The Utah VHF Society
The Intermountain Intertie
The Intermountain Intertie is
a more-or-less informal collection of repeaters located in northern
Utah/Southwestern Wyoming, many of which (but not all) are supported in
part by the VHF Society. This system is a hub-and-spoke
system, with the Hidden Peak (the so-called "Snowbird") repeater 147.18
(+) repeater acting as one of the hubs. If you are interested
in seeing pictures of this repeater and reading
more about it, go to the Hidden
Peak Repeater page. There is also a page
for the 146.86 Medicine
Butte repeater. To look at a growing
collection of pictures and info about other repeaters in the
Intermountain Intertie, go to the Other Repeaters of the Intermountain
Intertie page.
Configuration: This system is usually linked to other
repeaters/systems in the network that collectively cover much of
central and southern Idaho, southwestern Wyoming, northern Utah,
western and southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona, and northeastern
Nevada.
Etiquette:
Because of this extensive geographical coverage, please be courteous of
others that may be wanting to use the system, frequently leaving time
for breaks, and limiting QSOs to no more than 10 minutes during the
heavier usage times - and it is uncouth to monopolize the system at any
time. Keep in mind that it takes a good portion of a second
for all of the various links to 'turn around' so be sure to pause for
several seconds when you allow for breaks, and key up for about a
second before you say your first word.

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A map of the Intermountain
Intertie and its connected repeaters..
Click on the image for a larger version
This map
shows those repeaters that are normally linked together.
For
additional link information, read the text.
The repeaters directly linked into this system:
- 147.180 +
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Hidden Peak (East
of Salt Lake City, Utah, at the top of the Snowbird Tram) - Coverage
into Park City, Heber, Duchesne, Coalville, parts of northeastern Utah,
southern slopes of the Uinta mountains, and parts of southwest
Wyoming. Note: This repeater has spotty coverage in
populated areas of the Salt Lake and Utah valleys. This
repeater is aligned with the Utah VHF Society and is the northern Utah
hub of the Intertie. If you are interested in seeing
pictures of this this repeater and reading more about it, go to the Hidden Peak Repeater
page.
- 147.120 +
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Farnsworth
Peak (southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah) - Coverage
into the greater Wasatch Front area (i.e. Salt Lake, Provo, Ogden) as
well as to the west along Interstate 80 into Wendover, Nevada.
- 145.490 - Tone: 100.0 Hz Promontory, located at the southern end of the Promontory mountain range
about 25 miles west of downtown Ogden. This repeater provides good
coverage into Weber, Davis and Box Elder counties west of the Wasatch
mountains. Added to the Intertie on 29 September, 2018. The subaudible tone on this repeater was recently changed to 100.0 Hz and was previously 123.0 Hz.
- 147.020 +
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Bear Lake
(Laketown) - Covers Bear Lake and its communities and portions
of northeastern Utah, southeastern Idaho, and southwest Wyoming.
- 449.650 - Tone:
100.0 Hz.
Mt. Pisgah
(south and west of Logan Utah) - Covers most of Cache Valley, although
somewhat spotty on the west side of the valley around Wellsville.
- 146.840
- Tone: 100.0 Hz - Monroe Peak (central
Utah, near Richfield, Monroe). This repeater covers the I-70 and US-89
corridors around Richfield from Santaquin in the north and in the south to
the Panguich area along US-89 and Parawan on I-15 and to the east into
the Capitol Reef National Park area. Link is currently down.
Please
note: The following repeaters share the
same frequency as two other Intertie repeaters, so please refrain from
using any of these repeaters in areas better-serviced by a more
"local" intertie repeater. Also be aware that the Mount
Harrison repeater also shares 145.270 as well.
- 145.270
- Tone: 100.0 Hz. Scott's Hill
(approx. 2 miles south of Brighton, Utah.) Coverage is nearly
identical to that of the Hidden Peak repeater,
except that it has somewhat better coverage in Park City, Deer Valley,
and in the Evanston/Kemmerer, Wyoming areas.
- 145.270
- Tone: 103.5
Hz Levan
Peak (central Utah, near Levan.) The primary
coverage area of this repeater is along the Interstate 15 corridor from
Santaquin to south of Fillmore. It covers large portions Juab
and Sanpete counties plus portions of Utah, Tooele, and Millard counties.
Currently off-air:
- 146.670
- Tone: 100.0 Hz. Aspen
Mtn (south of Rock Springs, Wyoming) - Currently off
the air. Covers the Green River/Rock Springs
area and I-80 as far west as Little America and is linked to the system
via the Medicine Butte repeater. It is not known if/when this repeater will be again linked to the Intertie.
