Mason

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• Mason
• Area
• Repeater
• Club

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WHAT IS AMATEUR RADIO?

• The FCC definition
• "A radiocommunication service for the purpose
  of self-training, intercommunication and
  technical investigations carried out by amateurs.
• That is, duly authorized persons interested in
  radio technique solely with a personal aim and
  without pecuniary interest."

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Mason Area Repeater Club

• Tom Walker, President, W8SBD
• 209 Dawson Street
• 513-398-1516
• Bob Reiff, Vice President, WA8ULW
• 570 Apache Lane
• 513-398-0481
• 48 members from in and around Mason

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History of the organization

• Ham radio present in the water tower since 1973.
• Survived the tornado April 3, 1974.
• Provided the only reliable communications into
  and out of Sherman Terrace subdivision for days
  and weeks.
• Provided communications for Mason until phones
  were restored after the tornado.
• Club provided communications from strategic
  points throughout the city during the total
  failure of the local phone system in the mid
  80s.
• The club provided parade communications during
  the formative years of the Mason Heritage
  Festival.
• Caught reported low water levels in the tower
  many times.

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• The Physical facilities

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The Tower -- Snider Rd at the railroad crossing
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Top of the tower
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Inside the tower
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Emergency Contactsmounted on the outside of the
cabinet box
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Inside the cabinet
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Computer/controllerlooking up from the bottom
frontlocally designed and constructed completely
from scratch
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Power failure self sufficiency

• System has total battery backup good for 3-4
  days.
• Can be recharged indefinitely by simple
  automotive jumper cables or gasoline driven
  charger which is present in the water tower.

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Federal Communications Commission
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Amateur Radio Facts

• By federal law amateur ham radio operators are
  prohibited from making money in any way, shape or
  form when using our equipment.
• All equipment expenses are borne by the operators
  who may not charge for their services.
• All equipment is either purchased using our own
  club treasury as the funding source or, in many
  cases, is designed and built from scratch using
  component parts.
• Hams can also communicate statewide, nationwide
  and worldwide by using different types of
  equipment.

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Need for height

• Ham repeaters function VERY similarly to police
  and fire repeaters.
• Height gives the same advantage to ham handheld
  radios as it does to police/fire.
• We can communicate directly between handheld
  units but height gives us tremendously greater
  range.

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Water Tower History

• Installed in the 1960s
• Refurbished in 1999 by City of Mason
• Investment of tens (maybe hundreds?) of thousands
  of dollars in
• Welding
• of top brackets and vents
• relocated ladder away from the wall
• new 20 ft. ceiling in room at base of the tower
• Spray-on insulation on the inside of the walls
• Heavy epoxy paint inside and out top to
  bottom
• New electrical service X 2
• Sprint cell phone equipment in fenced off area.

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Current expenses are small

• Interior lights when someone is there.
• Trickle charger for repeater batteries.
• Heat only if it falls below 50 degrees inside
  almost NEVER happens because more than enough
  heat is generated in the insulated room by large
  Sprint equipment.
• Sprint is connected using their own Cinergy
  meter.
• In shortvirtually no expenses!

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The tower generates income!

• The City of Mason currently receives 1844.81 per
  month in rent from Sprint PCS for the cell site.
• Thats 22,137.72 annually!

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What to do with the land?

• The land is bounded by Hy Tek Court, Snider Road,
  a railroad track and a parking lot.
• It is shaped like a lopsided polygon.
• It cant be used for a park because of the close
  proximity to the railroad tracks and is too small
  for much of anything else.
• 8.3 lbs/gal x 500,000 gal2075 Tons water plus
  the weight of the tank and structural steel means
  
• there will be a HUGE chunk of concrete left
  when the structure is removed.

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A visit from an old friend.
Courtesy of the American Radio Relay League
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Summary

• Amateur ham radio is Americas trained
  emergency communications corps.
• Hams are known for their public service
  activities.
• We can operate independent of the surrounding
  infrastructure.
• We can be the ultimate backup system and have a
  GLOBAL reach when combined with other forms of
  ham radio.

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THE Final Question

• Why tear down a revenue producing asset that
• 1. Represents a large recent
  investment
• 2. Produces significant income
• 3. Provides a valuable public resource
  at no cost?

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Your support is needed

• The Mason Area Repeater Club has a long, friendly
  and mutually beneficial history with the City of
  Mason Ohio.
• We stand ready to be of service in the future.
• and the best part.WE DONT WANT ANY MONEY!!!
• We simply need and ask for your continued support
  by being allowed to remain in our current
  location.
• Please dont tear down the tower.

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THANK YOU!

• We appreciate your time and thoughtful
  consideration

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• Mason
• Area
• Repeater
• Club

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