N7LXC "Half Ton Radio Club"
"HTRC" Cross State Link System
Club Call = "N7LXC"
This web page information updated 11/26/2012
This is a cross band link system connecting Eastern Washington to Western Washington. The path for this system was from the Shoreline area in north Seattle to the Skymeadows area near Cle Elum on the 70 CM band. It can be accessed from 145.570 on the west side and 146.540 on the east side. The path through the Cascades was on the 440 band and roughly follows the I90 corridor. This system is PL protected and 91.5 is the tone used.
At this time the link from Cle Elum to Bothell is carried by the internet.
The system has been in operation for about 27 years.
When the link was first put up... We ran everything off battery on the Cle Elum end. 8D Bats as I remember. They were changed out periodically by running a replacement up to the Skymeadows site by Four Wheeler or Snowmobile. Later as we got more sophisticated, we borrowed power from a nearby cabin owned by Rich & Ann Fredrickson. Our thanks to Rich & Ann for the many years of the use of their commercial power! Rich & Ann sold the cabin in 2013 and now we owe our thanks to Dean & Traci Adams who have graciously let us continue getting power from them.
Our Thanks also to Bothell Health Care on the west end where the west end site now resides!
Also our thanks to Tony W7EFS for hosting the internet & radios on the east end !
The Link is back up and running as of 12/26/2016 with new computer at the East
end thanks to Tony W7EFS
Now Accessible from Echolink
Echolink
Information for the N7LXC system
West side of the mountains 145.570 "PL 91.5"
East side of the mountains 146.540 "PL 91.5"
440 Ports into the system listed below... As of 4/18/2011
445.500 T-91.5 Is now running in the Granite Falls area by N7JTA
In the Bothell area... try the repeater on 442.550 + (tone 103.5) linked to 145.570 simplex link PL 91.5
Pictures & Information for the 442.550 Repeater On the Air 6/6/2012 8:30 PM
445.500 T-91.5 Is/was running in Tri Cities... (not sure about this...) Seem to be missing some radios there.
445.425 T-91.5 Is now
Down again in
the Sky Meadows area.
Mike will get over there and get it fixed soon.
4/27/2013
4/27/2013 Saturday Morning... East end of the link is down. Jack
(W7HNH) found that we lost the power supply that powers the link radio. He is in
the process of hooking up another one right now(12:10 PM) temporarily until Mike
can get another one over to him. We have no idea what time it went down. Just
noticed it this morning.
Jack "W7HNH" saved our bacon by inserting another power supply and had the link back up and running in short order. Thanks Jack
As soon as Jack & Mike get all their ducks in a row. The 147.160 Repeater will soon be hooked into the system on the east side.
It will be located at the upper Sky Meadows site. When we get 147.160 up and running, we will disable 146.540 simplex and the repeater will become the east end portal for the system. The repeater will solve a lot of problems we have had in using simplex and also give us a controller at the site. So watch for any updates here on the web site.
Technical Information for the N7LXC system 5/31/2012
At (BHC) Bothell Health Care Link Controller = RLC-4
At BHC 442.550 UHF Repeater = GE Master 11 Base Running about 40 Watts
At BHC 145.570 VHF Link Radio = Motorola Mitrek Running about 65 Watts
At BHC UHF Link Radio = Motorola Mitrek Running about 30 Watts
At BHC, N7NEW QTH we have Emergency Power Backup
At N7NEW QTH UHF Link Radio = Motorola Max Trac Running about 10 Watts
At W7EFS QTH UHF Link Radio = Motorola Max Trac Running about 5 Watts
W7EFS QTH & N7NEW QTH are linked by Echolink
At W7EFS QTH & N7NEW QTH... The Interfaces between the radio & computer are made by Fox Delta
Model "Fox Echo K7" They have the AGC boards in them.
146.540/Link Radio above Skymeadows = Icom IC-2340H in cross-band mode Running about 60 Watts VHF/UHF
At this time the audio levels are not perfect but will be set soon. I also need to play with the hang timers a little to shorten up the turnaround delay. Will be also watching the system ID timers and will make adjustments where needed.
See link to pictures of sites below on this page
"WA7HJR/R" ID for the repeater comes from the controller in CW
"N7LXC/L" ID for the link comes from the controller in CW
"N7LXC Link" ID for the link comes from echolink in voice
Courtesy tones are...
