TCRC 224.540 is down. Now what?

Per KE0NA (Dave), the TCRC 224.540 repeater in Burnsville has been shut down. Repair is still possible, though replacement is more likely. But "likely" is a relative term, with the TCRC being constantly short on funds and 1.25M being a lower priority in our metro area.

With the demise of their six-metre FM repeater earlier this year, the TCRC still solidly operates on VHF and UHF, but their UHF machine is a loaner from Yaesu. There are some problems with the UHF receiver sensitivity, and the transmit power is below the rated level, too. But it's not in danger of being shut down.

N0FKM (Dan) has, of course, stepped up to the metaphorical plate by restoring his 100W, 130' UHF 444.750 machine and cross-band linking it to his somewhat-troubled 224.500 repeater. And the Gopher Radio Club is planning a three-band link with the aid of EchoLink.

Still, it seems as if we've hit a ceiling of sorts in the community effort to move beyond two metres. There's a finite limit to the time, money, and sites needed to move into a future where hams aren't isolated on other bands, inaccessible to the EchoLink-ed outside world, or isolated into fiefdoms by a lack of linked repeaters. There are those who have the vision, desire, and will to advance beyond the 30-year-old model of stand-alone FM two metre repeaters, but they lack the resources in terms of time and money to make those visions into a concrete, viable reality.

Obviously, there isn't some kind of central authority that the community can appeal to for direction. It's amateur radio, which is synonymous with "herding cats". The "club model", which was the foundation of the antiquated 30-year-old vision, is slowly failing. The innovation is coming from individuals (or small non-club groups, e.g. MARA), with the clubs being more than satisfied if they can maintain a VHF repeater.

For as large and vibrant a community as we have here in the Twin Cities, I can't help but feel we are "settling". A small few struggle mightily to move forward, but most are content with two metres and yawn at anything happening outside of those confines. Thirty, and even forty years ago, visionaries stepped forward with bold plans to move beyond crystal-locked frequencies and simplex communications. We updated and advanced, against the odds. I'm new to this hobby, and even I know that. If the current "spirit" had prevailed back then, we'd still be on two-metre FM simplex. But people saw a potential, and made the necessary moves to make that a reality. With all of the technology that is available to us today, I sometimes wonder what those past visionaries could have done with it.

To our east, Wisconsin has state-wide linked networks on VHF and UHF, accessible by EchoLink and IRLP. We can't link outside of the metro. We can't keep our EchoLink nodes up. We barely have IRLP at all. Cross-band is almost a dirty word. The contrast is as striking as it is inexplicable. Is Wisconsin so much more technically-inclined than our metro? Do they have so much more money and leisure time? Or are they simply better organised?

And now we are in danger of losing 1.25M. Not due to lack of expertise, but simply by apathy.