Loveland Repeater Association
Policy

The LRA repeaters are open to any member of Technician class license or above who exercises common courtesy in their use.

"Ragchew" use of the repeater is encouraged. Please remember that the repeater is a shared resource.

The autopatch access codes (or other access codes) are not to be given out over the air.

Visitors can use the patch by asking a member to operate the patch for them.

Information concerning the autopatch and controller should be transferred only by this document from a Board member to club members to insure use of proper procedures.

Each operator has a responsibility to act as a Control Operator at all times an inform any other operator of rule infractions. The goal is to be a self-policed group.

General Information

The club repeaters are located inside a small shack atop Namaqua Hills, west of Loveland, right beneath a large lighted star that is maintained by the Loveland Jaycees and usually lit at Christmas. Adjacent to the shack and directly behind the telephone poles that hold up the star are two 30 foot towers, atop which are mounted the club's antennas.

The 2m repeater is controlled via an S-Com 7K repeater controller. The 70cm repeater is controlled via an S-Com 5K repeater controller. These controllers are programmed by sending touch-tone codes to them from either the phone line or over the air. A computer program is used to upload control information to the 2m repeater over the phone line using a modem to create touch-tone codes. A control password is used for each command, and this password is maintained only by official repeater control operators. This makes updates easy and provides ready documentation of who has what control codes. In the event of a hardware upgrade or catastrophic failure of the controller, it also provides a quick and easy way to restore operation when the controller is back on-line.

Among the many programmable features of the controllers is the ability to accept one to four digit codes called "macros" to provide quick access to certain functions. Club membership provides each member with two (2) free macros, which can be made to activate the autopatch, reverse patch, or to announce things (like your call letters) in voice or cw. Macros are terminated with the * key. So, for example, if you want to call your home using (say) macro 9999, you would transmit " access patch", then transmit 9999*. You would hear a phone ring over the air, and when your party answers, you would conduct a half-duplex phone conversation. Transmit the # tone to end the call, then announce " clear of the patch". The repeater announces "Call complete".

The reverse patch is used as follows: A person wishing to call you dials the repeater. The repeater answers the phone and says "Ready". The person then dials your reverse patch macro (e.g. 20*). The repeater then announces "Telephone call for " in voice. You connect to the caller by transmitting the reverse patch access code. You then carry on a normal phone conversion. You terminate the reverse patch by transmitting the # tone.

There is a six minute timer on the repeater. You can't keep your mike keyed for more than that time (not that you'd want to) and expect to hold the repeater. This timer is reset when no carrier is present for one second (as indicated by the courtesy beep). This delay is intended to allow other stations to announce their need to use the repeater, so it is a good practice to allow the beep to occur before keying your mike.

If AC power is lost at the repeater site, batteries maintain the power, and the controller announces "AC power off", in voice, and changes the courtesy beep to a single high pitch. A control operator can then restore the normal courtesy beep via a special macro after power is restored. Please limit use of the repeater to necessary calls only when it is running on batteries.

Autopatch Guidelines

Business calls are strictly forbidden. This does not exclude calls to business phones for non business reasons, however.

Do not use the patch for ragchewing.

If there is any doubt, notify the called party that they are on the air. If the called party starts to use profane language, abort the call at once.

Long distance and toll calls are not permitted, and are disabled.

When making an emergency call, tell the dispatcher that you are calling via amateur radio to reduce the confusion about your inability to hear while transmitting.

If in doubt about the legality of a call, don't make it unless you are handling an emergency.

While waiting for someone to come to the phone or if you are on hold, dead air can be confusing to some listeners. It is advisable to identify periodically to keep from having someone dump the patch, thinking it is broken.