Hello,
Updating my scanner plans just wondering if there is any Buff Ham Radio Repeaters anyone knows of.
Thanks
Tony
Updating my scanner plans just wondering if there is any Buff Ham Radio Repeaters anyone knows of.
Thanks
Tony
Buff Ham Repeaters
- Thread starter mondaro
- Start date
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railtrailbiker
Member
To the best of my knowledge, there are no buff ham repeaters in Northern NJ.
There are a handful of buff repeaters, but they're all operating on commercial frequencies.
Several buffs I know have ham licences, me included, but there is no one ham repeater we all congregate on.
There are certainly many very lightly or unused ham repeaters out there now; I'd love to have all buffs in the area with ham licenses begin congregating on one.
445.775 CTCSS 141.3 in Fort Lee/Cliffside Park might be a good place to meet.
Any takers?
There are a handful of buff repeaters, but they're all operating on commercial frequencies.
Several buffs I know have ham licences, me included, but there is no one ham repeater we all congregate on.
There are certainly many very lightly or unused ham repeaters out there now; I'd love to have all buffs in the area with ham licenses begin congregating on one.
445.775 CTCSS 141.3 in Fort Lee/Cliffside Park might be a good place to meet.
Any takers?
AC2OY
Member
Can somebody answer the question? What is a buff ham repeater?
railtrailbiker
Member
A repeater used by those interested in monitoring via radio scanner and/or responding to fire/police/EMS incidents. Some stand by and watch, others take photos, many just listen to the activities from the comfort of their respective homes/businesses/automobiles.
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Amen, Thanks for answering that.
I thought is was a great question since hams talk about everything and there seems to be nets
about everything as well.
You don't see a whole lot of fire buff's on he ham repeaters. A few of us used to meet informally on the Warren County repeater when something was happening. Now we just text or use a chat group we setup on the groupme app.
AC2OY
Member
Thank You Rail
Brings back memories
It used to be a big deal; back in the mid-late 80's I belonged to the group. You paid an entry fee and monthly fee to have access to the repeater if I remember right. My number was "1575" The repeater was on Alpine tower on a UHF business freq. and it had amazing coverage.
Members would get to the scene and do a size up. This helped the members to decide if they were going to continue in or not, and was great for blow by blow descriptions of the incident.
Back then I also had access to "Shadow Traffic" and was able to give them information on traffic back ups, accidents, etc....
It was a lot of fun.
It used to be a big deal; back in the mid-late 80's I belonged to the group. You paid an entry fee and monthly fee to have access to the repeater if I remember right. My number was "1575" The repeater was on Alpine tower on a UHF business freq. and it had amazing coverage.
Members would get to the scene and do a size up. This helped the members to decide if they were going to continue in or not, and was great for blow by blow descriptions of the incident.
Back then I also had access to "Shadow Traffic" and was able to give them information on traffic back ups, accidents, etc....
It was a lot of fun.
A lot of people are using the zello app now also.
It's was on GMRS, but Metro Fire Radio is still alive and well, I was Metro 702. It's a great group but I left for personnel reason's there where certain things I was not a fan of, plus maybe I only made one transmission a year on it. Buff repeaters can be a great asset to those in Fire and EMS when the information is accurate.
RBFD415
Member
Amature Buff Group Repeater?
Having been heavily involved in "buff repeaters" in the past I wanted to add my two cents. Specifically to Tony's question- I was always under the impression- perhaps incorrectly- that using a ham repeater for the traditional "fireground style" reporting that is done on such groups' is against the rules for armature radio. It could be just a case that the traditional old guard that populated the ham ranks when we started some NJ buff groups (1990-2000) would not have put up with it?
I have a ham ticket, and as incredible as it seems have never used it- since frankly I find nothing interesting to talk about of the ham machines.
I can also tell you that setting up a repeater for a buff group on GMRS or business frequencies is no small effort. There are costs involved and no reliable ways to raise funds. Been there and done that, have the "T" shirt!
This could be a good jumping off point to start a ham repeater- if indeed the existing rules allow it?!
