146.88- Repeater Information and Guidelines

The 146.880- MHz repeater, also known as the OU repeater, is owned and operated by Mike Salem (N5MS) for the benefit of the club and the Norman community. He has stated that he wishes it to be an open repeater, primarily used as a contact point for local hams. In order to best serve these needs, please observe the following guidelines:

• Avoid long conversations. In order to be effective as a contact point, people must feel comfortable monitoring the repeater continuously. Long conversations can be distracting for those monitoring while they work and prevent others from making contacts.
• Avoid digital modes during the day. Nothing makes monitoring more difficult than the squeal of data.
• Before initiating a contact, listen for a minute to be sure that you are not interrupting someone else.
• When initiating a contact, kerchunk the repeater to get its banner message out of the way. This also ensures enough lead time that people with HTs in power saver mode won't miss the call sign you are looking for.
• If your party does not answer after about a minute, repeat the call. Many people monitor with the volume turned down and only really start listening when they hear a call.
• When responding during a contact, wait for the courtesy tone (the little bleep that occurs when the repeater senses a loss of input) before transmitting. This resets the time-out clock and creates a few seconds where everyone is listing for other, possibly emergency, traffic. It also ensures that the person who was last transmitting is really done with what they are saying.
• If you are just looking for a random contact, announce your call sign and say "monitoring". For example, "W5TC, monitoring". Don't repeat it unnecessarily (once every twenty minutes is plenty) and don't be offended if nobody answers; many of the people monitoring may be busy at work or studying.
• Avoid frequent "kerchunking". This is where you briefly transmit without saying anything just to see if you can hit the repeater. Technically you should never transmit without identifying yourself every ten minutes and at the end. Plus it causes everyone monitoring to listen for a new contact only to be disappointed!
• Register your DTMF paging or squelch codes with the club to avoid conflicts.

The autopatch is not currently operational. The autopatch tied into the 688 repeater is maintained and operated by the OUARC. It is a "closed" autopatch, meaning that only club members using a special code may use it. The guidelines currently in effect for its use are as follows:

• Only club members in good standing may dial the autopatch. Do not give out the code to others or write it down where it might become public.
• Club members may initiate calls for non-member hams, especially as a courtesy to hams visiting from out of town.
• When initiating a call, announce only your call sign, do not state that you are about to dial an autopatch.
• Calls are normally limited to 3 minutes, after which time the repeater will hang up and cut off your transmission. The extension code, which allows another three minutes of access, is to be used only in emergency or urgent situations.
• The autopatch may not be used to make toll calls.
• Remember that anything you or the other party say is being transmitted to anyone tuned in within fifty miles. As the controlling operator, you are responsible for ensuring that the autopatch session conforms to FCC regulations (no music, no business, no obscenities, etc).
• If the party you are calling is not used to you using an autopatch, it would be a good idea to let them know that they are "on the air".

To use this or most autopatch systems, follow these steps:

• Transmit your call sign only. Do not state that you are about to make an autopatch call or announce the party you are calling.
• Wait for the repeater courtesy tone (the little bleep that occurs when the repeater senses a loss of input and is about to stop transmitting).
• While holding down the transmit key, use your DTMF touch pad to send the access code numbers, followed by the * key, followed by the local phone number you wish to call.
• Release the transmit key and wait for the repeater to say "Autopatch".
• Before the courtesy tone, hold down the transmit key for one second, then release.
• The number will then be dialed and you should hear the phone ringing.
• You may then conduct your conversation in accordance with the guidelines listed above.
• To end the autopatch session at any time, transmit the # key from your DTMF keypad.
• Don't forget to identify yourself and state that the repeater is "clear" when you are finished.

Tone handling:

• The repeater normally blocks DTMF tones. Use the # tone to override this. For example, to transmit the DTMF code "123", you would transmit "#123". Many modern HTs have code squelch or paging features that require DTMF transmissions. You will need to prefix all such codes with the # tone for them to work.
• The current TNC blocks subaudible tones. Thus rigs with tone squelch or tone paging will not work over the repeater. This may change when the new TNC is installed.

These guidelines are designed to provide a friendly and convenient atmosphere on the repeater. Please submit comments or suggestions via e-mail or at a regular meeting.