Category: News

Cape Perpetua is back up

040125 – Cape Perpetua Visit
N7HQR 4 hours

During a storm we lost connectivity on Cape Perpetua. The 147.060 repeater went down as well as the packet APRS weather station.
Upon arrival at the site today, there was no AC power in the rack and the battery was at 6 volts. The setup is a dedicated 20 amp receptacle for our rack, that feeds an outlet strip in the rack. Most of the equipment plugs into the outlet strip, including a UPS that powers the modem/router/computer stuA. I started looking at the outlet strip, and the circuit breaker was tripped on it, and the power switch looked scorched. I tried the turn the UPS on and it
would not run.

The power strip and UPS were removed from the rack and a temporary outlet strip was wired in. I powered up the majority of the equipment, reset the weather station and set the parameters and checked to make sure the weather was making it out on APRS. The battery voltage was too low to safely charge it with the small power supply we have on it, so the battery was removed and should likely be replaced. The 147.060 repeater was plugged in and powered up just fine.

As often happens with amateur radio, we put things together to get them working and it isn’t always the best that could be done. This site should have a few things done for the power situation:

  • Replace the temporary outlet strip with an industrial rack mounted outlet strip
    and surge protector.
  • Upgrade the power supply to one large enough to handle everything in the rack
    and float the battery.
  • Install a low voltage disconnect (these little devices will disconnect the battery
    before it discharges too low and gets damaged).
  • Replace the battery unless this original one comes back to life.

Interestingly, there were signs of arcing inside the case of the outlet strip which shows something faulted but I don’t see what it would have been. I suspect this occurred when the power went out and the generator started and restored power. Perhaps the UPS failed when the generator came back on and that caused the issue, I don’t know.

Here are the parts needed for the upgrade:
Low Voltage Disconnect – https://duracomm.com/product/din-lvd-12/
Power Supply – https://samlexamerica.com/products/12-volt-30-amp-battery-charger-safety-listed/
Outlet Strip – https://tripplite.eaton.com/single-phase-pdu-2400w-120v-13-5-1520r-outlets-5-20p-input-6-ft-cord-1u~PDU1226

That is about $700 in parts, if we need to get a battery that could be another couple hundred at least.

The view North from a little lower down the hill from the tower:


The rack as it was left today after restoring services:

Inside the damaged power outlet strip, notice the burn mark by the white wires:

73
Daron

Elmering into the ether

You never know when we post tips, links, and information who might be out there searching for just such information. We recently received an email from Amanda, whose son Christian is working on his Radio merit badge and found our website and links helpful to his journey.

Amanda suggested we might also find this article useful for sharing information about amateur radio. Tell us what you think:

www.aaastateofplay.com/all-about-ham-radio-for-beginners/

Thanks, Amanda, and thanks Christian. Enjoy your exploration of the world of amateur radio!

RMS Gateways/digipeater down

The RMS gateways and digipeater are off line on Otter Crest, below is a description of the visit and I’ll update when we get things going again.  Shout out to John KN4RTK for making the trip with me and helping. ~Daron N7HQR

033025 – Otter Crest Visit
N7HQR, KN4RTK for 2 hours

Saturday 29th the Winlink server reported our RMS gateway on Otter Crest was unreachable via the internet. We were unable to access the PC remotely, and packet radio command was transmitted via radio to power cycle or reset the PC in case it was locked up, but that didn’t restore service.

When we arrived the PC power light was on, and the link light on the ethernet switch was lit, indicating that the ethernet interface on the PC was alive. We power cycled things, checked connections, no video coming out of the PC and no indication it was running except for the power light.


We removed the shelf that contains the computer, packet radio, modem, etc. and will be working to get it restored to service. In the mean time there is no winlink access on otter crest and no ability to digipeat through otter crest to get to the courthouse or other RMS gateway.

The computer is an OnLogic industrial PC, I think we invested $1000 or so for it, no fan and no moving parts, should just sit and run. I suspect the solid state hard drive may have failed. The computer runs on 12vdc, and is fed with a buck/boost power supply in case the DC power gets below 12v it will keep the PC voltage where it needs to be.

Hopefully we can get this restored quickly and back on the air!

Latest Sea-PAC information

Update: Registration for Sea-Pac 2025 is open! Dates are May 30 – June 1. Friday Workshop subjects will be emergency communications (emphasis on Winlink) and DMR. For more information and to register: https://www.seapac.org/

We are excited to announce that the newest issue of the SEA-PAC Waves is available to download!  Click this link for the SEA-PAC Waves.

We are looking forward to SEA-PAC 2025 and the SEA-PAC committee has been hard at work. We have some great things to share, so you are going to want to read this issue of the Waves!

Please feel free to copy and distribute this to your friends and clubs.

The SEA-PAC Committee

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the SEA-PAC mail list, send your name, call sign preferred email address to info@seapac.org.

If you are seeing the November 2024 issue of the Waves, please refresh your browser cache.

Cascadia Coastal Community Radio Net

Purpose:
The purpose of the net is to share information and to facilitate communication between coastal communities in AK, WA, OR and CA in order to build community awareness, prepare for interruption of services and disasters, and to enhance overall community resiliency.

