Repeaters & Nets
W4GSO Repeaters Net Schedule
Every evening @ 7:00pm EST – Central Western Traffic Net on the 145.150 FM repeater
Every evening @ 7:30pm EST – Piedmont Rag Chew net on the 145.150 FM repeater
Tuesdays @ 9:00pm EST – North Carolina and Friends D-Star Net on the 442.8625 Digital Repeater linked to D-plus Reflector 54C
Thursdays @ 9:00pm EST – Guilford County ARES Information Net on the 145.150 FM repeater
Sundays @ 8:30pm EST – The GARA Sunday Evening Net featuring a rag chew first followed by the Amateur Radio Newsline on the 145.150 FM repeater
W4GSO Repeaters
VHF Analog/C4FM 145.150MHz -600KHz; PL Tone In/Out: 100.0 Hz
UHF D-Star/C4FM 442.8625MHz
GARA currently maintains two repeaters at the same location in North Greensboro, with antennas at around 300 feet above ground level at one of the highest elevation points in Guilford County.
GARA’s VHF machine is a state of the art Yaesu Systems Fusion DR1X repeater running in analog and digital mixed mode and can be accessed at 145.150 MHz -600KHz. Analog only users should use a PL Tone of 100.0 Hz on both transmit and receive. This will make sure that analog users will not have to listen to digital “noise” when digital is in use.
Analog users should also check to see if a digital conversation is in place before keying up in analog. Just as you wouldn’t interrupt in the middle of an analog QSO, the same should apply to digital QSOs. Emergency and Priority Traffic always have priority. Analog users can key up in between digital transmissions which will switch the repeater back to analog mode. If you need to do this, simply follow the same protocol as you would on an analog only repeater. Digital users are reminded to keep their radios in Auto mode so that they will still hear analog users.
The W4GSO-R EchoLink node is up and running on the W4GSO repeater. Echolink is available for most platforms including Windows, Linux, Mac, and mobile platforms like Android and iPhone. The node is running in Auto (mixed) mode and will switch automatically between analog and digital depending on the signal that is present on the repeater. Anyone is welcome to use the node and it is a great way for otherwise analog only users to experience and participate in the C4FM digital mode.
The GARA W4GSO digital machine is on UHF at 442.8625MHz and is maintained in memory of Steve Blackford, K4SQI (SK) because of his dedication to digital radio in the Piedmont and throughout all of North Carolina. This is a modified Yaesu DR-1X with an MMDVM controller, so it operates on D-Star and Yaesu System Fusion simultaneously. The repeater can be linked to D-star or YSF reflectors (see the D-star page here), or used locally. Experiment and explore! You never know who you’ll meet.
