Does A 2 Meter Repeater Need To Be Registered

Combined receiver and transmitter

An amateur radio repeater arrangement consisting of a 70cm repeater and a two-meter digipeater and iGate.

Coaxial cavity RF filter at 2 meter repeater

An apprentice radio repeater is an electronic device that receives a weak or depression-level amateur radio betoken and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, so that the signal can comprehend longer distances without deposition. Many repeaters are located on hilltops or on alpine buildings equally the higher location increases their coverage area, sometimes referred to equally the radio horizon, or "footprint". Amateur radio repeaters are similar in concept to those used past public rubber entities (constabulary, fire department, etc.), businesses, regime, military, and more. Amateur radio repeaters may even utilize commercially packaged repeater systems that have been adjusted to operate within amateur radio frequency bands, but more oft apprentice repeaters are assembled from receivers, transmitters, controllers, power supplies, antennas, and other components, from various sources.

Introduction [edit]

In amateur radio, repeaters are typically maintained by individual hobbyists or local groups of apprentice radio operators. Many repeaters are provided openly to other amateur radio operators and typically not used every bit a remote base station by a unmarried user or group. In some areas multiple repeaters are linked together to form a wide-coverage network, such as the linked organisation provided by the Independent Repeater Clan^[1] which covers nearly of western Michigan, or the Western Intertie Network System ("WINsystem") that now covers a great deal of California, and is in 17 other states, including Hawaii, along with parts of four other countries, Australia, Canada, Britain and Japan.^[2]

Frequencies [edit]

Repeaters are found mainly in the VHF half-dozen meter (50–54 MHz), 2 meter (144–148 MHz), 1.25-meter ring (one 1⁄4 meters) (220–225 MHz) and the UHF lxx centimeter (420–450 MHz) bands, but can be used on almost whatsoever frequency pair above 28 MHz. In some areas, 33 centimeters (902–928 MHz) and 23 centimeters (one.24–one.iii GHz) are also used for repeaters. Note that different countries have dissimilar rules; for example, in the United States, the ii meter band is 144–148 MHz, while in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland (and most of Europe) it is 144–146 MHz.

Repeater frequency sets are known equally "repeater pairs", and in the ham radio community nearly follow ad hoc standards for the difference between the 2 frequencies, normally chosen the outset. In the USA two-meter band, the standard offset is 600 kHz (0.6 MHz), only sometimes unusual offsets, referred to as oddball splits, are used. The bodily frequency pair used is assigned by a local frequency analogous council.

In the days of crystal-controlled radios, these pairs were identified past the last portion of the transmit (Input) frequency followed by the last portion of the receive (Output) frequency that the ham would put into the radio. Thus "three-4 nine-four" (34/94) meant that hams would transmit on 146.34 MHz and mind on 146.94 MHz (while the repeater would do the opposite, listening on 146.34 and transmitting on 146.94). In areas with many repeaters, "contrary splits" were common (i.eastward., 94/34), to prevent interference between systems.

Since the tardily 1970s, the apply of synthesized, microprocessor-controlled radios, and widespread adoption of standard frequency splits have changed the mode repeater pairs are described. In 1980, a ham might have been told that a repeater was on "22/82"—today they volition virtually oft be told "682 downward". The half dozen refers to the last digit of 146 MHz, so that the display volition read "146.82" (the output frequency), and the radio is prepare to transmit "downwards" 600 kHz on 146.22 MHz. Some other fashion of describing a repeater frequency pair is to give the repeater's output frequency, forth with the direction of first ("+" or "plus" for an input frequency to a higher place the output frequency, "−" or "minus" for a lower frequency) with the assumption that the repeater uses the standard commencement for the band in question. For instance, a 2-meter repeater might be described equally "147.34 with a plus offset", pregnant that the repeater transmits on 147.34 MHz and receives on 147.94 MHz, 600 kHz to a higher place the output frequency.

Services [edit]

Services provided by a repeater may include an autopatch connection to a POTS/PSTN telephone line to let users to brand telephone calls from their keypad-equipped radios. These avant-garde services may exist limited to members of the group or club that maintains the repeater. Many apprentice radio repeaters typically accept a tone admission control (CTCSS, also called CG or PL tone) implemented to prevent them from beingness keyed-up (operated) accidentally by interference from other radio signals. A few utilise a digital code system called DCS, DCG or DPL (a Motorola trademark). In the United kingdom nigh repeaters also respond to a short burst of 1750 Hz tone to open the repeater.

