History

GB3ZI A potted history.

The repeater was donated to the Amateur Radio Society at Stafford University (then known as Stafford Polytechnic), by G4HDQ, now sadly silent key.

It says much for the choice of the equipment for GB3ZI, because the transmitter, receiver, antenna system, cavities and mast are still giving excellent service nearly 40 years after the original installation.

The ‘station' is a Storno base station transmitter and receiver running 10 watts. G4OKE constructed the logic (based on a design by students at Sheffield University ), known then as the ‘G3US logic board'. The antenna system is a ¼ wave sleeve dipole for Tx and commercially constructed ‘J Beam' collinear with 5.5dB gain for Rx.

Over time membership of the club at the University dwindled and closed. The repeater continued operating, when in 1987 a group of amateurs met to discuss the future operation of ‘ZI'. The license and NOV was revoked and then in 1992 a new group of amateurs submitted an application for a new licence at the original site employing the original call sign and frequencies. In 1993 the license was reinstated.

Over time the logic board developed a fault but with no one with the expertise to repair it (G4HDQ was now silent key), it operated on an irregular basis until 2002 when G8VPR under-took the logic board replacement and the present committee was formed. In 2004 due to a misunderstanding the license was again withheld and as there was an embargo on new 70cm. repeaters, it took until 2007 to get GB3ZI ‘on line' again.

Below are two hand drawn diagrams of the submission made in 1992 illustrating the repeater cover and installation details.