Sunday, March 30, 2008

Looking For A New Repeater Site Part 2

Once we'd made our way past the farmyard we got to see the more serious equipment.


The track suddenly took a turn for the worse and I was glad that I was driving an all conquering Land Rover.


It's pretty obvious that the Smart Car Brigade stop at the farmyard and that it's only the hardcore techies that venture up the track.
In 4x4 terms, that track would be considered "Grade 4". I wouldn't tackle it in the rainy season without recovery gear.

Moving on. The lower mast looks like it was built by / for the local Hams.

The entire installation has a professional air about it that I hadn't seen at the lower levels. The attention to detail has also rubbed off on the WISP equipment located on this tower.

Slightly further up the track I discovered this nightmare.




A cellular company seems to have had a mast up on the mountain at some point in the past. The damage to the "scaffolding" leads me to believe that the mast was mostly destroyed during a fire. The owners probably removed what they could and left the rest there to rust away. Needless so say some enterprising wireless operator came along and decided it would do as a site for a base station. Note the plastic toy box hosting equipment. Now where have I seen a toy box like that housing equipment? Oh yes, outside the Pick n Pay in Gordon's Bay. It's not there anymore. I wonder whether they moved the repeater site or whether the "tik monsters" stole the kit and sold it for a high?


The last mast on this part of the mountain is a huge new structure that somebody is investing a large amount of money in.


I like it, but I'm not sure that I want to locate our equipment on it, so I've decided to enter into negotiations with the owners of the land for permission to clear an area to build our own eco friendly repeater.


Watch this space.
..

Our Main Site | Our Classified Adverts

No comments: