History:
Dick Bremer, WA6DNX/B, established the first beacon atop Santiago in August, 1987. The photograph on the right shows Gray Bickford, WA6BJY holding the WB6DNX/R
beacon on the day it was installed. W6OYJ was the first operator to copy the beacon on August 2. The beacon was a Gunn diode apparatus with an output of 15 mW.
The lifespan of the beacon was limited to about a year, that was when Dick found that water had seeped into the antenna housing, ran down to the Gunn, and turned
it into a “pile of white oxide”. Dick is of the opinion that the beacon was probably copied by as few as 6 operators. Not one to quit, Bremer’s replacement beacon
Approximately 10 years after Dick Bremer‟s first Santiago‟s beacon went off the air, Sam Luitwieler (SK), K6VLM, and Gary Dent, KE6JUV, constructed a new NB beacon for Santiago. It was located in the American Towers site and operated under the call of KE6JUV/B on 10.368330GHz. Unfortunately, the beacon suffered from a phase noise problem, and when it stopped operating (power supply failure) in 2004, the SDMG volunteered to give it a technical face lift.
The remodeling consisted of replacing the entire oscillator chain, specifically; installing a 10MHz TCXO ovenized frequency reference and a Verticom PLL operating on 10.368330GHz. The Verticom’s signal was then passed through a HP microwave switch which allowed the operation of a CW ID’er. Drive from the Verticom was carried to the 40’ level of the tower via LMR400. A Qualcomm 30dB amplifier and slotted line antenna, used in the earlier beacon, was reconnected to the new oscillator chain.
For the next 3 years the beacon operated flawless, then in 2007 it was clobbered by lightning which resulted in a power supply failure. No records have been kept for the number of times the beacon has failed and been repaired. The major cause of failures, which tend to be common at this QTH, are: 1) mains power fluctuation, and 2) lightning strikes.
From 2010 through 2017 the beacon operated with a few interruptions for power supply failures, and water ingress. The last failure was in mid 2017 where it was off the air for 3 months. This time Gary Dent, AF6HP/B, return it to operation in late October 2017.
(Additional beacon information can be found in Feb/March, 2011 SBMS Newsletter)