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FCC rules for repeaters
What Part 97 says about repeater licensing, control, identification and responsibility.
What Part 97 says about repeater licensing, control, identification and responsibility.
Part 97 defines a repeater as an amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels (47 CFR 97.3). It is not a separate class of license. It is an ordinary amateur station doing a particular job.
This article is about the US. Other countries license repeaters differently.
A repeater may receive and retransmit only on the 10 m band and shorter wavelengths, and not in these segments (97.205(b), as of October 2026):
| Band | Repeaters not allowed in |
|---|---|
| 10 m | 28.0 to 29.5 MHz (only 29.5 to 29.7 MHz is open) |
| 6 m | 50.0 to 51.0 MHz |
| 2 m | 144.0 to 144.5 and 145.5 to 146.0 MHz |
| 1.25 m | 222.00 to 222.15 MHz |
| 70 cm | 431.0 to 433.0 and 435.0 to 438.0 MHz |
Every HF band except the top of 10 m is therefore closed to repeaters; see HF and 10-meter repeaters. A repeater on 10 m needs a control operator with HF privileges, which is why Control operators and control points says a General or higher.
Automatic control is permitted for repeaters (97.205(d)). The control operator need not be at a control point, but still must ensure the station operates properly (97.105(a)). Automatic control must stop if a Regional Director notifies the station that it is transmitting improperly or causing harmful interference, and must not resume without that director's approval (97.109(d)).
Closed access is allowed: a repeater may limit its use to certain stations (97.205(e)). This does not make a frequency exclusive; Part 97 says no frequency is assigned for the exclusive use of any station (97.101(b)), and the FCC has said the same about coordinated closed repeaters.
The repeater must send its call sign at the end of each communication and at least every 10 minutes during one, by CW or, on phone, in English (97.119(a), (b)). A controller usually does this automatically. Your own call sign is a separate duty.
The licensee is responsible for the proper operation of the station, and when the control operator is another person, both are equally responsible (97.103(a)). The control operator of a repeater that inadvertently retransmits communications that break the rules is not accountable for them (97.205(g)), so the person who sent them answers, as the Technician exam teaches.
Other automatic retransmission is the exception: only auxiliary, repeater and space stations may automatically retransmit other amateurs (97.113(d)); anyone else must do it manually (FCC amateur FAQ). An auxiliary station, such as a link or control link, transmits point to point inside a system of cooperating stations, on 2 m and shorter wavelengths with its own excluded segments, and it too may be automatically controlled (97.201).
The FCC licenses the station and writes the rules. It does not choose your frequency pair, and coordination is not a condition of operating a repeater (FCC letter DA 09-2559); see Frequency coordination and the ARRL. It does not grant you a tower site either: see Sites, permits and local approvals. Rules change, so check the current text of Part 97 before you build.