M = (signal came from) 442.550 Repeater
W = (signal came from) 145.570 Link radio
L = (signal came from) UHF Link radio
Visual Explanation
(click on thumbnails to see full size)
12/19/2011
How the link works when we use Echolink to link the system east to west... (default)
"HTRC Link News"
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You might have heard Terry "N7JTA" talking about his wind storm Saturday 6/23/2012
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June 26 2012
Packet Racket on 145.570
Got another email from Roger Hansen W6TOZ today.
He says they have turned off the repeater and are gone from 145.575
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June 25, 2012
Packet Racket on 145.570
Got email from Roger Hansen, W6TOZ today...
Roger says they are running a packet repeater and it's output is on 145.575 (input 144.975)
Roger says they will move to another freq as soon as possible.
June 14 2012 Finally got call signs on the Packet Station that has been bothering the Link System. KF7CFS & W7CRW were the calls I got today after listening for a few days.
The KF7CFS belongs to "Skagit County Amateur Radio Emergency Services Club". In Oak Harbor, WA.
June 18 2012 We have written them a letter and not heard back yet as of
June 22 2012 Now working with Mac "KE7YNV" on the packet problem.
President,
Radio Amateurs of Skagit County
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May 30 2012
The Echolink system is up and running !!!
Need to set some levels and Mike will be working on that.
Please read more about it at...
Echolink Information for the N7LXC system
Remember to connect to N7LXC-R with Echolink.
N7LXC-L is closed to internet user connections.
If you need help setting up Echolink please contact Mike at Email Club N7LXC
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Jan 30 2012
N7NEW finally got a call sign from the packet bursts late Sunday night.
The Packet Bursts we have been hearing over the Link System for the last few days, were coming from a N7GME transmitter, member of the WA7RA repeater group in Bremerton, WA.
Bob "WA7HTJ" wrote him a note by email Monday morning and the problem is now resolved.
They pass along their sincere apologies to our group.
The system is now quite again...
Later, Mike "N7NEW"
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Jan 28 2012
All day today (Saturday) we have been hearing Packet Bursts on the system. (every 10 min) They are being received by the repeater and being retransmitted throughout the system. Bob and Mike suspect it is an APRS radio that someone has accidentally left on our repeater freq with his APRS turned on. Probably a user of our system because he has the right PL tone & offset programmed in. At 11:30 PM Saturday night... Mike got tired of listening to it and turned the repeater off for the night. We will turn it back on Sunday morning and see if the packet bursts are gone. I don't think whoever made this mistake will notice it until he fools with his radio tomorrow. Easy mistake for someone to make with these new fancy multifunction radios.
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Jan 11 2012
Unidentified
Tones Mystery solved Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Willard
W7NNQ set up an IRLP node at his place in Renton near Fairwood Golf Course. He
just happened to use 445.925 with the same PL tone as us.
Talked
to him on the radio and he said he would move to another freq. Also talked to
his buddy David KB7ILD
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Jan 8 2012
Got the battery back-up system installed today. If the site at Bothell Health Care looses commercial power, it will switch to battery back-up automatically. It will also start sending "BP" in CW every ten minutes out the radios. When the commercial power is restored it will switch back and quit sending the "BP". So if you hear the "BP" don't be afraid to use it... just don't get too long winded. If it turns out to be an extended power outage, I will take a generator up and power the system with it.
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Sept 2 2011
Got an email from KB7TIW today. User of old we have not heard from since 1999.
Ed Thomas moved to Goldendale, WA after he retired. Good to hear from you ED !
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As of April 17 2011
The 442.550 repeater is now at it's home spot at the Bothell Health Care site. Terry (N7JTA), John Wright, Bob (WA7HTJ) & Mike (N7NEW) erected the tower and ant today at the site. We placed the repeater cabinet in the shed and hooked it up for the smoke test. No smoke and it seems to be operating fine. New site pictures are up here for viewing now.
As of February 9, 2011
We have been given authorization by Bothell Health Care to put the repeater at their facility.
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Update 1/29/2011
Applied for coordination with WWARA for 442.550 (co-channeled with W7HNH "east side")
We have a 440 repeater built that is linked into the system full time. It is located in Bothell north end area.
