Digital Repeater Special Interest Group (SIG)

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The Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club "Digital Repeater Special Interest Group" (SIG) was formed to support and engineer the addition of Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio (D-Star) to the existing OVARC communications infrastructure. Since then, many of the club's repeaters (six so far) have been converted to work with Yaesu's C4FM or "System Fusion" (YSF for short). The goal of this group of dedicated Amateur Radio operators is to make the YSF and other digital voice communications technology available to OVARC club members as well as the Amateur Radio community. See below for details. Future plans include experimenting with new and existing Digital Voice technologies and to learn how YSF and other digital voice technologies can contribute to OVARC's public service activities. To join the SIG, send an email to: digital@tucsonhamradio.org.

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OVARC Digital Repeater System and Map

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For more information, please click on the link below, which will download the PowerPoint slideshow on Digital HotSpots:

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Digital Modes and HotSpots using the Raspberry Pi

 

445.800 (-5.00Mhz)  W7AI   B

Located near Naranja and La Canada Drive in Oro Valley, AZ

Repeater: ICOM ID-RP4000V D-STAR

Antenna: Decibel 8 Bay Folded Dipole

Power Output: 20 watts

Controller: ICOM ID-RP2C

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445.1375 (-5.00Mhz)  KG7PJV   B

Located on the north side of Tucson in the Foothills

Repeater: Homebrew with ICOM IC-207 receiver, ICOM IC-208H transmitter. 

Antenna: 5db Gain

Power Output: 15 watts

Controller: Raspberry Pi & DVRPTR_v1 NA running G4LXK ircDDBGateway and DStarRepeater on Pidora Linux.

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440.7625 (+5.00Mhz)  KG7RWN   B

Located Near Camino Seco and 22nd St

Repeater: Yaesu FT-7100 receiver Yaesu FT-7800 transmitter

Antenna: Decibel 8 Bay UHF vertical, 9db gain on a 90 foot tower, about 3000 ft above sea level

Power Output: 3 watts into a UHF Ampifier for 35 watts into the antenna

Controller: Raspberry Pi 2 and DVRPTR_v1 running G4KLX ircDDBGateway and DStarRepeater software

 

445.7375 -5.00Mhz W7NFL C

Located in Saddlebrooke, AZ near the Mountain View Clubhouse

Repeater: Yeasu FT-7900R

Antenna: Ringo

Power output: 10W

Controller: Raspberry Pi

444.750 +5.00Mhz W7NFL B

Rpeater: Yeasu Fusion

Antenna:  Diamond

Power Output: 15W

Controller:  Raspberry Pi

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D-STAR Repeaters

 

445.800 (-5.00Mhz)  W7AI   B

Located at 11000 N La Canada DR, Oro Valley AZ 

Near Naranja and La Canada Dr

Repeater: ICOM ID-RP4000V D-STAR

Antenna: Decibel 8 Bay Folded Dipole

Power Output: 20 watts

Controller: ICOM ID-RP2C

Click here for repeater gateway status w7ai.hopto.org

The D-Star repeater and gateway are fully operational running the G4KLX ircDDBGateway software. Coverage reports indicate great coverage from North of Saddlebrooke, South to Sahuarita, Northwest to Pinal Air Park, and West to the Tucson Mountains.   

The repeater is normally connected to REF002B.  For the PAPA system net on Thursday the repeater is connected to REF012A.  

Users of the repeater may link the repeater to other reflectors if the repeater is not busy. Please re-link the repeater to REF002B when you are finished using the other reflector.  

 

445.1375 (-5.00Mhz)  KG7PJV   B

Located in north-central Tucson in the Foothills

Repeater: ICOM IC-207 receiver ICOM IC-208H transmitter

Antenna: 5db Gain

Power Output: 15 watts

Controller: Raspberry Pi B+ and DVRPTR_v1 running G4KLX ircDDBGateway and DStarRepeater software

Click here for repeater gateway status kg7pjv.hopto.org:22323

The KG7PJV repeater is the first homebrew D-Star repeater in the Tucson area. The repeater consists of two mobile radios and a mobile duplexer controlled by a Raspberry Pi computer with a DVRPTR_v1 GMSK modem. The Pi runs G4KLX ircDDBGateway and DStarRepeater software on the Pidora Linux operating system. Pidora is a remix of Fedora 20 and recompiled Raspberry Pi modules. The repeater is currently running 5 watts output.  

This repeater is normally connected to REF002B. Users are welcome to change reflectors to contact other hams but please return the repeater to REF002B when finished.  

 

440.7625 (+5.00Mhz)  KG7RWN   B

Located Near Camino Seco and 22nd St

Repeater: Yaesu FT-7100 receiver Yaesu FT-7800 transmitter

Antenna: Decibel 8 Bay UHF vertical, 9db gain on a 90 foot tower, about 3000 ft above sea level

Power Output: 3 watts into a UHF Ampifier for 35 watts into the antenna

Controller: Raspberry Pi 2 and DVRPTR_v1 running G4KLX ircDDBGateway and DStarRepeater software

This is the second home-brew repeater created by the OVARC D-Star SIG. It provides excellent coverage on the east and south side of Tucson. 

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Repeater Listings For Your System Fusion Radio

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If you get a new C4FM radio or need to update the repeater listings in your existing radio, go to http://c4fm.xyz/repeaters-c4fm.php. You can download repeater listings here. This site also has repeater maps so you can see where repeaters of interest are located. These lists are kept up to date and include our W7AI repeaters. 

 

Contributing to the Digital Repeater SIG

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If you would like to make a donation to contribute to the support of the Digital Repeater initiative, you can do so via PayPal. Simply go the the OVARC homepage and click on the "DONATE" button at the lower right side of the home page. Make sure to "ADD a MESSAGE" on your Pay Pal confirmation page. Your message should include your call sign and the words "OVARC Digital Repeater SIG Donation" so that we may legally issue you a donation receipt for tax purposes.