The ordinary practices observed in any ham radio activity apply to repeaters. Listen first, listen some more, and then jump in. Keep transmissions short, leave gaps for others to join, identify yourself (call and also first name). Keep language clean, and realize there may be many silent listeners. You don\u2019t really know how many people you are talking to!<\/p>\n
During a conversation, wait to respond until you hear the courtesy tone after the other party stops transmitting. Most repeaters have timers which will shut down the repeater for a while if a user\u2019s talk time exceeds the time-out period. The courtesy tone indicates that the timer has been reset. Jumping in before the tone means you only have whatever is left on the timer from the previous transmission.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s best to wait longer, at least until the end of the \u201crepeater tail\u201d, the period of time the repeater transmits after the other party \u201cun-keys\u201d or stops transmitting. Waiting even longer, especially during commute hours, will allow other hams space to join the conversation or to request use of the repeater for a more urgent call to another ham. This would apply also to repeaters without the courtesy tone.<\/p>\n
To start a conversation when a repeater is idle, call someone you expect to be listening, or just throw out your call with something like \u201cW7AND monitoring\u201d or \u201cW7AND listening\u201d. \u201cCQ\u201d is not generally used on FM repeaters. To join an existing conversation, wait for a gap and quickly inject your call, or perhaps the word \u201ccomment\u201d. You may have to do that more than once and wait for the parties to conclude a train of thought. Reserve the term \u201cbreak\u201d for an emergency situation.<\/p>\n
Double trouble: A common problem during any radio interchange is the \u201cdouble\u201d when two parties transmit at the same time. This becomes troublesome when there are several hams sharing the same conversation. It\u2019s not a cardinal sin, but you will only know you were part of a double after you un-key your mike and another ham tells you about it, or you hear another party in the middle of his half of the double.<\/p>\n
In many cases the conflicting signals of a double will be unintelligible, but in others the stronger signal may \u201cwin\u201d and be heard, with the weaker signal being heard only as a strange buzz. Keeping transmissions short reduces the magnitude of the disruption. It is also helpful to direct control to the next participant in some consistent order, by name or call, when you finish talking.<\/p>\n
Hams use various methods for handing the mike to another participant. Some use \u201cover\u201d, or \u201cgo ahead\u201d, or just \u201cgo\u201d. Others just un-key and let the courtesy tone or the repeater carrier drop indicate they\u2019ve stopped transmitting.<\/p>\n
When you are done using the repeater, sign off by saying \u201cW7AND clear\u201d, or \u201cW7AND clear and monitoring\u201d. This lets other hams know the repeater is available after all contact participants have signed off.<\/p>\n
Identifying: The rule says every ten minutes and when finishing a contact, but adding one at the beginning is common courtesy. Repeaters themselves identify and become reminders for the users to do so as well.<\/p>\n
Signal reports: The usual RS method isn\u2019t used in the FM world. The more useful report is a description of the effective \u201cquieting\u201d with terms like \u201cfull quieting\u201d, or \u201creadable with some picket fencing\u201d, or \u201csome hash but readable\u201d, or \u201clots of dropouts and mostly no copy\u201d, etc.<\/p>\n
Distinguish between the strength of the repeater signal and the user\u2019s source signal. If the repeater is coming in at full strength, then a marginal signal is probably the other parties location\/power\/antenna, etc. But if the repeater signal is weak, it is probably your problem.<\/p>\n
If others are having a lot of difficulty hearing you, bail out unless it is an emergency. On FM repeaters, hams get annoyed when they have to work too hard to dig intelligence out of the noise!<\/p>\n
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