History of the KD4RAA Repeater Group Projects

In the Spring of 1992, I was working on my 1st scratch repeater project at home awaiting for my Amateur license to arrive via postal mail from the FCC.  Finally in July, the KD4RAA call sign was issued and the 444.875 UHF repeater came off of the test bench and was on its way to the Fairgrounds tower site.  At that time, there were only a handful of UHF repeaters active in the Triangle area and dual band radios were becoming a popular purchase.  I instantly met a whole new group of folks using UHF as they discovered this new independent repeater on the block.

The original 875 machine was two Motorola Micor mobiles and a simple ID - COS to PTT controller and a set of BpBr cavities.  Tom Lewis (WA4SIS - now W4SIS) was my first contact on ham radio and it was on that very repeater built from mobiles that CP&L auctioned out for $15.  Henry Su WD4NTE also had a part with launching 875.  The Diamond Dual Band 500 was installed at the 320 foot level and with the help of John KD4JMN's climb, we were on the air. Today, I still remember the Micor pair having the best audio fidelity, after all, I had a recording studio with some real time audio analyzers and other toys to help flatten out the response. The Micors played for several years and finally after two lightning hits, they had to be retired.   It took me several months of trial and error to built that 1st repeater, but the experience proved beneficial as I had no idea what I was about to fall into.

In 1996 we obtained a GE Master II repeater and TX-RX duplexer for the 875 Fairgrounds repeater.  Glenn KF4RDN assisted in replacing and financing the Diamond antenna  We also made a move in 1999 from an ungrounded Leonard building to a new transmitter building that now stays nice and cool.  I was already working on another repeater for the StARS fellas and the NC State library site.

During this period of "repeater builder mania",  I was elected as the FM chair for the local Raleigh Amateur Radio Society and had the responsibility for helping secure new sites for the 146.64, 444.525 and 220 repeaters. With the assistance of Bernard Blackmon W4BRB we were able to find homes for those machines before the new 540 beltway consumed the Cablevision tower that was "in the way" at Six Forks and Strickland.  The 145.13 machine owned by RARS for use by the W4ATC group was also being upgraded and being maintained on the DH Hill Library. This was a busy time.

442.675 was secured for the Cary location in 1993 and Ron Casey began coordination at his water tank site on Kildare Farm road.  Because of interference issues, we traded frequencies with the NC State University Club and 444.775 currently carries the K4JDR call in Cary and 442.675 now is on campus. Check Ron's site for more information on the 444.775 system at www.caryncrepeater.com  Ron shared my passion for repeaters and we first began visioning a network of regionally linked UHF repeaters that would extend portable and mobile coverage in adjacent counties.  In 1993, we began talking with various repeater owners and trustees, tower owners, communication equipment suppliers - polling our resources to explore all of the possibilities. John LeMay KB4WGA, Tom Lewis W4SIS, Butch Henion KF4AUF and Charlie Durst WA4WTX were a part of the initial process. There was enough interest from several systems that we loosely formed the KD4RAA repeater group.  

Tom secured one of the last remaining 2meter pairs in Raleigh on 146.775.  We were able to piggy back this repeater at the same site as 444.875.  This machine was eventually assigned to KD4RAA group for use by the NC State University Amateur Radio Club... the W4ATC student club  (which didn't set well with Tom, since he boasts himself a Carolina fan).  Due to the infrequent use by the "transient" NCSU students, we decided to experiment with the Voice Over Internet Protocol developed by VE7LTD called the Internet Radio Linking Project.  There were only a couple of hundred node/repeaters using IRLP, when we 1st introduced it to Raleigh. The 146.775 machine now hosts the IRLP node 4260 full time, which is usually connected an IRLP reflector.  IRLP and other VoIP schemes continue to grow in popularity. Thanks to Jim WW4M for his expertise with our RedHat Linux box that is the heart of the interface...to Terry KB4PQA for the heads up on this new technology.  Node 4270 was built shortly thereafter became active on the UHF link system. 

Ron had purchased a new Vertex repeater for the Cary site but we decided that the features of the Pacific Research controller would serve us better as the UHF linking hub on 441.725.  The 441.725 linking hub was launched in the Fall of 2001.  I had just purchased a Master II station that we quickly rocked up for the Cary site.  Initially we linked the Cary and Raleigh machines together, but then the system began to grow.  Henderson 444.375 was added in October 2001.  Shortly after that we added the KB4WGA Durham 444.950 repeater to the hub link.  Clayton 444.140 was the next to be added in 2002 and in 2003 we added the KD4RAA 444.825 machine in Morehead and the KF4AUF 444.325 link to Holly Springs.   IRLP nodes were also put in place in Greenville, SC on the KB4PQA 442.250  repeater and in Wilmington on David Wicker's N4JDW 2 meter and 440 machines.  The KA2FWC 443.625 repeater was also moved to a higher location in the Research Triangle Park courtesy of Ken N4ZBB and Charlie WA4WTX.  444.675 was rescued from the Nortel group and signed on in August of 2001 with trustee N4ZBB. It was later moved to the Fairgrounds as a stand alone repeater with its own IRLP node 5270. We assisted Doug Blizzard N4HAJ with the installation of his new IRLP node 4290 for the 444.575 machine in Kinston in October of 2001.   The Outer Banks IRLP 8270 node was built.  Ron and I became so active with not only our own repeater projects but were solicited by other trustees and groups to help complete their projects in motion... and of course, in the spirit of the hobby, how could we say no !  

We continue to work with repeater owners in North and South Carolina to add more IRLP nodes and repeaters as time permits. Other regional repeater owners plan to link to our system in the near future, including Greensboro, Clinton, New Bern and Rocky Mount.  Ron has also a list of projects in motion on his page... some are listed on our home index page.  Honestly.... we never had an idea that the project would grow so fast, so soon.  It simply happened that way and it has to be due to the efforts of all of those participating around us.

There are many to thank for all the hard work, equipment donations, time investment, personal finances and calling in on special favors. To Glenn, Jim, Jack, Tom, Henry, Charlie, Butch, Tyler, Frank, Terry, John, Gary, Bernard, Danny, Doug, David and my man Ron,  I appreciate your resourcefulness and extra effort. I am truly grateful.  You have made this a fun hobby and a system that we can be proud of.  If I could change the name of this group, I would add all of the calls that have made all of these projects a success... and the list would be longer that this document, I'll bet.  As time permits, I will update our History page.  Check back for further flashbacks and updates.  

73
Danny Musten KD4RAA