New repeater now on the air in east metro

We have some exciting news out of Bayport, MN! KD9RFH has put a new repeater on the air. It’s located on the Xcel Energy Allen S. King Power Plant smoke stack at 675′ feet Above Ground Level (AGL). The new KD9RFH repeater is a Motorola Quantar running 110w with fantastic coverage across western Wisconsin and the eastern Twin Cities metro providing analog and P25 modes.

Tristen Mortel’s (KD9RFH) journey began two years ago when he was interested in getting into ham radio after spending time as a firefighter on the Clayton Fire Department in Clayton, Wisconsin. He took his technician exam and passed it in December of 2020.

“I always wanted to put up some equipment of my own,” said Tristen.

He talked with his boss and discovered there was an abandoned UHF antenna and coax on the smoke stack at the Allen S. King Power Plant just outside Stillwater, MN. Jackpot!

He got some help from his good friend Blake Byrd (KD9HDR) who lent Tristen the duplexers for the repeater. Nate Timm, KB0UXV provided assistance while Mike Shelby, K9MLS from St. Paul, provided an additional antenna for better Minnesota coverage. On the Minnesota side of the stack, they mounted a Laird FG4405 5 dBd antenna. The eastern side of the stack has a DB636 6 dBd antenna facing Wisconsin.

In the future, Tristen hopes to set up an AllStar node and link the machine to repeaters located in Barron County, Wisconsin.