Net participants are those interested in sharing information on upcoming emergency or disaster-related training events and opportunities, as well as, summaries of actual events. The net will be run on the first and third Thursday of each month at 13:30 Pacific time on Brandmeister ‘Western Oregon’ TG 31412.

This is a directed net. Check-ins will share information with other net participants. The net is open to all licensed amateurs who have an interest in emergency or disaster-related communications especially those associated with ARES/ RACES, Hospital communication groups, Medical Reserve Corps, Community Emergency Response Teams, and neighborhood groups.

Although there are a few DMR repeaters in our area of interest, most participants can use hotspots to access the DMR network. In addition to the net, the Western Oregon talk group 31412 may be used as an evaluator back-channel during large-scale training events (e.g., Disaster Airlift Response Team drills, Cascadia Rising, IronOR). Cascadia Coastal Coalition:

Cascadia Coastal Coalition (http://cascadiacoastalcoalition.org/) is an Oregon 501(c) (3) not for profit organization. Our mission is to promote disaster readiness, response, recovery and resilience in support of Pacific Northwest coastal communities. We promote awareness, training, and exercise development and coordination. We strive to build coastal public agency and private entity cooperation, and act as catalyst for statewide and regional coalition development. Our initial projects center around Medical Care and
Emergency Communications during the initial phase of disasters. During the past few years we have worked with coastal communities in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington

Technician License Series

Update: Next session is August 31. We will review the electromagnetic spectrum and antennas, then discuss FCC Rules and good operating procedures. It is NOT too late to join the class.

This class is in person, but a Zoom link is also available: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89078030674?pwd=kCxqFCnzOBFbxUctWIXY7ouWYhLK1E.1

Interested in getting your amateur radio license? We’re here to help.

Classes will be on Saturday afternoons at irregular intervals, 1pm to 4pm. The first session will be on August 3, and the next on August 17. Additional sessions will be scheduled as I’m able.

Each session will have a main subject, but will be informal and not highly structured. The first session will be an introduction, so we will talk about what amateur radio is and isn’t, what’s required to get a license, study resources, practice tests, and maybe actually touch a radio.

Later sessions will explore technical subjects, FCC rules, good operating procedures, and so on. You don’t have to come to every session, but it would be helpful for me to know who to expect. I will post upcoming sessions on the website at n7oy.org and email everyone on my roster.

Please respond by email to choirboy1953 at gmail dot com if you want to be included. You can still participate even if you can’t make it to all the sessions.

Location: First Presbyterian Church
227 NE 12th St. in Newport
1pm-4pm
First session August 3, 2024
Second session August 17, 2024
Later sessions to be determined

N7ONP (Mike)

Get Ready for Summer Events

CRITICAL UPDATE – As of June 5th, the Barrel to Keg Relay has approximately 1/2 of the required volunteers to effectively run what our group has agreed to be responsible for. We need 17 more volunteers! Per Doug, “we are close to failing coverage and backing out of the event, which will either cause the promoters to cancel the event or make it that much less safe for participants”. Not all volunteers need to be operators, so please recruit a spouse or friend to help out in this incredibly fun event. For operators it is a chance to use your radio and practice tactical skills in a fun environment.

Oregon Coast Gravel Epic: Saturday May 4. Bicycle race begins and ends in Waldport. https://www.mudslingerevents.com/oregon-coast-gravel-epic

West Coast Gravel: Sunday May 5. Begins and ends in Yachats. https://www.mudslingerevents.com/west-coast-gravel

Barrel to Keg Relay: Saturday July 13. Teams of runners relay from Wren to South Beach.

This is an all-hands-on-deck event for us to remotely pull off our mission. This is a unique and fun event, and has tons of tactical radio experience tied to it. If you are new as an operator or not participated in a public service event like this, please don’t hesitate to volunteer – you will be paired with someone who has experience on this event and there will be exercises we will do before, so you see and experience how it works.

Thank you and I hope to hear from more. Rather than tie up the listserv, please send me any questions or to sign up via my gmail account: dougholbrook05@gmail.com.

ARRL Field Day: June 22-23.

SeaPac Convention: May 31 – June 2. SeaPac.org

We Need to Vacate the Barn

“The Barn,” which has served as our clubhouse for the last few years, was Willie N6OED’s shack before he became a silent key in 2019. Willie’s widow Margaret is now ready to downsize and put the property (which includes their house) on the market. This means we must move out, possibly very soon.

We need to identify adequate storage space, which may cost us significant rent, that we can move into quickly. We probably have a couple of months before it goes on the market, but there is a LOT of stuff.

We need to execute a plan to downsize what we have to store, and reduce that load as much as we can in the time we have. This means sorting, prioritizing, boxing, and SELLING.

We need a team to spearhead this (as well as MANY hands when called for), and a Leader for the team. Joe NJ7OK will be a resource.

One thing we don’t want is to be an impediment to Margaret’s ability to make a sale to the right buyer. So we need to move as quickly as we can. Please contact President Mike N7ONP or Vice President John KN4RTK, or any officer, to volunteer.