This Web site is a resource for amateur radio operators all around the world.

The site includes repeater and club information. Other topics of Ham interest include a stolen gear registry and EchoLink status database. Reasonable efforts are made to validate the data, but the information's quality cannot be guaranteed. We depend on visitors to the site and local admins to gather and verify the information.

No, Repeaterbook is not an official listing for any organization. We hold no authority to coordinate repeaters and have no official affiliation with any repeater coordination authority. However, some coordination entities cooperate with us by providing access to some data, usually the same data this is openly available to the general public.

No. You are free to browse this site without registering. However, when you register, you will find that you have access to more features and automation. For example, you must register to create export files for programming software and to create print lists.

This is not a commercial Web site. Your information will never be sold or distributed to anyone.

No. Membership and use are free.

It does cost money to run a site like this. Your help is greatly appreciated. Your donations will help pay for server space, bandwidth, and programming.

Yes. This is an amateur radio and GMRS website. All registered users must have an government-issued call sign for their services.

This is an open community. We use our call signs whenever we transmit on the air. Anyone can look us up and see who we are. Often, the radio operators who seek anonymity are jammers and trouble-makers, who are not welcome here.

Some are very interested in amateur radio and GMRS but do not yet have a call sign. You are absolutely welcome here. However, you cannot register for an account until you have a valid callsign. You are primarily missing features that really only work if you are licensed and have a radio to use, such as proposing new repeaters, edits, and exporting.

The administrator reserves the right to reject or cancel memberships to this site at any time, with or without cause or notice.

If you have a US Amateur Radio Call Sign and a GMRS Call Sign, only register with the Amateur Radio Call Sign. Do not use any spaces to break up your call sign or any designators (ie, /G or -A).

The information on this site is taken from commonly available resources. The Internet and other HAMs are our best sources.

We do not take information from sources like the ARRL's Repeater Directory. We have found that the information there tends to be stale. We do have many coordination councils that work with us directly and provide up to the minute information.

As visitors browse the site, they may find incomplete or incorrect information and submit it. The information is reviewed, and any necessary changes are made.

Submitted updates are usually committed within 48 hours but could take longer. The apps are typically updated every two weeks.

Everyone here is a volunteer, so please be patient with us. We appreciate your willingness to improve the data on the site.

Thinking about the larger picture…there really is no central database in the US that a repeater owner must report their repeater. It is not even required to report a repeater to a local coordination authority. This can make getting data elusive. If the government ran a repeater registration system, there might be a central database, but it doesn't. Not like the FCC ULS for call sign information. Getting this data, especially accurate data, is quite the process. The more help we get, the better the data is.

The repeater database is updated constantly, all day, every day.

We update the apps about every two weeks.

We try not to claim accuracy and allow you to judge for yourself. It is challenging to be 100% accurate all the time. Repeaters come and go, and data sources and updates are limited. We depend on those with knowledge of the repeaters to submit the data. We also post who made the changes and what they changed so you can judge the accuracy yourself. Obviously, timely updates from repeater owners and trustees would be considered the most trustworthy data.

We also obtain some data by watching coordination council web sites. However, some are better than others about sharing and updating information via the Web. We appreciate those councils that have taken a proactive role in assisting us with data gathering.

We also look for other sources of information beyond what is available through coordinating councils. We search the Web for repeater Web sites, contact repeater users and trustees directly, test repeaters, and rely on you to assist with information verification.

When we obtain a repeater listing, we conduct a thorough search of the Internet for all available information on that repeater. A repeater sponsor will often post a lot of information on a Web site that is beneficial to the Ham community. We collect that data and provide it for you here.

We are attempting to build an open-access and free database of useful information for all amateurs. The information's deployment is designed to help those with a legitimate interest in amateur radio, a reliable and central resource to gather repeater information. We do not require anyone to pay any fee for the site's use and openly seek accurate information. We believe this is in harmony with the concept of amateur radio as a service organization.

Beyond all of that, we believe that this site can assist travelers and new HAMs with the information they need to confidently enter the hobby in the area served. Travelers appreciate the ability to program reliable repeater data into their radios to increase their trips' safety and pleasure. New HAMs appreciate a quick way to get the information they need to program their radios and start socializing. In this spirit, we hope that you will share your repeater information with us.

If you prefer not to allow other amateurs use of your repeater, simply request the repeater be listed as closed, as this is a sign to other HAMs that the repeater is not open to general use.

Many repeater owners want their repeaters to be used. Listing your repeater on this site allows us to advertise the presence, features, and capabilities of your repeater for you.

