General Information
Our repeater system is installed and maintained by a volunteer staff. This system has a primary purpose as a club “intercom” during scheduled nets and other club activities. It also enjoys use by those hams who are travelling through the are as well as serving as a viable means of communication during emergency preparedness drills and real emergencies. All users will follow typical repeater etiquette being considerate of other users as friendly to new users.
Operation
Currently, both our 2M VHF and 447MHz UHF repeaters are set up to operate independently from each other. Both repeaters exhibit similar coverage over the greater Danbury area.
The 2M 147MHz VHF machine is not linked and is typically used for regular club communications. It has an additional capability known as Echo-Link that enables licensed, out of the area users to use this machine via an internet connection. This repeater broadcasts a periodic CW ID via its internal control and a timed voice ID via the Echolink controller.
The 447MHz UHF machine includes a State-Wide linking capability and used for local and wide area communications. Currently, the “link” is activated 100% of the time with a remote ON/OFF switch. Remember, while using this repeater, to wait a few seconds after pressing the transmit button and before speaking to allow the system’s linked radios to fully engage. This radio will voice ID periodically.
Emergency & Special Use
The CARA repeaters are also used for special activities to provide communications during long distance cycling events, event talk in and emergency drills. During these planned uses, always listen first before transmitting. Also defer all non-essential uses until the event use is done.
During real emergencies, follow typical protocol and allow those properly trained to manage the communications. Once the emergency use is complete, the repeater will be returned to it’s normal operation.
Use During Equipment Failures
The CARA repeater system experiences a high up-time based on a solid commercial AC power system and battery power back-up. In the event that one or both of the operational repeaters fails, the user is directed to move to a different machine or simplex frequency. In an emergency situation, a notice may be sent out to the club via it’s email reflector or simply to follow the pre-planned procedure.
The user has these options:
- Move to a operational CARA repeater
- Move to another local operational repeater
- Move to a pre-planned simplex frequency
- Move to a pre-planned HF frequency
