RARC club repeater

Richmond’s first digital voice repeater went on the air on January 28, 2008 when the W4FJ analog repeater on 147.255 MHz was replaced with an Icom D Star repeater. On VHF, we feed a Decibel Products DB 224 antenna with 80 watts from a Henry amplifier. In 2010, a UHF module with an output of 443.7125 MHz was added feeding a DB 420 antenna with 80 watts from a TPL amplifier. In October 2013, we installed a digital voice module on 1284.0000 MHz with a – 20 MHz split. The repeater antennas are located 320 feet above average terrain, three blocks from the Virginia State Capitol in downtown Richmond. The repeaters are gateway connected.

In October 2023, we upgraded the Icom repeater modules to the latest Generation 3 hardware. All three modules now support mix mode FM analog and D Star digital. For FM users, the repeaters require a 74.4 Hz subaudible tone. The repeaters will transmit in the mode they receive.

The RARC D Star Net meets Wednesday nights at 8:00pm when all three modules are linked to Reflector 097B. Hotspots and similar devices can connect directly to REF097B to participate.

The W4FJ VHF module is permanently linked to the Virginia Reflector, REF097A. Users are welcome to connect the repeaters to any DPlus reflector.

See our W4FJ – D Star Gateway Information and repeater code of conduct and guidelines.

Repeater Listing

This list of repeaters is from https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/index.php?country_code=US&state_id=51 (Virginia’s repeaters). It contains repeaters that are with in 51 miles of the center of all of RARC’s members in the state of Virginia. A point that is about 1.9 miles due north of where Huguenot Rd (147) crosses Chippenham parkway (150). (see picture after the list. The list is in sequence by distance for the center point. “Repeaters.pdf”

Center of RARC’s Virginia members

If you have any questions or suggested changes to the repeater list. Please let us know.