Montana's Ham Radio Forum

Howdy gang,

I just came down from Mac Donald Pass with Tom (WR7AGT) and Mike (KB8ML) where the 147.100 repeater was taken off the air. The repeater/cans/antennas are in storage next to the !46.920 repeater/cans/antennas from University Mountain that was taken down a while back.

It was a wonderful view from the top of Mac Donald Pass in all directions and just another fun day with great friends.

Due to very little usage of the two VHF repeaters, Tom decided to take them off the air in favor of the linked UHF system (Lookout Pass to Missoula, to Mac Donald Pass, to Boulder, to Toston, and finally Badger Pass near Dillion).

Tom Gasta's Amateur Radio Web Page: http://www.macpassradio.com/mprg/

Bill K7MT

Howdy Gang, today Tom (WR7AGT) and I went to the MacPas repeater site to check out the coax/low power 25 147.100 repeater. All is looking good and Tom has the 147.100 analog repeater back on the air. It will be replaced with a Yaesu 25 watt analog/digital repeater in the near future and will be hooked to the Yaesu Wires system via the internet. Mike (KB8ML) from Butte is setting up the computer, repeater, and wires for the new analog/digital repeater. There are a few of the Yaesu analog/digital repeaters around Montana and if all works out they will be linked with the Yaesu Wires system which is similar to Echo Link..

I will update this memo when the Yaesu is operational.

Cheers Bill K7MT GEEHAW !!

Hi Bill, we have the Yaesu Fusion repeater operating here in Great Falls on the 444.35 temporarily. It will be on 147.84\24 when all of the equipment is gathered. It too will be on the Wires system when fully functional. More updates to follow.

Hi Jim and hi to Wanda,

Excellent... I think Rick KB7KB also has one if I remember correctly. Now I have to think about a new APRS radio and with this digital being added to the mix, I just might have to look at the Yaesu Dual Band 400 radio with APRS/GPS/Digital.

Cheers Bill GEEHAW !!!

Howdy gang from the Cape Horn Fire near Bayview, Idaho !!

Mike and Tom are planning on installing the 147.100 Yaesu digital/analog repeater this week on Mac Donald Pass west of Helena, Mt. I am looking forward trying out the digital later this fall.

Cheers Bill K7MT

I had a nice lunch at Chili's with Tom WR7AGT yesterday. Tom said the MacPass Yaesu Repeater on 147.100 is on the air in analog mode and connected to WIRES Yaesu is working on getting Analog, Digital, and WIRES all to work together and indicated it should be by the end of this year. I am presently in Billings on the fuel truck chasing helicopters and will try to test out the WIRES connection when I get home..

Hope everyone is having a safe summer.

Cheers Bill

Howdy gang,

Bill K7MT. Mike KB8ML and Rick KB7KB have their Yaesu Repeaters linked via the WiresX system. Mike mentioned there were several WiresX registered in Montana so he said it was ok to post the information in hopes of having others connect to the Montana conference in Helena. Mike said only the analog is currently working and that Yaesu is working on firmware updates to activate all the Wires X Digital features. Woo Hoo !!

Here is information Mike passed on to me...

The WIRES-X conference server at Mac Pass is node number 21415 and its name is MONTANA.
It is open to the world, there are no restrictions on who can connect.

Cheers Bill

The Great Falls (AA7GS) Yaesu digital repeater will be going online in one ATU (Amateur Time unit) or so. We have most all of the components and will be placing the repeater on 147.84\24. It will be located in the Black Eagle repeater site where the current 147.90\30 - 444.350 Uhf repeaters are located. Those repeaters will be moving to AF7BA's QTH north of Great Falls Which should extend the range of both repeaters. While this happens we still need to make a trip to Sweetgrass and Highwood Baldy before the snow flies too. So Stay tuned!

Hi all, today we moved the 147.30 and 444.350 repeaters to their new location north of Great Falls at AF7BA's QTH. The IRLP is not operational yet however it should be before too long. We need to make some network changes with the ISP. We also installed the digital repeater 147.24 at the Black Eagle site (previous home of the 147.30 repeater). The 147.24 repeater has some issues it has a receiver sensitivity problem, either the duplexers or the receiver itself. I will check the situation out this weekend and see whats up there!