WG6OTA Repeater Team

Each evening on the WG6OTA, “Roundtable” net it ends thanking a single person (KC6WOK) for maintaining an “Open Repeater” allowing the GOTAhams net to use it. There is FAR more than a single person maintaining, financing, servicing, planning, traveling up to Sunset Ridge, adjusting, repairing and controlling, this system. This is some of that story and the real heroes involved.

Fondly named/known as the “Sunset Goats”! this refers to their affiliation with the GOTAhams and their mascot but further, the arduous trek to this easily seen but very remote hilltop location is time consuming, hot and dusty most of the year, muddy, Icey, miserable during the winter. You kind of need the attitude of one of the resident mountain goats of the Angeles Mountain range. Of the three roads to access the site the quickest option is nearly an hour on dirt fire roads, the longest nearly two hours. There are no “Facilities”, water, or even trees for shade on site so “Bring it in, haul it out” applies. Also, our repeaters bank account carries same name.

The members of our team include Myself Ken Mixon KC6WOK, Dave Wilkie K6EV, Tim Adams N6DLC, Ireneusz M “Erik” Dlugajczyk KN6NRQ along with the past owner of the repeater Hans Ehlert AE6TV.

Additional contributors are Bruce Bolton AG6YS along with the 2021 membership of TCARA for a very generous monetary gift allowing us to acquire the components to build a fully operational backup repeater system.

Another generous contributor is Ken Campbell N6PCD, recently contacted us to ask if we could make use of a Motorola 2001A Service monitor, these are extremely useful for servicing mostly any radio communication device BUT, for diagnosing, servicing, testing and repairing nearly all aspects of a repeater system they are indispensable. Ken gifted this very needed tool to the GOTAhams for use on the WG6OTA repeater and any other need we may have for it.

After nearly a year of hosting nightly nets on Hans Ehlert’s AE6TV repeater and taking far too long to negotiate a “Deal” withe Hans, I personally funded the original purchase of this repeater, and did the paperwork for transferring the “Frequency Pair” I am still working on AllStar and Echolink node number assignments.

Dave Wilkie K6EV has deeply invested himself into learning the function, capabilities, design, testing, programming, tuning and operation of the repeater system. Dave is instrumental in the design and construction of our backup repeater system.

Tim Adams N6DLC is working from his very remote location on our linking system and has been involved with mostly all aspects of the planning and upgrades involving the WG6OTA repeater.

Other folks have been involved in getting this repeater “on the Air” Craig Brochard KM6EIC has traveled to Sunset Ridge several times using his Jeep Wrangler, His vehicle stills bares some of those scars typically gained on those fire roads. On our initial trip to remove the repeater, the Setterlund family John AC6FJ, Kim KE6RXX, James KN6IPL, attended, “wheeling” the dirt fire road in their very capable Toyota FJ. I recall that being an exceptionally clear day and we could some distance to every horizon from Mt. Wilson, LA, LAX, Catalina, Long Beach, Santiago Peak Norco, Corona, Hemet, San Bernardino mountains.

We are looking forward to giving many more GOTAhams members the opportunity to visit our Sunset Ridge site and hopefully we can introduce the backup repeater and explain its operation showing members and guests the tools and adjustments/tuning during a “elmering in the Park” session?

If you have more questions, you would like answered please let us know at kc6wok@gmail.com