Repeaters

W4BS Repeater system

W4BS Repeater System

W4BS Repeater System Trustee:
Barry McDonald W5CJ

146.82- (107.2 PL)

As the first repeater that the club put on the air, this machine is the anchor of the W4BS Repeater System. This repeater is well known for it's great coverage pattern in the tri-state area. It resides at approximately the 500 foot level of the 1200 ft. WATN (previously WPTY) TV tower on the railing of the top elevator platform located in Brunswick, TN in the northeastern part of Shelby County, TN. The move to this site occurred in July 1999 when the WPTY transmitter moved to Brunswick from Bartlett. The antenna and heliax were upgraded at the time of the move and the location on the tower was changed to West as opposed to South side on the old site. This greatly increased the range of the repeater to the North and West. The repeater was upgraded to a Motorola Micor unit with an ACC-850 Repeater Controller. The repeater is fed thru commercial grade duplexers and 1-5/8" hardline to a Sinclair SA-224 Antenna. An Icom FR3000 repeater with a CAT250 controller was installed in 2010. A new Sinclair SD224-SF3PASNM 6dB 4 element dipole antenna was installed on April 29, 2020. The coverage and reliability of this repeater was the primary reason that in 1994 the National Weather Service - Memphis office asked the club's permission to use the 146.82 repeater as the primary repeater for their newly organized Skywarn Program. The NWS Memphis office is responsible for watches and warnings for 57 counties in four states.

147.360+ (107.2 PL)

This repeater was put on the air about 2001 in an effort to take some of the normal drive-time chit-chat traffic off the popular 146.82 machine. It is a "no frills" repeater located atop Methodist North Hospital. There was an enormous amount of paging intermod at the original Methodist University location, but the Methodist North location seems to be relatively free from that type of interference. The "36" repeater first used a Spectrum transmitter and receiver. In 2011 the Spectrum was replaced with an Icom FR3000 with a CAT250 controller. This repeater requires a 107.2 PL tone.

224.420-

The 224.42 W4BS repeater is located at Methodist North Hospital, one of the highest geographical locations in Shelby County. While the building itself is not that tall, the location, due to it's ground elevation, will afford good coverage for this repeater. In about 2016 a Bridgecom repeater was installed. This 220 machine is one of three on this band in the Mid-South area. Since early 2000s over 100 local hams now have radios for 220. The other major 220 repeater is on 224.78. The 1.25 meter frequency is probably one of the most widely used VHF bands in the Mid-South area.

443.200+ (107.2 PL)

This repeater is centrally located around the University of Memphis main campus in East Memphis. It originally had an ACC-85 controller, the forerunner of the 850, until a lightning strike made it unrepairable. Then there was a Motorola MSR2000 repeater with a CAT 1000 controller. Currently, there is an Icom FR4000 repeater with a CAT250 controller and a Phelps Dodge Station Master antenna, that provides club members a good 440 drive time machine. This repeater requires a 107.2 PL tone.

146.625- (107.2 PL)

This repeater, located on top of the water tower in Germantown, TN was put on the air in 2018. It is a Yaesu DX-1 repeater with a raspsberry Pi controller that allows for connection to AllStar Node 48342 and Echolink Node 363378. It does require a PL tone of 107.2 for access.

443.700+ (107.2 PL)

This is the newest repeater frequency in the W4BS Repeater System. The frequency and an old Motorola repeater was relinquished by hams from Bellevue Baptist Church in September 2019. The Delta Club put in a Yaesu DX-1 repeater on the existing 7/8” hardline and antenna to the approximately 500 foot level of the WATN TV tower adjacent to the 146.82 antenna.

144.390

This digipeater is located on Methodist North Hospital to increase the APRS coverage to the north.

repeater rules

General:

Always listen to the frequency before you start transmitting. If in doubt, then ask if the frequency is in use before you transmit.

Monitor repeaters to become familiar with operation.
Identify with your callsign at least once every 10 minutes. (If you ID after the repeater IDs, it will keep you legal) Please DO NOT use "for ID" after your callsign. It is not necessary, we all know what you are doing.
Pause between transmissions to allow emergency breaks and to reset the repeater timer. The repeater times out at 3 minutes. During Drive Time (Rush Hour), that time is shortened to 1-1/2 minutes. If you do not hear the courtesy tone, then please note that the repeater timer has not reset.
Use simplex operation whenever possible. To operate on simplex do not have an off-set programed in. You will be transmitting and receiving on the same frequency. The National Calling Frequency is 146.52. Do not use repeater input or output frequencies for simplex operation.
Use the minimum amount of power necessary to carry on reliable communications.
If you have an emergency, then use a double break followed by your call sign.

Always relinquish the frequency to a breaking station.

If you are unable to hold the repeater or people can't understand you, then clear off until your conditions improve.
No business on the repeater at any time.
Never just kerchunk the repeater (keying the mic without identifying) for the sake of kerchunking. If you are testing your equipment remember to identify.
Remember that Broadcasting is strictly forbidden by the FCC. Sometimes we broadcast without realizing we are, for example when we key- up to announce that there is a traffic jam for anyone who is listening, then clear off . This action is broadcasting.
Before blaming the repeater for a problem, first check your equipment, then check to see if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.
Always be aware of your language over the air. The Delta Amateur Radio Club WILL NOT tolerate bad language, off- color jokes, or inappropriate behavior on its repeaters.
Remember when operating on an HT, to stand still while transmitting and hold the HT so that the antenna is vertical.
Remember that this repeater is Amateur Radio NOT Citizens Band, therefore we do not use CB language or terminology. Remember that we have names, not handles or personals, nor do we use the 10-code.
When checking into any of the Nets be sure to give your suffix phonetically. A-Alpha B-Bravo C-Charlie D-Delta E-Echo F-Foxtrot G-Golf H-Hotel I-India J-Juliet K-Kilo L-Lima M-Mike N-November O-Oscar P-Papa Q-Quebec R-Romeo S-Sierra T-Tango U-Uniform V-Victor W-Whiskey X-X-Ray Y-Yankee Z-Zulu
During band openings remember that our repeater is on the air to serve local hams so do not tie up the repeater for extended amounts of time when others might need to make use of it.

Memphis Area Repeater Listing