Kb3awq 6 Meter FM Repeater 53.050

06/01/2026

You can listen online with some delay at https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/47272

Listen to KB3AWQ 6 Meter Repeater on Broadcastify.com

06/01/2026

Tonight N3SSL and I went up and took a GE Mastr 2 base up that I got from N3MSK last week. We are duplexing from Armstrong now and it seems to be working well. K4MTP home made center fed dipole at the top 195 ft facing north. Using K4MTP homemade 1 inch and 5/8 hardline duplexers (3 on both sides) and Power out the GE is 100 watts.

The transmit tone is missing at the moment but if turn your receive tone off you won't know the difference. We are looking at linking with the K4MTP 6 meters repeaters, N3MSK and Honeybrook eventually.

Allstar is what I am using for the repeater controller so it will still have Allstar access but it may not be linked in to the others that it is currently linked to so it might just be a 6 meter link system. If that were to change I would re add it to my UHF and 10m links like it has been. The UHF link antenna is not on the tower yet so it is not linked to the other 6m ones yet.

We will probably keep it unlinked while the PL issue is going on so it doesn't lock up the other repeaters if some noise comes in. We will post more as things happen.

05/24/2026

I guess I forgot to post an update. Last Saturday 53.050 got a boost again. The antenna is at the top of the 200 ft tower on the north side and is using a homebrew center fed dipole. The Kenwood is driving a modified Maratrac PA giving about 125 watts. We attempted to duplex but it appears the Kenwood transmit radio was desensing the receiver radio. We used my Wouxun ht to drive the amp for 125 watts and it seemed to work.

We did notice there is some noise that has appeared recently at the receiver site so will have to try to pin point that in order to receive from there.

However, as of yesterday we were donated a GE Mastr 2 Base continuous duty by N3MSK and is almost ready to deploy to hopefully duplex from the same antenna with the 1 inch and 5/8 hardline home brew duplexers that K4MTP made. Stay tuned! 53.05 repeater with progrock2. 115W out and .18uv RX just need to cable for a pi controller and PL enc/dec yet. The plan is to keep Allstar as the controller for the repeater and still have it accessible on Allstarlink but the plan is to do an RF link to Long Pond where the hub is and then it will be RF linked to 53.130 in Catawissa, 53.25 in the Poconos, 53.29 in Wind Gap and 53.330 in Honeybrook and if the RF link goes away it will just be relinked to how it has been on 444.900, 29.660 and 147.300 but while RF linked, the plan currently is to not have it linked to 444.900 etc.

04/23/2026

53.050 is back on the air but is doing about 20 watts for now until we get the amp back on. The antenna is a k4mtp special dipole special and is at about 70 ft on the tower. The folded dipole had an issue and was taken down but was at 180 ft. It was quite windy on Saturday so will see if it goes back up or stays where it is. It is on the northwest leg of the tower. Thanks to N3SSL K4MTP KD3BDG Caleb and Dave Miller for all the help on Saturday and for Ryan making a stop up today to get the audio working again.

01/26/2026

Just a reminder, the 53.050 transmitter is offline currently, probably until spring. The receiver works though and will come over the rest of the system as it is still connected. I have heard some key ups and some chatter about it so just wanted to be sure it was known. Any questions, just let me know. You can use 6 as an input as long as you can receive on of the other repeaters to hear someone come back to you.

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12/03/2025

The Mastr 2 PA that 53.050 was using. We may have to run it on just the Kenwood tk6110 for now or when we can get it back up to the site

12/01/2025

Update1: It was the Mastr 2 PA. I was going to put it on just the radio but pulled it all. N3SSL is going to check things out on it and will see when it can get back on. The road up there isn't the greatest once snow is on it so will have to see how things go. Will update when I know more.

I noticed today that the 53.050 transmitter seems weak. Going to check the power out and SWR, hopefully on Monday morning. If it's the radio I can replace, but if it's the external PA, we will likely be working with 25 watts for a while. If it's something on the tower, we will power down until it can be worked on by someone. Hopefully I can get up o Monday to check it before the snow flies, as this site isn't the greatest to go to when snow and ice is on the road.

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11/21/2025

Last night and tonight, my low power signal into the repeater has been pretty good. I asked Google what weather changes have occurred in the last 48 hours to make the noise floor better on 50 MHz. The AI overview said - A
high-pressure system and associated clearer, drier air are the most likely weather conditions in the last 24 hours to have improved the 50 MHz radio noise floor in Williamsport, PA. Drier air and stable atmospheric conditions typically reduce man-made static and general background noise (QRN) in the VHF spectrum.
Weather Conditions in Williamsport, PA (last 24 hours)
The weather in Williamsport from Thursday, November 20, 2025, to Friday, November 21, 2025, was generally cool, mostly cloudy, and dry for much of the period.

Humidity and Precipitation: The air was relatively dry on Thursday (around 60-70% humidity) with no significant precipitation. Drier conditions typically lead to a lower noise floor compared to high humidity, rain, or snow, which can cause static or affect antenna performance.
Atmospheric Pressure: The barometric pressure was high and stable, around 30.20 inHg. High pressure often indicates stable, clear weather, which is favorable for reduced atmospheric noise.
Lack of Thunderstorms: There were no reports of thunderstorms in the area. Thunderstorms are a major source of static and high noise on radio bands.
Temperature and Wind: Temperatures ranged from a low of 28°F to a high of 47°F, with light and variable winds.

Effect on 50 MHz Noise Floor
The absence of significant weather events (like thunderstorms or heavy precipitation) and the presence of stable, drier atmospheric conditions are the likely reasons for a better 50 MHz noise floor. The low humidity would have minimized localized static, allowing for potentially clearer reception on the 6-meter band.

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10/26/2025

This map of course just shows the area between each of the tower sites that are linked. Click this link for the actual map https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1pgLOtES7HQ2qkEqVGcsKQzlI5ZiWqTQ&usp=sharing
The 5 Red towers are N3FYI 446.475 PL 114.8
The Blue Towers are KB3AWQ/W3AHS/Williamsport and the Lock Haven tower that KE4MHE has his receiver at.
The Orange is the ones is K4MTP's repeaters Catawissa and Long Pond
The Purple is KB3VXB's repeater

09/16/2025

270 ft off center fed dipole horizontal by kb3vxb in Hegins, PA