The VE3KCR repeater is our legendary flagship machine, known as "The Mighty 712." It's been in operation in one form or another for over 30 years. With a powerful transmitter, high antenna, and several remote receive sites, this is one of the most sophisticated single machines in Ontario.
The main system is located at the CBC/TVO tower east of Chatham. A Kendecom Mark 4-CR repeater is equipped with autopatch and interfaced with a Hall Voter System. The input signal is reveived from a Sinclair 4 bay VHF antenna mounted at the 460' level, using 7/8" Andrews feedline. There is also a Sinclair 4 bay UHF antenna at the same level to accomodate the remote receive sites.
Each remote receive site is equipped with a Kendecom crossband repeater that monitors the input frequency of 147.720, and retransmits it back to the main site on a unique UHF frequency. There are remote sites in Windsor, Leamington, Belle River, Chatham, Ridgetown and Shetland, with another planned for London. These sites receive only - the signal on 147.120 always originates from the main site.
The VHF signal is received by the main Kendecom receiver. The UHF antenna feeds an 8-way Sinclair splitter, and a Kendecom MR4 receiver for each remote site. There is also a diversity VHF receiver with a beam antenna at a lower level.
Audio from each receiver is fed into the voter, where the SNR is analyzed. The best signal is passed to the transmitter. Most remote sites use a 100 Hertz PL, but the main site is open. The user need only key up and talk - the repeater and voter do all the work. The squelch is double-level, so a PL will let you in with a lower signal.
The repeater used to transmit 1 kW with a 3CX800A7 amplifier. Now, the transmitter feeds a 600 watt TPL amplifier, with provision for automatically folding back the power during enhanced propagation. The feedline is 7/8" Andrews hardline, running up to a Sinclair 4 bay VHF antenna at 570'. This combination provides in excess of 2 kW of ERP, making this one of the most powerful systems in Ontario.
Remember that no matter which remote receiver is picking up the signal, only the main site transmits. When pointing a beam antenna, you may be hitting a receive site that is not on the same heading as the main tower.
| Receive Location | CW Identifier |
| Chatham-main site | A |
| Belle River remote | B |
| Shetland remote | C |
| Leamington remote | D |
| Ridgetown remote | E |
| Windsor remote | F |
| Chatham-diversity receiver | G |
| Chatham remote | D |
VE3KCR repeater transmitter mobile coverage map, assuming antenna height of 5 feet, generated by SPLAT. This repeater features several remote receive sites, which extend the receive range considerably. Each is accessible automatically with a 100 Hz PL on 147.120+ MHz. Click here for a larger plot (1.34 MB) that can be zoomed and scrolled.
The Webmaster is VE3NCQ
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