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Repeaters On Mt. Mitchell (NC) To Be Removed.

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KJ4FVV, Jun 10, 2009.

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  1. KJ4FVV

    KJ4FVV Ham Member QRZ Page

    Per owner of several of the repeaters (WA4BVW), all repeaters have to be removed from Mount Mitchell by the end of July. According to Ken, WA4BVW, the Mt. Mitchell 2 meter repeater [145.190-] will have it's 27 year anniversary this June. It is home of the 6600 net on Saturday nights, which has check-ins from NC, SC, TN, Georgia. The repeater has great coverage. When I got my ticket, this was the first repeater I made a contact on with NC4TN. I have not been a ham for very long, but I really enjoyed what time I have had on the repeater, especially the 6600 net.

    Repeaters:
    http://www.wcars.org/repeaters.html

     
  2. N4SVA

    N4SVA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Any word on the reason? Would be a sad loss. I talked on that repeater just last year and had coverage well into Georgia on I-85.


    Hope it is not some environazi group worried about the effects of RF on the spruce or something.
     
  3. KB5SXC

    KB5SXC Ham Member QRZ Page

    Mt. Mitchell (NC) Repeaters...

    I would, also, like to know the reason for their removal. ARES use, and Access to such a Repeater should trump any other reason.
     
  4. K4PLP

    K4PLP Ham Member QRZ Page

    What a loss this will be. As far as coverage this repeater is truly one of a kind. Bunch of great folks too.
    73's to all
     
  5. KF4ACB

    KF4ACB Ham Member QRZ Page

    Is there any more news on this. I'm finding this really hard to swallow !:mad:
     
  6. N8FXH

    N8FXH Ham Member QRZ Page

    bad news

    I have used this repeater several times and enjoyed the hike to the repeater site. What great Coverage. Why is it being moved?....Hal
     
  7. W4ENC

    W4ENC Ham Member QRZ Page

    Interesting that the general manager of Blue Ridge Broadcasting who is DEMANDING (with NO reason) the repeaters be removed forgot that Franklin Graham is kinda tied to WMIT which buildings house the repeaters. Last I checked F.G.'s Samaritan's purse is involved in disaster operations. This could turn into a PR nightmare for Blue Ridge Broadcasting.:eek:
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2009
  8. KF4ACB

    KF4ACB Ham Member QRZ Page

    The devil is in the details and we have absolutely none !:confused:
     
  9. KE4GBH

    KE4GBH Ham Member QRZ Page

    wa4bvw repeaters

    the removal of the repeaters will definetly be a burden to communication in the area,we have vacationed in franklin nc. since 1971 and sorrounding areas and visited N4PQH which went SK in jan. of this year and used the repeater since licensed in 1993,,,what a great coverage link...RIP N4PQH .....KE4GBH
     
  10. K2JB

    K2JB XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Save the Mt Mitchell Repeaters

    The General Manager of WMIT has ordered that all amateur equipment be removed from their facility which has housed repeaters per gratis on Clingman's Peak (Nr Mt Mitchell) for 27 years.

    WMIT is owned by Blue Ridge Broadcasting which is part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. We don't know why they have been asked to leave. The high-road answer is that this is probably an uninformed decision.

    But we do know that contacting Dr. Franklin Graham with a straightforward, polite and meaningful mesage regarding the impact this decision will have on the amateur community may help reverse this decision. Dr. Graham is the founder of Samaritan's Purse a disaster relief organization. He should understand the benefit of amateur radio and also be in a position to effect a decision.

    Please contact him via his executive secretary at - rwinkler@samaritan.org and express your concerns.

    Dean Blair ~ k2jb
    Western Carolina Amateur Radio Society President
    k2jb@bellsouth.net
     
  11. KI4WCA

    KI4WCA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Please Help

    The Mt Mitchell machine provides coverage which is irreplaceable in WNC.The degree that the removal will adversely affect emergency operations is considerable.Skywarn and other groups will lose a serious asset.Those who live here in WNC understand that in the mountains, when things get rough, we need every asset we can get for communications.Cell coverage is simply not an option in many places here still.
    Please send your polite request to keep the machine on the air to rwinkler@samaritan.org

    Thanks for your help
    Michael Brown
    Vice President WCARS
     
  12. N4MXZ

    N4MXZ Premium Subscriber QRZ Page


    Sadly, there will probably be no significant PR damage at all.
    I was the Chief Engineer of a television station in the 1980s that had a 1700+ ft super tower. One day the owner decided to take everything off of the tower, including commercial 2 way and a wide area coverage 2m repeater. No reason was ever given that I knew of. There was little or no public backlash.
     
  13. KE6ANM

    KE6ANM Ham Member QRZ Page

    rightwing wackjob closes repeaters

    gee, another case of ASS-UMING
    GUESS ITS A RIGHT-WING JESUS-NAZI THIS TIME.
    HEH HEH HEH
    PERFECT JUSTICE.
     
  14. KA5S

    KA5S Ham Member QRZ Page

    Who else uses that site?

    Radio Reference shows a large number of users within 0.1 miles.

    FWIW, this may be something as simple as the need to lease donated antenna locations on WMIT's mast to paying tenants. Everyone is scrimping for dollars these days.


    Cortland
    KA5S
     
  15. KF7CG

    KF7CG Ham Member QRZ Page

    More Ripples

    I am quite sure that this would have a harmful effect on any local South BEARS operations in the coverage area. South BEARS is the Southern Baptist Emergency Amateur Radio Service and is an equivalent of SATERN. Since the whole Graham organization has roots into the Southern Baptists this is indeed strange.

    I wonder if it has ties to Amateur Radio now being part of Homeland Security and the additional Federal scutiny and access that may derive from that. Many things to speculate on without details.

    KF7CG
     
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