Pequot Lakes, Minnesota Site

Pequot Lakes, from Minnesota's Vacationland to the Metro

The Pequot Lakes repeater's purpose is to serve visitors to the Brainerd Lakes area. It's located on a DNR fire lookout tower just east of the city of Pequot Lakes. It transmits to you on 442.925 with a PL tone of 114.8 (2A) and receives your transmission on 447.925 and identifies with the call sign of WA0WRG. To utilize the repeater you must transmit to the input with the same PL tone of 114.8. The repeater is open to all licensed hams.

The system includes a Motorola GR500 repeater. It's factory built and consists of two GM300 radios, a 6-cavity Celwave duplexer, a RICK controller, a heavy-duty power supply with a continuous duty fan and a Communications Specialist CW-IDer. The 30 watts of cavity output is delivered to a 170' of 7/8 inch Andrews feed line that terminates at a Comet CA-712EF antenna with just over 6db gain. The antenna is side mounted using a W9IIX SO-2 standoff.

The DNR fire tower, located along County Road 11 between Pequot Lakes and Breezy Point, is listed on the National Historic Lookout Register. The 40 acres of land where the fire tower is located could be developed into an outdoor learning center with grant programs available through the Department of Natural Resources. The site is open to the public and a climb up the fire tower stairs provides a great view. However, the lookout cubicle itself is normally locked; so don't plan on resting there before your decent. We extend a special thanks to Paul Emeott, KØLAV, for allowing us to use the site.