In many communities, a repeater has become a major on-the-air gathering spot for the local amateur radio community, specially during "drive time" (the morn or afternoon commuting fourth dimension). In the evenings local public service nets may be heard on these systems and many repeaters are used by atmospheric condition spotters. In an emergency or a disaster a repeater can sometimes help to provide needed communications between areas that could non otherwise communicate. Until cellular telephones became popular, it was mutual for community repeaters to accept "drive time" monitoring stations so that mobile amateurs could call in traffic accidents via the repeater to the monitoring station who could relay it to the local police agencies via telephone. Systems with autopatches frequently had (and all the same have) near of the public safety agencies numbers programmed as speed-dial numbers.

U.s. repeater coordination [edit]

Repeater coordination is not required by the Federal Communications Commission, nor does the FCC regulate, certify or otherwise regulate frequency coordination for the Amateur Radio Bands.

Apprentice Radio Repeater Coordinators or coordination groups are all volunteers and have no legal authority to assume jurisdictional or regional control in any surface area where the Federal Communications Committee regulates the Amateur Radio Service. The United States Code of Federal Regulations Title 47 CFR, Part 97, which are the laws in which the Apprentice Radio Service is regulated conspicuously states the definition of Frequency Coordinator.

The purpose of coordinating a repeater or frequency is to reduce harmful interference to other fixed operations. Coordinating a repeater or frequency with other fixed operations demonstrates good engineering and apprentice practice.

UK repeaters [edit]

In the United kingdom, the frequency allocations for repeaters are managed by the Emerging Technology Co-ordination Commission (ETCC)^[3] of the Radio Society of Not bad Great britain and licensed by Ofcom, the industry regulator for communications in the Britain. Each repeater has a NOV (Notice of Variation) licence issued to a item amateur radio callsign (this person is usually known as the "repeater keeper") thus ensuring the licensing authority has a single bespeak of contact for that particular repeater.

Each repeater in the UK is normally supported past a repeater group composed of local amateur radio enthusiasts who pay a nominal corporeality eastward.1000. £10–fifteen a yr each to support the maintenance of each repeater and to pay for site rents, electricity costs etc. Repeater groups do non receive any central funding from other organisations.

Such groups include the Central Scotland FM Group^[4] and the Scottish Borders Repeater Group.^[v]

Repeater equipment [edit]

2 Meter GE Mastr Ii repeater with the service console lowered

The most basic repeater consists of an FM receiver on one frequency and an FM transmitter on some other frequency usually in the same radio band, connected together so that when the receiver picks upwards a signal, the transmitter is keyed and rebroadcasts whatever is heard.

In order to run the repeater a repeater controller is necessary. A repeater controller can exist a hardware solution or even be implemented in software.^[6]

Repeaters typically have a timer to cut off retransmission of a signal that goes too long. Repeaters operated by groups with an emphasis on emergency communications often limit each manual to xxx seconds, while others may allow three minutes or fifty-fifty longer. The timer restarts later a short pause post-obit each transmission, and many systems feature a beep or chirp tone to signal that the timeout timer has reset.

Repeater types [edit]

Conventional repeaters [edit]

Conventional repeaters, too known as in-ring or same-band repeaters, retransmit signals inside the aforementioned frequency band, and they only repeat signals using a detail modulation scheme, predominately FM.

Standard repeaters require either the employ of two antennas (i each for transmitter and receiver) or a duplexer to isolate the transmit and receive signals over a unmarried antenna. The duplexer is a device which prevents the repeater's high-power transmitter (on the output frequency) from drowning out the users' betoken on the repeater receiver (on the input frequency). A diplexer allows two transmitters on different frequencies to use 1 antenna, and is common in installations where 1 repeater on 2 m and a second on 440 MHz share one feedline up the tower and i antenna.

Most repeaters are remotely controlled through the employ of sound tones on a command channel.

