Mac Donald Pass Site UHF DMR/Analog FM
Mac Pass Repeater Group WR7HLN
Contact: Tom WR7AGT [email protected]


Repeater particulars:
444.1 MHz, plus 5 MHz offset
DMR admission: Color Code 1
DMR Radio ID: 313002

Location:
12 miles west of Helena, high atop Mac Donald Pass, 7155 feet above sea level

Equipment specifics:
Motorola MTR 8000
Split duplexer and antenna system
Two Celwave PD-1151-2N 8dBd omni pattern antennas. Tower height is 93 feet, repeater antennas are on top. Antenna HAAT = 5272 feet.

Operational mode:
Single-mode, DMR only

Networking:
DMR: Brandmeister via Montana Internet

Static talk groups:
Time Slot 1 3130 Montana Statewide, 31302 MPRG2, 31303 BGV, 313002, 3130036, 8 MPRG Cluster
Time Slot 2 31301 MPRG1 Mac Pass Repeater Group

Dynamic talk groups:
Time Slot 1 All BrandMeister talk groups
Time Slot 2 PLEASE DO NOT USE TIME SLOT 2 for dynamic talk groups

Remarks:
Coverage includes Helena and the Helena Valley, minus the State Capitol Complex and Downtown. Southeast to Townsend. West to Drummond. Southwest to Anaconda and the Deer Lodge Valley.

We anticipate most Helena-area hams will be reachable on talk group MPRG1 31301.


8/5/23 Boulder Hill and Mac Pass repeaters are used to support the Elkhorn Endurance Run.
6/10/23 Boulder Hill, Mac Pass, and North Hills repeaters are used to support the Governor's Cup Races.
10/16/22 Mac Pass and North Hills repeaters are used to support the Just for the Helena of It races.
7/4/22Web Page updated: DMR-only, Hytera repeater replaced with a Motorola SLR 8000.
6/11/22 Boulder Hill, Mac Pass, and North Hills repeaters are used to support the Governor's Cup Races.
8/9/18 Failed Dell PC for EchoLink replaced with a RaspberryPi 3 running svxlink software by Don W7MRI.
8/4/18 Boulder Hill and Mac Pass repeaters are used to support the Elkhorn Endurance Run.
8/5/17 Boulder Hill and Mac Pass repeaters are used to support the Elkhorn Endurance Run.
5/18/16 Hytera DMR repeater on the air.
7/16/16 EchoLink interface installed and tested.
8/6/16 Mac Pass UHF and Boulder Hill used to support the Elkhorn Endurance Run.


Coverage map depicting the service area of the Mac Pass UHF DMR repeater
Mac Pass UHF DMR Coverage 180624 v2

Tower and Building
Mac Donald Pass Radio Site


Original antennas, no longer on the tower. The stick antenna in the middle and the two ground plane antennas were part of the AT&T Echo Fox radio system.