Photo by Sam Sjogren WB6RJH.
With the CZU Lightning Complex Fire being 24% contained and the skies yet to show a reliable shade of blue, hams of the San Lorenzo Valley community have been using the club’s WR6AOK VHF repeater to coordinate emergency response activities.
Since the repeater seems to work effortlessly, we may be unaware of the round-the-year efforts of club members and others who help to ensure the reliability of this public resource.
- Thanks to the Technical Committee for constantly monitoring the health of the repeater’s systems and for maintaining them. Recently Sam WB6RJH led the effort to install a newly donated battery bank, which at least doubles the time that the repeater can function without PG&E power. Sometimes John AC6SL and Brad N6BHT will lug vintage RF equipment to the shack and check the quality of the repeater’s old electronics, and everyone monitors and attempts to find the source of the mysterious QRM that the reciever periodically detects. I’m not going to thank myself, but I’ll mention that as needed I will climb the tower while wearing my fall-arrest harness to perform desired changes to the antenna system or to repair or maintain the physical tower itself.
- Thanks to Club Members who help mow the weeds around the shack to keep it safe. In the past we have recruited volunteers, but more recently the club has been hiring a landscape maintenance team to perform these duties.
- Thanks to Graniterock who rents us the land that supports the tower and the shack, and who provides an electrical link for the PG&E power.
- Finally, thanks to all dues-paying Club Members who help fund this public resource.