I have been following this thread with some interest, because the suggestions vary between relative extremes of cost. complexity, and practicality. As I understand the concept, the originator seeks to improve his relationship with the site owner, and has offered to improve site security and ease of access- two goals which can be mutually exclusive.
The commercial sites with which I am most familiar generally have three barriers. The first is a simple pipe gate at the head of the access road, to keep out vehicles driven by sightseers. It usually has multiple padlocks, since the area may also be used by ranchers, oil people, and forestry personnel. This gate is strictly mechanical, and it won't keep out hikers and mountain bikers. The next barrier is a chain-link fence surrounding the site. Sometimes topped with barbed wire, it keeps out all but the most determined intruders. Since the gate must allow a service truck to pass, it is usually hand-operated and padlocked. Electrically-operated gates are seldom used here because of the climate and the amount of maintenance such gates require. The fence is intended to keep out vandals and mischief-makers. The final barrier is the door to the radio shack, which is usually steel and may have an electric lock with a keypad or proximity card sensor, but it may just be padlocked. The prox card with a keypad to accept the technician's PIN is the most desirable, since any one user can be added or removed from the access list at any time, often remotely, and there is a permanent record of each person's comings and goings. I recently priced an electrically-operated vehicle gate that was suitable for a remote site, and found that it would cost about $80,000 to purchase and install. This is much more than a simple panel of fencing that rolls back and forth in a track- it is equal in security to the fence itself, and that makes a big difference! My local police department uses a rolling gate to secure the back parking lot where the cruisers and motorcycles are parked. The gate can be opened by the dispatcher, but it normally is opened by a "garage-door" transmitter clipped to the visor in each vehicle. The gate closes automatically a minute or so after it is opened. The lot is under video camera surveillance, so anyone who climbs over the fence or the gate would be seen and could be apprehended within seconds. This is quite different from a mountaintop site which might take hours to reach, and which probably is not monitored with video cameras. Such gates are the weak link in a security fence, so they should be designed and built well. Finally, I have to wonder how I would be improving my standing with a site owner, if my proposal called for purchasing and installing unique radios, microphones, cables, antennas, etc., in every vehicle in the fleet that might need to go to a remote site. That's a lot of dollars and manhours, with relatively little value added. I really like the padlock idea, but I could live with the garage door opener concept- providing that there is an existing gate operator. Electric gates at mountaintop sites is a costly solution, and the preventive maintenance can be a nightmare. But hey, maybe this site owner is a cost-no-object kind of guy... 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Milt Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 11:32 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT: Need to find a product to develop goodwill at a tower site(s) Here's an easy idea that is currently in use. A police department wanted a way to open a garage door from the cruiser, other than calling the station and having them push a button. Solution was to take an old radio (Maxtrac in thsis case) laying around, install it into a metal box, bring out the PL/DPL decode indication to drive a relay and install at the site. No antenna on the radio, receive only. Programmed for an odd DPL on a low usage channel owned by the PD. Cars have a channel marked "DOOR". Cop pulls up to the door, switches to the DOOR channel and keys the mic. Door goes up. Nice quiet and painless. Something that any competent shp can easily accomplish. Milt N3LTQ ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:k1ike_mail%40comcast.net> > To: <[email protected] <mailto:Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2007 4:03 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] OT: Need to find a product to develop goodwill at a tower site(s) > Hello to All, > > I am starting to develop a future ham repeater relation with a tower > site(s) owner and recently got a request for something unusual. The > company has a fleet of VHF radio equipped vehicles. They want to pull up > to a site, enter a touch-tone sequence on the mike, and open a security > gate at the site. I could kludge together something, but would rather > find something commercially available. Anytime I have kludged something > together, I have ended up having to repair it for longer that I expected. > Something with a VHF receiver, TT decode and relay contact output would be > great. > > Any ides if this is even made commercially? I know that some > fire/ambulance departments use a similar idea to open and close the > firehouse door. Some also have the ability to control traffic control > lights on their way to a situation. > > 73, Joe, k1ike
