Here is my attempt to preserve a few of the defining moments in the history of a radio club. We were all interested in two-way radio and all for different reasons.  Some to talk on it, some to build it, and some to change it.  But, we all gathered together that fateful night to eat, drink, and fantasize about our futures in amateur radio FM remote operation.  The Italian dinner went down well, and the drinks removed any stubborn inhibitions we might have had regarding the potential difficulties threatening to infect our plans.  So, by dessert, our imaginary machine was on Mount Wilson and seamlessly covering every section of asphalt, each cactus needle, and spadeful of dirt in Southern California.  This top-level meeting of minds & meals took place early in 1973.

By March 12, we had had our first (sober but not sobering) meeting, the minutes of which are captured here for eternity.  All transcribing of the old documents was performed by my wife, Trisha (N7TMY), verbatum, triple-checked with the original, and the spelling left untouched.

Bulletin #1
U P S R A
March 12, 1973

On Thursday March 8, 1973 a seleted group of amature radio enthusiast met at Arcadia California. The purpose was a discussion of business matters for a remote controlled amature radio station.

Prior to this gathering, a lot of time, work and effort was put forth pertaining to the remote station by Bob Gizzo (WB6CLG) and Gregg Linn (WA6GYF). I am sure that others also have participated in some of the efforts required to start this remote station.

It will be the object of this bulletin to keep everyone informed in the group as to the happenings and status of this remote station in a very short and brief memo.

Chuck Krinkle (WA6LWB) a guest speaker and advisor gave a short discussion on 450 MHZ control channels. Chuck is chairman of the 450 MHZ coordinating committee. Chuck will obtain a pair of 450 MHZ frequencies for us. The UP LINK will be around 444MHZ and the DOWN LINK will be around 449 MHZ.

Bob Gizzo had prepared a discussion outline for the remote station. Due to the lack of time every item as contained in the outline was not completely covered.

The following points of bussiness was established:

      A-ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
         1- Chairman: Gregg Linn (WA6GYF)
         2-Secy/Treas.: Norman Charbonneau (WB6LKY)
         3- Technical Coordinator: Robert Burchett (WB6SLC)

      B-NAME:
         1- Established the name of:
            UNITED PUBLIC SERVICE RADIO ASSOCIATION (UPSRA)

      C- LICENSES:
         1- A application was filled with the F.C.C. and a copy
            furnished the 450 MHZ coordinating committee.

            The above was the only official bussiness conducted, since this was the first meeting to get things started. Attached you will find a copy of all who attended the gathering by name, address, phone and call sign. If there are any missing names please inform me. In the discussions it was mentioned that 2 or 3 other amtures who were not present, should be included. Think about the “BY LAWS” that should be made for our association. (See note 3 in the pass out given you) Also to be considered is when, where and how often we should meet. If a regular meeting is not considered necessary at this time, what about the operating committee meeting every two (2) weeks untill the project is on sound footing.
            In clossing this bulletin, lets plan on another meeting on March 22,1973.

                               NORMAN CHARBONNEAU                                    (WB6LKY)

PS. LETS HERE YOUR COMMENTS.

By April 17, 1973, the club name had changed from the catchy "United Public Service Radio Association" to the "Zero Beaters Radio Club" (W6DPP), which linked to an already-established club license donated by Marsh (K6MEF).  I think this was done in an effort to speed up the site approval process for a location we secured in the KNBC building at Mt. Wilson.

Mount Alta at Mt. Wilson, California, has a history and ambience all of it's own, and I'm sure that the Zero Beaters Radio Club will not be duly recorded in any of it!  But I will take the liberty here to say that we actually did have one brief shining moment (a few weeks maybe) at this glorious place. Some of you might find this little history from OldRadio.com of interest:  "The Story of Mt. Wilson...Broadcasters Invade"

Bob Gizzo, WB6CLG, (SK) donated the UHF base (a Motorola B44AAB as I recall), Greg pitched in a VHF Hi-band (Motorola C73MHB) radio for 2-meter remote operation, and things were off and running, and from this point on, I don't think they ever stopped.

