Well this past weekend I made another 2 1/2 hour drive south to help with volunteer work.  I had volunteered to help with repeater repairs for the Raton Pass system controlled by the Cheyenne Mountain Repeater Group.  They have most , if not all, of the Dstar repeaters in the Southeast of Colorado and the one on Raton Pass had stopped some time ago so a trip was organized.  I had been expressing interest in the Dstar systems they control and asking too many questions, I guess, so I was asked if I wanted to go, and that is how I got there the first time (last year). 

Not much has changed down there due to extensive repairs and rework and additions to the removed equipment and a better plan.  That plan is to move the Ham gear out of the main building away from the huge KCRT radio station transmitters and various other users in that one building.

The plan came about because the radio station no longer needed the old generator and they were taking it out of the adjacent building and that opened it up for the CMRG use.  It isn’t much and needed a lot of “cleanup” to make it even reasonable to be in, not to mention to be used for something more than a rat and mouse.  haven.

I was informed that there would 6 to 8 and maybe more that show up “to help”.  Some Amateurs from Trinidad and some from Raton would be there as well as some of the CMRG club (since I paid dues last year I guess I am a member) .   I got there first and waited and then several showed up.  Even had one in a car that I talked to and advised that I didn’t think a car (low clearance) would make it passed the first curve.  He and his wife got a rid up with another local ham to see the top and he took pictures.

Thank goodness that it is a big flat area up there as we had more than enough vehicles there.  Oh and the owner has showed up with two helpers to work on the tower – their own stuff not ours.

The main building is the front building and out “new” shack is the one behind out toward the pickups. I have no idea who is in the one on the right but we do know that AT&T is there as well as various other users. 

Our new shack was a filthy mess – bluntly put.  I has a big blob of mortar in one corner that had been sacks that got wet, it also has a couple big wall units that were left from the generator as well as a big hole on the north side that was inlet cooling for that generator…

The blob and not sure but the door fram on that side was pushed out as well.

Not sure why but they had sheet rocked the interior as well and that just provided plenty of rat and mouse space to build nests and hide s__t.

So one of the first steps was to rid the building of vermin, nasty, s__t, trash, b lobs, etc…

inside

outside

Then once most of the nasty was out and we no longer needed that strong north wind the hole in the wall was covered to seal it up.

Then one of our Trinidad partners was assigned the work of re-wiring and or updating things.  He had a huge job in my opinion as he had to locate grounds, run some new wires hang some new lights, put in new circuits, etc.  Oh and the big green box is a left over from the generator control and was still “HOT”.  and the latch didn’t work well?

The blob is gone, lucky we didn’t need a jack hammer (although we had one) It broke up pretty easy.  Then with some pri-bars and hammers and another “heavy” object we got the door frame back in place and put some screws in it to hold it as we plan to seal up that door completely before it falls off.

The roof also needed some work, sealed, screwed down, etc.

After I was done doing what I could cleaning I moved to running conduit for the fiber optic line from building 1 to building 2. 

Coming out of building 1 – had to take out the big rubber seal, change plugs, and get the 1 inch gray conduit in there then run it along the route of some other lines over to building 2.

Then through the building wall and along the top frame to the far left corner where the terminal of the fiber is put. The feed the “snake” back and pull it all through the conduit.

Terminal 1 input

Terminal 2 output

Also the excess hardline , bad connections etc., had to be removed, cleaned out and prepped for replacement of those that will be needed and some that will be used again.  Most of the antennas will be on the tower at this building and a pipe on the north end when things go back in a couple of weeks. 

I think both these will be replaced.

Working on removal, replacement and general cleanup of the excess lines.

put the new antennas in the “cleaned out’ shack, also note the new hanging light above.

At about this point we were all done in, I grabbed my few tools, helped load up Dave’s (WA6IFI) stuff and stated my trek back down the mountain and home.  A 2 1/2 hour drive back and I would need gas as well. 

In two weeks we all go back to get the equipment installed, new antennas up, and the big unit moved from the other building into this one as well as a few minor things to seal, finish, etc. 

update:  I forgot to say what they intend to put up there,

This is the most complex repeater system CMRG has ever built. When installed, the system will have:
  VHF Repeater on 145.430 MHz
   VHF repeater linked to Cheyenne mountain 147.345 via Allstar
   UHF backup link to Cheyenne Mtn
   UHF Repeater on 449.600 MHz
   UHF D-STAR repeater 446.775 MHz
   900 MHz P-25 repeater linked to the CO 900 system
   APRS Digipeater (RATON)
   LinkCommunications RLC-4 repeater controller with remote control
   Triplite 2200 watt UPS with remote monitoring and external batteries

The repeater system (2 cabinets) will be installed on Raton Pass (CO/NM border) at the transmitter site of KCRT. 

WD0AJG