Radford...Richmond-Petersburg

[trx680]

My son and I just passed our TECH exam and are awaiting our call signs.
We was home for the weekend but lives in SW Va at Radford.
I live in Petersburg.
What are some of the more active frequencies that are used in the areas?

I hear the Richmond RATS Club (I think it is) on Thursdays at 7pm practicing their emergency tests.

I just have a cheap VHF/UHF for now

 

[W4UVV]

Tri City area ham repeaters

My son and I just passed our TECH exam and are awaiting our call signs.
We was home for the weekend but lives in SW Va at Radford.
I live in Petersburg.
What are some of the more active frequencies that are used in the areas?

I hear the Richmond RATS Club (I think it is) on Thursdays at 7pm practicing their emergency tests.

I just have a cheap VHF/UHF for now

------------------
Congratulations on getting your new tech license. The two main repeaters for Colonial Heights, Petersburg, Prince George Co, Hopewell, Dinwiddie and some Chesterfield Co. are:

147.3600 mhz. Pl 127.3 Hz. (Repeater next to Chesterfield County Courthouse.)

444.2750 mhz. Pl 103.7 Hz. (Repeater on Prince George Co. water tower next to I295.)

Currently activity is way down and not what it used to be. Hams' interests for whatever reasons come and go.

I'm located in Prince George Co. near Ft. Lee.

John
W4UVV

 

[trx680]

------------------
Congratulations on getting your new tech license. The two main repeaters for Colonial Heights, Petersburg, Prince George Co, Hopewell, Dinwiddie and some Chesterfield Co. are:

147.3600 mhz. Pl 127.3 Hz. (Repeater next to Chesterfield County Courthouse.)

444.2750 mhz. Pl 103.7 Hz. (Repeater on Prince George Co. water tower next to I295.)

Currently activity is way down and not what it used to be. Hams' interests for whatever reasons come and go.

I'm located in Prince George Co. near Ft. Lee.

John
W4UVV

Hello John.
I've been to your place before. You programmed my scanner a few years back. I might have to stop by and get some pointers from you on how to properly work the radio. I just have a cheap beofang 8watt right now. I need to get this whole repeater thing figured out. I want to try to contact my son in Radford via the repeater.

 

[kc4jgc]

. I want to try to contact my son in Radford via the repeater.

The only way to do that with vhf/uhf rigs would be using linked repeaters.

A possibility is Echolink. I currently don't see RF links near Radford or Petersburg, however It is possible for the two of you to use your PC's instead of radios. Of course you have to be licensed. You'll have to wait to get your calls as when you register you both have to be verified as licensed in order to use Echolink.

Another possibility that does require radios on both ends is IRLP. If there is a node near both locations then you're in business once you're licensed.

Yet another possibilty is getting radios with DMR capability. There is a DMR repeater in the Petersburg area; the closest to Radford appears to be in Wytheville. Whether it's reachable from Radford is another thing though.

Congrats to both of you for getting licensed!

Steve, KC4JGC

 

[trx680]

The only way to do that with vhf/uhf rigs would be using linked repeaters.

A possibility is Echolink. I currently don't see RF links near Radford or Petersburg, however It is possible for the two of you to use your PC's instead of radios. Of course you have to be licensed. You'll have to wait to get your calls as when you register you both have to be verified as licensed in order to use Echolink.

Another possibility that does require radios on both ends is IRLP. If there is a node near both locations then you're in business once you're licensed.

Yet another possibilty is getting radios with DMR capability. There is a DMR repeater in the Petersburg area; the closest to Radford appears to be in Wytheville. Whether it's reachable from Radford is another thing though.

Congrats to both of you for getting licensed!

Steve, KC4JGC

good to know....thanks!!

 

[trx680]

Got a question for you John.

I hear a lot of chatter on 463.280 all day, every day. Sounds like a work crew/business. I don't think they are licensed because none of them announce their call signs Any idea who they are?

 

[trx680]

The only way to do that with vhf/uhf rigs would be using linked repeaters.

A possibility is Echolink. I currently don't see RF links near Radford or Petersburg, however It is possible for the two of you to use your PC's instead of radios. Of course you have to be licensed. You'll have to wait to get your calls as when you register you both have to be verified as licensed in order to use Echolink.

Another possibility that does require radios on both ends is IRLP. If there is a node near both locations then you're in business once you're licensed.

Yet another possibilty is getting radios with DMR capability. There is a DMR repeater in the Petersburg area; the closest to Radford appears to be in Wytheville. Whether it's reachable from Radford is another thing though.

Congrats to both of you for getting licensed!

Steve, KC4JGC

I started looking up what repeaters are available to him in his area:

442.0750 +5 MHz D712 / D712 Pulaski, Peaks Knob Pulaski K4XE OPEN

147.0000 +0.6 MHz 107.2 / 107.2 Radford (independent) KB4RU OPEN ON-AIR

147.1800 +0.6 MHz 103.5 / 103.5 Radford, Cloyd's Mountain Pulaski N4NRV OPEN ON-AIR

146.7150 -0.6 MHz Blacksburg, Brush Mountain Montgomery W9KIC OPEN ON-AIR

444.6500 +5 MHz 107.2 Blacksburg, Brush Mountain Montgomery N4NRV OPEN ON-AIR

I programmed, using chirp, these into his Boafeng that he got for free for joining the local radio club after passing the exam.