We put our first piece of work into the 2-way users building at the base of the 400' KNBC tower.  Our antenna was located only about 50 ft. up on the tower---the "users" that were not affiliated with KNBC could only use the very bottom of the tower, where most of them placed their transmit antennas.  Many chose to place their receive antennas on another structure downhill from the main tower in order to reduce undesired RF emissions into their receivers (note that we didn't do this...all of the Zero Beater's eggs were in one basket sitting inches from a hundred transmit antennas).

Is it any wonder, then, why we stayed at Mt. Alta for such a short time?  Our transmit range was measured in miles, and our receive range was measured in feet during the day, and intermittently increased to miles after midnight, most nights.  This led us to persue other options at Mt. Wilson.

Tom Couch (then WA6WWB, now K6DK) & his dad, were affiliated with the Hale Observatory, and on April 17, 1973, Tom was granted permission to "operate, maintain, and control a room" on the Hale property.  The site was shielded pretty well from the RF at Mt. Alta. Tom created a 40-foot tower "kit" from nothing, by welding tabs onto steel posts, and one day we were pouring a ton of concrete and Coke cans into what would be the tower base, and soon after we were assembling the tower kit into a massive structure for our particular needs.  (The massive structure is not visible in this photo.)

The combination of imagination, equipment, labor, and desire was finally getting results.  By November, the club name changed to it's current U.H.F. Associates.  In fact, here is a (transcribed by N7TMY from a hand-written account) status report from November 6, 1973 that pretty much says it all (and more)...

Gentlemen

Re the current status of the Mt. Wilson machine. The following’s a recap of some of items of business decided upon by those who have been working at the site.

Many expenses have been incurred & now that the machine is functioning there is mucht to do to complete the project.

1.  collection dues 10.00 monthly due Nov. 1st.
use fees are due & payable the 1st of each month. Continued use is dependent on prompt payment. This covers telephone costs and improvements devoted to securing the building. Also will allow updating of equip & stocking of replacement parts, etc.

2.  General group discussion of how to arrive at a equitable time table for payment of dues – it was the generally agreed that dues are due & payable the first of each month. If not current within 30 days, membership shall be terminated. It was agreed that payment can be made in advance, however reminder notes will not be sent due to cost & time to send letters on part of our beloved Norm.

3.  A code sheet has been printed up for your use untill you can memorize the functions. After which crumple the rice paper on which it is printed & swallow it. Do not allow it to fall into enemy hands. Resist under torture!

4.  The telephone # of the machine is [omitted for confidentiality]. Many people already know this # but please do not publish it & especially on the air or some will fall and let it ring. If no one around to ans. the talk back will remain on & just waste R.F. & our fine machine.

5.  This machine has fine coverage to date we are getting 2 M signals from San Louis Obispo. Santa Barba, San Diego, VictorVillle, Barstow, Palmdale, Lancaster, & the high dessert. This with our super coat hanger 2M antenna. Our 10 DB Super J Pole should arrive shortly & we will put it up. Post Haste.

6.  The 450 Talk back is running 8 watts which is not a good balance for our excellent sensitive 450 receiver. Soon when the amp. is built we will increase this to 50 watts out right now 450 coverage is excellent & no one should have any problems getting in from S.B. County, Orange County, LA. County, San Fernando, San Diego County, etc.

7.  Enough said. It maybe blowing our own horn but this machine has worked steady from the day it was plugged in & works better than most remotes in the area. Thanks to the electrical genius of Greg & Dan & Bill Seymour.

We might go as far to say that this is one of the finest remotes in the country & we know the instillation on the hill is for sure. We have been given the nick name by visiting hams “NBC JR”

Tom has done a fantastic job of building a 50’ self supporting tower. A description of the latter can not be put into words. Seeing is believing!

In passing you can be proud to be a member & user of this machine.

Please keep this letter in confidence it does no good to lett everyone know what we have on the hill.

If you have suggestions, complaints, ponderings, etc. communicate to responsible parties, included where corrective action can be made.

Our sincer thanks for all donations of money & equip & time that made this project a sucess. We begin this month of November with a fresh start.

Reflections:

Operating a remote base station is a responsibility of trust. The world can here you & especially other remote owners who listen to our talk back. Resist clowning & continueing to function across the 2M spectrum. If you can talk direct why jam others in tim buck too to talk to someone local --- listen first before Tx.----Reset to 450 and ask if anyone is on the system & what mode it is in then proceed.

There are 6 freq on 2M.
146.94Rx/94Tx  146.22Tx/146.82Rx   146.82Rx/146.22Tx    146.46Rx/146.46Tx
146.27Rx/146.27Tx    146.76Tx/146.76Rx

Do not use 76 as a general rule 146.76 users consider remotes taboo.

Watch your language & no business will be tolerated. Anyone doing so will find himself functioned off the system with no warning by other users. Telephone is for pleasure only & if talking to another ham sign both calls over the phone.

Do not act chialdish on the air & never use the machine to air personal gripes or feelings about things like 34 94 machines, or your likes or dislike of another ham or club, etc.

This machine is nuteral in all matters. What you say over it reflects all on the system.

Your cooperation in this matter will insure our longevity on the hill, & good relations with our neighbors.

Never plan sight seeing trips to the hill on your own. That will be the fastest way to loose the site. Check with Tom first & always. Only a few at a time, etc. We would rather outsider did not see the machine “what they don’t know won’t hurt us.”

Enough for now, welcome & have fun           73's

Here is an alphabetical list of members who were influential in getting the club started and/or keeping it going as of December 18, 1974...

We made a few adjustments and upgrades during the next year.  By November of 1974, Tom, Greg, and yours truly had made a total of 90 trips to Mt. Wilson.  Many of these were due to the necessity to retune the NE567 tone decoders on the control system/autopatch, as they readily moved with temperature (DTMF decoders were not plentiful in the 70's), and Greg custom designed and built this one for the club.  We later added downlink telemetry to tell us (in DTMF no less!) what 2-meter channel we were on and other system status info.  Then we bought a huge gold-plated Telaris Touchtone decoder chip for $100 (well, it was less than gasoline and car maintenance).   We were flyin' high.

The minutes of a February 17, 1979 meeting show that Greg left the club and a Technical Committee was founded consisting of Tom Couch (WA6WWB), Will Perry (WA6LDQ), Steve Cuilhe (WA6GSD)(SK), Bob Corbin (WA6OAE), and myself (WB6ALS).  We were directed to build a repeater using our recently-acquired Motorola C74MSY and a control system that would be easily expandible. As it turned out, this project would not be completed for 6 years, and would be fully expanded when installed (thus removing the need to ever expand it further!).  More later on this behemoth plug 'n' play unit.

December of 1980 brought news that would substantially change our future.  On December 2, we received notice that our permission to exist in our Hale Observatory building would end on December 31.  And, not just our club; a handful of other amateur groups had settled in various crannies within the Hale complex as well...we all had to go.

Tom had gotten into the tower construction business, and had built one at the Meridian Communications site at Sunset Ridge, which sits above Claremont, California.   The owner of Meridian allowed the UHF Associates equipment into his building based on Tom's work for him.  This site was approximately 25 miles east of Mt. Wilson, and about 500' lower in elevation.  Much of our membership, however, lived east of Mt. Wilson, and Sunset should provide better coverage for the majority...and it did.  This is not to say that all coverage was better, there were those that suffered from the move.

