trying to figure out how to access repeaters. If i know a repeater is in my area, how do I actually contact the owners to get permission to use it? also (agian noobish but not sure) is there a certain TX frequency that has to be used so the repeater picks up my transmission? if it then re-trasmits my signal, does the person I want to get my message have to be on the channel on which the repeater is transmitting out? Not sure if I am clear…but do repeaters always tx out on a different channel than they receive?
Sometimes it takes a lot of research to find info… sometimes, just transmit on the frequency and ask fro the owner.
Repeaters always receive on one frequency and transmit on another. Radios must be programmed for this “split”. Once programmed, the effect is “invisible” to the user.
Only commercial grade equipment has this capability.
gotcha, thanks. I figured that it would only work with a commercial radio… but then you will have to know what frequencies the repeaters are on first, then get your radio pre-programmed for that specific frequency, I would assume…
yea, the reason for repeaters having a different rx freq and tx freq is because they have what is known as a duplexer. it acts as a switch to allow the receiver and transmitter to use one antenna but while on different frequencies. high powered transmissions can damage the RX part of the repeater and no longer pick up weaker signals. this is the reason for the frequency separation between the two.
radio reference . com is the site that i have used to get repeaters in my area. it will take some time to find a repeater in your area that works good. the site gives you everything to program your radio to use on a repeater.
what i have done is find the local school radio frequency and use that, most schools still use 450 MHz range and are for the most part county wide.