146.655

146.655 Repeater - Branson, MO

****** SMLRS Linked System Repeater ******

On-Air Date:                    December 29, 2017

Repeater Transmit:         146.655

Repeater Receive:           146.055               (-600 kHz)

Modes:                               Analog 25 kHz Wideband Analog OR P25 Digital

PL Tone:                             91.5 Hz

PL Direction:                      Encode & Decode

P25 NAC                             656

NAC Direction                   Encode & Decode

Bandwidth                          Wideband – 25 kHz

Transmit Power:               125-Watts

Antenna System:              Comprod 872F-70TMHD- 190' AGL

Link antennas:                   Commscope DB-436 - 180' AGL

Coax Cable:                        Commscope LDF5-50/LDF4-50 - 1/2” & 7/8" Heliax - Repeater & Link Radio

Controller:                         SCOM 7330

Repeater                            Motorola Quantar

Duplexer:                           TX RX 28-37-04A

Link Radios:                       Motorola CDM-1250 403-470 MHz UHF

Backup power:                  Site Generator

Router:                               Ubiquiti Edgerouter X

Internet:                             Yes - Vandernet

Nets:                                  Fridays @ 7:30 p.m. - Region D ARES Net

In April 2014, James Adkins, KB0NHX, made a trip from Lees Summit to Branson to meet with Ted Martin, N0ITR, and other City of Branson officials for final discussions before taking a proposal to the Branson City Council to allow the Nixa ARC to place a VHF ham radio repeater atop the City's Landmark Water Tower located in Branson, MO on "The Strip" next to the Titanic Museum.  The repeater antennas would not be installed until August 2017.  The club had the antenna but was waiting for some tower work to be completed by AT&T that got pushed back year after year in hopes the work could be done at no charge.  In the meantime, the club became aware of an abandoned room in the base of the water tower that was formerly occupied by Nextel.  The City was not aware of this and when they learned of this they not only moved their radio equipment into this climate controlled room but also wired up the site generator to provide emergency power to it.  With pressure mounting to get the repeater online, Ted, N0ITR, the Branson Fire Chief, had hired a fireman that had done tower climbing in a past career for a two-way radio shop out of state and got creative - using it as a teaching moment for several of his firemen.  In August 2017, the firemen had a training exercise for climbing and repelling and while atop the tank installed the new DB-224E repeater antenna and link radio antenna along with a Total Highspeed Wireless Internet radio.

The repeater was originally a Tait T800 Series II 100-W repeater donated to the club by the Stone County, MO 911.  However, when interference problems arose and there was a lack of PL tone decode logic on the Tait, we replaced it with a 100-W Motorola Quantar repeater donated to the club by Jack Holzer of the Johnson County, KS 911 Communications. 

On December 29, 2017, the repeater went online and was almost immediately plagued by interference problems and much equipment was traded out, antennas moved, and filters and circulators installed, frequencies and access codes changed all in an attempt to alleviate the problem.  In July 2019, James, KB0NHX, played an audio recording of it to a professional colleague in St. Joseph, MO who, without a doubt, said it was malicious interference.  In December 2019, James Adkins, KB0NHX, and Jim Collville, W7RY, met at the site and went through it very thoroughly and Jim, a Motorola ST, concluded that the interference was not a result of anything on the water tower or a problem with the equipment as well.  Suspecting the noise was malicious, and knowing it always occurred during the Thursday night Nixa ARC net, a team of amateur volunteers from several local clubs went to several houses in the Branson area that we suspected might be doing this intentionally.  Luckily, one of our guesses was correct.  Over the course of the next 3 months, 13 pages of video, audio and triangulation data was gathered and submitted to the FCC for an official complaint.  After some time and an ultimatum from the FCC, the interference subsided.

In January 2024, the club received verbal permission to install the repeater and link antennas atop the Shepherd of the Hills Inspiration tower, improving height above sea level almost 400’.  After spending time meeting with a tower climber and a crane company, we were confident we could install the antennas on site.  Work began to work with the owner’s legal to draft up documentation to formally allow us to complete the installation.  In April 2025, the club was able to install the antennas on the structure and move the repeater to the new location.

Hints for use:  This repeater can also be utilized in P25 digital mode.  In analog mode with a PL of 91.5 Hz, the repeater is linked to the SMLRS.  However, if an operator wants to use it in P25 digital mode, simply plug in the NAC of 656 using C4FM modulation and transmit - no talkgroup needed.  In digital mode, the internal Motorola controller takes over control of the repeater and the repeater becomes a stand alone P25 digital repeater.  REMEMBER - Analog is primary so any analog radio traffic will move the repeater back to Analog operation on the linked system.