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 Previous: The K7RA Solar Update |  Next: ARES Assists Red Cross in Wake of Typhoon |
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 27, 2004--The Southeast Repeater Association (SERA) Board of Directors has approved an "all tone, all the time" policy for the repeaters SERA coordinates. SERA provides voluntary frequency coordination for amateur repeaters in eight states. The Board's action came on a motion from Mississippi Director Steve Grantham, AA5SG, that SERA amend its coordination policy and guidelines to require CTCSS or DCS receive and transmit tones on all new FM voice repeaters. Existing voice repeaters will have until July 1, 2006, to comply. The SERA Repeater Journal reported the move in its August issue. Repeater Journal Editor Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, said a need to relieve interference complaints led to the Board's decision.
"The point is to stop the ongoing complaints and skirmishes between co-channel neighbors running carrier-access repeaters," Pearce explained. "The vote was unanimous, but SERA recognizes that tone isn't universally popular nor is it a cure-all. And it causes new problems, particularly for travelers."
South Carolina ARRL member Laurie Sansbury Jr, KV4C, would agree with Pearce on that score. He has taken issue with SERA's new policy and with Pearce's Repeater Journal "SquelchTale" editorial, in which Pearce said he had "little sympathy for the ham whose radio doesn't have a tone encoder" and "Radios are cheap today."
"Not for the senior on a fixed income
they're not," Sansbury retorted in an e-mail copied to ARRL. "Not for a
teenager--the future of ham radio--they're not."
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ARRL South Carolina Technical Coordinator Marc Tarplee, N4UFP, raised the issue of the potential impact of SERA's tone policy on emergency operations. "The Amateur Radio Service is expected to provide emergency communications," Tarplee said. "How does broad CTCSS implementation enhance or hinder our ability to deliver those communications?"
ARRL member Mark Cobbeldick, KB4CVN, of Monroe, Virginia, said requiring CTCSS tone to access a repeater on the 10-meter band has been the topic of several discussions on the 10-meter FM reflector. "It appears the SERA has taken a step in this direction," he said. "By having both encode and decode tones on a repeater, this will help reduce interference during band openings." He also suggested designating CTCSS tones on a state-by-state basis, "with a primary tone and several alternates."
Pearce notes that while the SERA policy applies to repeaters on all bands, the problems it aims to resolve most frequently involve 2-meter machines. He says SERA already has a tone plan for 10 meters. SERA coordinates repeaters in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and parts of Virginia and West Virginia.
SERA has no plans to automatically decoordinate repeaters that continue to operate without tones, but "SERA would not entertain an interference complaint from the owner of any repeater who chooses to remain carrier access," the Repeater Journal said. If a carrier-access repeater owner getting co-channel interference complains to the FCC, SERA would tell the Commission that the complaining repeater's owner was opting to operate outside the conditions of coordination. "SERA would expect that to be interpreted as a 'no,'" the Repeater Journal report said.
"If a repeater
owner wants to complain about interference, they'll have to incorporate tone
first," Pearce said.
| Previous: The K7RA Solar Update | Next: ARES Assists Red Cross in Wake of Typhoon |
