Monthly Archives: Oct 2016

Maintenance Hanskop 20161030

Posted on by

David (ZS1DDK), Andre (ZS1AN) and Jan (ZS1VDV) did maintenance on Hanskop.

Summary:
Removed UPS, replaced with battery and charger
Changed UHF repeater frequency (434.650 output/ 433.050 input)

Log:

Left Bellville 06:45.
Packed all equipment in Stellenbosch (07:45) (4 ammo crates, 2 x 15L storage boxes, 1 tool box(very heavy), Pelican case, comms test set, table and chair). (Takes about 1.5 hour to prep all equipment).
Collected battery and low drop out switch in Somerset West from ZS1V (08:00).
Collected key from ZS1YT (08:15).
Arrived on site at around 09:05. (15 degrees Celsius)

Unpacking

Unpacking

Removed faulty UPS (Battery banks is dead).
Installed new Victron Energy Charger.
Collect more equipment at N2 (Thank you Melissa (ZS1MEL) for driving from Stellenbosch).
Installed battery (donated by ZS1V).

Backup Battery

Backup Battery

Changed power wiring for new configuration.
Retuned UHF duplexer for new frequencies (434.650 output / 433.050 input).

Retuning Duplexer

Retuning Duplexer

Duplexer

Duplexer Results

Made changes to repeater configs.
Tested UHF repeater (1.5 SWR and 0.56uV sql)
Made changes to link controller.
Left site 14:23. (4 degrees Celsius)
Drop key at ZS1YT 15:15.
Unpack equipment in Stellenbosch 15:50.
Home in Bellville 16:30.

Repeater Status Report 20161018

Posted on by

Hi, folks!

First off, thanks to Jan for pointing out that I have fat fingers and that typing 156.650 when aiming for 145.650 doesn’t quite make the grade. 🙂

Secondly, and I only noticed this right now, I forgot to change the date on the top of the first page of the report from the 4th to the 11th! Nobody pointed that out – did anybody notice? 🙂

Lastly, I’ve been through this one with both pairs of spectacles on and it looks like I haven’t messed anything up… so enjoy! 🙂

wcrwg_status_report_20161018

Maintenance Hawequa 20161009

Posted on by

ZS1YT, ZS1VDV and ZR1SWB went to Hawequa to investigate some errors after big Eskom/power outages/instability the last few weeks.

Vehicles Parked

Vehicles Parked

Wellington view

ZS1VDV and ZR1SWB

The morning started at around 07:00 with packing all tools and equipment. Left Stellenbosch around 08:00. On site at around 08:45.

First checked all voltage levels. It was found that the Benton Charger again was off and not charging the battery. The charger was replaced by an 10A Victron Energy charger which was donated by ZS1FX.

The link controller opened, and no damage could be seen. The audio paths was traced and all seemed in order. A complete firmware reload and configuration reprogram was done. At a stage last week the controller was rebooted numerous times(by power outages/spikes) and this caused the configuration to go faulty.

Left for home around 10:15.

Home and unpacked by 11:30.