Kingston Amateur Radio Club - 2 metre to 10 metre Crossband Repeater

Members of the Kingston Amateur Radio Club are in the process of building a 2 metre to 6 metre and 10 metre repeater.

Are you a Basic Amateur with no code and would like to try some 10 metre DXing? When the repeater is put on the air, you will be able to use your 2 metre radio, and connect through the 2 metre/10 metre crossband repeater and work DX on one frequency on the 10 metre band (29.5 - 29.7 MHz).

10 metres is currently wide open to the world, with reports from Club members working Japan, New Zealand, and most of the South African Continent!!

2 - 10 Metre Crossband Repeaters

Kingston Ontario - In the Process of being Constructed

If you or your Club has a 2-10 metre crossband repeater, please email us the details and we will put in in this listing. This is a great way to introduce Basic Amateurs to the thrill and satisfaction of making a DX contact.

To answer your questions on the legality of a Basic Amateur operating on 10 metres, the following is reprinted from "The Canadian Amateur", November 1997

Members ask...

Can Basics use 10 m repeaters?

RAC has received a growing number of questions concerning the operating privileges available to Amateurs having only a Basic Certificate.

Even among qualified and informed Amateurs, there is some confusion as to Basic privilege. In particular, and especially as sunspots start to multiply and 10 metres opens up, the question of whether or not Basic-only operators can use 10 metres has become an issue.

Thanks to RAC VP Government Affairs Jim Dean, VE3IQ, and Industry Canada's Jim Cummings, VE3XJ, for these clarifications.

Radio Amateurs should note that:

a) Amateur Radio operators having only the Basic Certificate cannot operate on 10 metres on any mode. To transmit directly on 10 metres, an Amateur must have both Basic and 12 wpm. This includes use of the FM repeaters between 29.5 and 29.7 MHz.;

b) Amateur Radio operators having only the Basic Certificate can operate on a voice repeater which inputs on 2 metres and outputs on 10 metres. The 2 metre voice repeater which outputs on 10 metres would be licensed to an Advanced Amateur who also would have the qualifications necessary to transmit on 10 metres, and who would be in control of the repeater; and;

c) Amateur Radio operators having only the Basic Certificate can be the licensee for a digital repeater on the VHF and higher bands. The radio regulations stipulate that only for a radiotelephone (voice) repeater must the licensee be an Amateur with an Advanced Certificate.

Because of the shortage of repeater frequency pairs in many areas, RAC requests that Amateurs wishing to set up a repeater of any type coordinate their requirements with their local repeater council.

Note, that to install and operate a repeater on 10 metres, an individual must be the holder of the Basic, 12 wpm and Advanced Qualification. The installer is permitted to link with a repeater which is operating on other bands, i.e., 2 m or 70 cm.

However, the licensee of the 10 metre repeater is forbidden to retransmit on the Amateur allocations below 29.5 MHz the radiotelephone signals of another station that is not similarly qualified (i.e., a Basic Amateur inputting on 2 m).

So, if someone wishes to repeat or retransmit another station's radiotelephone transmissions on a frequency below 29.5 MHz, the person doing the repeating (the repeater licensee) has the responsibility to ensure that the operator of the originating station is similarly qualified to operate on that band or frequency.

But, if the signal is going to be repeated on 29.5 MHz or above, VHF-only privileges are the only concern. So, if the 10 metre repeater is in the 29.5-29.7 MHz repeater sub-band, the repeater operator does not have to serve as gatekeeper. The underlying principle is that any Amateur must have the qualifications required for the frequency on which he/she is transmitting.

These questions and their answers have been added to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the RAC web site at www.rac.ca

The answers have been verified with Industry Canada Headquarters in Ottawa. Amateurs are again reminded that while RAC endeavours to help with questions, the regulatory Authority lies with Industry Canada, and not RAC.

The Canadian Amateur . November 1997