Introduction:

        This is the main site where all the construction takes place for the new sites. This site also has the most equipment and more back up facilities then the other sites. Currently, this site is in a constant state of expansion.

   In the past the SNE site was considered the main site, as it had the most traffic and therefore required the most resources to support that traffic. A decision was made to make SNT the main site for the following reasons: high speed Internet is now available, elevation is higher then SNE, less transportation costs, more space for battery back up, and the opportunity exists to make it a hub for all the repeaters.

   At the present set up, all routing of traffic flows through the SNT site, in the following manner; signals requiring uplink to the repeaters will be received on a VHF frequency, (for example 147.450) directed to a controller for processing (dtmf commands, I.D., PL decoding and frequency steering ) then sent to the link transmitter for reception at the repeater and simplex sites. When listening to any of the remote transmitters a confirmation that the traffic is flowing through the hub would be the SNT call sign being heard in plain voice, as one of the many I.D.'s.  CW Identification is also used from the link transmitter as a "keep alive" to aid the amateurs in finding the frequencies during  their scan function.

   In the beginning Internet connection to this site was dial up only, later a satellite connection was procured. Currently a high speed DSL connection is reliable and resulted in the discontinuation of the satellite ISP. This site will become a backup EchoLink source as a standby for the SNE feed.

Weather:

   A weather station became operational in December 2004, the data was sent to this webpage and the Aprs network but was taken off line in December 2008 because of lack of usage. A decision was made to change from data gathering to data retransmitting, this involved no continuous expense and less maintenance. The new system relies on data provided by the Gaylord weather office through a Specific Area Message Encoder (SAME) receiver directly connected to the repeater link transmitter. The decision was made to use the United States weather forecast instead of the Canadian weather because increased frequency of reporting and the brief message format used. Please note that severe weather transmissions have priority over link repeater traffic, yes weather traffic will interrupt normal conversations. When the link to SNE is activated, "Kate the radio girl" will read weather information which includes current conditions as well as watches and warnings. When hearing weather information the female voice is from SNE and the male voice is from SNT. The S.A.M.E weather receiver is continuously connected to all repeaters regardless of the Echo Link feed. Weather warnings have a distinct sound to signal the beginning of a statement, both systems use unique signaling to notify that a weather transmission is about to begin. SNE ends the message with the following words; "this is the end of weather information", SNT ends with "wx transmitter."

  On December 20 2011 the weather station was reconnected to the Aprs system and is now feeding data on 114.390. This weather station was removed from SNB. Also on this date the Aprs repeater and temp Igate became active again 24/7 using 5 watts output.

   This site operates from two 185 watt solar panels, one 400 watt wind turbine and ten golf cart batteries. There is a 45 amp power supply / battery charger that helps with the power requirement when necessary. A 30 amp charge controller maintains the battery bank.This site does not rely on the public power grid. This is the second alternative power repeater site in the area, the first was SNS.