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Building a repeater: the roadmap
The whole process in order, from planning to a coordinated repeater on the air.
The whole process in order, from planning to a coordinated repeater on the air.
Putting a repeater on the air is a project with ten steps and four different authorities. Most of the work is yours; a few steps need someone else's agreement. Knowing who decides what, and in which order, saves months and money.
Two things are easy to confuse. The FCC license is legal permission to transmit, and it is held by a person or a club. Frequency coordination is a volunteer body's recommendation of which channels will cause the least interference. In the US there is no separate "repeater license": under Part 97 a repeater is simply an amateur station whose licensee holds a Technician or higher license, and any such station may be a repeater (47 CFR 97.205(a)).
The ten steps in the diagram group into seven stages:
| Question | Who answers |
|---|---|
| May this station transmit, and who is responsible? | The FCC: station license and Part 97 |
| Which channel will interfere least? | The frequency coordinator, as a recommendation |
| May we put it on this roof or tower? | The landlord, then local authorities |
| May the structure be that tall or near that airport? | Local rules, and aviation and FCC structure rules |
| Is the public safe from the RF? | You, under the FCC's exposure rules |
Steps overlap and loop. A landlord may want proof of coordination, while a coordinator wants a confirmed site. Expect to go round more than once.
Other countries have their own regulators, license classes and coordination bodies; this subsection describes the US.