What all do you have to do to put up a repeater. I mean paperwork wise. Say I want to put up a Ham Repeater at my house, I have the antenna and repeater. What paperwork do i have to do, who to send it to. and can i do it as a tech or do i need to be a general?
Ham Repeater Question
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nd5y
Member
Legally as long as you have a technician or higher license you don't HAVE to do anything except make sure the frequencies you used are in band segments authorized for repeater use.
The smart thing to do is get the frequencies coordinated.
Contact frequency coordinator in your area (list is here NFCC Coordinators) and they will tell you what their reqirements are.
They will probably want to know the latitude and longitude coordinates, antenna hight and HAAT, and power output and many other things.
You should also read 47CFR97.205
The smart thing to do is get the frequencies coordinated.
Contact frequency coordinator in your area (list is here NFCC Coordinators) and they will tell you what their reqirements are.
They will probably want to know the latitude and longitude coordinates, antenna hight and HAAT, and power output and many other things.
You should also read 47CFR97.205
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thats what i thought, but before i try to do anything i just wanted to make sure i was correct
CalebATC
Member
I would like to put one up at my house, I think it would be pretty cool.
But yes, you really don't have to do anything, although as said before, you should get the frequencies coordinated. Also, if you don't do that, your repeater won't be listed in any directories.
But yes, you really don't have to do anything, although as said before, you should get the frequencies coordinated. Also, if you don't do that, your repeater won't be listed in any directories.
there are a bunch of 2m but not much on 440 and thats what i was thinking of doing and of course putting it on echolink and maybe patch to our clubs 2m on net night
CalebATC
Member
Great idea. I would say one day the UHF is going to be more popular then VHF. People just have to start getting on 440.
fineshot1
Member
Just be aware of the fact that if you do not have a very high vantage point that the
antenna will be mounted on your 440 repeater coverage will suffer greatly. On UHF
(and most of the bands)the key to good coverage is a great antenna & cable system.
N1BHH
Member
Before you attempt to set up a repeater, see what kind of support for one may be in your area. That includes potential amount of users, a good site (communications tower or tall building for low or no rent), knowledgeable people with repeater building experience and monetary backup. Also take into consideration as to cost of backup or replacement equipment and sites if you have to move. There is much that you have to do in this regard, including money. Never go with a lash up system, go with quality so you don't have to fight any gremlins.
stevelton
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I would say go for it. UHF is a great repeater band.
I my rural county, we have 2 UHF repeaters, no 2 meter repeaters!
I put up a small 440 repeater at my house a few years ago. It doesnt have to be some 100w system on a tall communications tower with 40 miles of coverage.
My small repeater only covered 10 miles, and that was with the antenna 40 feet on my TV tower, using LMR 400 coax. Everyone within that area that had 440 radio used it. It saw more use than the 2 meter repeater in the next county over, and it had 30 miles of coverage!
Most old farts dont have 440, so you will find mainly the newer hams in the younger crowd on there.
Steven
I my rural county, we have 2 UHF repeaters, no 2 meter repeaters!
I put up a small 440 repeater at my house a few years ago. It doesnt have to be some 100w system on a tall communications tower with 40 miles of coverage.
My small repeater only covered 10 miles, and that was with the antenna 40 feet on my TV tower, using LMR 400 coax. Everyone within that area that had 440 radio used it. It saw more use than the 2 meter repeater in the next county over, and it had 30 miles of coverage!
Most old farts dont have 440, so you will find mainly the newer hams in the younger crowd on there.
Steven
n5usr
Member
I have two "backyard" repeaters - one on 220, one on 440. They can be fun, and exasperating, sometimes both at the same time! 
You may check to see if your coordinating body has allocated any "shared non-protected" repeater pairs. I've seen a few places that do. Those repeater pairs are free-to-use for low-level, low-power repeaters without any coordination. Of course, if you are in an area with relatively little repeater activity you can also pick a pair that is otherwise unused and odds are be just fine for quite a while - coordinating the pair when you decide you're interested enough to bother.
If it's something you are interested in and want to tinker with, go for it. Number of users isn't necessarily important - my 220 repeater has a grand total of one user, me. Very few people in this area have 220 to begin with, and the terrain around me makes my range very short. But it serves my purpose, I have a 2M remote base attached and can chat with people on 2M simplex while I'm wandering about the area with a 50mW handheld.
Do consider the cost, though. Especially if you don't have sufficient tower height to separate the receive and transmit antennas. Duplexers can easily be the most expensive part of the system, unless you get lucky and find some used ones for a good deal. I would probably never have bothered with my 220 repeater if I hadn't gotten a very good deal on the duplexer. Gear for that band is particularly hard to find for any kind of reasonable price.
You may check to see if your coordinating body has allocated any "shared non-protected" repeater pairs. I've seen a few places that do. Those repeater pairs are free-to-use for low-level, low-power repeaters without any coordination. Of course, if you are in an area with relatively little repeater activity you can also pick a pair that is otherwise unused and odds are be just fine for quite a while - coordinating the pair when you decide you're interested enough to bother.
If it's something you are interested in and want to tinker with, go for it. Number of users isn't necessarily important - my 220 repeater has a grand total of one user, me. Very few people in this area have 220 to begin with, and the terrain around me makes my range very short. But it serves my purpose, I have a 2M remote base attached and can chat with people on 2M simplex while I'm wandering about the area with a 50mW handheld.
