So you want to be a repeater trustee....

By: Matthew Payne

For those that might be interested in becoming a repeater trustee, I present my views on the subject. Some are based on mere opinion, and others are lessons I learned by making mistakes and correcting them. Regardless, I hope this will prove food for thought for those who might be contemplating dedicating time towards the goal of maintaining a repeater.

Repeaters are a public service

In my area of the country, 95%-99% of the amateur radio repeaters are open for use by any amateur radio operator. If you are interested in putting up a repeater, even a closed one, then you must have given some thought to addressing a number of repeater users, in the case of the �open� repeater, any interested amateur, and in the case of the �closed� one, a select group of people.

No one, to my knowledge, ever activates a repeater with the intent for people to NOT use it. So someone interested in putting up a repeater should at least keep in mind that his or her goal should be in providing a service to amateur radio operators, for their use. The first step to becoming a good repeater trustee is to embrace the concept that you are providing a SERVICE to the amateur community. Keeping service at the front of your mind will make you a better repeater trustee overall.

Too many new repeater trustees quit soon after starting, simply because they didn�t have a realistic idea of what being a repeater trustee was like. It isn�t about knowing secret codes, or spending long hours in wasp infested buildings under towers. Being a repeater trustee is about serving others. Pure and simple.

Repeaters should be reliable

No one can use a repeater that is off or broken. Sounds simple, right? I�ve seen an increasing trend in repeater trustees to �tweak� their repeaters continuously, the end result being that they�re generally off the air 10% to 30% of the time. This is clearly a waste of a repeater pair.

Don�t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with experimenting. But repeaters that are constantly off and then on can expect NO users. Even the most patient user will usually move on to one of the more reliable repeaters after a few days of keying up with no repeater response.

Think about the repeaters that get the most use. IN Indianapolis, those would be the 146.700, and the 146.760. Both have downtime measured in seconds per year, on average. And it isn�t just on the two-meter band, either. Paul Bohr, W9DUU, runs two of the best and most popular 70cm repeaters in the Indianapolis area, and both are rarely, if ever, down for repair.

Even reliable repeaters go down from time to time. That�s to be expected. But getting back on the air as quickly as possible is KEY. It might be a good idea to have a second backup repeater, even one with less functionality, if your resources permit it. Again, it comes down to SERVICE. Your goal as a repeater trustee should be to provide the best, most reliable repeater you can. Plan your outages to the extent that you can, and minimize (or eliminate) them.

Building a user base takes time.

Someone Else: No one ever uses my repeater. I�m going to take it down. Me: How long has it been in operation?

Someone Else: About three months....

Building a strong group of users for a repeater takes time. It takes a lot of time. People by their nature are creatures of habit. Folks eat the same breakfast cereal every morning. They put on their shoes the exact same way. Most take the same route to work for years at a time. People only deviate from their routine when they need to. In the case of the person taking the same route to work, it might take a good bout of road construction (something my home state of Indiana is famous for) to change their route. For the breakfast cereal eater, perhaps that box of Kix is all that is left this morning. So they begrudgingly try it. And as anyone who has ever injured their ankle can tell you, putting shoes on the regular way becomes almost impossible. My point is this. Routine is often only broken because it has to be. And repeaters are no exception.

People often use the same repeater on the drive in for years at a time. New members may be added to the �roundtable� from time to time, and some might change due to changes in schedules or whatnot, but for the most part folks tend to stay on the repeater that they are used to, that provides the coverage they need to communicate. This can change, however. A repeater may lose it�s high profile tower spot. A trustee may finally decide to hang up his trustee cap and take the machine off the air. Lightening may deposit critical parts of the transmitter, receiver, and controller into a low altitude earth orbit. Things happen. And when they do, folks will try to migrate to another machine, to carry on their daily tradition of �hamming it up�.

And your repeater can fill that niche, if it is up, running, and reliable when the need arrives. But these things take time. Repeaters don�t fail overnight, so the natural attrition of users to your repeater won�t happen overnight. In fact, it might take years.

Instead of worrying about the lack of users on your system, take pride in the fact that you are providing a good, reliable source of communications for those that inevitably use it. Believe me, folks will eventually catch on.

Another way to �advertise� your repeater is to hold a regularly scheduled net. But reliability is the key. The net should be on the same day and time, and the net control operator should be reliable and dependable. Folks get turned off when they take the time to tune to a repeater to participate in a net, only to have it not happen. The reliability of your NCS will speak volumes about the reliability of your repeater, regardless of whether the two are related.

Affiliating with an amateur radio group, such as ARES, RACES, Skywarn, or the like, can also increase repeater activity. But beware of entangling alliances, and know what is expected before you commit to joining and affiliating with these organizations. They can be a tremendous service to the community, but can unnecessarily bog a new repeater trustee down in politics and endless bickering.

Strive for technical excellence

Amateur repeaters, by their nature, are often homebrewed contraptions. I�ve seen repeaters that were painstakingly placed into custom made cabinetry, and maintained with loving care. Conversely, I�ve also seen repeaters whose components were strewn over the inside of the repeater shack itself. More often than not, the repeaters I�ve come across are somewhere in between.

Regardless of your repeater setup, strive to always improve the technical aspects of your repeater. If you start out with a four-can duplexer, strive for a six can one someday. Those with no pre-amp inline may want to strive for a tower mounted pre-amp. Never stop improving your machine. It will keep you active in the repeater maintenance, insuring you spot problems sooner, and address them before they become major issues. It will also increase your level of service to your users, which is never a bad thing.