The equipment went in, the antennas went up, and we spent five years there.  During this time, I got fed up with the maintenance the old 15-watt tube-type Motorola transmitter (which only ran 15 watts on the day you installed a new final tube) was needing, and tubes were getting more expensive when we could find them.  The "new" 90-watt C74MSY was being melded into a massive rack with 6-meter, 2-meter, and 220 MHz capabilities at Bob Corbin's QTH in Long Beach.  Bob didn't have a lot of time to spend on it daily, but the work he did was absolutely superb and well documented, so the wait for that system would be worth it.  For the interim, I located a Standard Communications RPT-2 five-watt all solid state repeater.  I bought it myself, added a TPL 40-watt power amp, and ran it through a TX-RX 100dB pass-reject duplexer that the club purchased.  Once this was crystalled and tuned, I drove it up to the hill and took out the Motorola tube set.  After that, I discovered I now had time to spare as the RPT-2 needed nearly no attention.  (I still have it, and it gets no attention.)

In 1985, two events came together to again shape the club's future.  The Corbin Machine finally became real, and the owner of the building we were inhabiting sold that building and the new owner didn't seem to know anything about Tom Couch and a 5-year-old deal involving amateur radio equipment.  Most everyone in the club liked the relative RF freedom (lack of interference) and coverage of the Sunset site.  The Cactus Radio Club, of which I was a member, had recently acquired the "old Motorola Building" as it had come to be called.  It also was at Sunset, just on another mound.  I met with Robin Critchell (WA6CDR), founder of Cactus, to draw up a rental agreement. 

I had taken a few photos of the new Corbin Machine, and it's entry into service on Sunset Ridge...

New UHF repeater/remote base stands near door awaiting entry.

UHFA rack is in position (as are WB6MKC, Ell, and WB6MKA, Wendell).

Rear views of new rack and control system.

144 MHz and 220 MHz Antenna Installation.

You may click on any photo in the album to get a larger download version..

It should be noted that, although several of us participated in various amounts, minimal to substantial, to the creation of this new system, this was Bob Corbin's baby from conception to full operation, which is why it is referred to here as the "Corbin Machine".  Note all of the mil-spec cabling and metalwork as you view the photos (which are, by the way, scans of the original paper photos).  

Between 1974 and 1986, more hams had joined (and quit or moved away), but some had a lasting positive impact, so I want to be sure they are recognized...

I realize that some who are (up to this point) unmentioned, have gone on to provide substantially to the upkeep and improvements in all aspects of the club since 1986, and I hope that someone might pick this up where I was forced to leave off, and acknowledge all of the work that's gone on since I left.  If you wish, I can post it here as Part 2.

This page was written from my perspective, and you might remember it differently, or remember things I don't or didn't know about. So, in fairness to all who were a part of this undertaking from inception through 1986, please take advantage of the guestbook below to inscribe your memories, whether they be simple anecdotes or serious activity I've failed to capture; those who were not involved should also leave an entry if they are so inspired.   (Be sure to come back ocassionally to check the guestbook for new entries.) 

Dan Brasher - WB6ALS

July 2006

- GUESTBOOK -

PS: After I left San Dimas in 1986, I moved to Truckee, CA, and worked for Reno-based Sierra Pacific Power Company (now NV Energy), and specified, placed, and maintained microwave and 2-way radio systems for them in California and Nevada.  I moved to Reno, NV, in 1994 and, by the time I left in 2002, Sierra Pacific was part of the Nevada Shared Radio Sysytem (statewide), and we had installed the greater part of an 800 MHz trunking system for bases, mobiles, and portables for my company and the NSRS.

Additionally, I installed & maintained the Placer County Search & Rescue equipment at Donner Beacon (W6SAR), which segued into five linked 440 MHz WB6ALS mountaintop repeaters. Coverage included portions of California's Central Valley & Napa areas into Reno, Carson City, and most of northwestern Nevada and the Sierra Valley.

In early 2022, we moved to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire to be with family. Yes, UHF and VHF work here too!

Please also visit my WB6ALS Website.