Donate
The only income that MAWCG and FARG have is through donations. There are a few needs and projects coming up to keep the repeater and the repeater site in good working order. There are also regular maintenance costs that need to be covered to keep the repeaters on the air.
Below are the projects that are currently needed and new ones upcoming. They are listed in the order of importance. If you donate and do not pick a project the money will go into the general fund and be put toward the projects as needed.
We want to make it clear that donations are not a condition for use of the repeaters, etc. Any Licensed Amateur Radio Operator is at anytime welcome to use the radio facilities. No membership or other monetary transaction is required. This is only for those that would like to help out.
The Mid-Atlantic Wireless Communication Group is a Maryland corporation and a 501(3)(c). All donations are tax deductible.
Battery Replacement
The batteries that are the power backup for the repeaters are very old and starting to bulge. To replace the batteries, the cost is around $1800 for 8 150Ah Gel Cell/AGM batteries.
Controller Upgrades
The controllers that are currently in use are old model controllers that are using RJ45 connectors that then connect to screw terminals. We are pretty certain that this is part of the noise problem we have.
The newer model controllers have better connections and we would install with purpose built cables.
A controller built out as we would need it is about $600 and we would need a primary and a spare.
Building Maintenance
There is some building maintenance that needs to happen. The cost is probably low but will require a bit of labor.
Here is a list of the maintenance items:
- In the small room, the floor is falling through and will soon need to be replaced at least partially. The big room was completed about 2 years ago by Phil (W3ICF).
- The door to the small room is rusting out and either needs to be replaced or repaired.
- The roof needs a new coat of the rubber sealer that stops the leaks inside the building.
- There are some problems with the grounding system in the building that needs to be repaired.
- We would like to replace the rubber mats on the floor in the big room with tile. They are falling apart and when you touch them you get black all over you.
New Repeater / Modes
There have been a few discussions about new repeaters, maybe on 220, etc. We have also discussed getting other analog modes like Allstar or IRLP running.
The cost would vary depending on what we were setting up.
Remote Hams Setup
We have some people in our area that have lost access to HF because they have moved into a retirement community or a location with an HOA. Since we have the ability and space, we would like to setup a remote hams radio for those that don’t have local access to HF. We need a transceiver, antenna and computer to make this happen. The antenna would have to be an HF vertical.
Non Money Donations
If you have old equipment that you no longer need and it is in relatively good condition you can donate it. It might be sold to add to the general fund or it might be kept for future use for projects (like the remote hams mentioned above).
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