Not usually. However, we do have agreements with some coordinators that require that certain data must come through that coordination group to us. If a request to add a repeater is received in an area governed by one of these coordination groups, your request to add may be held until the coordination authority has granted the coordination and released the data. In return, the coordination entities provide us with data that has been vetted.

We are glad to list your repeater as closed or private and even provide a note in the comments field alerting potential users to this fact. We will also subdue the PL tone, exact coordinates, access codes, and features. However, if you intend to “hide” your repeater from the would-be jammer, removing the listing from this database is unlikely to accomplish this. There are several other publications, both Web and print, that display closed and private repeaters. Removing the entry from this database does not remove it from the Web.

There are a couple of reasons why we hesitate to remove a listing from the database outright. One of those is because we provide a service to repeater owners. For potential repeater owners looking for a frequency, it is handy to know that a frequency is already in use. If there are repeater interference issues, a listing on this site provides an easy method to locate the potential source of the interference to apply a remedy.

With the advent of fast-scan radios and PL search, we also believe that there is no way to “hide” a repeater on the ham bands. Finding a repeater in the wild that is not listed on this site just makes others curious. If you are attempting to avoid a jammer that preys on private systems, the more you try to hide, the more determined a jammer becomes and the more satisfaction he feels in his accomplishment. We believe the alternative approach of 'nothing to hide and nothing to fear' is a more effective way of quelling the competitive nature of a jammer.

Some owners of repeaters are concerned when they request that the repeater coordination authority for their repeater not publish information about their repeater yet is appears on RepeaterBook. We can assure you that your coordination authority is not the one to blame.

Please don't insult us by requesting that we remove the information if you post it on your own Web site. It's amazing, but that has happened!

Many Hams that work on the RepeaterBook project are repeater owners themselves, so we understand that owners have varying comfort levels regarding the amount of publicly available information about their machines. As a courtesy, we are happy to obscure the micro landmark location, PL tone, GPS coordinates, features, and functions of your repeater.

However, we will not obscure the frequency, city (or nearest city), county, or state the repeater resides in. We would publish the repeater's known operational status, usage rights, contact e-mail, and Web site of the repeater if obtained from publicly available sources.

Occasionally, we receive some demanding and rude requests from repeater owners ordering the site to obscure more information than the site policy permits. The U.S. Constitution safeguards the First Amendment right to publish this data on the Internet, along with exact coordinates of repeaters and PL tones, which trumps a repeater's “right” to privacy as a repeater site has no right to privacy. Furthermore, amateur radio repeaters reside on the publicly available radio spectrum, and no frequency is licensed to any person for exclusive use. The general public, and certainly the amateur radio community, have a right to know that a repeater is operating on a given frequency, even though usage of said repeater by the owner/trustee is prohibited.

Try pleading, begging, or a simple please, and we will be more willing to work with you! Requests phrased any other way may be ignored.

There can be a couple of reasons for this. The primary one is to understand that the app is not live to the online database. This is to make it independent of the Internet in the event of a true emergency situation. The entire repeater database is entered into the app every time there is an app update. Make sure your app stays current.

If your repeater was entered after the last update, you will have to wait until the next update, which is approximately every two weeks. It's not automated, so give or take a couple of days.

You can see which version of the app you have by clicking on the hamburger on the left side. Under the RepeaterBook logo, it will include a series of numbers separated by dots. This is the year, month, and day. If your repeater was added after that day, you will need to wait for the next update to appear in the app.

Yes, we do.

Absolutely. Every aspect of this Website needs your help to be the best. We need site admins in several states to collect and maintain data. We need users to contribute information.

Whether you are an admin or not, please add and/or correct any information you see on the site. It is straightforward to add or edit repeaters.

Great! Send us the information. Share it with everyone. The only way to make this site the most complete and up-to-date site on repeaters, nets, and clubs on the Web is for users to send us updated information.

We want the same thing everyone else wants…an accurate database to locate repeaters with. We try to do what we can to gather and validate information, but this is very hard. We welcome clean data from our users, but please know that the data we post cannot be guaranteed. We are sorry for that.

We also will not purchase information from sources who would seek to sell it to us for profit. This is a free site, and we simply can't afford to purchase data from local coordination councils.

As a note, it is somewhat baffling to us when we see the occasional post on a forum somewhere about Repeaterbook listings not being accurate or missing your favorite repeater. It probably took more time to rant about that, and then it would have to send us the update. Some areas are extremely accurate, and others not so much. This is directly proportional to the enthusiasm of the hams in that area to contribute to the site.