Jack W7HNH bought some new equipment and together with Bob WA7HTJ & Mike N7NEW we tuned up another duplexer for the 442.550 repeater. Thanks from the N7LXC group to Jack.
Received Icoms (crystals) from ICM (International Crystal Manufacturing) 1/26/11...
Bob, WA7HTJ & Mike, N7NEW installed the new Icoms in the repeater and retuned the repeater to 442.550
on Saturday 1/29/11 it is now on the air and working fine on 442.550 + (pl 103.5)
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December 10, 2010
HTRC Received the club call of N7LXC today. It is now official !
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Bert McClellan "N7TKO" became a Silent Key Wednesday 5/21/2014
N7TKO was one of the original users of the Link. His humor & booming voice will be missed.
This is Bert's daughter. I'm sending this to
the people that are on his friends list. Some of you already know this. My dad
passed away yesterday afternoon. He had a heart attack at home a few days ago
which he didn't know about. I took him to the hospital Monday morning cause he
told me he hasn't felt good for the last few days. They said he had fluid on his
lungs. They said his heart was really bad and could,t do much for his heart.
They worked on getting the fluid off his lungs. I guess his heart couldn't take
much more of it. He was 89 years old and he lived a good life. In his will it
said he didn't want any services. So I'm going to respect his wish. I want to
thank everybody for being so kind to him. He cared for each and everyone of you.
He will be missed.
Janet McClellan
n7tko@comcast.net
Ray Killian KC7ZUM (The Voice of Cle Elum) became a Silent Key Sunday July 1 2012
22 October 1919 - 01 July 2012
Besides being a great friend & a real gentleman, Ray left a big hole in the Amateur Radio Community.
Service
For Ray Killian “KC7ZUM”
Laurel Hill Memorial Cemetery, Cle Elum, Washington
July 28th
2012
11:00 AM
Reception to follow the Service and will be at the Senior Center
719 E 3rd St, Cle Elum, WA 98922
Don (N7LXC) died at Virginia Mason Hospital 12/27/07
Click pictures to see full size
Don Martin, 61, died December 27, 2007, after a short illness. Don was born on April 7,
1946 in Seattle, WA, the youngest of three brothers.
He graduated in 1964, from Sealth High School, where he excelled in sports, particularly
football. He worked 38 years for the Seattle P-I and Seattle Times as a pressman, retiring
in 2003. Retirement allowed him to relocate to his beloved Sky Meadows in Cle
Elum, WA.
Don was larger than life in every way. His appetite for stories, laughter, friends and
good times was legendary. His passions were also big: ham radio (N7LXC), computers,
cameras, tractors and anything with a motor. He was idolized by his nieces and nephews and
could make friends anywhere.
Don leaves the love of his life and wife, Brenda Sudduth-Martin; daughter, Lauren
Dealey;
stepson, Free; brothers, Steve and Terry and their spouses and children; many nieces and
nephews; and special friends, Ron and Faith Schaafsma, of Auburn, WA.
Friends and family will miss the "youngest, good-looking" Martin brother and
tell Donald stories for years to come. (taken from the Herald)
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"A Celebration of Donald's Life"
"A Celebration of Donald's Life" was held Saturday, April 5, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the home of Faith and Ron Schaafsma in Auburn, Washington. The Celebration was well attended with 80/100 friends & family.
Pictures are now posted. After going to the site below, you can click on single pictures or view the slide show.
There are 5 pages of pictures. Any Picture can be saved to your computer by right clicking on it and saving it.
"Take a look at the pictures in our albums"
Picture album of users on the Link System
Pictures & Information of Sites on the Link system
Pictures & Information for the 442.550 Repeater
"Picture of the original boys in the Half Ton Radio club"
"Had to be over 250# to become a member"
"Map of Simplex Link System"
These maps updated to reflect the changes 1/30/2011
Click picture to see full size
With Radio Linking (shoreline link radios on, Echolink off)
With Echolink Linking (shoreline link radios off, Echolink on)
Links
(What we use to access our Mt. Top Repeater sites in winter) Also for hire...
HTRC Documents of Organization
Beware.. Field Day setups on DNR lands or State Parks will need a Discover Pass
read about it here... Discover Pass
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If you need radio repair we recommend Bruce at Sultan Electronics
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