LSAC update

Even though it's winter "up north" and a pretty uncomfortable time to be climbing towers, the LSAC repeater network is still being restored. N0BZZ (Randy) emailed me with the information that he's checking on the Bayfield, WI 146.700 repeater to make sure it's ready for the John Beargrease Sled Run. This VHF machine is located in the northern reaches of Wisconsin where the UHF WINET fears to tread.

The VHF 145.410 repeater in Duluth was also confirmed by N0BZZ to be up and running. This is sited on a 500' (wow!) tower. I suspect that the rated 30 mile coverage radius might be conservative, so if you are up near Duluth, submit a propagation report for this machine. It isn't linked to LSAC yet, because the priority is to restore the UHF link to the Bayfield repeater.

My impression, from N0BZZ's updates, is that Randy (N0BZZ) and Pat (KB0QYC) are concentrating on restoring and upgrading the repeaters themselves before working on the links between them. This is pretty smart, and it establishes a local user base for each unlinked machine that will only grow once it is linked to the other machines in the network. N0BZZ has tentatively given early Spring as a possible date for the north and south ends of the network to be linked together, with Summer being projected for restoration of the links between the more far-flung elements. It's a heck of a lot of work for just two guys, especially considering that they are also maintaining repeaters for non-LSAC radio clubs, such as the VHF machine in Mahtowa.

With this ambitious agenda in mind, I haven't asked about the restoration of the old "LSAC II" network, which is a scattering of UHF, VHF, SHF, and 6 meter repeaters that have been operating on a standalone basis since the link between them was lost. 6 meter FM is a very good (Technician-accessible) option for these relatively remote areas, even though the numbers of people with gear (especially mobile) for the band are not high. Still, the availability of cross-band use and the (eventual) introduction of a 6 meter FM repeater to the HandiHam network may promote more activity. But that's all down the road and only dimly visible as a potential future at the moment.

I think that more people are figuring out the consequences of the current amateur radio demographics. The numbers of licensees have been held relatively steady by the introduction of newer people who really aren't getting on the air much - many of which are "preppers" that are not interested in the long-term health of the hobby or the community. With fewer people actually on the air, simplex becomes something that has to be "scheduled", and the challenge is to find those fewer numbers. Repeaters are the "watering holes" that people congregate at and gravitate towards, and linked repeaters (especially cross-band) increase the likelihood of finding both familiar people and interesting new ones. The other challenge is to get people on the air in more situations, both for them to establish ties to the community and for the community to have an active on-air population.

LSAC helps with both of these challenges. It links fragmented, smaller communities that don't have enough active people on-air at any given time to make turning on your radio look attractive to other similar communities to form a larger "pool". It also brings people together on different bands who would otherwise be unaware of each other. And it lets people stay connected to their local communities when they travel outside of it.

When the network is restored, it will be possible for a ham travelling on 35W "up north" to talk to another ham at his lake cabin near Brainerd, and let a hiker on the Superior National Trail join in. Someone on their way home from work in Pine City could talk with another ham out on Lake Superior or camping at Itasca State Park. It makes bringing a radio to those more remote locations attractive, and it makes turning on your radio at home more inviting, too. It doesn't take too many incidents of a new ham being greeted by silence when they throw out their sign to discourage them from turning on their radio in the future. There are still those who would scoff, "Good riddance!" at that situation, but more hams are realising that the crowded repeaters of the 1980's are not coming back, and that something has to change.

Linked repeaters aren't a guarantee of future growth, but they are a hell of a lot better gamble than betting on widespread simplex activity. Every time that someone packs an HT on their camping trip, or brings one up to the cabin, or turns off their CD player and turns on their mobile on a road trip is a potential step forward. The key is having someone else available for them to talk to when they do that.

The southern-most edge of LSAC is the 443.325+ (146.2 tone) machine in Isanti. Most won't be able to reach it with their 5W HT "mobiles", and that may be fine with the people using LSAC. I can certainly reach it with a solid S9 or S8 using my small 3-element UHF Yagi and 4W, but I can't drive around with a Yagi on my vehicle. I would think that anyone in the metro with a UHF ground-plane and around 20W would have access to that repeater, though. Absent a two-meter link in the chain accessible by at least a 40W mobile here, I tend to think LSAC will remain a novelty to those in the metro even when the south and north ends are eventually linked. EchoLink will undoubtedly be available, however. If the UHF .950 in Rogers could be linked -- a long shot, of course -- it would make LSAC truly accessible to the metro area. The challenge will be to make people in the metro aware of its existence and potential, so that they will use it when travelling in those covered areas. Further expansion of the LSAC network is too much to expect, given the burden of only two people maintaining what already exists. Any expansion would have to come from the fragmented community of people operating independent, local repeaters finding a way to link their machines to the network. Likewise, if only one of the dozen or so VHF repeaters in town could be linked, the entire game would dramatically change. The best chances for a metro-area link are on UHF. K0LAV's .800 machine, for example, would be the easiest target, since he is already planning a link to Pequot Lakes. Another potential option would be for KA0KMJ's .425 UHF machine to be linked by EchoLink conference.

There are some visionary VHF repeaters out there: MARA's outstanding .850 with multiple receive sites, the .370 sited on the IDS Tower, and the HandiHam .450 cross-band. Still, the frontier has largely been ceded to UHF here in the metro. Of the three VHF repeaters I mentioned, only HandiHam has EchoLink or IRLP, which is hardly a challenge to implement, and they are the only one with cross-band or links to other machines. And the extensive fibre network throughout the metro has not been taken advantage of to easily link machines without expensive UHF links. The future is not in a dozen VHF repeaters competing for a dwindling number of hams, nor is it is in the "hobby" repeaters on UHF with local coverage.

The days of local fiefdoms run by out-sized egos is passing away. There needs to be a novel approach that brings people together, rather than isolating them in enclaves based on band preference or club allegiance.

Linked, cross-band repeaters with EchoLink access are the future of the hobby. There will always be a place for cliquish "elites" and simplex snobs, so they shouldn't feel threatened by this new reality. Without options that engage the new Technician-Class licensees, these people will be lost before they ever realise the potential of the hobby. There will always be a place for the snarling "watch-dogs" that haunt the "emergency" repeaters. And people that abandon the hobby because the repeaters are dead won't ever get a chance to try 2-meter SSB or HF. The smart move is to hold on to the people that have already got their license, who will then tell others about the hobby's potential. That involves offering some kind of potential other than their eventual, conditional, and grudging acceptance by the "elite".

We've given the "old school" approach more than a chance. It's killing the hobby.