VE7RVZ upgraded to heavy-duty gear

Posted in news; tagged with news, readiness

Technical volunteers switched VE7RVZ from the previous Yaesu System Fusion unit to a Motorola Quantar.

Quantar repeaters are more robust than DR-2Xs and fit as a suitable upgrade for long-term service.

On Friday, June 3, 2022, Dave VEYLTD, Anthony VE7XAK, and David VE7ET went to #5 Hall on Kerr and 54th to upgrade, inspect and test the 147.200 MHz repeater system. Everything went smoothly.

VE7RVZ is now running on the new Motorola Quantar at about 120 W on 147.200 MHz. The old Yaesu System Fusion DR-2X repeater continues serving on 443.725 MHz only. CTCSS 100.0 Hz for uplink and downlink. Now both repeaters can be used simultaneously.

Please report any issues, observed problems, to David VE7ET. We need to know if you find any interference or desensing on it. We intend to use the next few months for testing and optimizing the system and settings.

Please send any test results, problems observed, and odd and out of ordinary behaviour from this new repeater radio. Please email to share any of that info.

Follow-up

  1. The old 147.200 MHz repeater ran on a single unit with the UHF repeater – at the same time – sharing the same unit. It was dual band repeater that functioned as 2 repeaters across the two bands; with 2 receivers sharing 1 transmitter, limiting it to only repeat one side (A or B) at a time, rather than simultaneously.

  2. A Motorola Quantar high power repeater serves 147.200 MHz

  3. The original Yaesu repeater continues as the UHF repeater only.

  4. The VHF duplexer passed on both antennas without any problems.

  5. We are still noticing issues with receiver sensitivity. We tested the receiver sensitivity with field tests (way before June 3) on the old 147.200 MHz repeater and noticed that it had sub-par receive sensitivity. With the new repeater, it still remains subpar – which is quite puzzling, especially since the duplexer and the antenna system (including the same feedline and jumper) checked out. We tested for desensing and it’s minimal. We will continue to assess other local causes and optimize site performance. Noise sources around the site may be the problem.

  6. Users should take note of any difference in coverage between transmit and receive until we resolve the receiver issues.

  7. VECTOR intends to link VE7RVZ and VE7RVF in the future. Dave, Anthony, and David are continuing to plan for it.