I'm still new to all this, especially the repeaters, so not sure what he'll be able to do with these repeaters.
I'm guessing it depends on the power of the repeater but if he taps in to a repeater how far out will it carry his message?

 

[W4UVV]

Gerdaul-Ameristeel LTR

Got a question for you John.

I hear a lot of chatter on 463.280 all day, every day. Sounds like a work crew/business. I don't think they are licensed because none of them announce their call signs Any idea who they are?

-----------------

You are hearing one of six of the Gerdaul-Ameristeel analog unencrypted frequencies in its'r Logical Trunked Radio system LTR located near the Dinwiddie side of Petersburg. The callsign is "WQCT279" and comprised of:

451.9000 mhz.
452.0000 mhz.
461.1500 mhz.
463.2875 mhz.(Your radio's receiver is 75khz. higher than the center freq.)
463.5625 mhz.
464.7500 mhz.

LTRs and other repeater systems typically use an audible cw taped id maybe every hour, half hour, etc. The licensee does not have to make a callsign voice announcement or require uses to have assigned ids. However most do. Some users go by their first name or nickname. Others users are much structured. A LTR frequency easily can be ided on a receiver not programed for the LTR as the system polls each frequency periodically with what sounds to me like someone keying an unmodulated repeater for a half second. It is annoying as heck for me to listen to.

There are a number of different radio systems active using different emission modes. I recommend you search Radio Reference and other internet sites and become knowledgeable. Every radio system has its' uniques and learning curve.

John
W4UVV

 

[W4UVV]

Maybe I can help

Hello John.
I've been to your place before. You programmed my scanner a few years back. I might have to stop by and get some pointers from you on how to properly work the radio. I just have a cheap beofang 8watt right now. I need to get this whole repeater thing figured out. I want to try to contact my son in Radford via the repeater.

----------------------
Ok, well you were one of many who realized they were not going to be able to program their new digital scanner manually like they did with their old analog or were a first timer having the shocking truth. They were beyond happy when I programed their GRE/RS and Uniden scanners and was able to customize their wants in scanning. I also had an advantage of maintaining my own data base I started in 1985 because I was tired of depending upon "Confidential Frequencies" type publications which often were wrong or had outdated info. With my tower and preamped antennas I had good ground wave reception and logged what heard and sometimes would be given info to check.

I was doing ok reading your post until sentence three. "I have a cheap beofang 8 watt right now" said it all for me. Absolutely no way will I be involved in any programing effort on that or any stand alone Chinese brand scanner. There are some hams who have experimented modifying those radios for DMR reception with mixed results. When the audio result was bad it was really bad. However, there is hope. I will PM you.

Regarding the two repeater frequencies I recommended the answer is "yes" program them. The 444.2750 repeater supports Echolink. I have used Echolink but not recently. I used to speak frequently with the British hams although it mostly middle to late evening in England. You can use Echolink to keep in touch with your son as long as as you keep the comms short and it doesn't evolve as a private VOIP "channel" tying up the repeater(s) for outrageously long time periods.

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I'm from the Bristol, TN side of the state line and my oldest son KJ4NAU lives on the second highest hill on the Bristol, VA side on Rye Patch Hill. If you know where to look you can see his antennas when mobile heading south on I81 about 3 miles north of the TN line. I enjoy visiting him because I can work TN, NC and distant repeaters mobile in his driveway. He has a 13 el. 2 meter Cushcraft, a pair of stacked 440 mhz. yagis all rotor controlled mounted 300 ft. up the hill. His elevation is about 2,400 ft. Also, there is a preamped Scantenna for monitoring vhf/uhf which I take full advantage of at the same hill location.

In 2014 I created a DMR receive system using a modified R7000 receiver and an old desktop using his antenna system. It worked great. NXDN is the emission of choice in lower southwest VA. DMR(MOTOTRBO) is used but NXDN is slightly more popular.

John
W4UVV

 

[trx680]

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I was doing ok reading your post until sentence three. "I have a cheap beofang 8 watt right now" said it all for me. Absolutely no way will I be involved in any programing effort on that or any stand alone Chinese brand scanner. There are some hams who have experimented modifying those radios for DMR reception with mixed results. When the audio result was bad it was really bad. However, there is hope. I will PM you.



John
W4UVV

Actually I used the CHIRP to program it so I have been able to listen to it. Its the Boafeng F8HP. When we took the exam yesterday we signed up for the local ham club for $20 and got a Boefeng UV5R. It was already programmed by the club but I added some Radford area repeaters to it.

 

[kc4jgc]

I programmed, using chirp, these into his Boafeng that he got for free for joining the local radio club after passing the exam.

I'm still new to all this, especially the repeaters, so not sure what he'll be able to do with these repeaters.
I'm guessing it depends on the power of the repeater but if he taps in to a repeater how far out will it carry his message?

When your son returns to Radford he might want to visit a local club meeting if he's able. The New River Valley RC https://www.n4nrv.org might be a good place to start. Have him get on the air to find out what coverage areas and if there is a local DMR repeater. Appears the NRVRC repeaters are linked together.