AF1W

2-meter Repeaters

I have a feeling this is going to turn into something nutty, so, uhh, bear with me.

My initial plan was to just put together a list of nearby repeaters, but I’ve found Radio Mobile Online addictive, and also started down a weird archeological expedition with some old lists.

None of this should be considered authoritative data. The New England Repeater Directory is the authoritative source, run by the NESMC which handles repeater coordination.

Historic repeater listings

I reference these by years in the listings below.

Coverage Plots

I’m using Radio Mobile Online for these. You should absolutely not rely on this as any sort of authoritative data. For the plots I’ve been able to determine where the repeater is located, but information such as height above ground, power level, or antenna gain are guesses. I’m typically using 35W power out, 6 dBi antenna gain, and 1.5 dB feedline/duplexer loss as estimates. These model coverage to a mobile station with a unity-gain antenna 2 meters above ground, for 80% reliability. These do not reflect measured data, and even the model inputs are guesses. (Also note that they’re not all zoomed to the same scale.)

145.11 Concord, MA

The first available Wayback machine capture of the NE Repeater Directory shows this as N1AU in Lexington, which is consistent with the 1999 listing. Some time in 2003 it moved from Lexington to Concord (seemingly without Paul Revere’s aid), and 2006 saw the callsign change to N1CON.

145.13 Gloucester

Now W1GLO. In 1993, it bore the callsign K1MSS and was seemingly CSQ; by 1999 it was operating as W1GLO and had a 107.2 Hz PL.

The 1984-1985 Repeater Directory shows it as K1MSS, sponsored by the Cape Ann ARA, with an “OTAERZ” designation — open repeater, with Touch-tone support, autopatch, emergency power, RACES affiliated, and with “direct access to law enforcement,” which usually refers to the autopatch.

145.23 Boston

KA1IG in 1993, but W1BOS with an 88.5 Hz PL by 1999.

The 84-85 Repeater Directory shows the call as WB1DNZ, with a closed autopatch and emergency power, and the American Red Cross as a sponsor. (That year there was also a 145.21 repeater, W1UIQ, in Boston, sponsored by the Bay State RG.)

145.41 Harvard

In 1984 and 1993, it was K1BOX and RACES-affiliated. By 1999, it had become W1DVC and used a 74.4 Hz PL.

145.43 Belmont

On the air as WA1TFJ with a 67.0 Hz PL and emergency wind power (?) available, with the same call in 1999.

145.45 Fitchburg

In 1984-1985, one of two repeaters in Fitchburg, listed as W1GZ. It remains there today under the same call, now with a 74.4 Hz PL. It’s run today, as it was in 1984, by the Montachusett ARA.

145.47 Danvers

KA1LQX, and possibly using a PL not known to the author in 1993. In 1999, it was KB1CDG and 136.5 Hz. The same PL is used today, but with the club call NS1RA. This repeater was not present in the 1984-1985 Repeater Directory.

146.64 Waltham

Given an “x” to indicate an “extra wide coverage area” in 1993, it was WA1GEP. It picked up W1MHL by 1999, but remained CSQ.

Also listed in 1984-1985 as WA1GEP, run by the Waltham ARA.

146.655 Mt. Washington

Not quite in range, but here’s another one that’s been around forever. And in this case, it’s been remarkably consistent. The 1993 and 1999 guides, plus the contemporary NE Repeaters listing, all list it as W1NH with a 100.0 Hz PL.

The 1984-1985 Repeater Directory is special here, because the cover image is of the ice-covered repeater site atop Mt. Washington! At the time, it was the only one of the state’s 24 listed repeaters to use a PL tone, noted as “4A” which corresponds to 141.3 Hz. It then bore the K1OIQ callsign, and has its sponsor noted as the Mt. Washington Observatory. The caption on the title page explains the cover photo as:

Perched atop the Mount Washington Observatory’s weather tower is the K1OIQ repeater, 146.655 MHz output, on the summit of New England’s highest peak, Mount Washington (6288′). This peak in the heard of the White Mountains is known for the “world’s worst weather” — 1984 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the world record 231 m.p.h. wind gust recorded by the Observatory in April, 1934! The repeater antenna fiberglass housing is in the black structure second from the left on the tower. (photo courtesy Richard Palm, K1CE)

1984-1985 Repeater Directory

146.67 Quincy

This one’s been around but changed callsigns a bit. In 1993, it was KC1VW, and K1ML with a 146.2 Hz PL in 1999. It’s now part of the MMRA network, who note that it’s been at its present site since 1982, where it carries the call W1BRI.

