W4FJ – D Star Gateway Information
The W4FJ repeaters operate on
147.255 (+600 Khz) — 443.7125 (+5 Mhz) — 1284.0000 (-20 Mhz)
Any user who is registered on a D Star gateway is welcome to use to the repeaters and to establish links. Hotspot users (DVAP, PiStar, etc.) are welcome to connect as well.
It is perfectly acceptable to key your mic without saying anything as your callsign is being transmitted when you key up, and this will provide some information regarding repeater status that will be displayed on your radio.
The W4FJ VHF module is permanently connected to the Virginia Reflector, REF097A, but users are welcome to unlink from Reflector 097A and establish another link. After a few minutes of inactivity, the VHF module will automatically reconnect to REF097A.
If your radio is GPS enabled, please turn off the GPS beacon feature and set the radio only to transmit GPS when you manually key the radio. Otherwise, your callsign will be transmitted at the selected intervals (as short as every five minutes) over every repeater which is connected to the same reflector as our repeaters are connected to.
Learn how to use the “Unlink” command and consider programming that into a memory channel for the VHF and UHF modules if you will be establishing links so you can unlink the repeater from a reflector when you are finished.
You can use a computer or smartphone to see the current link status of the repeaters by viewing the D Plus Dashboard at http://w4fj.dstargateway.org/. This site will also show the callsigns of the “last heard” stations. If a callsign displays in orange, you can click on the callsign to see the location on Google Maps from which the station last transmitted.
Registration on any gateway gives you access to the full D Star system. Consistent with other D Star repeaters, we ask that you register on the closest gateway enabled D Star repeater to your home QTH. If we are your closest D Star repeater, you may request registration with us. If you have not registered on any D Star gateway, you can go to https://w4fj.dstargateway.org/Dstar.do to register. It may take a day for your registration to become effective.