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+---- Thread: Kincardine Cross Band Repeater test (/showthread.php?tid=753)
Kincardine Cross Band Repeater test - Marvin VE3VCG - 2022-05-15
On Saturday May 14th between 10 and 12 noon I assisted Rob VE3PCP testing a VHF / UHF cross band repeater setup at the Kincardine administrative centre.
Kincardine is effectively located on sloping terrain which runs west down slope from Highway 21 to the lake-shore. This drop in elevation is sufficient to prevent signals from the Paisley repeater from getting into the downgrade areas of the city.
The former repeater on the Kincardine water tower has been removed and so is no longer a part of the local amateur radio emergency communications strategy. Because of this a new emergency communications strategy is being devised and tested.
Rob’s test of the cross band setup was a proof of concept to demonstrate how a simple cross band repeater located at the administrative offices could be used to provide access to GBT and OSR from those normally unavailable areas of Kincardine.
While the repeater was in operation on a mast attached to the utility trailer that is Rob’s mobile shack, I drove to various locations in Kincardine and did range testing. This test proved the concept nicely. I was able to talk to Rob at the administrative centre and successfully make other contacts via GBT and OSR.
The most distant contact was with Tom VA3TS at his home QTH in Shallow Lake. That contact occurred while I was roughly ten kilometers south of the Kincardine Administrative Centre and at a lower elevation. My UHF input to the repeater as 446.100. Tom’s reply via VHF though OSR was nearly full quieting. Approximate measured distance between locations is 66.8 Kilometers.
I’m confident that I could have easily extended the distance from the cross band repeater successfully while mobile and maintained reliable communications. Signal strength reports while I was mobile were consistently good.
The downside of this experiment is that it demonstrates how such a cross band setup would limit direct local communications. Without using a cross band radio local operators could not hear the VHF side of the repeater. Therefore monitoring local traffic would entail using 2 radio’s, one to transmit on UHF, one to listen on VHF. While this is workable it is also impractical.
There is of course a point to be made about using a simple VHF repeater to bridge the communications issues in Kincardine. This involves a more expansive and involved conversation which is beyond the scope of this article.
Work continues on developing workable solutions to provide functional, reliable community based emergency radio communications in Kincardine and the balance of Bruce County.