Amateur radio repeaters should obviously avoid excessive splatter or deviation, and should present minimal chance of interference with other tower occupants. Nothing will get a machine kicked off a tower location quicker than shoddy equipment. It doesn�t mean your machine has to look the best, but it should be the best machine you can currently have, assembled and deployed in an acceptable manor. If you are a guest in someone else�s shack, your repeater would do well to have a locking case, with all components fitting inside. Also don�t forget adequate ventilation for the repeater itself. Few tower landlords want to give keys to the building out, nor do they relish the idea of repeated trips to the tower site. Make sure your repeater is tested and built to last, BEFORE deployment on someone�s tower.

CTCSS is NOT a bad word (or a bad acronym).

I�ve never seen an issue galvanize and polarize repeater trustees (and users) as much as the issue of putting tone squelch on repeaters. Some die-hard amateur radio operators tout the emergence of the trend toward tone squelch as the herald of the �end of amateur radio�. This is nonsense. The commercial industry has been using tone squelch to quiet their repeaters for decades, and as a repeater trustee, you should too.

No one likes listening to a noisy repeater. Static crashes are distracting, and obnoxious. Plus why keep the repeater keying up repeatedly for no reason? Tone squelch ensures that only transmissions meant for your repeater activate it. It spares the ears of your users, by allowing them to concentrate on their drive or anything else, and only be bothered by legitimate traffic. And by eliminating the unnecessary keying of your repeater, you are actually helping eliminate the problem for other users.

There�s an old (and inaccurate) school of thought that repeaters with PL are �closed� repeaters, and ones without are considered �open�. This just isn�t true in today�s world. �Open� repeaters are ones that allow transmissions from all licensed ham radio operators. �Closed� repeaters are ones that do not. CTCSS isn�t a deciding factor in making a repeater �open� or �closed� at all. Many repeaters with CTCSS in my area are completely open for use by any amateur radio operator, including the one I�m in charge of running. Some might see CTCSS as �evil�, but it is a necessary evil in light of today�s crowded bands.

Repeater Security

This is a topic that is often blown WAY out of proportion. The Mid-State Amateur Radio Club had two repeater maintainers a few years ago that were obsessed with system security. Control codes were changed weekly. The phone line to the shack was run through a special switchbox to limit incoming calls. Secret sealed envelopes were passed among control operators, supposedly containing details of perceived threats against the repeater, along with the secret codes and countermeasures to (presumably) thwart them. Guess what? No one hacked into the repeater.

Let�s fast-forward a few years. I took over as the trustee of the Mid-State Amateur Radio Club repeater back in 2001. I�ve not changed the codes once in that entire time. I restored the phone line, have given control codes out to all parties who have demonstrated need, with no reservation. And guess what? No one has hacked into the repeater.

Most of the obsessing repeater trustees do regarding system security amounts to little more than a ploy. By issuing codes to a small �elite� group, then changing things around due to an imagined �hacker attack�, some repeater trustees can re-enforce their status as �super users�. By passing secret codes and messages around, they can tout their status as members of �an elite class�. It�s all transparently bunk.

I�m not saying that system security isn�t important. Indeed, good system security enables the repeater to stay functional, and thus available for the greatest number of potential users. But good system security isn�t a complex goal, nor should it consume more than the tiniest fraction of your time as a repeater trustee. I�m infinitely more worried about the effects of the next lightening storm than I am about the next diabolical repeater hacker. Practice good code security, place your trust in the right people, and let the repeater run as is. Your users will think you�re the greatest repeater trustee there is because of the reliability of your system, not your access to �the secret codes�.

No one likes an egomaniac

An incident in nearby Danville, Indiana comes to mind. A couple of years ago, there existed a fairly popular Sunday night net, which enjoyed a rather large following. Folks could check in, and then listen to several amateur radio related audio programs before going to bed. It was a nice way to relax and unwind after a long and active weekend, and play amateur radio at the same time.

Well, it didn�t take long for things to go downhill. One of the control operators for the repeater hosting the net decided that the net wouldn�t be the only show on Sundays, so to speak. Each Sunday night, from about a half hour before the net started until just five minutes remained, he would Identify, and send control commands to the repeater controller, on the input frequency. The first week it appeared that this valiant control operator was single handedly fixing the repeater prior to net, but his ulterior motive became plain after further such incidents happened in the following weeks.

To those familiar with the repeater and its controller, it was also apparent that the control operator in question wasn�t doing ANYTING to the repeater at all, other than setting a few useless values, and toggling relay circuits not yet connected. Despite repeated complaints to the repeater trustee, this behavior continued. The end result was the ending of the weekly net, to the disappointment of many, many hams.

If you have a control operator acting like this, REMOVE HIM IMMEDIATELY! If you yourself think this seems like a neat thing to do, then you have no business operating a repeater of any type, regardless. There are many ways to boost other�s opinions of you. Playing �repeater god� with the controller isn�t one of them.

Appoint good control operators

Well, we�ve covered an example of a horrible control operator. What makes a good control operator? He or she should:

1. Be a regular user of the repeater themselves, preferably long term.
2. Be committed to the long-term success and reliability of the repeater.
3. Exercise good judgment under all conditions.
4. Not feel the need to identify himself or herself as a control operator every time they ID.
5. Know what the trustee�s wishes are as far as rules for the repeater, and act accordingly and consistently.

Control operators are not �repeater police�. They are there to make sure no illegal operation takes place, both on the part of users on the machine, and on the machine itself (stuck transmitter, etc.)

That�s all I have at this point. If you�ve read all the way through, and you still think you want to try your hand at setting up and maintaining a repeater, then I think you should give it a whirl. The amateur radio community can always use more good repeaters, which at the heart of each requires a good trustee.