Mosher Hill Repeater
147.180/147.780 PL 123.0 Hz
The building is the Emergency Communications building in Farmington. Yup, that's a generator. It's heated, too.
The building also houses the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency repeater and the Emergency Medical Services repeater.
The Mosher Hill repeater is the primary repeater for the Franklin County ARES Team.
The building also houses the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency repeater and the Emergency Medical Services repeater.
The Mosher Hill repeater is the primary repeater for the Franklin County ARES Team.
Mosher Hill VHF Repeater Stats
The "New" Mosher Hill Tower
• Antenna, feedline, and combiner courtesy
of Franklin County
• Tranceiver: GE Mastr II station
• Controller: Pion & Simon 508-2
• AC power supply
• 80 Watts ±
• Location:
Waugh Rd. (off Mosher Hill Rd.)
44° 43' 1.87"N
70° 6' 30.44"W
Elevation: 982’
The 147.180 Mosher Hill Repeater has returned to it "roots." When .18 was on the air from Bass Hill in Wilton in the mid to late 80's, it used a repeater controller that was built by our dear. departed friend Eric, K1PV. Eric modified a design he found in the ARRL "FM and Repeater Guide" and built it on 4" x 4" bread boards (three of them - the original design had one!). The modifications included a timer and relay to drive a cassette tape player that gave .18 a distinctive & unique (in those days) recorded voice ID. Eric also constructed the tape loop that the voice was recorded on. Eric's wife, Susan, provided the first voice ID. That controller was eventually replaced by a commercial controller that featured a recorded voice ID.
Other modifications Eric made included a circuit that would sense a power failure. In those days, we used a bank of batteries with a trickle charger to power the repeater. If the power shut off to the charger the controller would drop the repeater output to a modest, battery conserving 5 watts. This set-up allowed the repeater to be available in case of power failures. Now we have access to the FCEMA generator.
The most recent improvements occurred when the Franklin County EMA did a major upgrade at the facility. The old building was refurbished and enlarged, new insulation and wallboard. Hussey Communications removed all the old dishes and antenna from the tower and put up all new antenna and feedline. Inside, they installed a combiner and included the old Mastr II in the system. This work significantly improved the signal from .18 and increased the life of the tower (less wind load). Another plus: the generator control system working properly.
In spite of all the changes and upgrades, the .18 repeater will always be a tribute to our old friend "Papa Victor."