The
link to the south:
Some of the repeaters linked
on this path are aligned with the Utah VHF Society, while others
are voluntarily linked into the system by their respective
organizations and owners. Through the southern link, the
following repeaters are usually connected:
- Southwest Utah:
- 146.940 -
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Frisco
Peak (Milford, Utah) This repeater covers
Delta, Cedar City, and other parts of southwestern Utah and eastern
Nevada. This repeater is aligned with the Utah VHF Society. Photographs
of this and a few other sites may be found here.
- 146.800 -
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Blowhard
Peak ( Near Cedar Breaks National Monument) - Covers parts of
southwestern Utah such as Cedar City, Kanab, some of eastern
and southeastern Nevada, and portions of northwestern Arizona.
- 146.820 -
Tone: 100.0 Hz. St
George (Utah Hill, west of St George) - Covers St. George,
parts of southwestern Utah, southeastern Nevada, and northwestern
Arizona. This repeater is aligned with the Utah VHF Society.
- Southeast/Central
Utah:
- 146.960
- Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Navajo Mountain (east of Page, AZ)
- Covers most of Lake Powell and large areas of southern
Utah as well as Northern Arizona. By local option, this repeater
may not always be linked to the Intertie.
- 448.600
- Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Navajo Mountain (east of Page, AZ)
- Covers most of Lake Powell and large areas of southern
Utah as well as Northern Arizona. This is an alternate access
to the Intertie and may be linked to it (and into Arizona)
even if the co-sited 146.960 repeater is not.
- 146.880 -
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Las
Vegas (Mt. Potosi, SW of Las Vegas) - Covers Las Vegas,
southeastern Nevada.
Note that this repeater may not be linked to
the Intertie at all times as this capability is under control of the
local operators.
- Northern Arizona:
- 147.300 +
Tone: 100.0 Hz
Jacob Lake
(south of Fredonia, AZ) - Covers portions of southern Utah and
northwestern Arizona.
- 448.875 -
Tone: 100.0 Hz Mt.
Eldon (North of Flagstaff, AZ) - Operated by the
Arizona Repeater Association, this repeater is usually linked to the
intertie via the Navajo Mountain repeater and it is through it that the
one may connect to more of the state of Arizona - See
below.
- Other
links into Arizona: The Navajo Mountain
site permits connectivity into Arizona via Mt. Eldon
through the Rimlink System which covers about 50% of the state,
including the Phoenix area. The interconnection of these to systems can
be control by users on either side and users may interconnect the
systems using the control code of "##360" and may drop the link using
the control code of "##370". The Arizona Repeater Association
(ARA) encourages users to talk to their friends in Arizona, or to make
some new Arizona friends. For
more information about the ARA, go to their web page: http://w7ara.org
- Links
into California: There are UHF remote
bases in California that control their systems to bring up the 146.880
Mt Potosi repeater. These California Remote bases are only controlled
by them and 2 meter control back to California is not available to
users of the Intermountain Intertie or the Mt Potosi Repeater group.
The
link to the north:
There is an additional link
that connects to the north into a similar system operated in
Idaho. The link to the north into Idaho connects these
repeaters:
Current status of the Intermountain Intertie:
Promontory Point:
The "5.49" repeater (145.490 output, negative split)
on Promontory Peak was added to the Intertied at the end of September,
2018. Its tone was changed to 100.0 Hz to match the more common tone on this system.
Hidden Peak:
The Hidden Peak (a.k.a.
Snowbird) repeater is currently online.
Links to the
north:
Coverage into Boise is again possible with the installation of the 145.130 repeater (formerly on 145.270) on Shafer Butte (NW of Boise) along with a 2 meter repeater at the Mountain Home "relay" site on 145.150: Both use 100.0 Hz tones.
Links to the
south:
As of March, 2012 is is
reported that the Jacob Lake repeater (147.30+) is linked to the
intertie. Please note that according to the wishes of the
local operators, it may not always be connected to
the Intertie.
As of September, 2013
there is capability to link the intertie into the Arizona Repeater
Association (ARA) system. For more information,
visit their web site: http://w7ara.org
The link to the Monroe Peak repeater (central-south Utah) on
146.840 has failed as of December 2021 and the plan is to repair this link when possible, probably late spring 2022.
Connectivity
into Montana has changed. Please refer to
the Montana
Repeater Link Association web
site for further information.
