The story begins way back in 1999. GB7SW had been the lynch-pin of the SUNPAC network, it being the only gateway from the southern region to the rest of the UK packet network by means of its link with GB7NW near Swindon. Just at the time it started exhibiting a need for maintenance, the major proponents of the Group encountered changes in their personal lives that meant less time for amateur radio. Something had to give and unfortunately SUNPAC was it. However, these people deserve a special mention for without them there would not have been a packet group: Dave G4WPT, Jim G0OFE and John G8OQN.

So the scene is set. SW was suffering multiple failures and there wasn't anyone available to remedy the situation. From 1999-2003 it fell into total disrepair and, until Richard G0WKL attempted to reform SUNPAC, there had not been any hope of resurrecting this all important node. Even he nearly didn't get off the starting block due to personal difficulties associated with his health.

Eventually the day came when it became known that Richard was prepared to take on the task. He surely didn't know how big a task of putting SW back on the air would be but he knew he needed help. Volunteers were thin on the ground, would there be anyone at all? Yes, someone who knew all along how vital this node was, stepped into the breach. So it was that Eric G0CGL, together with Richard, ventured forth on the rocky road to salvation for GB7SW.

The first course of action, in early October 2003, was a site inspection. It was a soul destroying experience, the welcome party consisting only of Roland and his cohorts who were none too pleased to see these interlopers on ground that had been a rat's paradise for many years. [The pictures show the layout at Coombe Bissett with the tower and equipment cabinet outside of a barn on a farm there.] Just cleaning the inside of the cabinet with the radios and TNCs took half a day, such was the extent of the filth that had built up over the years. Clearly the rats used the cabinet as overnight accommodation, keeping their feet warm on the heat-sinks on cold winter nights. Another 'rats-nest' was the wiring inside the cabinet where it had been bodged over the years.

An action plan was easy to draw up but it was a long list: practically everything had to be replaced including antennas, feeders, radios and wires. And so it came to pass that in successive trips to the site, the tower came down (many times) and new antennas were installed with new feeders. Radios were sourced from kind benefactors so that SUNPAC funds were not depleted. The volume of work was huge and because it was now into November, not everything could be completed before the winter took hold and it became too cold or too wet. But it was now at a stage where all ports were working at last! The 23cm link to GB7IW was working as was 70cm to GB7NW - SUNPAC was no longer cut-off from the rest of the UK. A change to the NOV, allowing a vertical on the 2mtr access frequency instead of a beam, provided fantastic all-round coverage.

This is being written in June 2004 and work is actually still continuing. 23cm has just been improved, 4mtrs is currently being improved and some faults with the TNCs are being remedied. The task did prove to be onerous but was worth the effort. The node carries user access traffic to a DXcluster and several BBSs, cluster linking traffic as well as providing user-to-user linking for those on the south coast to their friends up north. For years none of this had been possible. The GB7SW story is a real success story.

9th September: Rebuild generally complete - here are the "after" photos !