VK3RSW installed

VK3RSW Mount Richmond 2m repeater now on air.

On October 15^th, after almost 4 years of planning, negotiations and testing, the VK3RSW 2m repeater at Mount Richmond, NW of Portland, has been finally commissioned. With a RF link to The Bluff, the SE network has now been greatly expanded to include the coastal towns of Portland & Port Fairy, and inland to Heywood and Hamilton. This now extends the coverage area to over 400km from end to end.

The following are some of those that have contributed to this project.

• Peter     VK5BE                 Project leader
• Nick       VK5NJS                 Steelwork, fabrication, welding and painting
• Brian     VK5VI                   Assembly of 2m repeater and link equipment
• John      VK5DJ                   Repeater controller and cavity tuning
• Steve    VK3ZAZ                Donation of stacked dipole antenna
• Leith     VK5FLAR             Donation of link yagi antenna
• Owen    VK5HOS               Donation of solar panels and batteries
• Ron        VK5AKJ                Donation of solar controller
• James   VK3JBM               IT support
• Tim         VK3TIM               Site coordinator

Also, we wish to thank the following businesses

• Multi-Metals for supplying all the steelwork
• Aussie Broadband for the donation of the low loss coaxial cable
• Baxter Hire for the use of their cherry-picker

Early signal reports indicate that the coverage has exceeded expectation.

We now look forward to an increase in traffic on the expanded linked network.