• Controller: Hamtronics COR-4, draws only 3.5 ma
• DTMF controller: Norcomm NC-401B
• Several Motorola receiver modules, draw only 13.5 ma
• Several Motorola transmitter/exciter modules;
• Available modules are for 6m, 2m, and 440 mHz.

• 6m J-Pole. Works great, but not "mountain rated."
• We are working on offset dipoles and bazookas. Lotsa fun!
• The antenna must withstand lots of ice and wind!

Notes by Ramon, AL7X:

There are several ideas on how to do this repeater. The first is to do it conventionally; ie, a repeater rf unit, duplexer, antenna, battery bank, solar panels, and a building or enclosure.

The second idea is similar, but with a separate receive antenna. This antenna would connect by coax cable to the rf unit. A preamp mounted on the antenna with power fed up the coax would overcome the long coax run. A cavity filter at the transmitter, and possibly one at the receiver may be needed. At 500 kHz separation I have been told the horizontal distance needed would be a mile! I have high hopes for this idea with a wider frequency spread, like 1.7 mHz, and a lesser physical distance. For this type of run, inexpensive, double-shielded CATV 75 ohm cable is fine.

The third idea, and the one I am most actively developing now, is to use a split site.   This would require a 6m receiver with UHF transmitter at site 1, and a UHF receiver and 6m transmitter at site 2. The UHF transmitter would run very low power, perhaps only 50 mw since it only has to reach the second site in line-of-sight. The horizontal separation could be adjusted as needed, and with some luck a 500 kHz split may work out. There would be no duplexers, cavities or any complications.

Apparently, using the MT500 modules above, a single 8D battery would power the UHF transmitting site for over a year. A cheap, self regulating solar panel would freshen up the battery in the summer. The site containing the 6m transmitter would be much more power hungry, depending on activity.

The site for this repeater has not been settled. For sure it will be "cooked" in the local area for a while. Helicopter-only mountaintops are very costly to build on and service. Costs rapidly escalate when 6m cavity duplexers are involved. RAM, unlike SPARC, does not have unlimited funds, therefore I favor a much more conservative approach that will be economical to put up.

Another advantage of a less ambitious mountain site is that the propagation on 6m might make such a fancy location unnecessary. From what documentation and articles there are out there concerning 6m repeaters, they all have fantastic range, usually double the distance and much better at filling in the valleys as compared to 2-meters. Having been raised using 2-meters, I am somewhat skeptical of these claims, nevertheless that is what they say out there.

Another consideration is linking. By this means the user of the downtown 2m RAM repeater can also transmit via the 6m repeater. This would allow a Nome person to use commonplace, garden-variety HT or mobile and be able to reach distances that only a 6m unit can provide. Marty favors a "standalone" repeater, his reasoning being that if linked it will be a disincentive to get 6m gear. Of course, if a linking unit is installed, it can always be turned off ... but at this time, nothing has been decided, obviously, as we are still time away from being on the air on 6-meters.