900 Mhz Repeater

2/2/22

927.26.25 151.4 tone

To advance the coverage of the rare 900 band into as many areas of Arizona as possible, I was given a repeater by Tom, NE7X and the Arizona 900 Network group to blanket the Payson area. On top of that, it is connected to the Allstar system and is node 56384. Although you need a radio to connect. It is located NE of Payson at a height of 6k feet (Payson is around 5k) and seems to have good coverage so far. The antenna is on the roof and is fed with LMR600 cable.

It is set up to be a regular connection to the Arizona 900 Network consisting of a few dozen repeaters, including some mountain top and home nodes. Here is the bubble chart.

There aren’t any 900 Mhz radios available commercially specifically for this band. Pretty much everyone on it has used and converted commercial radios. It isn’t hard to get on for someone who is a bit determined. All of the instructions are available and eBay usually has a bunch of the radios available.

The repeater has been coordinated.

Since we built the house in the mountains twenty years ago, I have always envisioned a repeater sitting right there. On the other side of the wall, and about 20 feet out is the 55′ US Tower.

I was supplied with a very impressive antenna that is designed for the roughest of weather on the top of a mountain. We do get winds that can be 40-50 MPH and sustained for days on end, so this is one antenna I won’t be worried about in the least. It can handle lightning strikes pretty well too I expect. Of course, all of the usual arresters and grounding will be in place.