Dare County Repeaters
Tue 16 June 2020
Changes to the way the multitude of repeaters in Dare County operate recently came to my attention. The introduction of links and DMR has added many ways for residents, as well as visitors, to communicate in interesting ways.
Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands Linking System
Figure 1. Linked repeaters on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands
This system has been around for decades. The main repeater, 145.150 MHz (CTCSS 131.8 Hz), has a roughly 30 mile range from Buxton. To help users on the fringes using low-power, hand-held radios, UHF repeaters are used to extend the usable range of the system. To cover the three villages of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo, the 444.325 MHz (CTCSS 131.8 Hz) repeater was established. To cover the village of Ocracoke, the 444.250 MHz (CTCSS 131.8 Hz) repeater was established. Both of these repeaters are linked with each other as well as the Buxton repeater providing full coverage of Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands.
These repeaters are usually linked to the Dare County Repeater System to provide full coverage of Dare (and Currituck) Counties.
Other repeaters on Hatteras Island
Buxton also hosts a standalone UHF repeater on 444.925 MHz (CTCSS 131.8 Hz). This repeater is great to use for local communications when you don’t need to tie up lots of repeaters covering many square miles.
The 444.425 MHz (CTCSS 100.0 Hz) repeater is normally linked to the Carolina440 network via AllStar.
And then there are two DMR repeaters. The first is 444.0625 (CC 1) which is on the NCPRN network while the second is 146.6250 (CC 1) which is on the Brandmeister network.
Dare County Linking System
Figure 2. Linked repeaters covering Dare and Currituck Counties
This system is the new one (for me). Prior to this system being put into place, many of these repeaters were standalone systems that may or may not have received much traffic. During emergencies, it was also difficult to communicate with all areas at once so this system makes it much easier to do so.
The Mamie 146.940 MHz, Kill Devil Hills (Colington) 145.110 MHz, Bodie Island 145.290 Mhz, and Columbia 442.725 MHz repeaters are all linked together with the Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands Linking System which provides coverage from the North Carolina/Virginia state line on Highway 168 to the north, Williamston on US Highway 64 to the west, and Ocracoke Village to the south. The links are all RF-based with no Internet or other commercial wire-line connectivity required.
Other repeaters in Dare County
The 444.125 MHz (CTCSS 100.0 Hz) repeater on Bodie Island is linked to the Carolina440 network via AllStar.
There is also the 444.9875 MHz (CC 1) DMR repeater, also at Bodie Island, and 442.850 MHz (CC 1) located in Mamie that are linked to the NCPRN network.
These repeaters cover the northern end of the Outer Banks quite well. 1 |CC 1 | DMR, Brandmeister
A quick note about DMR on the Outer Banks
The NCPRN DMR repeaters on and near the Outer Banks use a shared local talkgroup. This means that when using the local talkgroup (TS 1, TG 27500) on the Mamie 442.850 MHz, Bodie Island 444.9875 MHz, Buxton 444.0625 MHz, or Englehard 442.4625 MHz repeaters, your transmission will be retransmitted among all of those repeaters. This can aid in communicating up and down the Outer Banks.
A quick list of Outer Banks repeaters
Just looking for a list of repeaters without all the text? Here ya go…
| Town | Frequency (MHz) | Offset (MHz) | TX CTCSS (Hz) | RX CTCSS (Hz) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buxton |
145.150 |
-.600 |
131.8 |
131.8 |
Linked to Ocracoke and Waves repeaters. Usually linked to Dare County system and linkable to Coastal Linking system. |
Buxton |
146.625 |
-.600 |
CC 1 |
CC 1 |
DMR, Brandmeister |
Buxton |
442.425 |
+5.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
Linked to the Carolina440 network. |
Buxton |
444.0625 |
+5.0 |
CC 1 |
CC 1 |
Linked to the NCPRN network. |
Buxton |
444.925 |
+5.0 |
131.8 |
131.8 |
|
Ocracoke |
444.225 |
+5.0 |
131.8 |
131.8 |
Linked to Buxton 145.150 and Waves 444.325. |
Waves |
444.325 |
+5.0 |
131.8 |
131.8 |
Linked to Buxton 145.150 and Ocracoke 444.225. |
| Town | Frequency (MHz) | Offset (MHz) | TX CTCSS (Hz) | RX CTCSS (Hz) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mamie |
146.940 |
-.600 |
131.8 |
131.8 |
Linked to Dare County system. |
Mamie |
442.850 |
+5.0 |
CC 1 |
CC 1 |
DMR Linked to the NCPRN network. |
Kill Devil Hills |
145.110 |
-.600 |
131.8 |
131.8 |
Linked to Dare County system. |
Bodie Island |
145.290 |
-.600 |
131.8 |
CSQ |
Linked to Dare County system. |
Bodie Island |
444.125 |
+5.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
Linked to the Carolina440 network. |
Bodie Island |
444.9875 |
+5.0 |
CC 1 |
CC 1 |
DMR Linked to the NCPRN network. |
Columbia |
442.725 |
+5.0 |
131.8 |
131.8 |
Linked to Dare County system. No hang time. |
By Sparks, Category: Radio
Tags: Amateur Radio / Outer Banks /
Other articles
Building a network for AMPR
Sun 15 March 2020
Okay, I’m quitting just before I go completely crazy and start shredding things that actually work.
A little background on what I’m working on. I’m trying to build out a little piece of the AMPRnet for me to play with. Mind you, I’m more of a …