From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Tommy Brooks via groups.io <kg5zsu@...>
Sent: Thursday, December 9, 2021 10:12:03 AM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [w5etx] TARC Repeaters

Thomas,

Thank you for the information. That's just what I was looking for, and I think its good for each of us to understand the capabilities.


73 de KG5ZSU



-------- Original Message --------
On Dec 8, 2021, 7:13 PM, Thomas Moss < thomasmoss@...> wrote:

Since we are on the W5ETX this maybe a good opportunity to inform the group on what capabilities we have.?

These are linked repeaters and can be easily heard or used from areas around Tyler.

Tyler 145.210 and the UHF link hub repeater is at the UT Health hospital downtown currently around 200 feet AGL. It is on a battery UPS backed up by a VERY well maintained generator that serves the hospital.?

Edom (West side of Tyler) 146.62 is at a tower site maintained by the county with S.O. and VFD repeaters with a generator.

Rusk (South of Tyler) 146.92 on hill behind rusk state hospital. Has battery backup and would go offline in extended outage.

Hawkins 147.24 (North Tyler) is located at 750 feet, but has a definite null towards Tyler. On generator.

Gilmer 147.38 (N E Tyler) is at 400feet on a hill and covers from Tyler to Mt. Pleasant. On a Generator.

Many of these repeaters have overlapping coverage around the Tyler area in the event of a single site failure.

The details for each of these repeaters and other repeaters in the linked network are listed under "systems" on the website.

Since this was a topic of interest, I just wanted to point out some of the capabilities and long term realiability that we have in an extended emergency situation.

The TARC repeaters have most of theTyler traffic and great coverage so most people become familiar with them.

Let me know if there are further questions.?

73 Thomas KC5KCT

On Wed, Dec 8, 2021, 2:24 PM Tommy Brooks via <kg5zsu=[email protected]> wrote:

Oh yeah, the FAA won't like that. Interesting thought! Besides, who knows what else the outage has affected.


As for the number of repeaters near by, I would agree, there are a lot. But, I wonder how many have power sources that don't need fuel, or that are vulnerable to a mishap like the site under consideration. My point was not that we need more repeaters (as you just showed is not needed), or that everything is off line (because it isn't), but that power supplies for various parts of the system should be reconsidered and evaluated to provide a level of redundancy and security in the event that generators fail, the mains get taken out by a backhoe or ice storm, or if severe WX keeps any one "small" problem active for an extended duration.
I'm not a repeater trusty or manager, so I just wanted to make the suggestion, knowing that there may be backups in place. I don't know. However, I'm a firm believer that when something goes off line, everything needs checked to reduce the probability of it happening again.

Hopefully the tower company will get their tails in line and fix the problem soon.

73 folks,
Tommy Brooks--KG5ZSU


-------- Original Message --------
On Dec 8, 2021, 1:36 PM, Michael Fowler < michael@...> wrote:

I gotta say we are repeater plentiful in this region. In an actual EMCOMM event, the entire ETECS network is online among other personal/private repeaters that are available for use. I also second the fact that one side of the split is online when programmed into a radio correctly.?

Honestly the gross incompetence of the tower company may get them in trouble at this point. I doubt the FAA will be taking it lightly that the tower has been without beacons/lighting for this long.?