IRLP
Connectivity: Direct connectivity to IRLP
Node #3660 is currently NOT
available. Please read this for more
information.
Note:
While many of the participating systems are usually linked into the
Intermountain intertie, they may be occasionally disconnected due to
local requirements.
For more information,
send email to John, K7JL (at the link below) and he
will forward your request to the appropriate party.
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- Idaho:
- 146.850 -
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Jumpoff Peak (west
of Howe - Serves Idaho Falls.) This is the Idaho hub for the
intertie. For pictures and other info. about this
repeater, go here.
- 147.450
Simplex remote, Carrier Squelch, near Malad Pass
(west of Malad, Idaho.) This
remote formerly operated on 146.430, simplex.
- 145.270 -
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Mount Harrison
(southern Idaho) For pictures and other info. about
this repeater, go here.
Note that this repeater shares the same frequency as the Scott's Hill
and Levan Peak repeaters - also linked via the intertie:
Please be aware of this when in an area where overlap between these
systems is possible!
- 145.230 -
Tone: 100.0 Hz. Sawtelle Peak (near
West Yellowstone) Go here for some
pictures and more info about this repeater.
- 145.150
- Tone: 100.0 Hz. Mountain Home This
site's primary purpose is to relay signals from Mount Harrison to
Shafer Butte, but it also has a 2 meter repeater. Because this
repeater is not located on a mountain or tall butte, its coverage is
somewhat limited as compared to other Intertie repeaters, but it can
help bridge gaps in coverage as one travels along that portion of Interstate 84.
- 145.130
- Tone: 100.0 Hz. Shafer Butte (northeast of Boise) This
site provides coverage in the vicinity of Boise, Idaho, providing much better coverage in that area than the old War Eagle site. This repeater had been on 145.270 until September, 2018.
- Montana - Please
note that links to the Intermountain Intertie and
Montana are through Idaho
(refer to map) so connectivity to Montana is dependent on the status of
portions of the Idaho link. See the sidebar for information about the Montana links.
Occasionally,
connectivity into Oregon (and other areas) is possible. This
can happen when operators of those other systems remotely link into an
intertie-connected repeater. Note:
Such operations are not usually under direct
control of the operator(s) of an intertie repeater.
There are
other repeaters that may be linked to the above repeaters on a full or
part-time basis. Information on other repeaters will be
posted if/when it becomes available.
"Who maintains all of this?"
A system this extensive cannot
practically be maintained by just one person. Suffice it to
say, there are a few key people who do most of the work to keep this
system operational. To list those people here would be
unfair, as it is a group effort and someone would undoubtedly be
overlooked.
If you wish to help maintain
this system, please join the Utah VHF Society (the address is given on
the home page)
or the appropriate local repeater group (for those outside of Utah.) If
you have any questions about this system, feel free to ask John Lloyd, K7JL.
Even if he isn't in charge of the repeater(s) that you are wondering
about (i.e. the Southern Utah, Idaho or Montana repeaters), he can
probably put you in touch with those who are
.
Current
Intermountain Intertie projects:
The following is an incomplete
list of projects that were completed and those that are
currently underway having to do with the maintenance and enhancement of
the Intermountain Intertie.
- Promentory Point: Work is being done to connect the 145.49 repeater to the Intertie.
- Levan Peak:
As of October 15, 2007, this repeater (145.27) - and its links -
were completely operational.
- Farnsworth Peak:
There are currently issues with on-site desense on 2
meters affecting the 147.12 repeater. Methods to remedy this issue are being investigated
- Medicine Butte (about
10 miles northeast of Evanston, Wyoming):
In mid 2011, this site seemed to go off the air, but upon investigation
it was discovered that the small building to which the antenna mast was
connected had blown over in the wind. Upon righting the
building and loading it with ballast (large rocks) the site returned to
normal operation.
- Blowhard and
Frisco Peaks: In mid 2011, the UHF link radios at
these sites were replaced, allowing better frequency re-use, improving
link margins and solving some ongoing interference problems.
If YOU
are interested in helping out with any of these projects, please
contact John
Lloyd, K7JL.
Some additional information may be found at the Rainbow Canyons Amateur
Radio Club page describing this system: This site
also contains pictures of some of these radio sites. Also,
see the Other
Repeaters of the Intermountain Intertie
page.
Questions, updates,
or comments pertaining to this web page may be directed
to: uvhfs@utahvhfs.org
This
page was last updated on 20190102
Return to the Utah VHF Society
homepage.