Surveys have shown that across the US, the Auxiliary operates at least six VHF FM repeater stations. These are located in New York, Georgia, Northern and Southern California, Nevada and Washington State. The question comes up what is a repeater and what is it used for?

Remembering that with VHF / UHF radio systems, the higher the antenna, the greater the distance? A typical mobile or vessel facility with an antenna mounted five to ten feet above the ground or water has a range of five to ten miles depending on terrain, etc. What if we move that facility to a high location, say 500 to 2000 ft. high? The distance it will be able to communicate will be increased considerably, to 50 to 100 miles (again depending on terrain). So a repeater is a receiver and a transmitter located on a mountain or high tower connected together thru control circuitry so that signals heard by the receiver are simultaneously retransmitted by the transmitter.

It is not permissible to operate a repeater on marine frequencies, for a couple of reasons. First, a repeater requires TWO frequencies in order to function. One is called the input, as it receives signals from a mobile unit, and the second is the output, which transmits to another mobile, repeating what is heard on the input frequency. There are no frequency "pairs" available on the VHF FM marine band for government use. Most repeater systems operate on frequencies in the 140 to 150 MHz Government Band. Often 143.28 MHz is chosen as the output frequency, while another frequency is chosen as the input. Since frequencies in the 140 to 150 MHz band are heavily used in many areas, the choice of an input frequency will depend on what is available

Auxiliarists desiring to put up a repeater should work thru the DSO-CM for their district. The DSO-CM will follow the instructions as stipulated in the Operations Policy Manual M16798 3 series to request the frequencies for the repeater. After following all of the instructions, the. TM (who is responsible for communications in the district) will request frequencies through CG Headquarters (G-SCT) in Washington. This is a slow process and can take up to one to two years. Once a frequency (or pair) is authorized the DSO-CM should receive a copy of the authorization and the system can go on the air. A high site will be needed which maybe a commercial site with monthly rental fees of a few dollars to several a hundred dollars per month, to a government site that might be available for free. It depends on the availability, local knowledge and negotiation skills of the lessee. TM is a good contact for information regarding sites, as they operate CG sites and work with other agencies on their sites. Equipment costs are generally two to ten thousand dollars for a basic system, depending on equipment sources. Experience has shown that the Coast Guard (DIRAUX) will often pay these equipment expenses depending on justification, but usually not operating expenses such as site rental.

A repeater coordinator should be appointed by either the Coast Guard or the Auxiliary, to oversee the operation of the system, and maintain a list of authorized users. Since repeaters are located on high sites with good coverage, the coordinator may be expected to deal with interference problems, either from or to the repeater. The Coast Guard and the FCC can be helpful in resolving these problems. Generally, usage of a repeater is restricted to members who have met the district requirements for an Auxiliary Communication unit, and who are listed with the repeater coordinator. Since the repeater does not operate on marine frequencies, a separate VHF FM radio will be required for operation through the system. It is best to equip this radio with not only the repeater frequencies, but also the output frequency for local communications when out of range of the repeater. It should be kept in mind that repeater frequencies are authorized for a geographical area, and operation in other parts of the country may interfere with other government systems.

Repeaters offer 24 hr a day, 365-day a year communications links available to serve the needs of the Auxiliary. In areas where they are available, many communicators monitor them extensively and often announce their presence with a blind transmission “Coast Guard Auxiliary XY monitoring,” expecting a call from other users. In this way members are kept up to the status of each other and can gauge availability for SAR call out, etc. The repeater can be used for operation traffic during patrols, offloading traffic from marine frequencies. It can be especially useful during a vessel call out, if the skipper and crew are “repeater equipped,” and can coordinate getting underway.

Communications maybe addressed to:

January 2000