After doing some stand-alone testing of the new repeater which produced good results on the RF side of things Tony, Gary and Mike got together and sorted out the software and settings for the WiresX interface.
It became apparent during this process that the repeater was in need of a number of firmware updates and as Tony was champing at the bit to get everything completed and on air he decided that “Rome can be built in a day” and on Tuesday morning he headed off into those nether regions out beyond the M25 and took a run down the M3 to visit the guys at Yaesu in Southampton.
He was met by Karl Brazier G7AFT of Yaesu UK Ltd who was ready and waiting for the equipment’s arrival so as Tony headed off in search of a cheeseburger for lunch Karl got stuck in and worked his magic.
The job was completed quickly and efficiently, all software checked, firmware updated and Tony was soon heading back up the motorway to try and get everything connected and installed on site that evening.
As soon as the repeater was back on site and running, calls were made to the Southern Fusion Group admins and the networking connections were put in place. A further flurry of calls passed the word to the guys at the Folkestone Repeater Group who have been a great help in providing tech info and tips along the way and the guys from GB7HH
It didn’t take long before the system began buzzing with calls as people connected in to test the new system.
Thanks for all the reports especially the signal reports for the RF signal from GB7OK.
At the moment the repeater is running qrp with only 4.5 Watts output, full power will be restored once the cavity filters have been retuned.
There’s a great ‘community feel’ about the Southern Fusion Network which reminds me of the old GB3OK community. We’ve had a number of callsigns and names I recognise appearing on the dashboard but also people dropping in on the channel for a qso… with a lot of the camaraderie I remember from years gone by.
I’d say it was Mission Accomplished Tony…