For the number of posts that we see complaining about the data, there are 10 more that rave about it.

First, search for the repeater in the database through the state or province it should be located in. If the search results do not include the repeater, select the 'New Repeater' link in the blue menu bar near the page's top.

A notification of the request will add the repeater to the database. You will be notified when this happens. Most of the time, updates are completed within 48 hours.

Admins are assigned a state or province, and they are generally responsible for the database information about that area. They will research to locate repeaters and update information, handle requests from site visitors, and review submissions.

Admins must be Ham radio operators with some knowledge of repeater operation (repeater owners preferred), some affinity to some basic web programming, and attention to detail.

The time commitment is not very high. There is some front-end work getting the data entered and updated, but ongoing maintenance is low. The typical admin can spend just 15 minutes per week handling requests and doing some light research. Occasionally, more time is required for the bi-annual data reviews.

RepeaterBook data exports have been certified by CHIRP, RT Systems, and G4HFQ. The recommended method for exporting the data is to use the corresponding Export menu option. This will create a file that you can import directly into the software.

The CHIRP and RT Systems software itself has an option to download directly from Repeaterbook.com.

You must be registered and logged on to access the Export menus.

Yes. You must be registered and logged in to see the Export option on the menu.

First, search for the repeater listing you want. You should see 'Export' on the menu. Choose 'CSV' as that file type can be opened by Excel.

Repeaterbook.com contains data on repeaters that operate on analog, digital, or both emission types. Not all radios can decode digital transmissions, and not all programming software programs are capable of programming radios that can decode digital signals (i.e., CHIRP). Using CHIRP as an example, CHIRP is not known to have the capability to program any DMR or D-STAR radios. For this reason, if the user attempts to download a list of repeaters where some are digital-only, they will be excluded from the CHIRP export to eliminate the need to weed these repeaters out of the list before programming a non-digital radio. If CHIRP later is capable of programming a digital radio, these repeaters can be added back in the export.

To export data to the Kenwood MCP-4A programming software, you can use the TravelPlus .tpe format. The MCP-4A export is not compatible with the Kenwood software.

If you are trying to program an IC-7100 using CS7100 cloning software for D-Star repeaters, we would like to provide this export. We would need a sample of a file that can be uploaded to this radio to create a similarly-structured file.

The TravelPlus tpe format is a file format specifically designed to export to radio programming software. All programming software applications should be able to accept this file format as produced by the TravelPlus software.

The TravelPlus tpe file export directly from TravelPlus will not work in CHIRP (as of the 20140124 daily build). The tpe file from RepeaterBook has been modified to allow the file to work.

You may find that exporting a tpe file from TravelPlus and importing into TravelPlus may produce errors. You should have a better experience with the RepeaterBook version of the tpe format. However, this formatting change does come at a cost as the data is more generic. We are working with CHIRP to correct errors to return the RepeaterBook tpe export file to the same format the TravelPlus software produces.

Many of us are repeater owners, and we always cringe when we hear about repeaters that are damaged or vandalized. We know that outdoor enthusiasts come across repeaters and cause so much havoc for their own fun.

We really hope that Ham Radio operators are above using RepeaterBook to locate a repeater and inflict damage upon it. However, we know that it certainly can happen, but are we liable? The short answer is no.

We understand your concerns and want to work with you but take a deep breath first. When we receive this request, invariably, some right to privacy or copyright is claimed. An assertion that permission has not been granted to publish the data on this website is prohibited.

Most people who make such a claim actually do not know how copyright and the fair use doctrine work. If they did, they would probably not make an uninformed legal argument. But because this method is employed from time to time, we opted to do some research for you.

Privacy Argument

Consider for a moment that the repeater listing on RepeaterBook was similar to your home address being published on the Internet. It is nearly impossible to prevent as there are many website parsing data from multiple government and commercial entities publishing your information. To keep your address from print in the local phone directory, you must initiate a request to your local phone service provider. Notice they never ask for your permission to print your address, but in fact, charge you to obscure it. They may even offset their own costs by reselling the information to others.

Your address information may sit in databases connected to tax records, property records, mortgage houses, voting records, DMV, financial institutions, court records, employers, cell phone providers, and other commercial entities. All making your address, email, and phone number available without your permission. (especially property records and court documents), utility companies and credit card companies. There are no laws prohibiting these data collectors from publishing this information about you without your permission.