Do consider the cost, though. Especially if you don't have sufficient tower height to separate the receive and transmit antennas. Duplexers can easily be the most expensive part of the system, unless you get lucky and find some used ones for a good deal. I would probably never have bothered with my 220 repeater if I hadn't gotten a very good deal on the duplexer. Gear for that band is particularly hard to find for any kind of reasonable price.
fineshot1
Member
This is an area that often gets over looked by many a ham in trying to establish a new repeater.
RESEARH - RESEARCH - RESEARCH. Did I say RESEARCH??
Look over all of your neighboring coordination council websites and make sure your
freq pair and the PL you choose do not conflict with any others on the same pair.
*You also need to make sure your adjacent freq pair PL's are not the same as yours.*
Also check your NON-Neighboring coordinating councils and also make sure your
PL choice is not the same. During band openings many a strange thing can happen
from pretty far away and you dont want any conflicts with this as it can get pretty
messy when the band opens up. On UHF I have seen repeaters on opposite pairs
lock up on each other.
Oh - also do some google searches on your freq as not every repeater is coordinated
and in the directory.
Just some suggestions for you to ponder.
Everything you need to know, and some things you don't, can be found here:
The Repeater Builder's Technical Information Page™
The Repeater Builder's Technical Information Page™
CalebATC
Member
That'd be funny to hear I'd have to say. I can only imagine the welcome message going to one to another
kc4jgc
Member
Coordinate!
Whether you place your repeater on a tower, mountaintop or in your garage, it would be wise to coordinate. Primary reason is to prevent QRM in normal conditions. Repeaters that are too close together will interfere with each other; in a case of QRM complaints between a coordinated repeater and an uncoordinated repeater, the FCC will favor the coordinated one.
Repeaters in WV are coodinated by Southeastern Repeater Association . The WV district can be found here . The WV coordinator will check his database as well as ask the Ohio Area Repeater Council and other neighboring coordinators for possible conflicts for the pair you want to use. If there is a conflict, he will advise you and/or suggest another pair.
As a technician class, you can put a repeater on the air on any band 6m and up. You need to be general or extra class for a 10m repeater. You shouldn't have much difficulty getting a 444 machine coordinated. SERA (and other coordinators) actually encourage hams to place repeaters in bands 1.25m and up because in many areas there are no 2m pairs available.
Whether you place your repeater on a tower, mountaintop or in your garage, it would be wise to coordinate. Primary reason is to prevent QRM in normal conditions. Repeaters that are too close together will interfere with each other; in a case of QRM complaints between a coordinated repeater and an uncoordinated repeater, the FCC will favor the coordinated one.
Repeaters in WV are coodinated by Southeastern Repeater Association . The WV district can be found here . The WV coordinator will check his database as well as ask the Ohio Area Repeater Council and other neighboring coordinators for possible conflicts for the pair you want to use. If there is a conflict, he will advise you and/or suggest another pair.
As a technician class, you can put a repeater on the air on any band 6m and up. You need to be general or extra class for a 10m repeater. You shouldn't have much difficulty getting a 444 machine coordinated. SERA (and other coordinators) actually encourage hams to place repeaters in bands 1.25m and up because in many areas there are no 2m pairs available.
bill4long
Member
I have a 440 repeater that I use primarily for IRLP. The antenna is on my house roof and is 20 ft up. The range is about 4 mile diameter when accessing from a mobile with 1/4 wave antenna. I did not coordinate. Instead I did my own research and found a pair that was unlikely to interfere with any other systems. I've never had a problem with another repeater. If I did, according to the rules it would be soley my responsibility to correct the problem. I also have a mobile repeater I use when camping. That is also not coordinated. (How could it be?) Moral of the story: coordination is not always necessary or possible. Moreover it is not legally required. The only stipulation is that if you cause harmful interference to other repeaters it is your sole responsibility to correct the problem. See part 97.205(c)
rapidcharger
Member
Our regional coordinator (SERA) has at least designated itinerant repeater pairs for temporary use at varying locations. Just because you can't hear other repeaters doesn't mean you aren't getting in to one. I'm just saying that's a lot of leg work to do while you're camping.
Anyway this is a 4 year old thread.
bill4long
Member
My repeater IDs every 10 minutes when it's in use. If it was causing harmful interference someone would have contacted me long before now given my accessibility. If they did, I would correct the problem per part 97.205(c). Also, the "official" repeater coordinators don't have intinerant repeater pairs in my state. Cheers.
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4 year old thread, be damned... I cringe when I see statements like that here. Technically, you are correct. But there are many areas where someone could take your comments to heart and cause a lot of problems. Just because it's "legal" doesn't make it good amateur practice, and that could be a big "gotcha" for an uncoordinated repeater [97.101(a)].
The message that SHOULD be getting out there is, check with the area frequency coordinator, and make sure you understand and comply with LOCAL band plans.
I've seen plenty of cases where someone took on the point of view that you endorse, and fire up a repeater according to the ARRL national band plan. Trouble is, that doesn't work here in Southern California, and it doesn't work in many other areas.
Check with your local coordinator!
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