QSO Today with Robin Critchell WA6CDR

WA6CDR

4/2/2022

Episode 394 - Robin Critchell - WA6CDR

Robin Critchell, WA6CDR, had a profound influence on many young hams operating in the VHF and UHF bands in Southern California in the 70s’ and 80s. He and Alan Burgstahler, WA6AWD, at the time and now a silent key, created the Cactus Intertie, now the World’s largest full duplex radio linked amateur radio network. “Top band” or 160 Meters is Robin’s favorite band, and he has participated on DxExpeditions, had an incredible career in the communications industry, and can fix just about anything. WA6CDR, is my QSO Today.

Show Notes

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Father: Howard Critchell, W6IHP, W2HBK, licensed pilot, flight instructor, air transport pilot

Mother: Iris Critchell, now 101, licensed pilot, flight instructor, FAA certified flight inspector, member of the 99s

First License: Novice 1958, General 1959, WA6CDR

First Rig:
Johnson Viking Ranger Transmitter
Hammarlund HQ-140 Receiver

160 Mentors:
Nilan Kincaid, W6EIG
Roy Dunann, K6HXT
Wilbur Alexander “Alex” W6KIP

Terms
Airline Pilot, Western Airlines
North Atlantic Air Ferry Command, WW2
Women involved in Aviation, the “Ninty-Nines”
Bates Foundation Harvey Mudd College
USC Flight Training
CW - Morse Code
Instructograph
160 Meters or “Top Band”
Cal Poly Pomona
General Dynamics
McFarlane Communications, “Macomco” - Southern California Two-Way Shop
VOR
Kellogg Hill, Pomona, CA
KCBS Channel 2, Los Angeles
Herbert Hoover, Jr. W6ZH
CQ Magazine 160 Contest
Stu Perry W1BB
Loran Beacons on 160 Meters
Transmitter Input Power
Douglas DC-7 Airplane
Bush Gorbachev Summit, Malta
XZ0A DXpedition to Myanmar
160MHz Beverage Antenna
Marti Laine, OH2BH
Milt Jensen, N5IA
Four-Square Antenna 160 Meters
Radio Propagaion Skew Paths
Greyline Ducted Propagation
Ducie Island VP6DX DXpedition
N5IA 8 Circle Antenna Array, 160 meters
TCP/IP
San Bernardino Microwave Society
X-Band Transverter for Amateur Radio 10GHz
LNA - Low Noise Amplifier, 10GHz
TWT Microwave - Traveling Wave Tube
Cactus Intertie
Cactus Intertie History
Alan Burgstahler WA6AWD
Toroid Based Tone Decoders
Cathode Follower Audio Mixer
Fred Daniel, W6FNO
Remote Base - an alternative to repeaters
Television Translator
6C4 Vacuum Tube
12AU7 Vacuum Tube
RDL - Resistor Diode Logic
Op Amp Audio Mixer
Wire Wrap
Cactus Intertie Jacks Peak, New Mexico
DTMF - Dual Tone Multi Freq

Greatest challenge facing amateur radio now: finding new hams to take over and maintain the amateur radio “systems” built over the last 60 years.

Excited most by: 440Mhz and Xband, digital modes are interesting.

Advice to new or returning hams: use the tools that you have to know how to handle an emergency when cellphones disappear.

The RSS Feed for all audio content from QSO today is available from here.

Please join our QSO Today community by pressing the button below. It is the best way to suggest guests and topics, and provide feedback to Eric, 4Z1UG.

WA6CDR X-Band Rig

Cactus Intertie WA6AWD Control System Circa 1970s.

VP6DX DXpedition 2008

Cactus Intertie Remote Base Station with Duplex 420 MHz Links

10 Comments

Kent Borg

4/3/2022 11:24:31 am

The podcast got me interested in the Cactus Intertie, so I went online to learn all about it.

I was very disappointed. I can see how to buy PDFs, how to (maybe) be allowed to be a member, and there are e-mail addresses (I do admire that).

I was hoping to at least see more on what Cactus Intertie is, what it does, and how it works. But I don't see any meat. As a ham I was looking for some technical content. Something interesting. Instead I see administrative stuff, a few photos, and buttons to send you money.

Concrete example: The membership page says to listen to the network first. Okay, how do I do that? I've never gotten into repeaters. I have last year's ARRL repeater directory some place…here it is…no I don't see mention of Cactus Intertie in there.

If you are trying to be an invitation-only, nearly secret society, you are doing a good job. If, however, you have aging and shrinking ranks and need new blood you might consider becoming an open organization, and putting lots of real content online.

-kb

Kent Borg
AC1HJ

Mel Swanberg - WA6JBD

4/3/2022 07:43:03 pm

Hi Kent,

You bring some valid concerns, so perhaps a bit of context would help folks understand a bit better. The Cactus Intertie is a regional system, not a nationwide system. We do have affiliates that provide a part time connection, like NERA in Washington DC, but the Intertie is not intended as a nationwide general interest club.

For someone within it's coverage area, listening IS the best way to get a feel about whot we are and what we do. Trying to provide that feel via a web page to folks outside our coverage area simply doesn't convey the sense of community that exists on the system, nor would it serve any particularly useful purpose. Think of it as a local repeater with a large service area. If one is permanently outside that service area, membership isn't of much use, and listening to the system is just not feasible. And so the web page isn't oriented to that sort of use. Rather, it's primarily a tool for the active membership, as well as a portal for prospective members who do find us in the air.

