new at this radio stuff, help programming?

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If anyone here is good with the Chirp programming, would you be willing to help out? I have a basic configuration loaded, someone helped me with. Can one send a configuration and have someone else look at and edit with Chirp, then send it back? I'm assuming this would be OK to do.

Are there some commonalities on all of these that people can see, or see that what might be missing?

At least now that he sent me the file, I can look at my configuration, and look at the device, and see how they relate.

This would be set up for mainly the central Massachusetts area, if people are familiar with that.

He set it up for now to receive only, which is fine by me. I guess you get in some sort of trouble if you talk without the proper permissions, except on the "FRS"?

Anyhow, if someone can help, send me a DM/PM or whatever it is called, or any advice here is welcomed. I am very much a newbie at this, so just want to become familiar with this stuff, and determine how far I want to pursue this. I am able to listen to people on the "Paxton Repeater" on their nightly discussion at 7:30. I never hear ANY other talk on that channel. I thought that was a busy or more popular channel, but maybe I am misunderstanding how something works.

Thank you.


P.S. Reaching out to a few guys who have been helpful with this stuff in the past:
@n1oty
@mcshooter
@rogersmithiii
@HARRYM
@timbo
@mcb
@Evtide
 
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If it's programmed with your local repeaters and the calling frequencies (146.520 MHz on 2m and 446.000 MHz on 70cm), then you're probably good to go. You can always add more later.

Sometimes I save repeaters that aren't real close to me and I'll set them to not be included when I scan. It doesn't hurt to include them, it just slows the scan down when it has to do a bunch of repeaters that aren't nearby.

The only other tip I have is to organize them in a way that makes sense. I'm always fussing with the order I have mine so don't ask me what makes sense.

As for the repeater not being in use, that's common. Everyone is listening and waiting for someone else to talk. I'm just as guilty as everyone else. Last summer there was a guy (maybe he still does it) who would answer just about anyone who threw out their call with "monitoring". He'd chat with them for a long time. Often it'd be someone driving through, so he'd talk until they were out of range. That was nice.
 
These are some of the repeaters I have right now. Looking for stuff for central MA/central New England. Not sure what kind of distance these have. Would like to be able to reach from Worcester area to at least Amherst/Northampton/Deerfield to the West, state line (Fitchburg/Athol/Ashburnham/etc.) to the North, RI/CT line to the South, and maybe at least 495/128 to the East. That said, what would be some good ones to add? Anyone know if any ones I have listed are no good and can be taken off?

1677445195713.png
 
These are some of the repeaters I have right now. Looking for stuff for central MA/central New England. Not sure what kind of distance these have. Would like to be able to reach from Worcester area to at least Amherst/Northampton/Deerfield to the West, state line (Fitchburg/Athol/Ashburnham/etc.) to the North, RI/CT line to the South, and maybe at least 495/128 to the East. That said, what would be some good ones to add? Anyone know if any ones I have listed are no good and can be taken off?

View attachment 725846

Where are you located, you're just regular central ma?

Lol you're not going to get that kinda coverage without at least a J pole up on your house unless you live on a mountain. With a rubber duck you'll be lucky to pull 146.970 / paxton, maybe 146.955 (westford) And a couple of the Worcester boxes... 146.925 and whatever the w1wpi one is, can't remember offhand.

Fitchburg has two machines 145.450 and 147.315. 315 is exponentially better but has less people on it. 450 is linked to the 390? Gardner repeater full time.
 
146.970 and I think that Gardner route 2 area repeater is all I used to use. 146.520 also. I miss 146.970. I need to get on my local machine and be active more down here in NC.. I have an old chirp file somewhere here.. I’ll update it with one. I doubt much has changed in the central MA analog repeater scene since 2020
 
The only reason I asked, is because there is a lot more experience out there right here than I'll ever get. I know sometimes these sort of lists have entries that are long gone, and other times good entries which never made the list for whatever reason. Just wanted a quick once-over to head in the right direction. Someone here said the Greylock one does 125 miles, so could cover a lot of the state. FWIW, I can practically SEE the Paxton repeater. I see the Worcester airport lights, and Paxton is just beyond that. I'm guessing Warren might be good, so I'm wondering if anyone knows for sure, or not. Just looking to see what works or doesn't, and trying to get some insights to get some positive results quicker. Had not seen the Oxford, Millbury, or Auburn ones before just now, so that right there makes asking the question a win.

I am trying to figure out which bands/frequencies these little radios use.
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Thanks.
 

