"Are unused 70 centimeter repeater pairs essentially nonexistent along the Wasatch Front?"

Not quite yet - there are getting to be very few of them. It should be remembered that the coordination of repeaters is a complicated task and expecting a simple answer that adequately answers the question is unrealistic.

Purpose of this page:

The frequency coordinator is often asked by an amateur for a 70 centimeter repeater pair for use along the Wasatch Front, only to be told that few are available.  Understandably, this has led to some disappointment, confusion, and (in some cases) resentment.  To some, it may even appear that the frequencies are simply being hoarded by certain groups or individuals.  While this latter point is debatable - depending upon your point of view - there are some factors that one should be aware of before holding too tightly to such beliefs.

First of all, effectively coordinating repeaters is not trivial.  A few of the factors that need to be considered are:

• Does the use of a particular frequency in a geographical area pose the potential for excessive overlap with another repeater?  Because it is the overlap of coverage areas that poses potential problems, identifying problems before they occurs requires fairly detailed knowledge of existing repeaters and their coverage areas.
• If there is some overlap, do all parties involved agree how the appropriate steps will be taken to mitigate potential interference issues?  For example, adding subaudible tone can allow some potential overlap problems to be reduced, but doing so requires a well-informed consensus of those that operate (and use) all potentially affected repeaters.  Similar considerations need to be taken into account when directional antennas are implemented.
• Is this new repeater to be a "wide area" or "low level" repeater?  A "wide area" repeater is one that is placed at a location with the intent of covering as much geographical area as possible while a "low level" repeater is one that has, as its intended coverage area, only a single valley or city.  It should to without saying that frequency re-use among "low level" repeaters can occur with higher density than with "wide area" repeaters, as the former have less coverage.  (A "medium coverage" repeater is one that is on a high ridge [as opposed to a mountaintop or a valley location] that provides good coverage of several valleys - but not necessarily the entire Wasatch Front.)
• Is the new repeater going to offer something that cannot not be done on an existing repeater?  There are many repeaters that are on the air that are underutilized and/or poorly maintained.  It is strongly encouraged that a group that wishes to use a repeater approach the group (or individual) that operates/owns the repeater and offer to help.
• What sort of service is the new repeater to offer that is not already provided?  It can be argued that, with the scarcity of repeater pairs along the Wasatch Front, if and when one becomes available, it should be made available to the group or individual that will make the most of it.  For example, more consideration is likely to be given to a group that proposes to put up an open repeater that, say, has linking to a previously unconnected portion of the state than to an individual who proposes to put up a close repeater at his/her house with a closed autopatch.  Is this fair?  If you ask a large group of people, they will most likely think that it is!

It is only fair that, as repeater pairs become more scarce, first consideration will be given to a group that will put a repeater in the best location to serve the greatest number of people.  As can be seen from the list, there are already numerous low-level repeaters along the Wasatch Front and less consideration will be given to those who wish to put up "yet another repeater" that is intended to be used primarily as a "private" channel among friends.

There are a number of repeater pairs that are intended solely for "low-level" (local) use in a particular community, often for emergency communications purposes by bona-fide groups.  In many of these cases, frequency re-use allows several geographically-separated repeaters to operate on the same frequency with little or no interference - particularly if appropriate steps are taken to minimize any problems that might appear including directional repeater antennas, low power that is adequate to cover the intended, local area, and the use of subaudible tones on both receive and transmit.

How are existing pairs being used?

For 70 centimeters, the public databases (refer to the online repeater list as well as the Utah Bandplan page) online shows  those frequencies being used for repeater pairs.  However, the listings for the 222 MHz and 440 MHz bands do NOT show the frequencies used for numerous primary control and auxiliary operations (which are illegal on 2 meters and below, by the way) are not listed.

Needless to say, a simple listing of repeaters does not tell the entire story.  For example, even if a pair isn't being used for a link of some sort, it may not be clear that a pair is "unused" because of a repeater in another state or because it is off the air until a mountaintop site may be accessed.  Overlap potential is also not obvious in a simple listing.

To help answer some of these questions, what follows is a list of 70 cm repeater pair, and how it is being used along the Wasatch Front. This list does not provide extensive details of repeaters in adjacent states or areas outside the Wasatch Front that can affect coordination decisions in Utah.
 

About those pairs shown as being "Not Available for Repeater Use":

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:

The list below shows numerous entries simply marked as being "Not Available for Repeater Use."  You might ask what those are being used for - and you'd be correct in doing so.

The answer to this is not so simple, however:  Many of these frequencies are being used for control receivers, linking, or auxiliary stations.  Because of the potentially sensitive nature of the operation of these stations, their details are not made public.  If you wish, you may listen to these frequencies and discern their use on your own, but just because you don't hear anything there, do not assume that they are not used!  If, for example, the frequency was used for a control receiver input, it may be extremely unlikely that you will ever hear anything there at all - unless the repeater's control operator just happens to issue a control command while you are listening!  For some repeaters, months or years may go by without the need of the primary control receiver - but, as you know, FCC rules regarding repeater operation require that such a control mechanism exists.  Remember:  Repeaters on bands below 222 MHz cannot have their primary control link on a band below 222 MHz!

What about moving some of the people out of the repeater band?

It may occur to you that many pairs are being occupied by links, control receivers, and other auxiliary services that could easily be placed elsewhere on 70cm.

It should be remembered that many of these frequencies have been used for the current purpose for several decades - back when there were relatively few 2 meter repeaters, and almost no-one was even on 70cm!  In some cases, only one frequency of a repeater pair was assigned - and only this single frequency is being used.  While this might seem to be a waste of resources (and, frankly, it may be in some cases) the current occupant has little reason to move frequencies just for the heck of it - and certainly, no legal impetus, either.

In some cases, moving frequencies may be as simple as getting new crystals for the radios involved.  In other cases, however, the task is much more expensive:  The radio may have to be replaced in its entirety in order to operate at the new frequency, cavities and filters need to be retuned (or, in some cases, replaced!) and antennas may need to be added and/or replaced as well.

Over the past 10-15 years for new installations, the "valuable" real-estate in the "repeater portion" of the band is not being used for things like control and auxiliary operations unless there is a good technical reason to do so!  Nevertheless, it may be possible to work with the frequency coordinator and find a user that is willing to "upgrade" their system and make a pair available.  It should be remembered, however, that you (that is, the person or group making this request) may end up footing at least part of the bill for new crystals, radios, antennas, etc. to make this happen!

What is the "Wasatch Front?"

It should be pointed out that the definition of "Wasatch Front" is somewhat elastic - it means different things to different people at different times.

In this document "Wasatch Front" refers to the area encompassed by Great Salt Lake Valley (e.g. Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, and Box Elder counties) from just north of the Idaho border and down south, encompassing all of Utah Valley.  It also is understood to include the Cache, Heber, Park City, Tooele, Cedar and Morgan County valleys.

For more information on usage of VHF frequencies, see the 2 meter pair utilization web page.

Note:  In the Utah area, a negative (- 5 MHz) offset is used for ALL 70 cm repeaters.

Remember:  This list is applicable only for those locations along the Wasatch Front!

An up-to-date repeater list may be found online here.

