BeachNet Repeater System

BeachNet Repeater System

Pacific, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Thurston & Wahkiakum Counties, Washington

145.170 |  145.310 |  145.390 |  147.020 |  147.180 |  147.340 |  224.040 |  224.820 |  440.675 |  441.675 |  442.675 |  444.050 |  444.200 |  444.300 |  444.400 |  444.500 |  444.700 |  444.800 |  444.925 |  444.950
 

 

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KO Peak

Pacific County, WA
46.461068, -123.550658
2900 Feet
Call: N7XAC

224.040  -1.6MHz  118.8Hz


KO Peak 1.25m Repeater


Location: KO Peak is the highest radio site in Pacific County, and is located 6 miles south of Lebam, WA. It is 12 miles by logging road from the highway, and can be inaccessible much of the year due to lingering snow because the road climbs the northern face of the mountain and much of the road is in shadow nearly all the time.

Coverage: KO Peak is a great long-range site, and both repeaters can be worked directly from Tacoma, Olympia and northern Grays Harbor County on the north; Vancouver, WA, and Seaside, OR on the south and well out to sea to the west. The coverage within Pacific County can be spotty, with some very good locations and some not so good. The "KO" repeaters are very strong in the Willapa Valley, and northern Pacific County, as well as portions of Grays Harbor County, along the Interstate-5 corridor, and on the Long Beach Peninsula. Click here for a detailed site plot for the UHF machine, but representative of the coverage from both repeaters, with the 224.040 being moderately better.

Hardware: The 224.040 repeater is a converted Motorola mobile, with an internal controller and a switching power supply feeding a (new May 2010) Stationmaster gain vertical at the top of the tower through 7/8-inch hardline. The duplexer is a low-loss unit with large-bore cavities. Of course, attention has been paid to proper lightning protection.

The KO Peak site is instrumental in conjunction with the
BeachNet linking system to knit the network together. The UHF and VHF repeaters each have their role, and both can be accessed directly from the Washington State Emergency Coordination Center at Camp Murray. This is a keystone of the Pacific County ARES/RACES Emergency Plan. Click here for information on the UHF 441.675 MHz repeater.

The KO Peak 224.040 repeater normally operates independently, as a stand-alone resource. When desired, it can be linked into the network using the remote bases. From an Emergency Communications standpoint, it is routinely used as a conduit for connecting the Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) of the Southwestern Washington counties to the Washington State ECC at Camp Murray in times of disaster. The prudent emergency planner never relies on any single resource without considering alternatives, in case of failure. However, this repeater has a lot to recommend it as one tool in the EmCom toolkit.

One-and-one-quarter-meters has a unique spectral location, being relatively distant from any commonly-used commercial or public safety radio frequency. Both the more popular 2-meter and 70-centimeter bands are adjacent to such other radio users, and this can cause some interference potential in the close confines involved in EmCom support of official agencies.

The use of 224.040 for EmCom also frees both of the more popular 2-meter and 70-centimeter bands for more intensive local use without interference. And, finally, one must also look at the fact that, since most scanners don't cover the 222 MHz band, its use reduces the number of ears listening.

Outside of emergency support work, the 222 MHz. band has much to recommend it. The propagation is at least as good as 2-meters, and there is a lot less noise (radio "smog") at most sites.

History: The KO Peak station took a direct lightning strike on November 7, 2009, vaporizing the UHF antenna, damaging the nearby 220-MHz antenna. The lightning strike caused the UHF antenna to literally explode as the conductor inside the fiberglass shell turned instantly from metal wire to super-heated ionized plasma, trying to carry the thousands of Amperes of current delivered. The fiberglass shrapnel sliced open the phasing harness on the 220-MHz antenna and sandblasted the radiator elements. The 220 antenna was replaced in May, 2010.

 

 

 

 




 

145.170 |  145.310 |  145.390 |  147.020 |  147.180 |  147.340 |  224.040 |  224.820 |  440.675 |  441.675 |  442.675 |  444.050 |  444.200 |  444.300 |  444.400 |  444.500 |  444.700 |  444.800 |  444.925 |  444.950
 

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This Page Last Updated: 11/25/18.