Warrenton/Fauquier Repeaters

The Fauquier Amateur Radio Association (FARA) sponsors two Warrenton, Virginia, repeaters serving the greater Fauquier county area comprising one VHF and one UHF repeater system.

The information below last revised July 9, 2024

VHF – UHF – Terms of Use – Report Interference

FM VHF Repeater Information

147.165(+), FM PL 167.9 Hz

FARA sponsors the W4VA/R VHF repeater in Warrenton, Virginia on a frequency of 147.165(+) MHz. It is dual mode with primary and priority mode of analog FM and eventual secondary mode of digital C4FM (pending*). Both modes require access signal/code: PL 167.9 Hz for FM and code DSQ 79 for C4FM.

The repeater has an output PL of 167.9 Hz in analog FM mode and provides excellent coverage throughout much of Northern Virginia. Avoid the squelch burst on your receiver by setting your receiver to CTCSS mode with the above tone frequency. The output tone sometimes is turned off when there are technical issues, so if you cannot hear the repeater, try turning off the receive tone on your radio.

Notes:

  1. C4FM Access Code – In time, this repeater may provide C4FM digital capability with a DSQ (aka SQL CODE) value of 79.

Here is the approximate coverage area of the Warrenton 2m Repeater…

Coverage Area of W4VA VHF Repeater
Coverage Area of W4VA VHF Repeater (click to enlarge)

View of the above in Google Earth

The Warrenton repeater’s excellent location and antenna height provides 2m sporadic weak signal service to a much larger service area.

Users of the repeater include base stations from the Shenandoah Valley, Maryland and the Eastern Shore.

Echolink

Echolink is back up on node 883791. Conference, relay or proxy connections are prohibited. Only direct connects from end users please.

FARA Repeater Scheduled Operations

The Fauquier ARA has occasional nets on Wednesday and Sunday evenings. More details available at Weekly Nets.

FM UHF Repeater Information

442.250(+), PL Tone 167.9

FARA also maintains a 440 repeater system along side the VHF repeater with primary service to the greater Warrenton, Virginia, area.

Coverage Area of W4VA UHF Repeater
Coverage Area of W4VA UHF Repeater (click to enlarge)

View of the above in Google Earth

Repeater Terms of Use

FARA repeaters are open systems for use by licensed amateur radio operators for voice operations consistent with FCC rules plus federal, state and local laws. Use of our repeaters indicates acceptance of these additional stipulations:

  • Acceptable modes: Live FM Voice transmissions and C4FM only – all other modes prohibited;
  • All users are guests: With the sole exception of a net control operator during trustee approved net activity, repeater users shall refrain from language or jargon giving the appearance of managing, coordinating or administrating repeater activities or use.
  • No broadcasting: Repeater users shall not broadcast even the smallest bits of information. This includes repetitive announcements of any nature that are not part of an ongoing conversation between repeater patrons. The repeater’s automatic announcement system shall transmit frequent messages acceptable to the call sign trustee to include time, weather reports, club announcements, etc.
  • No ‘professional communicator’ language: At no time shall any repeater user transmit language similar to a professional emergency services dispatcher and the like to include tail ending a transmission with the time, weather data, weather status, etc.

The FARA organization and W4VA call sign trustee reserve the right to disallow any activity or operation on or through the repeater that is not conducive to the discipline, good faith, and enjoyment of the repeater by all club members

Report Interference

We actively rectify any interference to our repeaters. Please report all interference causing harm to your enjoyment of our repeaters to . Please include the following:

  • Your name and call sign;
  • Frequency of interfering source;
  • Where you were when the interference caused problems;
  • Description of the interfering signal (voice, digital, cracking, etc.);
  • Any other evidence that will help us locate the source of interference.

Business letter format is best (sent as PDF to the above email), but all reports of any format will be given due consideration.

The current repeater committee members include

  • Allen, KO4NMC (Repeater Committee Chair)
  • David, KK4UYX (W4VA Callsign Trustee)
  • Andy, K1RA
  • John, KX4O
  • Mike, N2NAR
  • Nic, KY4OP
  • Steven, AG4SR