Many people misunderstand what their “right to privacy” really is. While companies may be required to safeguard Personal Identifiable Information (PII) to protect your identity, your home address is not protected. Though many companies maintain privacy policies as a service to their customers, they are not legally required to do so. There are many laws restricting the government from indiscriminately collecting data about you, but not private individuals or companies. For more information about US Privacy laws, try http://www.rbs2.com/privacy.htm.

How does this apply to a repeater? A repeater is not a person and has no privacy rights at all. Where it is, the mode it is using, frequency and PL tones used, call sign, DTMF commands, etc., are not protected under any law. The FCC even prohibits amateur radio operators from using any sort of encryption to hide this information. Asserting privacy concerns to request the removal of a repeater entry is without merit and we are not required to act on it on that basis. The repeater is either transmitting or receiving information on the publicly available radio spectrum. The only spectrum with any type of protection is cellular.

Copyright and Permission Required Argument

Most websites put Copyright notices on the footers of their pages. What is the legal effect of doing so?

As far as copyright law and a database like this, many people believe incorrectly that they have some protection from their repeater's information from being published on RepeaterBook. Please take a moment to study Copyright protections on the US Copyright Office http://www.copyright.gov/ website.

Specifically not protected is fact. Repeater data on this site is comprised of facts. The operating frequency, PL, offset, location, call sign, etc., is all fact. We do not violate copyright by copying or displaying elements of design that can be copyrighted. We don't reuse maps, charts, or images from a site without permission. Our formatting of the information is not borrowed from another site and is unique to our style. A book that is a collection of facts can still be copyrighted. However, the facts contained within are not protected and can be re-published elsewhere. The protection is the book's format and the method for expressing the facts. Sentence structure, for example.

A specific example would be data published on a website controlled by the operator of a repeater. There is no legal protection of the information posted on the repeater that is factual in nature. Permission is not required to copy this data and enter it into the RepeaterBook database. No set of words could be placed on the website or printed material to prevent factual information from being recorded and republished elsewhere. Period. If you are still confused about this, please return to the US Copyright Office link above.

We would rather work with you and not against you. We just want you to get over the idea that you have legal leverage when approaching us to remove information. We have no legal requirement to remove a repeater listing. Yelling, screaming, or threatening anything (including lawsuits) in an attempt to remove your repeater listing will be ignored. We prefer pleasant conversations with grown-ups who can discourse in a friendly manner.

We would like to point out that we would like to represent everything good about amateur radio. We do not wish to be argumentative about these points or debate them with you. We would prefer to embrace you as a fellow ham and work together in a spirit of cooperation to come to a mutually acceptable arrangement. While other repeater listing repositories attempt to make money on their products, there is no requirement on this site to pay money to receive any information. We are simply a collection point for publicly available information. We believe because of our operating practices, you may be most willing to share your information.

We should also note that requests to remove data outside of PL tones, locations, and coordinates from the site are actually pretty rare.

Case law can be found on this regarding websites that publish police officers' home addresses and abortion doctors. Recently, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously said the activists could be held liable only if the material authorized or directly threatened violence. A Supreme Court ruling said a threat must be explicit and likely to cause “imminent lawless action.” Their right to publish this information is protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Even when common sense tells you that the posting of the information is to allow for the information to get to someone who would harm the individual, it is still protected. The poster of the information is not responsible for the actions of another individual. This all changes, however, if the poster encourages others to inflict harm upon the individual.

Since the operators of this site do not wish harm to come to any repeater, in fact, the opposite, the site and its operators cannot be held liable for any actions taken by a third party with information gleaned from the site.

We have over 30,000 repeaters in the database, and that would be quite the chore. Considering the options, we thought it would be much too cumbersome and expensive to get consent from a repeater owner before posting any data about a repeater. It would be a non-starter.

As many of us are repeater owners or board members of large clubs with repeaters, we decided that such a mailing would be expensive, overwhelming, difficult, and likely fruitless. If every administrator of a Web site attempted to gain the permission of a repeater owner, repeater owners would be so tired of receiving requests that they would likely ignore them.

Cost is also a major factor. We figured the cost would be about $1.00 per mailing. Currently, we service more than 21,000 repeaters. For a free site, that cost is overwhelming.

Finally, there are no legal or moral requirements to request permission to publish facts, especially when they are generally available from other sources. So, for now, we will continue to gather information as we do and pledge to work with repeater owners' concerns as they arise.

Yes, we do. You can obtain it at Press Kit here.

Yes, interviews can be arranged. Please use the contact form to reach the site admin/owner.

RepeaterBook has been reviewed and showcased in 73 magazine.