First Repeater?
 

Anyone know anything about the first repeater in the U.S.? I heard it was a
2m repeater in California but would like to know where and the callsign.

George, K6GW

"GW" ) writes:
Anyone know anything about the first repeater in the U.S.? I heard it was a
2m repeater in California but would like to know where and the callsign.

George, K6GW

Define "repeater".

Obviously, the relays of the early days, as in "American Radio Relay League",
was a form of repeater.

The ARRL's "FM and Repeaters for the Radio Amateur" from 1972 opens with
a brief history, and it makes the case that the first VHF repeater was
on 5 meters, in 1932, with the callsign W1AWW. Though it would not
appear to have been an automated repeater.

There were AM repeaters, in California, in the fifties.

I think the earliest FM repeater dates from the early sixties, but I'm not
certain. There were articles by Byron Goodman in CQ from about 1964 on
converting commercial two-way equipment to amateur use, but I'm not
sure if FM repeaters started up then.

Michael VE2BVW

Thre was a recent article in QST about the passing of someone who, I
believe, put up the 1st one. Could be wrong.

--
Steve N, K,9;d, c. i My email has no u's.
"GW" wrote in message
.net...
Anyone know anything about the first repeater in the U.S.? I heard it was
a
2m repeater in California but would like to know where and the callsign.

George, K6GW

"GW" wrote in message
.net...
Anyone know anything about the first repeater in the U.S.? I heard it was
a
2m repeater in California but would like to know where and the callsign.

George, K6GW





Was K6MYK....Art and Millie Gentry. Started out as a AM repeater, became the
147.240Mhz RPTR on Mt. Lee in the Hollywood hills for many years. Was later
moved to "Loop" canyon in Sylmar where it lives today. It still runs the
ORIGINAL controller.
Art and Millie are dead now, the remaining machine is owned and operated by
N6NMC (Bill).
Hope that helps.

The QST article appeared in the March 2004 issue and was titled Once Upon A
California Mountaintop. It was written by the Newsline guy WA6ITF who
interviewed Art W6MEP on tape in 1979.

The article directly quotes that interview and not only tells about his K6MYK
repeater but also an earlier experimental repeater K6GW near San Francisco back
in the 1950s. There is als an amusing sidebar by Burt K6OQK who put up the
nations 2nd repeater under the supervision of W6MEP and pictures of the
machine.