Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn is excited to announce that construction is about to begin on the forthcoming new repeater in the Macomb, MO area at the Blue Slip Towersite. N0NWS repeater trustee Mike, N0NQW, says the combined tower height of 130 feet and the ground elevation of 1,677 feet will give this new repeater a Height Above Average Terrain (H.A.A.T.) of roughly 472 feet! Let’s put this into perspective: if you were in the middle of Park Central Square in Downtown Springfield, you would need to be about 500 feet up on a tower to achieve a similar Height Above Average Terrain. H.A.A.T. is an industry standard measurement when it comes to determining coverage of VHF and UHF signals.
Local authorities are looking forward to the improved Skywarn repeater coverage for weather spotters throughout Wright and Douglas Counties. Wright County Sheriff Glenn Adler says this new Skywarn repeater will be a big help to him as he and his department along with emergency responders prepare for the upcoming severe weather season here in the Missouri Ozarks.
You can view the predicted coverage contour of this repeater by visiting our Repeaters page. If you uncheck all boxes except for the Macomb checkbox, you will see the huge area that this repeater will serve. It will be linked full-time into the Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn linked repeater system.
The new Macomb, Missouri repeater will transmit on a frequency of 146.745 MHz. with a standard minus ( – ) offset and a PL of 136.5 Hz. Equipment will include a CAT 250 controller, a Yaesu Fusion repeater operating strictly in analog mode, 7/8-inch heliax cable, and a 6 dBd antenna. It is expected to be operational by early spring. All signal reports are welcome.