July 21, 2026 – “What is the Purpose of a Repeater Controller?”

Good evening. This is W1UT and tonight’s training is about “What is the Purpose of a Repeater Controller?”

At every repeater site is a device called a repeater controller. This is the brain of the repeater as well as the link radios. Some sites such as the Farnsworth site west of the Salt Lake valley has a controller handling as many as 7 link radios and the main 2m repeater on 147.12 Mhz. A controller does more than controlling radios and repeaters, it also allows the site control operator to disconnect radios from intertie system or can also shut down the entire site. It handles station identification either through morse code or voice, activates the transmitter(s) at the appropriate times, and may have capability to do other control functions. In the old days people could actually make telephone calls using their handheld radio or touch tone pad on their mobile radio. With the universal usage of cell phones this feature has pretty much disappeared. Did you ever wonder what that touch tone pad on your radio could be used for?

The various manufacturers of controllers have a variety of useful features like, a voice clock, facilities to control a remote base or linking to other systems, etc. The controller gives the repeater its "personality". Whenever you're using a repeater site, you are interacting with its controller. In the early days of repeaters the controller was a large chassis full of relays and timers. These days a controller is most often a microprocessor based unit typically designed to mount in a 19” rack. Controllers also ensure regulatory compliance by enforcing time-out timers to prevent continuous transmission and managing CTCSS (touch tone) decoding to control access.

Without getting into more detail this is basically the purpose of the repeater controller.

If you are newly licensed or have not used a large repeater system such as the Intertie let me give you a few pointers. So … “How do you call someone on a Repeater?”

First, listen for a few minutes to make sure that the repeater is not already in use. If you are a new ham that has never used a repeater before, I recommend you listen how others make a call and how others talk to each other. To call someone you know or has just finished a contact you can make the call something like this, “W7ABC this is KM7ABC”. Note that all US licensed hams have call signs that begin with an A, K, N or W. If you would simply like to make a general call to anyone first make sure the frequency is clear, then press your PTT button, wait a second or two and say something like “This is KM7ABC, I am a new ham and I would like to talk to someone,” and unkey your microphone. You could also call “CQ CQ from KM7ABC” and unkey your microphone. The term CQ is an old abbreviated morse code abbreviation indicating you are making a general call to anyone listening. Another common way people announce they have their radio on and available for a call is to simply say, “This is KM7ABC listening.” There are certainly lots of variations you can use.

Please do not be afraid to pick up your handheld or microphone and make a call. Those of us who are long time operators always welcome new hams. Every one of us was once a new ham. I personally have talked to a number of new hams who have just gotten their call signs and are excited to get on their new radio. No one is going to make you feel bad.