Having been heavily involved in "buff repeaters" in the past I wanted to add my two cents. Specifically to Tony's question- I was always under the impression- perhaps incorrectly- that using a ham repeater for the traditional "fireground style" reporting that is done on such groups' is against the rules for armature radio. It could be just a case that the traditional old guard that populated the ham ranks when we started some NJ buff groups (1990-2000) would not have put up with it?
I have a ham ticket, and as incredible as it seems have never used it- since frankly I find nothing interesting to talk about of the ham machines.
I can also tell you that setting up a repeater for a buff group on GMRS or business frequencies is no small effort. There are costs involved and no reliable ways to raise funds. Been there and done that, have the "T" shirt!
This could be a good jumping off point to start a ham repeater- if indeed the existing rules allow it?!
Does anyone know of any buff repeaters I can listen to on Brodcastify? There's nothing like that in my area and I'm a big scanner buff!
There is nothing in the rules that would disallow it. Talking about fire calls is fine. Dispatching fire calls is not.
Using an amateur radio repeater to discuss the hobby of scanning and frequencies is perfectly legal and allowable however, using an amateur radio repeater as a "buff network" whereas active police, fire or EMS incidents and locations are being transmitted for proprietary purposes such as photo taking or reporting is illegal and strictly against Part 97 rules.
railtrailbiker
Member
I see nothing in the Part 97 "Prohibited transmissions" section that would preclude licensed operators from discussing police, fire, and or EMS incidents so long as the actual transmissions of public safety agencies aren't being rebroadcast. Am I missing something?
§97.113 Prohibited transmissions.
(a) No amateur station shall transmit:
(1) Communications specifically prohibited elsewhere in this part;
(2) Communications for hire or for material compensation, direct or indirect, paid or promised, except as otherwise provided in these rules;
(3) Communications in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an
employer, with the following exceptions:
(i) A station licensee or station control operator may participate on behalf of an employer in an emergency preparedness or disaster readiness
test or drill, limited to the duration and scope of such test or drill, and operational testing immediately prior to such test or drill. Tests or drills that are not
government-sponsored are limited to a total time of one hour per week; except that no more than twice in any calendar year, they may be conducted for
a period not to exceed 72 hours.
(ii) An amateur operator may notify other amateur operators of the availability for sale or trade of apparatus normally used in an amateur station,
provided that such activity is not conducted on a regular basis.
(iii) A control operator may accept compensation as an incident of a teaching position during periods of time when an amateur station is used by
that teacher as a part of classroom instruction at an educational institution.
(iv) The control operator of a club station may accept compensation for the periods of time when the station is transmitting telegraphy practice or
information bulletins, provided that the station transmits such telegraphy practice and bulletins for at least 40 hours per week; schedules operations on at
least six amateur service MF and HF bands using reasonable measures to maximize coverage; where the schedule of normal operating times and
frequencies is published at least 30 days in advance of the actual transmissions; and where the control operator does not accept any direct or indirect
compensation for any other service as a control operator.
(4) Music using a phone emission except as specifically provided elsewhere in this section; communications intended to facilitate a criminal act;
messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except as otherwise provided herein; obscene or indecent words or language; or false or
deceptive messages, signals or identification.
(5) Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other radio services.
(b) An amateur station shall not engage in any form of broadcasting, nor may an amateur station transmit one-way communications except as
specifically provided in these rules; nor shall an amateur station engage in any activity related to program production or news gathering for broadcasting
purposes, except that communications directly related to the immediate safety of human life or the protection of property may be provided by amateur
stations to broadcasters for dissemination to the public where no other means of communication is reasonably available before or at the time of the
event.
(c) No station shall retransmit programs or signals emanating from any type of radio station other than an amateur station, except propagation
and weather forecast information intended for use by the general public and originated from United States Government stations, and communications,
including incidental music, originating on United States Government frequencies between a manned spacecraft and its associated Earth stations. Prior
approval for manned spacecraft communications retransmissions must be obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Such
retransmissions must be for the exclusive use of amateur radio operators. Propagation, weather forecasts, and manned spacecraft communications
retransmissions may not be conducted on a regular basis, but only occasionally, as an incident of normal amateur radio communications.
