The KD2SL 6m repeater! It takes up very little space, but packs a big punch on the monster antenna!
There has been a lot of activity on the first day of repeater operation. Thanks to everyone who has given it a try! Remember to carefully set up your transmit shift, and the tone:
- Dial in the receive frequency first: 53.670 MHz.
- Turn on the “-” repeater shift.
- Make sure the repeater offset is 1.000 MHz.
- Enable the tone on transmit. Usually your radio will show a “T” or something similar when transmit tone is enabled.
- Select the tone frequency: 103.5 Hz (consult your radio’s manual).
- When you transmit, make sure your display shows 52.670 MHz.
This repeater is on the air for ALL hams to enjoy, and ragchew across all of upstate NY and bordering states/countries. I am open to the idea of organized nets on the repeater, and will consider them once we’ve had a chance to get used to the coverage area and usage patterns.
I thought I found the source of the intermittent static, but it still pops in occasionally. I’m confident we’ll find and eliminate it.
Edit (May 15, 2012): The crackle is caused by the pigtail between the SO-239 receiver input on the back panel, and the RCA jack on the receiver. It will be an easy fix.
Edit (May 18, 2012): Ha! Nothing is that simple! See the “Early Adjustments” post above.
Thanks for all your signal reports. Keep ’em coming!
The KD2SL Repeaters - Syracuse, NY 
Congrats on your project! In the Boston area we did something a tad different. I went to Larcan TX svhool in Canada and stumbled on an amazing nugget. The low-split solid-state PA’s were quite broadband to the point of wasily working down to 6M.
At the time of decommissioning, as Chief Engineer of WCVB-TV (ch5), we arranged to have the 1kW PA’s of our 44kW Larcan trasmitter donated to a local repeater club… MANY PA’S. Some PA’s were sold as a fundraiser, others were placed into LOCAL 6M repeater service. One 6M repeater used a problematic 1/4kW tube-type PA so the club was extatic to receive a solid-state, high power PA. Once installed, the only problems to date have been a blown fuse and a blown dummy load. Yes, the club underestimated the actual power that these buggers could put out with so little drive.
Many of these Boston PA’s are now in operation nationwide. They are also great for burning a hole in the ionisphere…