[MRCA] near fest repeater question?

[Ray Fantini]

I have noticed that repeater activity is just a fraction of what it was twenty years ago. I have had a long time love affair with Motorola radios, so I was happy to find that I can buy Spectras for $5.00 each and with the software and a RIB programed dozens local repeaters into it including places I frequent like Richmond for Frostfest, Allentown for Gilbert MRCA and several machines around Baltimore and Philadelphia. listening to my local machines you don't hear much. Think one has a NET on Thursday night but that's about it.
Couple years back now at Dayton set the "official" Hamvention talk in on the radio and that was fairly quiet. I remember twenty or thirty years back how the VHF channels would be packed at Dayton with people doing crazy things like calling "CQ DX" and talking about "crotch critters" along with the lectures from the straight up law abiding Hams, but these days very little activity.

But we are Mil Radio people and we should be doing better than using Chinese  communist Bofeng junk. For years several members of this list we have been pushing for us to use 51.0 MHz simplex at events. Not just talking about PRC-25 or 77 sets or like in my case running a full size VRC-12 you have a bunch of smaller hand held sets like the PRC-68 and PRC-128 and a world of newer military radios. People like Breck , K4CHE has gone so far as to install a PRT-4 / PRR-9 set on a bicycle for use at Gilbert.

Unfortunately I wont be able to attend Near Fest, but have every confidence that those who attend will beat the drum for working with this equipment.

Ray F/KA3EKH




From: mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net <mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of W2HX
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2022 9:47 AM
To: Gene Smar <ersmar at verizon.net>; mrca at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [MRCA] near fest repeater basic question?


Ahh. Thank you, Gene! Now it all makes sense.

73 Eugene W2HX
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From: Gene Smar <ersmar at verizon.net<mailto:ersmar at verizon.net>>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2022 9:37 PM
To: W2HX <w2hx at w2hx.com<mailto:w2hx at w2hx.com>>; mrca at mailman.qth.net<mailto:mrca at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [MRCA] near fest repeater basic question?

Eugene:

     The listed repeater freqs are always (usually) the repeater's output, i.e., your receive freq.  Note the "-" next to the freq.  It's not a dash, it's a minus sugn.  It indicates that the input freq (your transmit freq) is downshifted by the standard offset for the band.  For 2M, the standard offset is 600 kHz.  So your transmit freq would be 600 kHz BELOW your receive freq.  The UHF repeater shows a "+" next to the repeater's output (your receive) freq.  This means your transmit freq would be the standard UHF shift (5 MHz for UHF) ABOVE the output freq.

     You are correct: the CTCSS tones are for your transmit and receive.  The CTCSS freqs (and I despise their mandatory use in Ham systems) are usually your transmit freq (listed first) to access the repeater's receiver and (listed second) the freq transmitted by the repeater to your receiver.  This second freq (sent by the repeater to you) is optional.  Some Hams don't want to listen to other nearby co-channel repeater outputs, so they set their HTs to respond ONLY when they hear the proper CTCSS tone from their desired repeater.  So, you don't need to set CTCSS for your HT/mobile receiver, just for your transmitter.

73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F


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