Buck Hill DMR Repeater Back On The Air

Hams gathered atop Buck Hill, the highest point in Dakota County, on June 12th to bring the N0BVE DMR repeater back to life. The Buck Hill DMR machine has been off the air for a few weeks as construction is underway as Buck Hill is in the process of building a new lift operator shack — which also houses the rack for the repeater. That means the DMR repeater was homeless – so hams being hams – we improvise!

Don, N0BVE, chose to install a temporary outdoor repeater cabinet and move the 4-bay UHF antenna to the highest tree in Dakota county at the top of Buck Hill.

We had multiple hams helping get the repeater back on the air including Don, KC0QNA. Don, N0BVE, climbed his way about 30 feet into the tree and lashed the 4-bay antenna to the trunk. We made this quick temporary install as the repeater will be used for an upcoming bike race here in the Twin Cities metro. It’s currently an open repeater on the Brandmeister DMR network. The Internet at the Buck Hill site is being donated by Minnesota Ham Radio (W0MHR)

As the team left the site we tested the footprint and the repeater seems to be operating better than ever. Don, N0BVE, installed a new duplexer and tuned up the Motorola SLR5700 across the board. So if you’re in range give the Buck Hill DMR machine a try and see if you’re finding improved performance!

Later this year the repeater will move to its permanent home in the new lift operator shack and have even better coverage.

Thanks to everyone who spent the evening at the site and helped get the repeater back on the air so it can continue serving the amateur radio community in the south metro.