours of 9:00pm to 6:00am to conserve battery.
The solar panel (20 watt) and antenna coax are fed through a weather tight receptacle cover at the back of the box. The PV panel can also shield the entrance when propped up against the box if the weather looks inclement.
The antenna mast is a ten foot chunk of EMT. I store the antenna (a Diamond NR77HA) along with the base mount radials in the pipe. A dummy SO-239 with velcro attached keeps the antenna in place inside. Instead of guy lines, I'm using a concrete base kinda like what you'd see for a patio umbrella. The base antenna mount sits nicely with velcro to the lid of the hard case and the hose clamps are in the tool bag.
I intend for this to operate at low power (5 watts) on both bands. Will have to monitor the unit to see how bad the heat build-up gets with the cover closed. If need be, an exhaust fan is not out of the question but I'm trying to keep the penetrations at a minimum for now. The beta test is coming up soon.
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