SPS Radio Site System Upgrade Status - Rattlesnake Mountain Interior

Washington State Department of Natural Resources

Questions? ... Comments? ... Rob Lee, DNR Radio Operations, Olympia

Rattlesnake - North Bend Repeater Site

Building Interior Images

Unfortunately we don't have any before images for this site.

Rattlesnake is the home to the SPS North Bend repeater and the DNR State H repeater. I believe we started with a single repeater unit assembled in an equipment rack and one repeater unit mounted in a cabinet assembly.

10-20-03

Shown at the left is a current view of the equipment room at Rattlesnake. The DNR building also has a second room that contains the site back-up generator. This image was taken while standing in the doorway to the generator room. This near state-of-the-art radio facility is one of the nicest in the SPS Region. If a few minor discrepancies regarding interior lightning grounding were brought up to R-56 standards, it would be a top shelf facility. We are hoping that product sales and leasing may be able to make those improvements in the near future.

On the right is a current front view of the repeater equipment configuration. The upper units together comprise the North Bend (Area E) repeater while the similar lower units operate as the DNR State H repeater. A temporary battery back-up can be seen resting one the floor in the white nylon container. The rectangular AC receptacle assembly suspended from the copper ground buss bar near the top of the equipment rack is part of the as yet to be connected lightning protection system for the installation.

10-20-03

(10-20-03)

Here's a closer look at the busy equipment installation from the rear. The
Grass Mountain (Greenwater) Repeater Interior Upgrade web page
talks a little about those space age looking cylindrical devices.

Here's a closer look at the temporary battery back-up installation. The red and black wiring provide short term 24 volt DC back-up power to the Motorola Quantar repeaters in the event of AC power failure. The batteries are charged by one of the Quantar units as determined by PC programming. The other unit is programmed to "go along for the ride", but take advantage of the battery back-up if needed. Temperature sensors are attached to the gray wiring that enters the white battery container. Each sensor provides battery temperature data to it's respective Quantar to allow the charging algorithm to be modified based on battery temperature. Only the sensor connected to the Quantar enabled for charging is used. The other is connected to quickly allow charging capabilities to be transferred to the other unit in the event of an equipment failure. More battery back-up info can be found on the
Grass Mountain (Greenwater) Repeater Interior Upgrade web page.

(10-20-03)

Consolidation of the area and state repeaters into an equipment rack configuration.
Area repeater PC programming for transition to the new narrowband system.
Installation of a temporary battery back up system for both repeaters.

Internal building grounding for lightning protection needs to be reworked.
New isolator needs to be tuned and installed (North Bend repeater does not have an external isolator currently installed).
Final antenna configuration needs to be agreed upon.
Final plan for permanent battery back-up needs to be agreed upon.