New repeater brings equipment up to 2013 mandates

Gasconade County’s 911 dispatching service was upgraded Thursday with the installation of a new repeater unit at the radio tower north of Owensville.

Ken Sevier, the central Missouri technician for WirelessUSA, called the new equipment the “workhorse of Motorola’s stable” of repeater equipment.

Funded by a grant, the new repeater system eliminates the need for a repeater on a tower at the far south end of the county off Route C. Sevier, with assistance from Jim Gamache, public relations officer for the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department, had the new system on-line within about 90 minutes. A series of radio tests detected a slight problem in programming of the device. Sevier was able to make some computer-aided adjustments to program in the correct frequencies.

The new equipment, including a “duplexer” which serves as a filter, is located at the Bland substation below the AmerenUE tower off Highway 28 north of the city limits. The new system has narrowband capabilities with 100 watts of power, said Lisa Schlottach, manager of the Gasconade County E-911 system which provides dispatching services. It replaces broadband repeater equipment with only 40 watts of power.

With it located atop Ameren’s tower on the Douglas Prairie, the signal is expected to provide greater coverage across the county, said Schlottach. “It is also at a much higher elevation being at the top of Ameren’s tower,” said Schlottach. “The coverage map shows, at this level with the new repeater, it will cover most of the county and may even replace the north repeater (in the courthouse).”

Another positive of the upgrade is that is has been made well ahead of the 2013 deadline for switching to narrowband radios. “So we were fortunate to receive this grant (worth more than $6,000) to replace the non-narrowband radios,” said Schlottach.