(d) No amateur station, except an auxiliary, repeater, or space station, may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur station.
[58 FR 43072, Aug. 13, 1993; 58 FR 47219, Sept. 8, 1993, as amended at 71 FR 25982, May 3, 2006; 71 FR 66462, Nov. 15, 2006; 75 FR 46857, Aug. 4, 2010;
79 FR 35291, June 20, 2014]
§97.113 Prohibited transmissions.
(a) No amateur station shall transmit:
(1) Communications specifically prohibited elsewhere in this part;
(2) Communications for hire or for material compensation, direct or indirect, paid or promised, except as otherwise provided in these rules;
(3) Communications in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an
employer, with the following exceptions:
(i) A station licensee or station control operator may participate on behalf of an employer in an emergency preparedness or disaster readiness
test or drill, limited to the duration and scope of such test or drill, and operational testing immediately prior to such test or drill. Tests or drills that are not
government-sponsored are limited to a total time of one hour per week; except that no more than twice in any calendar year, they may be conducted for
a period not to exceed 72 hours.
(ii) An amateur operator may notify other amateur operators of the availability for sale or trade of apparatus normally used in an amateur station,
provided that such activity is not conducted on a regular basis.
(iii) A control operator may accept compensation as an incident of a teaching position during periods of time when an amateur station is used by
that teacher as a part of classroom instruction at an educational institution.
(iv) The control operator of a club station may accept compensation for the periods of time when the station is transmitting telegraphy practice or
information bulletins, provided that the station transmits such telegraphy practice and bulletins for at least 40 hours per week; schedules operations on at
least six amateur service MF and HF bands using reasonable measures to maximize coverage; where the schedule of normal operating times and
frequencies is published at least 30 days in advance of the actual transmissions; and where the control operator does not accept any direct or indirect
compensation for any other service as a control operator.
(4) Music using a phone emission except as specifically provided elsewhere in this section; communications intended to facilitate a criminal act;
messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except as otherwise provided herein; obscene or indecent words or language; or false or
deceptive messages, signals or identification.
(5) Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other radio services.
(b) An amateur station shall not engage in any form of broadcasting, nor may an amateur station transmit one-way communications except as
specifically provided in these rules; nor shall an amateur station engage in any activity related to program production or news gathering for broadcasting
purposes, except that communications directly related to the immediate safety of human life or the protection of property may be provided by amateur
stations to broadcasters for dissemination to the public where no other means of communication is reasonably available before or at the time of the
event.
(c) No station shall retransmit programs or signals emanating from any type of radio station other than an amateur station, except propagation
and weather forecast information intended for use by the general public and originated from United States Government stations, and communications,
including incidental music, originating on United States Government frequencies between a manned spacecraft and its associated Earth stations. Prior
approval for manned spacecraft communications retransmissions must be obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Such
retransmissions must be for the exclusive use of amateur radio operators. Propagation, weather forecasts, and manned spacecraft communications
retransmissions may not be conducted on a regular basis, but only occasionally, as an incident of normal amateur radio communications.
(d) No amateur station, except an auxiliary, repeater, or space station, may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur station.
[58 FR 43072, Aug. 13, 1993; 58 FR 47219, Sept. 8, 1993, as amended at 71 FR 25982, May 3, 2006; 71 FR 66462, Nov. 15, 2006; 75 FR 46857, Aug. 4, 2010;
79 FR 35291, June 20, 2014]
n2nov
Active Member
Gee, we did that from March 1992 until August 2012 without breaking any FCC rules. 
ecps92
Member
Exactly, the only prohibition was "One-Way" broadcasting. So, as long as we were having a QSO, it was and still is legal
Up here in New England many of us used/still use
GMRS, Amateur and Business Band for Buff'n
Up here in New England many of us used/still use
GMRS, Amateur and Business Band for Buff'n
Gee, we did that from March 1992 until August 2012 without breaking any FCC rules.
n2nov
Active Member
I would think that's what a true "buff" group for radio listeners would want to do - have a QSO and exchange info.
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