[N5FDL] Choosing a PL tone for your repeater
 

N5FDL Amateur Radio/EMCOMM

///////////////////////////////////////////
Choosing a PL tone for your repeater

Posted: 03 Dec 2016 03:44 PM PST
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/n5fdl...medium=ema il


I was recently asked how a new repeater operator should choose a PL tone
for a new machine. My comments are specific to Northern California, your
local situation may vary.


No assigned tones We do not assign PL tones here in Northern California.
Some places, however, may coordinate both frequency and tone.
Pick a tone that isnt being used. A good way to test for conflicts is to
connect a radio to the repeater antenna and transmit on the frequency you
are seeking, changing the PL tone every time you transmit. This ought to
find repeaters on your frequency as well as the tones used to access them.
Do the same for the repeater pairs one above and one below your desired
pair. Why risk interference when it can be avoided?
Check with your coordinator to make sure you havent missed repeaters. In
Northern California, you can do this online at the www.narcc.org website. I
dont trust the RF Finder database and app for any purpose. Just too
inaccurate.
Yes, you should transmit a tone and your users should use it Sometimes VHF
and even UHF signals propagate over long distances. When this happens,
users will unexpectedly hear another repeater on your frequency.
Transmitting a PL tone (the same as the tone used to access your repeater)
goes a long way to solving this on-channel interference issue.


There is probably more to this than I have talked about. So leave questions
or comments and I will answer them and then change this post to reflect the
new information.