2023
In 2022, GB3YT developed a number of faults and the owners decided that they could no longer maintain the repeater. They announced that it would be closed down unless another group took on the NoV and found a new site.
Two South Yorkshire ATVers, Gary M1EGI and Ken G8VDP approached Kay, the owner of the repeater, along with several other parties that had expressed an interest, but Kay kindly sold the equipment for a nominal sum on the understanding that Gary & Ken would retrieve it from the roof space in the barn at Mirfield and relocate the repeater.
On the 23rd April 2023, Kay formally announced that the repeater had new owners. At the same time, a WhatsApp group was set up by Ken to coordinate the efforts of the ATVers in the South Yorkshire area restore GB3YT. By the 30th April 2023, all of the equipment had been removed and transported to Barnsley where each component would be tested to establish the cause of the repeaters demise. Gary was notified by Ofcom that the NoV holder change had been completed on the 3rd May 2023.
Inspection
The first job was to clean all of the equipment. Having been operated in the roof of a barn for eight years, a lot of ‘sticky’ dust and detritus had accumulated, especially where an air flow was used for cooling.
After a good vac out and dusting, the insides of the cabinet were not too bad. Clearly, the construction had been well laid out with easy access to all main modules.