Output Frequency (MHz)	Location(s) of repeater(s) and comments	Counties comprising coverage of existing repeater(s) (May not include significant overlap in secondary coverage areas.)
447.000*	Low-Level, Payson, Draper, Logan	Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Cache
447.025#	Low-Level, Salt Lake area	Salt Lake
447.050*	Low-Level, Clinton, Saratoga Springs	Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Salt Lake Utah
447.075	Low-Level, Salem, West Point	Utah, Weber, Davis, Box Elder
447.100	High-Level, Monticello (Low-Level, Draper)	San Juan, Garfield, Kane, Grand, Wayne (Salt Lake, Davis, Weber)
447.125*	High-Level, Cedar Mountain (Low-Level, Payson, Riverside)	Carbon, Emory, Grand, Wasatch (Utah, Box Elder, Weber, Davis)
447.150	High-Level, Salina (Low-Level, Clearfield)	Sevier (Davis, Weber, Box Elder)
447.175	Low-Level, Salt Lake	Salt Lake, Davis
447.200#	High-Level, Antelope Island	Davis, Weber, Salt Lake, Box Elder, Tooele.
447.225	Low-Level, Bountiful	Davis
447.250	Medium-Level, Salt Lake	Salt Lake, Davis
447.275	Low-Level, Orem	Utah
447.300	Low-Level, Woodland Hills	Utah
447.325	Low-Level, Springville	Utah
447.350	High-Level, Promontory (Low level Gunnison)	Box Elder, Davis, Weber, Salt Lake, Cache (Sanpete)
447.375	Low-Level, Bountiful, Logan	Davis, Weber, Box Elder Cache
447.400	High-Level, Teats Peak, Monticello	Utah, Juab, Sanpete, San Juan, Grand, Garfield, Kane
447.425	Low-Level, Provo	Utah
447.450	High-Level, Monroe Peak	Juab, Garfield, Utah
447.475	Low-Level, Springville	Utah
447.500	Medium-Level, Park City	Summit
447.525	Low-Level, Salt Lake	Salt Lake
447.550	Not available for repeater use	-
447.575	Low-Level, West Jordan (Portable emergency)	Salt Lake (All of Utah)
447.600*	Medium  Level, Lehi (Low-Level, Eden)	Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber (Cache)
447.625	High Level, Castledale (Low-Level, Murray)	Carbon, Emory, Grand (Salt Lake, Davis)
447.650	Low-Level, Bountiful	Davis
447.675	Low-Level, Saratoga Springs	Utah
447.700	High-Level, Castledale (Low-Level, Salt Lake)	Carbon, Emory, Grand (Salt Lake, Davis)
447.725	Low-Level, Highland	Utah
447.750	Low-Level, West Jordan	Salt Lake, Davis, Weber
447.775#	High-Level, Powder Mtn.	Morgan, Cache, Weber
447.800	447.800 Simplex - Not available for repeater use	-
447.825	447.825 Simplex - Not available for repeater use	-
447.850#	High-Level, near Richfield. - Not available for repeater use (447.850 used for Simplex along Wasatch Front)	Sanpete, Utah (Simplex - Wasatch Front)
447.875#	Low-Level, Sandy	Salt Lake, Davis, Weber
447.900#	High-Level, Curry Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
447.925	Medium-Level, Tremonton	Box Elder, Davis, Weber
447.950*	High-Level, Hurricane (Low-Level Cedar City, Murray, Ogden, Paradise)	Washington (Beaver, Iron, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Cache)
447.975*	Low-Level, Provo, Logan	Utah, Cache
448.000	Medum-Level, Salt Lake	Salt Lake, Utah, Tooele
448.025	Low-Level, Payson	Utah
448.050	Low-Level, Salt Lake	Salt Lake, Davis, Weber
448.075	High-Level, Cedar Mtn., Salt Lake	Carbon, Emory, Grand, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
448.100	Medium-Level, Salt Lake (Low-Level, Cedar City)	Salt Lake, Utah, Tooele (Iron)
448.125	Medium-Level, Murray	Salt Lake, Davis
448.150#	High-Level, Ensign Pk.	Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Utah, Tooele
448.175	Medium-Level, Salt Lake	Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Utah, Tooele
448.200#	High-Level, Bear Lake, Lehi	Rich, Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Tooele, Juab
448.225#	Medium-Level, American Fork Canyon	Utah, Juab
448.250	High-Level, Payson	Utah, Juab, Salt Lake, Davis, Tooele
448.275#	High-Level, Barton Peak	Sanpete, Sevier, Beaver, Juab, Utah
448.300	Medium-Level, Promentory	Box Elder, Weber, Davis, Tooele, Salt Lake
448.325#	High-Level, Lake Mtn.	Utah, Tooele, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Juab
448.350	Medium-Level, Point-of-Mtn.	Salt Lake, Utah
448.375	Unknown Status Low-Level, Sandy	Salt Lake
448.400#	High-Level, North Oquirrhs	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
448.425	Low-Level, Salt Lake	Salt Lake
448.450	High-Level, Bear Lake, Ensign Peak	Rich, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Tooele, Utah
448.475	Medium-Level, Quarry Mtn.	Summit
448.500	Not available for repeater use	(Not available along Wasatch Front)
448.525	High-Level, Ensign Peak	Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Tooele, Utah
448.550	High-Level, Castledale (Medium Level, West Valley)	Carbon, Emory, Grand (Salt Lake, Davis, Weber)
448.575	High Level, Ogden	Weber, Davis, Box Elder, Salt Lake, Tooele