Cross-band repeaters [edit]

A cross-ring repeater (likewise sometimes chosen a replexer), is a repeater that retransmits a specific mode on a frequency in one band to a specific mode on a frequency in a different band. This technique allows for a smaller and less complex repeater system. Repeating signals across widely separated frequency bands allows for simple filters to be used to allow one antenna to exist used for both transmit and receive at the same time. This avoids the utilise of complex duplexers to achieve the required rejection for same band repeating.

Some dual-band amateur transceivers are capable of cross-band repeat.

Amateur television set repeaters [edit]

Amateur telly (ATV) repeaters are used by amateur radio operators to transmit full motility video. The bands used past ATV repeaters vary by country, but in the U.s. a typical configuration is every bit a cantankerous-ring system with an input on the 33 or 23 cm band and output on 421.25 MHz or, sometimes, 426.25 MHz (within the 70 cm band). These output frequencies happen to exist the aforementioned as standard cable television channels 57 and 58, meaning that anyone with a cable-ready analog NTSC TV can tune them in without special equipment.

There are also digital apprentice TV repeaters that retransmit digital video signals. Oftentimes DVB-S modulation is used for digital ATV, due to narrow bandwidth needs and high loss tolerances. These DATV repeaters are more prevalent in Europe currently, partially because of the availability of DVB-S equipment.

Satellite repeaters [edit]

In improver, apprentice radio satellites have been launched with the specific purpose of operating as space-borne amateur repeaters. The worldwide amateur satellite organization AMSAT designs and builds many of the amateur satellites, which are also known as OSCARs. Several satellites with amateur radio equipment on board have been designed and built by universities around the world. Besides, several OSCARs take been built for experimentation. For instance, NASA and AMSAT coordinated the release of SuitSat which was an attempt to make a low toll experimental satellite from a discarded Russian spacesuit outfitted with amateur radio equipment.

The repeaters on board a satellite may be of any blazon; the key distinction is that they are in orbit around the Earth, rather than terrestrial in nature. The three most common types of OSCARs are linear transponders, cantankerous-band FM repeaters, and digipeaters (also referred to equally pacsats).

Linear transponders [edit]

Apprentice transponder repeaters are near commonly used on apprentice satellites. A specified band of frequencies, usually having a bandwidth of 20 to 800 kHz is repeated from 1 band to another. Transponders are not mode specific and typically no demodulation occurs. Any betoken with a bandwidth narrower than the transponder's pass-band volition be repeated; however, for technical reasons, use of modes other than SSB and CW are discouraged. Transponders may be inverting or not-inverting. An example of an inverting transponder would be a 70cm to 2m transponder which receives on the 432.000 MHz to 432.100 MHz frequencies and transmits on the 146.000 MHz to 146.100 MHz frequencies by inverting the frequency range within the ring. In this case, a signal received at 432.001 MHz would be transmitted on 146.099 MHz. Voice signals using upper sideband modulation on the input would result in a LSB modulation on the output, and vice versa."Stage 3D Satellite Primer".

Store-and-forwards systems [edit]

Some other class of repeaters do not simultaneously retransmit a indicate, on different frequency, as they receive information technology. Instead, they operate in a shop-and-frontward manner, by receiving and then retransmitting on the same frequency subsequently a short delay.

These systems may not be legally classified as "repeaters", depending on the definition set past a state's regulator. For example, in the United states, the FCC defines a repeater as an "amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels." (CFR 47 97.205(b)) Store-and-forward systems neither retransmit simultaneously, nor use a different channel. Thus, they must be operated under dissimilar rules than more than conventional repeaters.

Simplex repeater [edit]

A type of system known as a simplex repeater uses a single transceiver and a curt-duration voice recorder, which records whatever the receiver picks up for a set length of fourth dimension (usually xxx seconds or less), then plays back the recording over the transmitter on the same frequency. A common proper name is a "parrot" repeater.

Digipeater [edit]

Some other grade of repeater used in apprentice packet radio, a form of digital calculator-to-computer communications, is dubbed "digipeater" (for DIGItal rePEATER). Digipeaters are often used for activities and modes such as parcel radio, Automatic Packet Reporting System, and D-STAR'southward digital data mode. Besides commercial digital modes such equally DMR, P25 and NXDN. Some modes are full duplex and internet linked.

SSTV repeater [edit]

An SSTV repeater is an apprentice radio repeater station that relays slow-scan television set signals. A typical SSTV repeater is equipped with a HF or VHF transceiver and a computer with a audio menu, which serves as a demodulator/modulator of SSTV signals.