The “Minuteman RA” was the sponsor in 1984-1985, when the call was W1MWF.

The MMRA’s newsletter page suggests the club itself dates back to 1971.

146.73 Hollis

In both 1984-85 and 1993 it was listed as W1OMZ and identified as being in Nashua, though the 1993 source bears a “Hollis ?” notation. By 1999, it was N1IMO in Hollis with an 88.5 Hz PL, and a second receive site in Derry using a 127.3 Hz PL.

146.73 Cape Cod

Growing up in Southern NH, I remember several of the repeaters in the area were on pairs that were also used on the Cape. 146.73 was one such pair. The 1993 and 1999 listings have the repeater located in Sandwich, MA as W1SGL and no PL noted. It still carries the same callsign today nearly 30 years later, but is now in Barnstable and uses a 67.0 Hz PL.

The 1984-1985 Repeater Directory shows W1ODO as the call, but the present Cape Cod and Islands ARA as the sponsor.

146.82 Weston to Boston

A long-time MMRA machine, 146.82 lived in Weston as KA1AL in 1993 and 1999, using a 146.2 Hz PL by 1999. In 1984 it was an MMRA machine with the K1IJZ call and a closed autopatch, plus emergency power.

The Weston repeater page explains that Weston was home the 146.82 for the MMRA from 1971 to 2005, when Weston moved to 146.79 to allow the club’s Boston repeater atop the Prudential tower to use the quieter frequency pair.

146.85 Derry

K1MNS in 1984-85, carrier squelch, sponsored by the Interstate Repeater Association. It gained an 85.4 Hz PL in 1993, and an “x” to donate its excellent coverage. By 1999 it was using its current call of K1CA, and the 85.4 Hz PL persists.

146.865 Sharon

Listed in 1984-1985 as the W1TEA repeater operated by the Sharon Civil Defense Organization, keeping the same call in 1993. KB1EDV in 1999, with a 146.2 Hz PL.

Today it operated as K1CNX with a 103.5 Hz PL. Repeater trustee K1FNX notes on his QRZ page that the repeater’s callsign is a tribute to Bernie Rosenberg, who became a silent key in 2002.

146.895 Walpole

I’m outside its coverage range, but here’s another consistent one. In 1984 it was already operating as K1HRV, its present callsign. The only obvious difference to the present time is the requirement of a PL (123.0 Hz).

146.91 Mt. Greylock

Another consistent long-term repeater; it was K1FFK in 1984 and still is today. Today it requires a 162.2 Hz PL and supports Yaesu System Fusion.

146.94 Concord, NH

Actually located atop Plausawa Hill in Pembroke, just outside Concord. It’s one of two repeaters now managed by the Capital Area Repeater Society, who describe 146.94 as “one of the oldest continuous 2 meter repeaters on the air today,” dating back to the 60s. It used its present-day W1ALE callsign by the 1984-85 repeater directory, and noted the sponsor as “W1RMH/W1ALE.” (W1RMH was then the call of the 147.225 repeater, which is also still on the air.)

146.955 Westford

In 1993 it was W1FC and located in Carlisle, but by 1999 it was its present-day WB1GOF with a 74.4 Hz PL. Some time after 1991 when the club first put up a 70cm repeater, it set up on 2 meters, according to the club history. (Something I wish more clubs had!)

146.955 Dennis

Like 146.73, 146.955 is another repeater pair used on both Cape Cod and up here. It looks like it came up some time after 1993, operating as K1PBO with the present 88.5 Hz PL in 1999. Today it operates as W1MA.