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The machine I miss the most is 448.625. It used to be on mt Wachusett. You could basically be in north central MA inside a building taking a dump and still make that machine on an HT easy, it had superb coverage. I could work it with 500mw in Fitchburg. Then once Roger, W10J died, (rip) the custodian of the pair got transferred to someone else and it went to shit, and was never the same again. Rumor has it the pave paws BS became a problem, the machine had such reach it was probably heard on the cape. Working mobiles in RI wasn't uncommon, although I think part of that was Roger had another 440 box in Cranston on another pair that was hard linked to 625. On top of that sometimes Roger would open a (supervised, so license disparities were covered) link to 29.620 if the band opened, you could work 10m dx cruising around.... Roger was a repeater chad, he had influence with MEMA and FEMA and thats how he got on the mountain. He knew his shit too, those boxes had hot ears. You knew if you couldn't make his machines it was your fault....... 🤣
 
Is it hitting you hard or do you have static? "Full quieting" is where its at.
A tiny bit of background hiss. Voices are strong and clear. Just tonight, though. Usually, it is even better. Wonder if all the solar weather is having an effect.
 
A tiny bit of background hiss. Voices are strong and clear. Just tonight, though. Usually, it is even better. Wonder if all the solar weather is having an effect.

If the box is hissing you'll need a better antenna to make it, but one thing at a time. If you gotta flint i bet even deploying a cheap homemade roll up j pole antenna would make the hiss go away. (Usually repeaters are 100-300W out, so if the box itself is hissy or marginal you'll usually be pretty bad.
 
The only reason I asked, is because there is a lot more experience out there right here than I'll ever get. I know sometimes these sort of lists have entries that are long gone, and other times good entries which never made the list for whatever reason. Just wanted a quick once-over to head in the right direction. Someone here said the Greylock one does 125 miles, so could cover a lot of the state. FWIW, I can practically SEE the Paxton repeater. I see the Worcester airport lights, and Paxton is just beyond that. I'm guessing Warren might be good, so I'm wondering if anyone knows for sure, or not. Just looking to see what works or doesn't, and trying to get some insights to get some positive results quicker. Had not seen the Oxford, Millbury, or Auburn ones before just now, so that right there makes asking the question a win.

I am trying to figure out which bands/frequencies these little radios use.
View attachment 725929


Thanks.
2m (AKA 145ish MHz)
70cm (AKA 440ish MHz)
 
If the box is hissing you'll need a better antenna to make it, but one thing at a time. If you gotta flint i bet even deploying a cheap homemade roll up j pole antenna would make the hiss go away. (Usually repeaters are 100-300W out, so if the box itself is hissy or marginal you'll usually be pretty bad.

The 'feng should use an SMA female. Just take off your antenna and look to confirm. There's pictures on the website to help you.

I would get the longest cable (16') and not get the antenna hook for that extra dollar unless you're rolling in the cash. It's a plastic hook.

The roll up jpole will perform better if you hang it up high, but I have hung mine from a doorway and it's good enough for what I'm doing. I usually use a length of paracord and get it as high as practical.

It's dual band, meaning both bands your radio works on.
 
If the box is hissing you'll need a better antenna to make it, but one thing at a time. If you gotta flint i bet even deploying a cheap homemade roll up j pole antenna would make the hiss go away. (Usually repeaters are 100-300W out, so if the box itself is hissy or marginal you'll usually be pretty bad.
I could be wrong but I think he's just listening. The hiss could easily be the other guys.
 
If the box is hissing you'll need a better antenna to make it, but one thing at a time. ... if the box itself is hissy or marginal you'll usually be pretty bad.
Like I said, it is just tonight. Usually it is no hiss.

I could be wrong but I think he's just listening. The hiss could easily be the other guys.
You are correct. Again, it has been pretty clear other than just tonight. My guess would be atmospheric stuff.

I got one of those "Signal Stick" antennas, upon advice from someone on NES. To be honest, I haven't compared reception back and forth yet, and haven't noticed either way.

Are you talking about adding one of those "rat tail" 19 inch things hanging off the antenna base? I read that those help a lot. Also read that they don't help much. I guess YMMV on just about anything and everything here.
 
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I could be wrong but I think he's just listening. The hiss could easily be the other guys.
Yes, it could be... but if they're all hissing its the box vs his rx. 970 can be a wonky box though.. it clearly has good pattern most of the time but it often has bad nulls into parts of north central.
 
Like I said, it is just tonight. Usually it is no hiss.


You are correct. Again, it has been pretty clear other than just tonight. My guess would be atmospheric stuff.

To answer question though, yes, you can get weird local conditions but usually vhf isn't influenced much by solar .... usually its moisture in the air or lack thereof which seems to mess with propagation. High winds will f*** with things too.... because if we're getting 25 mph winds the winds whipping on that station master or whatever antenna around at the repeater.....