448.600#	High Level, Ogden	Weber, Davis, Box Elder, Morgan, Summit, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Cache
448.625#	High-Level, Nelson Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
448.650#	High-Level, Lewis Pk., Blowhard	Summit, Morgan, Davis, Weber, Wasatch, Garfield, Piute, Sevier, Kane, Iron
448.675	High-Level, Frisco Pk.	Iron, Beaver, Millard, Juab, Piute, Sevier, Sanpete, Tooele, Utah
448.700	High-Level, Lake Mtn.	Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Tooele, Juab
448.725	High-Level, St. George (Low-Level, Salt Lake)	Washington (Salt Lake)
448.750	High-level Preston, Page (Low-Level, Kamas)	N. Az, S. Id/N. Ut. (Summit) (Not available along Wasatch Front)
448.775	High-Level, Promontory	Box Elder, Weber, Davis, Tooele, Cache, Salt Lake
448.800	High-Level, Cedar City, Evanston	Iron, Beaver, Millard, Juab, Piute, Sevier, Sanpete, Tooele, Utah, Daggett, Summit
448.825	Medium-Level, Murray	Salt Lake, Davis
448.850#	High-Level, Oquirrhs	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
448.875	Low Level, Lehi	Utah
448.900	High-Level, Lewis Pk.	Summit
448.925	Low-Level, Mendon	Cache (Limited use along Wasatch Front)
448.950#	High-Level, West Mtn.	Utah, Juab, Tooele, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber
448.975*	High-Level, Vernon (High Level, Bear Lake)	Tooele, Utah, Juab (Rich)
449.000#	High-Level, Nelson Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.025	Proposed High-Level, Farnsworth Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.050	High-Level, Bruin Pk.	Carbon, Utah
449.075	Low-Level, BYU	Utah
449.100#	High-Level, Farnsworth Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.125#	High-Level, Farnsworth Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.150#	High-Level, Farnsworth Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.175#	Low-Level, American Fork	Utah
449.200#*	High-Level, Mt. Harrison ID, Provo)	Box Elder, Weber, Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Tooele
449.225#	High-Level, West Mtn.	Utah, Tooele, Salt Lake, Davis
449.250	Portable - Various low-level, Wasatch Front Shared, Non-Protected test pair (SNP)	Various low-level, Subaudible tone required
449.275	High-Level, Salt Lake, Hurricane	Salt Lake, Utah, Weber, Davis, Tooele, Washington
449.300	High-Level, Holden (Low-Level Logan, Salt Lake	Sanpete, Millard, Juab, Utah (Cache, Salt Lake)
449.325	High-Level, St. George (Low-Level, Logan, Pleasant Grove)	Washington (Cache, Utah)
449.350#*	High-Level Price, Tooele	Carbon, Emory, Tooele, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.375	High-Level, Sedgwick Pk	Cache, Box Elder
449.400#	High-Level, Salt Lake	Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.425#	High-Level, Nelson Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.450	Not available for repeater use	-
449.475#	High-Level, Lake Mtn.	Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.500#	High-Level, Farnsworth Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.525#	High-Level, Scotts Pk. (Low-Level, St. George)	Summit, Wasatch, Morgan, Duchesne (Washington)
449.550#	High-Level, Lewis Pk., Wendover (Low-Level, Apple Valley	Summit, Wasatch, Morgan, Tooele, Box Elder (Washington)
449.575*	Medium-Level, Riverside (Low-Level, Orem, Wellsville)	Box Elder, Weber, Davis (Utah, Cache)
449.600#	High-Level, Kaysville Pk., Minersville	Weber, Davis, Box Elder, Beaver
449.625#	High-Level, Logan	Cache, Box Elder
449.650#	High-Level, Mt. Pisgah.	Cache, Morgan
449.675#	High-Level, Lake Mtn.	Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.700	High-Level, Bear Lake (Medium-Level, St. George) (Low-Level Cedar Fort, Kaysville)	Rich (Washington) (Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Salt Lake, Tooele)
449.725#	High-Level, Butterfield Pk.	Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
449.750	High-Level, Manti, St. George (Low-Level, Salt Lake)	Sanpete, Sevier, Utah, Emory (Salt Lake, Utah)
449.775	Low-Level, Pleasant Grove, West Haven	Utah, Box Elder, Weber
449.800	High-Level, Mantua, (Low-Level, Woodland Hills)	Cache, Morgan (Utah)
449.825	Low-Level, Provo, Kanab	Utah
449.850*	Low-Level, Provo, Kanab	Utah, Kane
449.875#	High-Level, Shepherd Pk.	Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Tooele, Salt Lake, Morgan, Summit
449.900#	High-Level, Ensign Pk.	Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Utah
449.925	High-Level, Cedar City (Medium-Level, Bountifu)l	Beaver (Davis, Weber, Tooele, Box Elder)
449.950	Low-Level, Midway, Clearfield, Vernon, Bountiful	Wasatch, Davis, Weber, Salt Lake, Box Elder
449.975#	High-Level, Lake Mtn.	Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder
450.000	Amateur band edge - cannot be used	-