SSTV repeaters are used by amateur radio operators for exchanging pictures. If 2 stations cannot re-create each other, they tin can still communicate through a repeater.

One blazon of SSTV repeater is activated by a station sending it a 1,750 Hz tone. The repeater sends Thousand in morse lawmaking to ostend its activation, afterwards which the station must kickoff sending a picture within virtually 10 seconds. After reception, the received paradigm is transmitted on the repeater'due south operation frequency. Another type is activated by the SSTV vertical synchronization signal (VIS code).

Depending on the software information technology uses (MMSSTV, JVComm32, MSCAN, for example), an SSTV repeater typically operates in common SSTV modes.

Repeater networks [edit]

Repeaters may be linked together in gild to form what is known as a linked repeater system or linked repeater network. In such a organisation, when one repeater is keyed-up by receiving a bespeak, all the other repeaters in the network are also activated and will transmit the same signal. The connections between the repeaters are made via radio (normally on a different frequency from the published transmitting frequency) for maximum reliability. Some networks have a characteristic to allow the user being able to turn boosted repeaters and links on or off on the network. This feature is typically done with DTMF tones to control the network infrastructure. Such a organization allows coverage over a wide surface area, enabling communication between amateurs often hundreds of miles (several hundred km) autonomously. These systems are used for area or regional communications, for example in Skywarn nets, where storm spotters relay severe weather reports. All the user has to know is which aqueduct to use in which area.

Voting systems [edit]

In order to get better receive coverage over a broad area, a similar linked setup tin also be washed with what is known as a voted receiver arrangement. In a voted receiver, there are several satellite receivers set to receive on the same frequency (the one that the users transmit on). All of the satellite receivers are linked to a voting selector panel that switches from receiver to receiver based on the best quieting (strongest) signal, and the output of the selector volition really trigger the cardinal repeater transmitter. A properly adjusted voting system tin can switch many times a second and can actually "assemble" a multi-syllable word using a different satellite receiver for each syllable. Such a organisation can be used to widen coverage to low power mobile radios or handheld radios that otherwise would non be able to key up the cardinal location, but can receive the signal from the central location without an effect. Voting systems require no knowledge or effort on the part of the user - the system just seems to have meliorate-than-average handheld coverage.

Internet linking [edit]

Repeaters may also exist connected over the Internet using vocalism over IP (VoIP) techniques. VoIP links are a convenient manner to connecting afar repeaters that would otherwise be unreachable by VHF/UHF radio propagation. Popular VoIP amateur radio network protocols include D-STAR, Echolink, IRLP, WIRES and eQSO. Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), D-STAR, Fusion, P25 and NXDN all have a codec in the user radio and forth with the encoded audio, also send and receive user number and destination information then one tin talk to another specific user or a Talk Group. Two such worldwide networks are DMR-MARC and Brandmeister.

For case, a simplex gateway may be used to link a simplex repeater into a repeater network via the Internet.

Operating terms [edit]

Timing Out is the situation where a person talks too long and the repeater timer shuts off the repeater transmitter.
Kerchunking is transmitting a momentary signal to check a repeater without identifying.^[7] In many countries, such an deed violates amateur radio regulations. The term "Kerchunk" can also apply to the sound a large FM transmitter makes when the operator switches it off and on.
Lid refers to a poor operator (radio methods) unremarkably from improper training from other Amateurs or exposure to different types of operation such every bit CB radio.

References [edit]

^ http://w8ira.org Contained Repeater Association
^ http://world wide web.winsystem.org A series of linked, or Intertied, UHF (440 MHz, or 70 cm) repeaters
^ "ukrepeaters". www.ukrepeater.net . Retrieved two April 2018.
^ http://www.csfmg.com Cardinal Scotland FM Group
^ http://world wide web.sbrg.co.uk Scottish Borders Repeater Group
^ http://sourceforge.internet/apps/trac/svxlink/ SVX Link - A software solution for building repeaters.
^ "The New Ham's Guide to Repeaters". Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL). Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 18 Feb 2016.

External links [edit]

Complimentary information web site devoted to those that build repeaters of any blazon: apprentice, commercial, GMRS, public safety, etc.