Yesterday I noticed that the 145.290- (PL 114.8) wasn't responding with a "ker-chunk" as I was out driving. When I got home, I tried higher power and a higher antenna with no positive results. N0FKM (Dan), who runs the machine, has told me previously that the repeater is susceptible to cold weather. Per Dan, the City inspector wouldn't let him use an extension cord for a space heater to keep the repeater shed at a minimum temperature.
The other issue is that the VHF .290 doesn't get enough regular use to "self-heat" the machine. This is a bit sad, because it's a fine repeater. At 100W, with an antenna 125 feet up in an elevated site, and with EchoLink (node #268460), it provides great coverage. It's another one of those repeaters that I can use (albeit feebly) with a "stock duck" on my HT inside of my condo in Plymouth.
While the VHF .290 is a fine repeater, it's one of several fine repeaters that we have in the metro. If repeaters serve the social equivalent of 'watering holes' or 'gathering places', their value becomes diluted when there are too many of them. There are only so many hams on two-metre FM at any given moment, and they aren't evenly distributed. A significant number of hams have a nebulous allegiance to a particular repeater, or just like others to know that they can be reliably found on one specific machine. Others are more "nomadic", and switch between repeaters looking for activity by scanning. Without a stable population of users creating activity on a repeater, these "nomads" are never drawn to unused machines. It's like a game of "musical chairs" in reverse: the chairs that aren't sat upon get left out.
N0YNT (Matt) has explained to me the subtle mechanics by which the co-ordination scheme employed by the MRC creates an incentive for a surplus of VHF repeaters in the metro, and a dearth of them in the rural areas. Even though the urban metro is more suited for 1.25M or UHF (440 MHz), it soaks up the vast majority of VHF slots (frequency pairs) that would be more appropriate for rural use.
So we now have a dozen fine VHF repeaters with great metro coverage, as well as a scattering of smaller machines, all vying for a limited number of hams. This doesn't even consider the UHF, 222 MHZ, and six metre FM repeaters that are also competing for these same operators' limited air time.
In one sense, it's a good problem to have. In another sense, it's a squandering of resources. There's a big waiting list of hams who want to get their hands on a VHF frequency pair. Some want to put dual digital / analogue repeaters up. Others want to do cross-band operation or RF linking. Others simply want to replace a fine repeater with a low-powered "hobby" repeater of their own. N0FKM (Dan) has always been one of the forward-looking repeater trustees in the metro, trying to differentiate his machines from the others. To me, it seems a bit unfair in the larger scheme of things that his repeaters are getting lost in the shuffle. It's even more annoying that his machines sit unused in favour of standard, plain-vanilla, stand-alone VHF repeaters run by those desperately trying to turn back the clock.
When the temperature dips for the remainder of this winter, you might want to give some thought to the New Brighton VHF .290 and key it up. Maybe QSY over there for a QSO. If nothing else, you'll be keeping the machine warm.
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