If you have additional information about the usage of any of these repeater pairs please contact the frequency coordinator.

Notes:

• An asterisk (*) indicates that this frequency is currently being re-used in several locations along the Wasatch Front.
• A pound sign (#) indicates that this frequency, as currently (or proposed) used, is likely not a good candidate for re-use anywhere along the Wasatch Front.
• A "Low-Level" repeater is that which has limited coverage.  It is usually located on a valley floor - at a residence or business.
• A "Medium-Level" repeater is that which as "better" coverage than that of a low-level repeater.  It is often located on a very tall building, higher in the foothils, or on a higher ridge or low peak.
• A "High-Level" repeater is typically located atop a mountain or a lower ridge with unusually good coverage
• Where "Portable" appears in the comment field, this refers to the frequency being available (where it makes sense to do so) for portable repeaters to be coordinated on a shared basis.  Unless otherwise stated, such frequencies are not used for full-time repeaters.  For further information, contact the frequency coordinator.

The following are general parameters concerning frequency re-use.  Because each situation is different, these do not apply in every specific case.

• Frequency re-use is encouraged!  Of course, it goes without saying that such re-use should only be done where it makes technical sense to do so.  Such conditions include - but are not necessarily limited to:
• Sufficient distance seperating systems that interference is either unlikely - or tolerable
• The use of subaudible tones to minimize interference
• The use of directional antennas to minimize interference
• When the repeaters re-using the frequency are linked together, carrying the same audio.
• A frequency used by a wide-area repeater located on the Wasatch Front cannot be re-used anywhere along the Wasatch Front.  Because the coverage of such a repeater is so extensive, it is unlikely that effective re-use could work without severe problems.
• Adjacent areas cannot re-use frequencies.  A frequency used in the Salt Lake Valley cannot be re-used in Utah Valley or in Davis/Weber counties.  Owing to propagation, it is also unlikely that a frequency used in Utah County could be re-used in Davis county due to the propensity for strong reflections off the Oquirrh and Wasatch ranges.  A possible exception to this may be if both systems are always linked together (carrying the same audio content) and the operators are willing to take appropriate steps to mitigate and accept the possibility of interference.
• If you wish to put a low-level repeater on the air in the "fringes" of the Wasatch Front, is is more likely that a frequency may be found.  If you want to put up a low-level repeater in, say, Logan or Heber, it is likely that a suitable frequency may be found.  A "Wide Area" repeater is more problematic, as can be seen from the above chart.
• When frequency re-use is considered, the parties involved must agree, in writing, before anything new goes on the air.  The operator/trustee of the pre-existing repeater (whether it is a wide-area or another low-level repeater) will be consulted, and advised of the interference potentials.  Before the new system goes on the air (and preferably before any equipment is acquired) it must be decided which steps will be taken to prevent interference problems (such as selection and use of subaudible tone frequencies, directional antennas, etc.) and precisely who will be responsible for resolving future (possibly unforeseen) problems that can arise - even to the point of taking the newer repeater out of service until the problem is resolved!  Remember - it is the "new guy" that is responsible for taking care of problems that arise due to re-use.
• Things do not always work out as predicted.  Before frequency use (or re-use) is seriously considered, several steps are followed:
• The experience of coordinator (and others) will be brought to bear to determine if such a plan is feasible.
• Next, computer-aided propagation analysis will be performed to evaluate the plan and its workability.
• Finally, on-site testing is encouraged - with advice from the Frequency Coordinator so that special attention may be paid to areas of possible concern - to determine if there are problems that did not show up, or to determine work-arounds to problems that may be uncovered.
• Even after all of this has been done it may later be determined that frequency re-use just is not going to work out after all, requiring some re-engineering of the system or even discontinuance of operation.
• Again, how these matters are resolved will be spelled out in writing - and agreed to by the involved parties - before anything is put on the air.

Other pages on this web site related to this topic:

• 2 meter and 70cm simplex utilization along the Wasatch Front - This page details some of who frequently uses simplex frequencies.
• Frequency Coordination FAQ - This may answer some questions you have about frequency usage and coordination.
• 2 Meter repeater frequency utilization along the Wasatch Front - The who, how and what of the usage of the 2 meter repeater frequencies in this area.
• Frequency Coordination in Utah - General information about Frequency coordination - the why and how.
• Utah VHF Society DStar page - some technical information about the inner-workings of DStar including channel spacing and methods of using analog test equipment to service/diagnose DStar radios and repeaters.
  

Questions, updates, or comments pertaining to this web page may be directed to the frequency coordinator.

Return to the  Utah VHF Society home page.

Updated 20181115