If you're looking for the technical meat of what the system is, a good dose of that can be found on the Repeater Builder site, under repeater linking as well as some other sections. Since you mention that you haven't gotten into repeaters, particularly large linked systems, then it stands to reason that you haven't heard of the Cactus Intertie. Those who are immersed in linked amateur repeaters and wide area coverage systems and CPU based multi-port repeater controller systems are likely aware of our existence.

As to not being listed in the ARRL repeater directory, they get their information from the various frequency coordinators. Many coordinators only release information on open repeater systems. The ARRL Repeater directory is FAR from a complete picture of UHF activity, particularly in the Southwest US. The repeater scene in the Southwest is quite different from that of New England, and many other parts of the US.

I hope all this helps some.

73,

Mel Swanberg - WA6JBD
Cactus Intertie, Inc.
Past President (2012-2020)
QSO Today Episode 336

Dirk Tanis

4/4/2022 07:07:01 pm

His mother is quite interesting ….. https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2007/iris-cummings-critchell

Eric 4Z1UG link

4/6/2022 12:44:29 am

Hi Kent,

I want to echo Mel's comments. The best way to acquire the skills necessary to maintain a system like the Cactus Intertie is to become active in your local amateur radio club that has repeaters, or find a club with repeaters that appreciates your willingness to help out and start learning.

I now have a group of younger hams in a What'app group in my area who I will call when I am going to work on the repeaters. My needs are:

1. Someone to call for help if I get injured on the site. "Buddy System" like scuba diving. Some of these sites are quite dangerous.
2. Hold the light for me
3. Sounding board for troubleshooting problems
4. Help pull the new cable, or hang the antenna using the appropriate safety equipment.
5. Help me unload and load the test equipment and tools from the car, and clean up around the site and in the equipment shelter.
6. Keep me company and share coffee afterwards.

This is how I learned from my elmers. Pay attention and volunteer. You will be given lots of responsibility as you show promise and understanding.

Last advice - find an Elmer, a mentor in any area of ham radio. This mentor is an expert. Experts like students because they think that their expertise should be learned. Don't be deterred by hams that push back. Keep pushing forward.

Good luck, you are needed someplace and will make a big difference to your club and amateur radio.

73,

Eric

Ralph Long

4/6/2022 09:47:42 am

Wow!

Excellent podcast, one of the best guests you’ve ever had - and you’ve had a lot of great ones.

Really made me appreciate even more the area I live in (San Gabriel Valley, LA area) I was being a hotbed of, well, almost everything - but most important to me ham radio activity.

This podcast has further inspired me to dig deeper into the ham radio hobby and learn more and meet more of the interesting people involved.

WD6AWP link

4/9/2022 08:38:25 am

Hey Eric,

Long time no talk. I guess I didn't even know you were a podcaster. Things are going well around here.

Robin is an interesting guy. We're lucky to have him as part of the ham radio community and a big part of the SoCal repeater scene.

That was a great podcast. It's not hard to get Robin to talk, is it?

73,
TIm

Eric 4Z1UG link

4/10/2022 08:37:21 am

It only took 7 years. Well worth it, I think.

Jason

5/18/2022 11:05:21 am

Only drawback to large clubs/systems are they eat up repeater pairs and group together and lock others out of radio sites. This is a major issue in Nevada especially when it comes to the SNARS group.

Good thing for being able to link and setup multiple low level sites or us small guys would not even have a prayer.

Eric, 4Z1UG link

5/23/2022 02:33:57 pm

Jason - large clubs, by virtue of their numbers and membership dues are able to build big systems. I can't imagine that with 20KHz spacing now that there are no pairs available in Nevada. Even, "back in the day", the pairs were eaten by the tiny private machines with very little on the air activity. In those cases, the channels could be shared like community repeaters using CTCSS tones to keep the channels quiet between single user systems.

Radio sites were always a difficult subject as many hams were very difficult tenants, often bringing their disagreements with other ham groups into the site. Those of us who were lucky to get these agreements paid for them often with money, sweat, and trusted relationships built over time with a track record of good practice.

These days I like the idea of low level sites connected by Allstar, etc. The 6 watt repeater in my house covers the area where I spend most of my time, is open to my ham friends, and easy to fix or upgrade when needed. They don't have the cost of site rental and Forest Service fees. In 1978, I was paying $80.00 per month for my site rental on Santiago Peak. That was a lot of money on those days.

Michael Shovan, WB2KHE

11/29/2022 05:03:57 pm

Found Robin's comments on tower-site companies sadly familiar. As a (now-retired) broadcast-engineer from the "olden-days" of OTA-TV (SK) I had some experience with the trend towards "biggies" (like A-T) swallowing-up properties then treating station-engineers like we were something inferior. Also: the 20,000-# Gorillas of the cellular industry swallowed up our broadcast-spectrum, leading us towards a new (and potentially-disastrous) "single-point-failure" technology mentality which will eventually cripple communications in the event of natural - or terroristic - interruptions. Our leaders, as well as the public, should be grateful for Amateur Radio's diversity and capabilities, instead of inhibiting and "pooh-poohing" those who wish to contribute to our general welfare. Thanks for your dedication and efforts over these years, Robin!

WA6CDR

Episode 394 - Robin Critchell - WA6CDR

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