The other night when the winds were going hard in Fitchburg even the 450 machine was bobbing a bit on my base, but that thing is a semi-deaf dumpster fire and always has been. Admittedly in the defense of MARA the club is run by nice people but my guess is the membership collections are not significant enough to really upgrade it properly.
 
Also try moving a couple feet. Like when you listen to your favorite smooth jazz station in the car and it dies at a light but if you inch forward it comes back.
 
Admittedly in the defense of MARA the club is run by nice people but my guess is the membership collections are not significant enough to really upgrade it properly.
Was just looking around the CMARA site and found this:
The CMARA Repeater operates on frequency 146.97 MHz with a PL Tone 114.8 Hz.
The Repeater is located on Asnebumskit Hill in Paxton, MA. The hill is 1369 Feet ASL.
The Repeater is a Motorola Micor vintage 1980’s
Repeater Output power is 40W into the filters.
The Repeater has a 114.8 Hz Private Line (PL) tone required to open the receiver input.
The Receiver Antenna is at the top of the tower
The Transmit Antenna is located half way down tower
1677546768807.png 1677546823882.png

Here are listed some of the Design Parameters:
Controller: NHRC-2 Features: Voice ID, CW ID, duplex or simplex operation
Repeater: Motorola Micor In Frequency on 146.370 Out Frequency on 146.970
P.L. Tone: 114.8 hz.
Power 100 watts or less (typically 30 watts or so)
Full slideshow/presentation here:
 
There are plenty of repeaters. Some are better than others.
Not to mention most of them could be off and nobody would notice.

I just found out today that a digital only (Fusion) repeater I've been trying to get anyone to even come back to me on is sitting in a box somewhere. I guess it got taken down and they don't have a new place for it. That explains the light use it sees. RepeaterBook shows it as active, so that didn't help me any.
 
Not to mention most of them could be off and nobody would notice.

I just found out today that a digital only (Fusion) repeater I've been trying to get anyone to even come back to me on is sitting in a box somewhere. I guess it got taken down and they don't have a new place for it. That explains the light use it sees. RepeaterBook shows it as active, so that didn't help me any.

Do not bother using the ARRL Repeater Directory or RepeaterBook. Both of them utilize seriously outdated information. The ARRL used to pay a small fee to each repeater coordinating body annually in order to purchase the rights to the current coordinating information. That kept their books fairly up-to-date. Years ago, the League subcontracted out both the actual Repeater Directory and the outside data collection. The company doing the collection almost immediately stopped paying the coordinating bodies for the updated data so they could enhance their profit from selling the Directory. As a result, much of the information in the ARRL Repeater Directory is many years out-of-date.

You have two sources of legitimate repeater information in New England, either the New England Spectrum Management Council (the actual coordinators with the really current data) or the New England Repeater Directory. The guys running NERD are heavily involved with NESMC, so are privy to all of the important information.

I prefer using NERD myself because the NESMC search engine only retrieves fully coordinated repeaters. NERD will also list experimental repeaters that have not reached fully coordinated status. NERD will also list repeaters that are down temporarily to alert you to problems.
 
I meant to say "not more repeaters in central Mass", especially on the high ridge East of the Quabbin. I guess not much privately owned land there with power. It would sure bridge the gap between Worcester area and Berkshire hills.
 
Not to mention most of them could be off and nobody would notice.

I just found out today that a digital only (Fusion) repeater I've been trying to get anyone to even come back to me on is sitting in a box somewhere. I guess it got taken down and they don't have a new place for it. That explains the light use it sees. RepeaterBook shows it as active, so that didn't help me any.

Do not bother using the ARRL Repeater Directory or RepeaterBook. Both of them utilize seriously outdated information.
NOW you tell me! Going to have to go back and revisit my choices. I'm still trying to figure out the technology on these. I thought they just rebroadcast your transmission coming in to their site from your site, with their added power and reach. Before just recently, I thought of them more like a "relay", in that they reach to the next repeater, and the signals travel from repeater to repeater, so you could reach longer distances and far away places. Still so much to learn.
 
NOW you tell me! Going to have to go back and revisit my choices. I'm still trying to figure out the technology on these. I thought they just rebroadcast your transmission coming in to their site from your site, with their added power and reach. Before just recently, I thought of them more like a "relay", in that they reach to the next repeater, and the signals travel from repeater to repeater, so you could reach longer distances and far away places. Still so much to learn.
Even if you don't take the test right away, learning the tech material will answer a lot of these questions for you.
 
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