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RV63 - Out 145.7875 MHz - In 145.1875 MHz - 103.5 Hz ctcss (G).


GB3JB is funded solely by donations from its' users and supporters. There is no club or group to join and no annual membership fee. We rely totally on your good will.

The system is located in South Wiltshire, in IO81vc, and provides coverage across South Wiltshire, South Somerset and North Dorset, with specific areas such as the City of Salisbury, Salisbury Plain, the Blackmore Vale and Cranborne Chase being well within its range. Coverage also extends, for fixed stations, across most of central and parts of North Wiltshire, Southern Dorset and West Hampshire, plus parts of North and West Somerset. See coverage map.

GB3JB is an analogue voice repeater, with no internet linking, simple intuitive logic and no bells or whistles. The beacon sends callsign and locator. The invitation to transmit is a single dit.

To access the repeater, users must continually transmit a 103.5 Hz ctcss tone. There is NO 1750 hz tone burst capability.

The system timeout has been reduced to 3 minutes, so please set your rigs' TOT accordingly.

The simple rules for using GB3JB ....

(1) GB3JB is available for ALL Licensed Radio Amateurs to use, be they 'newly licensed' or an 'old timer'.

(2) All users of GB3JB are expected to operate their station within the terms of their specific licence conditions and restrictions.

(3) When in QSO, please wait for the invitation to transmit (a single dit), and always leave a pause between overs' - always give others a chance to call-in.

(4) Please use good operating practices and procedures. Mobiles have priority. Remember, if a station calls in, during the gap between overs', always acknowledge them and please DON'T leave them sitting on the side, while everyone else has an over.

(5) Only use the minimum power necessary - remember there are other repeaters on the same channel. The repeater only transmits with 25 watts ERP, so if its' 5/9 with you, you don't need to use 50 watts to a high gain vertical, when 5 or 10 watts will do. If you use 25 watts ERP, then the signals strengths should be reasonably reciprocal.

(6) If, under lift conditions, you wish to use another repeater on RV63, please turn off the 103.5 Hz ctcss tone, otherwise you will still access GB3JB.

(7) Remember that you are Radio Amateurs, using an Amateur Radio facility, so please use the appropriate operating practices and procedures.

Since you have taken the trouble to get an Amateur Licence, surely it's not to much to expect of you, that you use Amateur Radio abbreviation and accepted terminology, such as the Q-codes. We do not have a '20', we have a 'location' or 'QTH'. We do not have a 'personal', we have a 'name', etc., etc., If you still use CB, that's fine, no problem, BUT please leave the CB lingo for CB, and not when you use GB3JB or any other Amateur Radio facility or the Amateur bands.

and finally .....

(8) Ignore any idots - If you don't hear a callsign, do NOT respond - EVER !

Thursday 28 November 2013

GB3JB Update ....

Hi All,

"Best laid plans of mice and men" .... and all that.

Sorry, but GB3JB will not be back on air, by the end of the month (November), as I had planned.  This is very much to my own personal frustration and disappointment.

Despite the turbine having had new bearings and new rectifiers fitted, it would appear that the winding had also burnt out.

This was only found when I and my son Paul went up to the site to install the turbine, last week.

My plan was to get the antenna and turbine installed, and away we go - JB back on by the end of November, as planned.  The now permanently dead turbine has scuppered that plan.

My need to get things sorted by the end of this month, was also being driven by the fact that the water company will be cordoning off the site, as of the 2nd December.

This is so that they can start work on digging some very large trenches, right across the site, in relation to a new water main being laid, which is part of the new system to pipe water around the country.

Yes, I have the two Solar panels, but in this respect, I have not yet completed the manufacture of a suitably strong mounting bracket arrangement, to hold them in place, up on the top half of the tower, some 9m AGL, just below the antenna.

The decision to put them on the tower, is an attempt to make them less accessible and therefore, less likely to be stolen, as was the outcome with the previous wall mounted installation.  They will be mounted above the towers anti-climbing measures.

The 'Cherry Picker' which is to be used to install them, is not available until early January.  However a provisional date has been set, this being the 7th January, subject to wind and weather conditions.

As will be appreciated, with two panels, each measuring 1.6m x 1m and with a combined weight of 35 kgs + a further 20 kgs or so of mounting frame etc., this is not an assembly that I would even consider installing without the 'Cherry Picker', and then only on a calm day.

Discussions and research are currently taking place, with a view to possibly funding and sourcing of a replacement turbine.  Several potential units are currently being investigated.

If I manage to source and fund a suitable turbine, between now and 7th January, then I will get JB back on air, at that time, assuming I can gain access to the site.

If I'm not able to source and fund a suitable turbine, then I afraid GB3JB will remain quiet until we can hopefully gain access to the site, and install the Solar panels, on the 7th.  Wind and weather permitting.

Sorry, folks.  Not good news, but I'm afraid I cannot work miracles.  Well not this time of the year, when it's cold, wet and windy ... anyway !

I will keep you up to date, as best I can.

Please be assured that I will get GB3JB back on air as soon as I possibly can.
Cheers & 73's
Dave, G3ZXX.
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