146.97 Paxton

Another long-time fixture, W1BIM was already on the air. This PDF history shows February 28, 1974 as the year the repeater began transmitting from its present (superb) Asnebumskit Hill location, though at the time it was a split-site operation with receive elsewhere. 1982 saw the W1BIM callsign adopted, and in 1996 it moved to its present tower with a receive antenna 250′ above ground.

It is curiously absent from the 1984-1985 Repeater Directory.

147.000 Saddleback

Listed in the 1984-1985 directory as N1BAC with the “Saddleback RA,” as an open repeater with autopatch and emergency power. In 1993, it was KD1Q, and an early adopter of PL tones it would seem, using 100.0 Hz. In 1999, a more complex operation was described: a negative offset and 100.0 Hz PL was used for receive from the Deerfield/Saddleback site, while CSQ on the same pair seemingly was received in Pittsfield. And finally, 100.0 Hz and a positive offset came in via another remote receive site in Rochester. The repeater trandmissed as KD1XZ. Today, it’s W1SRA with a negative offset and 100.0 Hz PL.

147.045 Nashua

When I was licensed as a kid, this is where the local club hung out. In the 1984-1985 and 1993 sources it was KA1DT, while by 1999 it had picked up the WW1Y callsign and a 100.0 Hz PL. Seemingly within the past few years, it’s moved over to being operated by N1IMN/N1IMO, where it’s linked to the 444.800 repeater but not the larger network.

The same frequency pair was used on Cape Cod for a while. It was WA1UMG in 1984-1985 in the town of Dennis, and WA1AIC in 1993 and 1999, but seemingly gone by 2003, per web archives of the NE Repeater Directory.

147.12 Billerica

The 1984 listing shows W1DC, as do subsequent sources. W1DC has apparently existed as the 1200 Radio Club since the 1970s, until 2021 when the club dissolved and transferred the repeater over to the MMRA. It still operates from the same location with the same call, though.

147.15 Framingham

W1FY is the club call of the Framingham Amateur Radio Association, which has existed since 1933. It appears as such in the 1993 listing.

The “Framingham RA” was the sponsor of 147.15 in the 84-85 Repeater Directory, then seemingly bearing the K1GFH call.

147.225 Concord, NH

Listed by the 1984-1985 and 1993 sources as W1RMH, it picked up the 100.0 Hz PL and KA1OKQ call by 1999. It’s still on the air today as such, though now it shows Pembroke as the correct location, atop Plausawa Hill — the other CARS-NH machine, aside 146.94.

147.27 Marlborough

Today’s it’s an MMRA repeater from the site of their main hub, and they note that they took over the repeater in 2003. Prior to that, it has been run from the same location “for at least 20 years prior” by another group.

In 1984-85, it was WA1PMV, seemingly using an unpublished PL. 1993 saw 147.27 from Marlborough operating as WA1IOB, with a 71.9 Hz PL. In 1999 it was W1AQI with a 100.0/107.2 Hz PL.

It’s worth noting that in the 1984-1985 listing, there was a separate 146.61 K1ST repeater operated by the MMRA.

147.285 Topsfield

The 1984-1985 Directory shows W1VYI for this repeater, sponsored by the Essex County RA. In 1993 it had the same call and a 107.2 Hz PL; 1999 the same call but a 100.0 Hz PL. Today, the 100.0 Hz PL remains, but the callsign is N1HSY.

147.315 Fitchburg

Not really in range for me, but it’s been around for some time. Listed in the 1984-85 Directory as WB1EWS, with a rare “Y” designation for “RTTY/ASCII.” 1993 listed it was WB1EWS with a 67.0 Hz PL and a RACES affiliation. By 1999 it was using the present 100.0 Hz PL with the same callsign.

147.33 Goffstown/Manchester

Reported as W1HPM in 1984-1985, sponsored by “NH FMA.” In 1993, it was W1KGZ with a given location of Goffstown. By 1999, it was in Manchester as WB1BXB. It continues today as N1SM (who was formerly WB1BXB).