Lutheran General Hospital FAROUT Repeater

General Information

The FAROUT repeater is a 220 MHz machine located in Park Ridge, Illinois.

The key information is listed below:

Input Frequency:      223.18 MHz
Output Frequency:     224.78 MHz
PL:                   none required


XMTR Power:           10 watts or 60 watts
Antenna Gain:         5 dBi omni
HAAT:                 140 feet
Location:             Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge IL 
                      near Dempster Street and I-294
                      northwest of Chicago IL.

History

FAROUT is an acronym for Fraternity of Amateur Radio Operators United for Technology. It has been in existence for more than 30 years. It was originally a spin-off from RAMS. In fact, many of the founding fathers of FAROUT were RAMS members. The repeater was first planned for two meters, but it rapidly was changed to 220 MHz. The repeater carried the callsign WB9TRT, the trustee for many years. When Ray was tranferred to Texas, the repeater callsign became KB9II.

The repeater has been at several locations, including IITRI at 35th and State on the IIT campus in the mid-seventies. It was later moved to the old Edgwater Beach Hotel about 5000 north on Lake Shore Drive at Lake Michigan in the eighties.

The current incarnation of the repeater was built by WA9ZMY and tried out from the northwest side. The repeater was installed at its current location atop Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge IL.

The repeater had two satellite receive sites, the North site in Lake Zurich at the high school and the South site in Palos Heights at 95th and Roberts Road. The North site went off the air a few years ago. An investigation of the North site showed no equipment or antennas. They were just pulled and disappeared. The South site has been up sporadically depending on the status of a circuit breaker in the building. If lightning hits in the area and it trips, that site may be down.

... updated 6-29-2006