Tag: repeaters

  • 2 Meters: The Workhorse VHF Band

    2 meters does not get the DX glamour of the HF bands, but it is the band doing the most day-to-day work in this hobby: repeaters, nets, APRS, satellites, and simplex, all at once.

  • What Is a PL Tone / CTCSS Tone?

    If you have ever programmed a repeater and gotten silence, a missing PL tone is often the culprit. Here is what CTCSS tones are and how they work.

  • What Handheld Radio Should I Get for Emergency Comms?

    GMRS, ham VHF/UHF, repeaters, and HF, compared for emergency comms with real-world vs best-case range expectations, plus my actual pick by scenario.

  • Getting Started with Yaesu System Fusion and Wires-X

    System Fusion is Yaesu’s digital voice ecosystem, and Wires-X is the network that links its repeaters and rooms together over the internet. Here is how to actually get on it.

  • Getting Started with D-STAR

    D-STAR was the first widely adopted digital voice mode in amateur radio, and its reflector and gateway system still works a little differently than DMR or Fusion. Here is how to actually get on it.

  • Repeaters: How They Work, Why They’re Great, and Why They’re Not a SHTF Plan

    Repeaters turn a 5-watt handheld into a radio that can talk 40 miles. Here’s how that works, and why you shouldn’t bet your grid-down comms plan on one.

  • GMRS Repeaters, and How They’re Different From Ham Repeaters

    GMRS is not just a walkie talkie service anymore. A growing network of repeaters gives it real range, with a much simpler entry process than amateur radio.

  • Repeater Offsets and Duplex, Explained Simply

    Part of our Getting On The Air: Modes, Operations, and Making Contacts guide. Offset and duplex are two of the settings that confuse new hams the most when programming a radio for the first time, mostly because the terminology is used loosely and the concepts get blurred together. They are actually simple once you separate…

  • EchoLink and IRLP: Linking Repeaters Over the Internet

    Before DMR and Fusion linked repeaters digitally over dedicated networks, EchoLink and IRLP were already connecting hams worldwide over the ordinary internet. Both are still very much alive.

  • Finding and Programming GMRS Repeaters in Your Area

    GMRS repeaters can turn a 5-mile radio into a 40-mile radio. Here’s how to find the ones near you and get them programmed into your radio correctly.

  • What EmComm Actually Is, and Why It Needs Both VHF/UHF and HF

    Emergency communications isn’t one thing, it’s a layered system of local repeaters, regional HF, and the theory that ties them together. Here’s how it all fits.

  • 70 Centimeters: The Band Doing Half the Work On Your Dual-Bander

    Part of our Getting On The Air: Modes, Operations, and Making Contacts guide. Every dual-band handheld sold in the last twenty years covers 2 meters and 70 centimeters, but almost everyone talks about 2 meters and treats 70cm as an afterthought. That is a mistake. The 420 to 450 MHz band is doing real work,…

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