I LOVE Ebay, not all the goofy stuff but once and a while I run across something I have to have, because I see the potential for a new project. I found that something. This thing cost me basically nothing. Its like that old dog that no one wants, but still has alot to give. It hasnt been plugged in for years, sat in a storage unit, or basement, by the smell of it and forgotten. I know its just a piece of electronics, but it has a history that only a few around here know of. Meet the W0QMF repeater. She is old, run down, and doesnt even turn on, but she is a diamond in the rough. The next series of pages in the series will be the restoration of this old , once great work horse, here in the Southeast Missouri Ham community..........
I saw the listing on Ebay, and contacted the owner. He had posted it and no one bid on it. When I saw the listing I knew instantly what it was. Somehow over all the years, this repeater had changed frequencies, changed hands, changed club ownership and finally ended up in the hands of a fellow ham. He then moved away. Somehow in all of this it had been then donated to yet another club as a way to raise funds, so she found her way onto Ebay.........thats when I crossed paths. I wrote the owner who took the auction down, and a week later we met in a parking lot in the Ozarks and exchanged the history of this machine. After hearing my love for old gear, the kind fellow ham refused payment telling me to take it back where it used to be, and put her back on the air. I promised him to help his club with some digital work they needed, and I left with the old repeater, and all my money. The old repeater was going home, so to speak.
She was originally on 146.34/94 under an old call. There were stencils on the bottom showing so. She then made her way to the SEMOARC, changing frequencies with ownership to 146.22/82. Judging from writings on the inside of the lid of the receiver, she was on the air for a long time. Im assuming she was retired at some point. The is evidence that she suffered several failures and huge burn marks on the power supply on/off switch. One can only imagine how many folks used this repeater when she was new back in the 1980s. Like a lot of old equipment, she was eventually retired where she got swapped around finally ended up were she did. I guess I had been at the right place at the right time.
I have many plans for her renewed life, the rest of this blog will show the steps in bringing her back to the glory days she once saw. You might say, Im kinda wierd, but there is a ton of history here that only locals would find interesting. My intention is to place her back on the air, with all new parts while trying to retain as much of her original physique as possible.
This will be a project, at least for me, to remember.............
Much, Much more to come...........
Happy building!
