[HamWAN PSDR] East Tiger Mountain cell site on the air

[Dean Gibson AE7Q]

Recently I noticed that I can access the WA7HJR (444.65MHz) repeater on 
East Tiger, from my home in Mill Creek, with the Icom and Yaesu 
handhelds at *0.1W*.  Reports are that it is a bit scratchy, but pumping 
the power all the way up to *0.5W* gives a reported clean signal.

OK, that's 70cm, not 5cm.  However, I've long been able to access KB7CNN 
(1292.2MHz) at the same site with *1W*.

All antennae above are omni.

Meanwhile, my connection to the Paine site has dropped in the last month 
from -77dBm to -84dBm.  If last year is any indication, I have about 30 
days until I lose the connection to Paine for another six months.  
Originally I thought this was due to seasonal foliage growth, but since 
reception didn't come back until late February, I think it's something 
else.  Just to one side (a couple hundred feet) of my direct path to 
Paine, is a *huge* water tower just south of 132nd Street, and I'm 
wondering if that was serving as a reflector when it was full, and not 
so much as it emptied during the summer (or maybe partially resonant or 
energy absorbing?), and not refilled until the winter.  That hypothesis 
fits the timeline better than foliage ...

Anyway, when I get the time this summer, I will try moving the 5shpn & 
antenna to the south side of my house and try to connect to the HamWAN 
site at East Tiger.  Using Google Earth, I see that the bearing from my 
house to East Tiger is 156 degrees.  I also see that the bearing to the 
Baldi site is 160 degrees, a *four degree* difference.  Google Earth's 
elevation plot shows a clear path to both East TIger and Baldi, the 
latter path *barely* clearing the terrain just west of East Tiger.  
VE2DBE's Radio Mobile Online ( http://www.ve2dbe.com/rmonline.html ) 
plot agrees.

This brings up the subject of common sector frequencies. Theoretically, 
the narrow beam of my antenna dish (isn't it about 3 degrees?), coupled 
with East Tiger being only 28.3 miles away compared to Baldi at 47.8 
miles, I would think would resolve any interference.

Thoughts?

On 2015-05-31 19:50, Bart Kus wrote:
> We put a new cell site on the air this weekend.  It's @ East Tiger 
> Mountain, and radiating @ 240 degrees (Sector 3) only.  It's linked 
> directly to the Tukwila datacenter, and has a second link to Snohomish 
> DEM ("Paine"), but that's not yet configured for routing. This site is 
> 1500ft higher than our existing Mirrormont site, and will serve to 
> replace it.  It's superior location and superior connectivity are a 
> double-win.  Mirrormont has been re-configured to be on the Sector 2 
> frequency temporarily so as not to conflict, but will go off the air 
> at some point in the near future.  If you're in the coverage area try 
> to give it a go and report back!
>
> --Bart

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