Montana's Ham Radio Forum

Recently the Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club installed another Yaesu System Fusion Repeater. This replaced our existing little used 444.350 +5 MHz repeater co-located with our VHF 147.300 +600KHz repeater located on Banjo Hill just north of Great Falls. This site was graciously offered by and belongs to Parrish Andrews AF7BA, thanks Parrish! This repeater (UHF) is accessible to WIRES-X and currently in Analog mode. You will need a DCS code of 051 to access the repeater in analog mode. It is connected full time to the Minnesota Wisconsin room (MNWIS 21493). On this node you will find several knowledgeable people who like nothing better than to help people with digital radio. There are also discussion topics that span many other interesting topics.

As I mentioned this connection is currently in Analog mode. This mode does not offer some of the many advantages of digital such as the data stream that provide users GPS coordinates along with Callsign etc. However it will allow current non-digital equipment access to the WIRES-X system. This may/will change sometime in future to digital access only to the WIRES-X system. After the change, you will still be able to use the repeater in analog mode but you will not access the WIRES-X system. If you have any questions on this please feel free to contact me.

Some suggested reading is found here https://www.hamoperator.com/Hamoperator ... _Help.html
I suggest downloading the WIRES-X Bible and reading it. I will be discussing some of this at future club meetings and making more posts on the subject.

In the mean time enjoy and don't be afraid to ask questions!

***NOTICE*** This UHF repeater will soon be moving to digital for the WiresX connection. After this change you will still be able to use the repeater as a normal analog repeater however you will need a Yaesu C4FM digital radio to use the WiresX functions i.e. connecting to other remote rooms etc. This change is happening for several reasons: #1 When we installed the new DR-1X repeater we made it clear we would only operate it in analog mode for WiresX for a short time. #2 An analog station on the digital WiresX system basically sounds terrible and in general terms does not play well with the system. This is true with all digital systems, in fact with DMR, DSTAR etc. analog stations are not allowed period!!! From what I have observed, there is very little local traffic on the 444.350 repeater, so this should not affect many people anyway. Those who do use it already have a Yaesu digital radio.

Now is the time for discussion, anyone who feels we should leave it as is should speak up now, we really do value everyone's voice and would like to hear from you.

Thanks,

I think the 444.350 MHz repeater should remain as it is, an analog repeater that can be used by people who live in Great Falls and have a dual-band HT. It's location allows it to be used by folks with HT's without having to install an outside antenna, as is often needed for the repeaters located a distance outside of Great Falls. While the topic has been discussed, it has never been decided by the GFAARC Board of Directors that the 444.350 MHz repeater would be converted to digital operation. It has been interesting listening to the discussions on the Minnesota Wisconsin room. It has brought life back to a fairly quiet repeater, allowing it to be enjoyed by everyone with analog radio equipment. I think we should think twice before removing a local repeater from use by dues-paying club members who are analog users to benefit a small group of digital users. I don't want the club to be split into two factions, analog users vs. digital users. Meanwhile, the 449.500 MHz repeater sits on top of Highwood Baldy and is patched fulltime into the 146.740 MHz repeater. No one I know uses it, since it is easier to just talk though the 146.740 MHz repeater. I would like to see the 449.500 MHz repeater disconnected from the 146.740 MHz repeater and converted to full-time digital operation. That would create a long range digital repeater for digital users and give a new life to a repeater that has just been duplicating the 2-meter repeater installed right next to it.

Great points Bruce. While I made it sound like the move was imminent, it was really designed to foster some discussion on the subject. There is nothing saying that we cannot leave this repeater in analog mode indefinitely. Let's have a lot more discussion on this before we make any changes, especially decisions we may regret later. For those who want digital, I currently have a local node that is digital access to the MNWIS (Minnesota Wisconsin) room. It is open to all on 439.000 MHz.

As for the 449.500 repeater on Highwood, technically it is a duplex link to the Zortman 147.26 and Porphery Peak 147.12 repeaters. It also serves as a link to the 146.74 repeater which has been used to reset the repeater when it has "issues".

So now we have another possible scenario to talk about. Since Yaesu has opened up their "Repeater Installation and Upgrade Program" again. We could Purchase two repeaters to replace both the VHF and UHF o Highwood. This would allow us to put the UHF on Digital WIresX and the VHF in normal Analog mode with ability to connect it digitally to WiresX for connection purposes. I will draft a plan to submit to the members and board with my thoughts on this.

Let's discuss!