Minuteman Repeater Association

Boxborough

145.43

The formerly Belmont repeater is at a temporary location in Boxborough. It will remain there until a new site is found in Belmont. This repeater is on temporary antennas (separate transmit and receive) and the power amp is disabled, so it is running about 6W. Its range is extremely limited. There is currently no link antenna, so the repeater is not linkable. In the next month or some, improvements will be made to the antenna system which may improve performance somewhat and allow for linking.

When we lost the Belmont site in fall 2023, the repeater was brought to the garage of K1IW where it was rebuilt. It now consists of a Kenwood NXR-710 repeater and SCOM controller. The original VOCOM amplifier is still part of the mix as well at the GM300 link radio. Whether or not the DARI box will continue to be on Belmont is being discussed. Photos will be available soon.

HISTORY

The Belmont repeater was originally built and operated by WA1TFJ & WA1RTT in the 1980's. This equipment ran for over twenty years, but began to falter in the early 2000's. In 2004, the Crocker Public Service Group took over maintenance of the equipment and later that year replaced the Vertex-Standard repeater with Motorola transceivers and an Arcom controller. In the photo to the left, you can see the older Vertex repeater which is no longer functional. The Motorola equipment, controlled by an Arcom RC-210 sits on top of it. The 200W Vocom paging amplifier (located below the Vertex repeater) is still running strong.

CPSG dissolved on November 27, 2007 and became part of MMRA. MMRA continued to operate this repeater standalone with the original trustee's callsign WA1RTT until Larry's passing in May 2012. At that time, the coordination was transferred to the club callsign W1MRA. In September 2013, MMRA purchased the Vocom amplifier, duplexers, preselectors, and repeater cabinet from Larry's estate. MMRA now owns the entire repeater with the exception of the feedline, tower, and antenna.

The second version of the Belmont repeater was built by Bob, K1IW in August, 2019. Is was installed in September 2019.

Most of the components of the earlier version were re-racked in a Mastr II cabinet. A fully functional link radio was added, as well as a Cat CL-100 linking interface provided by the Broadcast Employees Amateur Radio Society (BEARS). The ARCOM RC210 controller was replaced with an SCOM product.

The repeater is shown on the right. At the top of the unit is the 200W VoCom power amp. Below it is the SCOM 7330 repeater controller. Below and to the left are two Motorola M120 transceivers, which serve as (from top to bottom) the 145.43 exciter and 144.83 receiver. To the right you see the CL100 interface and Motorol GM300 which serves as the link radio. The whole assembly is powered by an Astron SS-50M power supply at the bottom of the rack.

The third version of 145.43 was full-time linked to the DARI network, which has linked repeaters in the New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC metro areas, Connecticut, Orlando Florida, and Los Angeles and San Francisco California. More info on the BEARS network can be found here.

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When we lost the Belmont site in fall 2023, the repeater was brought to the garage of K1IW where it was rebuilt. It now consists of a Kenwood NXR-710 repeater and SCOM controller. The original VOCOM amplifier is still part of the mix as well at the GM300 link radio. Whether or not the DARI box will continue to be on Belmont is being discussed. Photos will be available soon.
HISTORY
	The Belmont repeater was originally built and operated by WA1TFJ & WA1RTT in the 1980's. This equipment ran for over twenty years, but began to falter in the early 2000's. In 2004, the Crocker Public Service Group took over maintenance of the equipment and later that year replaced the Vertex-Standard repeater with Motorola transceivers and an Arcom controller. In the photo to the left, you can see the older Vertex repeater which is no longer functional. The Motorola equipment, controlled by an Arcom RC-210 sits on top of it. The 200W Vocom paging amplifier (located below the Vertex repeater) is still running strong.
CPSG dissolved on November 27, 2007 and became part of MMRA. MMRA continued to operate this repeater standalone with the original trustee's callsign WA1RTT until Larry's passing in May 2012. At that time, the coordination was transferred to the club callsign W1MRA. In September 2013, MMRA purchased the Vocom amplifier, duplexers, preselectors, and repeater cabinet from Larry's estate. MMRA now owns the entire repeater with the exception of the feedline, tower, and antenna.
	The second version of the Belmont repeater was built by Bob, K1IW in August, 2019. Is was installed in September 2019. Most of the components of the earlier version were re-racked in a Mastr II cabinet. A fully functional link radio was added, as well as a Cat CL-100 linking interface provided by the Broadcast Employees Amateur Radio Society (BEARS). The ARCOM RC210 controller was replaced with an SCOM product. The repeater is shown on the right. At the top of the unit is the 200W VoCom power amp. Below it is the SCOM 7330 repeater controller. Below and to the left are two Motorola M120 transceivers, which serve as (from top to bottom) the 145.43 exciter and 144.83 receiver. To the right you see the CL100 interface and Motorol GM300 which serves as the link radio. The whole assembly is powered by an Astron SS-50M power supply at the bottom of the rack. The third version of 145.43 was full-time linked to the DARI network, which has linked repeaters in the New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC metro areas, Connecticut, Orlando Florida, and Los Angeles and San Francisco California. More info on the BEARS network can be found here.