Anderson Repeater Club

Latest News

Latest counts for ARC website:

Month	Unique Visitors	Number of Visits	Pages
January	457	815	1488
February	413	769	1582
March	433	977	2127
April	397	901	1484
May	412	836	1518
June	371	773	1463

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On Monday, June 29, the Mobile Communications Unit was dispatched to a Madison County Health Department "Point-of-Distribution" Exercise at the 4H Fairground in Alexandria. The purpose of the exercise was to determine how quickly the entire facility could be set up and operational for the distribution of Pandemic Flu medicines. This exercise was per the Operational Procedure developed by the Health Department and tested a number of times over the last year in both Table-top and functional exercises.

The MCU was dispatched and made fully operational at the scene as a supporting resource. We made radio contact with the State EOC in Indianapolis, The Madison County Sheriff Department, Indiana State Police at the Pendleton Post, Alexandria Fire Department, Alexandria Police department, and the Madison County Highway Department. We also dispatched our Operations Division personnel to the scene. Each of these agencies have a responsibility when this POD is established at the Fairgrounds building. On-scene we had members of the Health Department, Madison Co. EMA, Indiana State Dept. of Homeland Security and the Alexandria Fire Department. The other agencies were not requested to actually have personnel at the building.

As expected it took one hour from our notification to being fully (communications) operational at the scene. This is typical for a "non-Signal 10" run for the MCU. It takes about 10 minutes to get the MCU situated, leveled, slide-out, security barrier, all radios on, computers fired up etc. once we arrive at the scene.

For this exercise we did not request additional RACES Communications Division personnel. Had this been an actual event where the duration was long we would have requested added help and established an around-the-clock staffing calendar. Even though the "MCU Team" members hold primary responsibility for the MCU we count upon the remaining Communications Division members to provide the added experienced communicator skills as needed.

Steve Riley
Director of Communications

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On 06/11/09 a severe thunderstorm hit the Pendleton area. Paul Hughes KC9BKZ took some pictures of damage in the area around his home.
Click here to see some pictures from that storm.

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On 06/10/09 there was an anhydrous ammonia spill south of Pendleton at 900S and 300W. Several agencies were on scene including Pendleton Fire, Hazmat, Ingalls Fire and Richland Township Decon Team.
Click here to see a picture from that spill.

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The NOAA weather radio is down again. I have no control of this radio. The signal is provided by a third party source. I have tried to contact him but have had no success. I don't know when the signal will be restored. Just check it out and see if it has started working again. I will let you knowwhen I have more information. Thank You. - webmaster

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On 05/21/09 there was a hydrochloric acid spill at the Brown Swimming Pool in Pendleton. The hazmat team was called in to cleanup the spill. Several other agencies also responded including MCEMA Hazmat, Richland Township Decontamination Team, MCEMA OPS, Pendleton Fire and Pendleton Police. Several state agencies also responded. Click on link below to see some pictures of the incident.
This shows that we always need to be prepared. If the situation had been worse the MCU and communication personnel could have been requested.
Click here to see some pictures from that spill.

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On 04/18/09 Chesterfield Fire Department dedicated their new tanker, rescue truck, and ladder truck.
Click here to see some pictures from that dedication.

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The Anderson Repeater Club applied for and was assigned the call W9OBH. This call belonged to Burr Stephens and was done in recognition of the major contributions he was responsible for.
Click here to see the plaque honoring Burr Stephens.
Below is an email we recieved from Burr's daughter.
Hello everyone.

Just a short and gracious thank you from Burr's daughter.

My mom informed me of your choice to use Dad's call letters for the club. This is a very nice gesture and we feel very honored. Dad would be pleased.

I grew up at many of the repeater club meetings in Lynville(Linwood) with my dad and have many wonderful memories. I never thought about it, but I always felt so safe with the bunch of guys my dad chose to hang around with. Often when I think of him, the repeater club and all the call letters I knew by heart are in those memories. His time with the club was a time filled with zest and enthuesiasm. He loved being a ham.

Thank you again, and please tell everone thank you from my entire family.

Barbara Basalyga

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To see Stormnet 2009 information, Including spotters locations, Madison County Stormnet Information, and logs: Click here for more information on Stormnet

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With spring coming on and the possiblity of flooding, below is a list of the stream measurement locations in our area.
Just click on the name of the one you are interested in. A new page will open with a lot of information about that location.

Muncie

Edgewater Park

Raible Ave.

Noblesville

Killbuck Creek at Scatterfield Rd.

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Steve Riley WA9CWE has submitted an article on the history of the Madison County Skywarn/Stormnet Orginaztion. Take a look an see the history of this group.
Click here to see a history for Madison County Skywarn/Stormnet.

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There is now a page of archived articles. Some of the older articles from the Latest News section have been moved there to make them accessible when you want to go back and read them. Just go to the Anderson Repeater Club Pages dropdown menu and click on the Archived Articles link.

