repeater update 2/22/14

I learned of three repeaters this week that had been around a long time. None are listed in RepeaterBook. When I tell repeater owners that their machines aren't listed in RepeaterBook, they often get huffy, as if I'm implying that the repeater isn't co-ordinated. RepeaterBook is an app/website; it's not the "official" MRC listing, nor is it the ARRL hard-copy directory. Unlike a paper book, it can be kept continuously updated, comments can be added about a repeater, and propagation reports can be added to give hams some idea of the coverage a particular machine offers. You can also do nifty things with RepeaterBook, like telling it to show you all of the known active repeaters on a certain band within a particular radius of your current location. It can show you the distance between your location and a particular repeater, and indicate it on a map. It can also provide contact info. RepeaterBook also is integrated with the CHIRP programming software. None of this is possible with the ARRL Repeater Directory. You can find the MRC repeater list here, but it shows repeaters that haven't worked for about a year, such as the 224.500 and 224.660 machines on 1.25M and the 442.700 on UHF.

With that out of the way, here is the current status of some local real or rumoured repeaters:

• Per NY9D (Eric), the 224.100+ (no PL) repeater in Gem Lake (NE metro) is back in operation. I was not able to reach it. Word on the street is that K0LAV doesn't have a working UHF link needed to establish a connection to the SuperLink network, and K0LAV has not responded to my emails regarding this machine. Not listed in RepeaterBook.
• The 444.900+ (114.8) in Edina is not listed in RepeaterBook, and I am unable to bring it up. The owner (KG0SG) tells me that it's "on the air", however.
• The 443.425+ (114.8) in Oakdale is not listed on RepeaterBook, but I was able to "ker-chunk" it for S3 here in Plymouth. The owner (and blog co-author), N0YNT (Matt), says that there's little to no activity on that machine. 
• The New Brighton VHF 145.290 is back on the air at the moment, though it's been down all week. With the warm weather we had most of last week, it's unlikely that cold temperatures were the issue. 
• N0FKM's UHF 444.750 (114.8) is still off the air, and the 444.550 (no PL) was off the air overnight.
• The UHF HandiHam 444.650 repeater is back in the game. Earlier in the week, its signal was wildly swinging from S2 to S7. It also seems as if the issues affecting the VHF 145.450 are now resolved, too. 
• The "Mounds View" (actually in New Brighton) 224.940 (100.0 PL) machine is facing an uncertain future. The Anoka County Radio Club disowned it completely last week at a Board meeting, though it was costing them no money. Placing it back on the Mounds View water tower would have been greatly facilitated by its association with a radio club, yet the ACRC Board flatly refused to go along with this symbolic effort to restore the only 1.25M machine in the entire County, though all costs would have been borne by the machine's owners. This is yet another sign of how our local radio clubs are wilfully becoming irrelevant to the development of the hobby's infrastructure. We can only hope that the ACRC will not oppose N0FKM's independent plans to restore his 1.25M repeater in New Brighton, as the ACRC Board seems to have some kind of irrational fear of the band.