146.1 - 146.7
Mark 4
The copper box IC22a repeaters
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The Copper box IC22a repeater (This is our Busselton site shown)
| As of this point in time I have not found
many photographs of the copper box IC22a repeaters. Several of these
were produced and the one shown above is the one that was installed at
the Busselton repeater site before being changed to the FM880 design. There was never a copper box repeater installed at Roleystone as the mark 3 VK6RAP using the IC22a receiver and the VHF Group transmitter remained in service up until it was replaced with the FM880 design in the early 1980's. Hence for the story of Roleystone and VK6RAP 2M in particular we move to the mark 5, the FM880 design which is still in service at a number of WARFG's repeater sites. The FM880 is based on the FM828 mobile and is a rack mounting version of the FM828 with some changes but the receiver and exciter remain the same, the PA was re-housed to some extent. |
The FM828
| One of the most reliable radios made
in Australia was the Philips-Pye FM828 range for VHF and UHF. The basic
design was used from 30 MHz through to 500 MHz. These radios used a VCO
at the TX frequency that was crystal locked to a lower frequency
crystal. This resulted in a low noise transmitter, ideal for repeater
transmitter use. As these radios became more and more available on the disposal market, WARG obtained several to trial as a repeater. One such FM828 was pulled apart and installed in a rack mounting box, and after considerable modifications and additions it became VK6RMS. |
VK6RMS Front Panel...A converted FM828
The FM880 WARG's mark 5 2M repeater