So, how much the LWRA repeater get used over time? John KC4KLM wants to know! For just $4.49, he will find out...
Logging repeater time since April 2nd
And then there was the larger mass of folks who felt getting the LWRA repeater back on the air as soon as possible was a worthy/needy endeavor and that it would get used, more than in recent years.
Now is the time to put in your repeater chat-up time where your mouth is literally! The pro-repeater fans are counting on you to prove their point.
So which party has the correct perception of time? Time will tell!
A universal hour meter built by John KC4KLM logs repeater usage.
John KC4KLM built this universal hour meter as shown, just in time before the repeater went back on the air, to log repeater activity just for fun. The meter measures up to 9,999.9 hours of time, and once that mark is reached, who knows what happens! It might be time for a new repeater! Or can our current repeater stand the test of time?
Look for posted repeater usage statistics on the web site and newsletter
in the months to come.A bit more about the hour meter itself below, for those who want to know.
Hour meter connected to a modified scanner to log repeater usage.
The hour meter is presently connected to a receiver that detects when the squelch is open and sends a signal to the hour meter to start ticking. When the squelch on the receiver closes, time stands still for the hour meter once again.
Front of hour meter built by John KC4KLM
(above) This hour meter is termed 'universal' because it can log time either manually with the flip of a switch (when up) as show on left, or from external logic input. The L.E.D. to the left of the display blinks to indicate that counting in in progress and can be see from across the room that it's working. The L.E.D. at quick glance is handy as the LCD display is not back-lit.
Rear view of hour meter, packed with features in a tiny box.
(Above, describing parts from left to right) The 1/8" jack on the left is DC input that accepts 7 to 25 Volts and of course reverse polarity protection. The black button is the counter reset button. The button is very hard to push and that helps prevent an accidental reset. We would not want to lose precious time would we? The toggle switch on the back, is the selectable data polarity (logic HI or LO) switch. It can accept input from about .5 volt to 50 Volts. And the 1/8" jack on the right is external logic input. This is where the scanner is connected to.
Keeping time. The hour meters updates the display in tenths of an hour, or at 6 minute intervals the meter will advance another .1. So for 5.3 hours as shone on some of the pictures here that would be 5 hours, 18 minutes. Though it only updates every 6 minutes it's actually keeping record down to parts of a second. Additionally, memory is non-volatile.
That's it for this article, as the Webmaster is out of time.