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Steve Riley has submitted the 2008 Indiana Races Standards and Protocols. Please read to be aware of them.
Click Here to read about the 2008 Standards and Protcols

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The Department of Homeland Security has released it's National Emergency Communications Plan. If you would like to read it,
Click Here to read the DHS Emergency Communications Plan.

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The National Hurricane Center has been added to the Weather drop down menu and also the Links Page. Check it out if you want to follow the information about current conditions.

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There is now a link on the links page with information, maps, and log sheets for net control stations. It is down near the bottom of the links. Look for the link: Net Control Information

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About the Anderson Repeater Club

The Club began on February 14, 1970 with a meeting of about a dozen interested hams. A Constitution and by-laws was written becoming the basis for the Articles of Incorporation that officially made the club a Not-For-Profit Corporation on November 17, 1971. Early meetings were held at the Naval Reserve building in north Anderson, and at the Madison County Courthouse. Later regular meetings were held at the Emergency management EOC, alternating with the RACES meetings every other month.

The founding club members were: WB9AZY, WA9BHV, W9CSI, W9CVD, K9CWA, WA9CWE, K9FFV, WA9HKO, WA9JWL, W9OBH, K9RPZ, WA9STB, K9TZJ, WA9AWW, and WN9WOV. These amateurs were the most active in the two meter “FM” communications mode becoming popular in the ham community at that time.

The first repeater, an old Motorola commercial tube unit, operated with the club call WA9WVC, and was on 146.340/.760 from the shack of W9OBH (on the by-pass near White River). In October, 1971, the frequency was changed to the 146.220/146.820 repeater pair. The next repeater site was a “split site” with the receiver on the Tower Apartment building and the transmitter on the Anderson City Hall with the two units connected by telephone lines. The system was consolidated at the new First Savings and Loan building in July, 1972, using separate antennas on the tower for the receiver and transmitter. In late 1972 the RF package was updated to a Motorola Motran receiver and transmitter. In the spring of 1973 homemade duplexers were installed allowing the use of the top antenna only and the ability to switch to the lower antenna to eliminate problems with rain static. In November, 1973, the repeater license WR9ACI was received. This call was used until late 1978 when repeater calls were no longer required and trustee calls became the repeater ID. A Micro-Security MS-101 microprocessor controller was added in late 1981 replacing the discrete component RTL/TTL controller. In July, 1984, a switchable receiver preamp was added. A new RF package, a GE MASTR II repeater was purchased by EMA and installed in the fall of 1986. In April, 1988, an RC-85 programmable microprocessor control package was installed. A CAT1000 controller was installed in January, 1999, to again update the control package. The RF package was moved to the building Penthouse in December, 2000 and new 7/8 inch hardline installed. A backup antenna was also installed on the sign. In September, 2001 the RF package was replaced with a Kenwood TKR-750, The CAT1000 controller was interfaced and provisions were made to switch between the upper and lower antenna remotely.

In January, 1978, the 147.690/.090 repeater went on the air with WB9ZJR the first Trustee. In late 1978, the club call signs were no longer required, and the trustee call sign became the repeater call. In 1980 the .09 repeater was relocated to the WLHN tower site, and in November, 1981 it was moved to the Linwood EOC 90 foot tower where it remains today. The RF package was a Motorola Motran with a home brew control packaged to make the repeater portable. In April, 1988, a Micro-Security microprocessor controller was installed and the repeater made permanent at that location. In February, 1997, a GE MASTR II RF package was installed. In the summer of 1997 a new antenna and ½ inch hardline was installed for this repeater. In January, 2000 a Kenwood TKR-720 repeater package was installed still using the Micro-Security controller. In April, 2003, Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) was added to the repeater. This required a computer interface, but eliminated the need for a separate repeater controller. This capability increased the use of the repeater and enabled users to talk around the world from a handheld radio. In May, 2005, a lightning strike damaged the RF package and a new TKR-750 repeater was purchased. Utilizing the internal controller and the (2) computers for the IRLP and the Weather Station the repeater provides full capability of a conventional repeater, an IRLP node and a reporting weather station.

The Club membership increased steadily over the years from an initial 17 members in 1970 to a high of 77 in 1994 (our 25th year). The club has been an ARRL Affiliated Club for most of its existence and a member of the Indiana Repeater Council and Indiana Radio Club Council.

The Tone Alert boards for notifying communications members were designed and implemented in late 1974. The tone was automatically generated by the Micro-Security controller upon Control Operator command. This function was not available in the RC-85 control, but is again available on the CAT1000. This feature continues to support the strong public service focus of the Anderson Repeater Club.

A Davis Weather station was added to the 147.090 repeater station in 2004 utilizing the capabilities of the IRLP computer and internet connection. This system was upgraded to include a number of additional weather sensors in 2005.

Stormnet	NODE 4834	UHF
	IRLP PL 110.9