What are Amateur Repeaters?

[petbytes]

What are Amateur Repeaters? I see then listed in the Live Audio feeds and am wondering what they are.

 

[OCO]

A great overview here .

Google and Wikis are great tools..

 

[reedeb]

Amateur Radio AKA HAM Radio uses repeater on the 28, 50, 144, 220, 440,Megahetz and other bands They give you more range with your radios. Many are run by Emergency assistance groups during disasters and such and the ones listed here are either RACES[ Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services] or ARES [Amateur Radio Emergency Services] they also do SKYWARN Weather spotting for the National Weather Service. There are many that are used for private use and others that are open to the public for chitchat.