Wasco County Amateur Radio Repeaters
Repeaters are Sponsored by Wasco Amateur Radio Services, WC7EC
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System Fusion C4FM Page
The four primary repeaters being used in the Wasco County area are all
Yaesu System Fusion (or C4FM) analog/digital repeaters.
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Our main System Fusion repeater is on 444.700 MHz (100) and is located at Stacker Butte.
A secondary System Fusion repeater is on 146.820 MHz (103.5) and is located at Juniper Point.
A third System Fusion repeater operates on 147.100 MHz (100) and is located at Mt. Defiance.
A fourth System Fusion repeater operates on 147.260 MHz (103.5) and is located in Ashwood.
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All four repeaters are the 'second generation' System Fusion repeaters and operate in AMS, or Auto Mode Select. This allows the repeaters receiver to auto select FM or Digital and then re-transmits the same mode, depending on the received signal.
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These repeaters are open to all users, Analog FM or C4FM Digital on a co-shared basis.
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Current Analog FM users will not be affected and can use all four repeaters as before.
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If analog only users don't wish to hear the digital data stream over their rigs speaker, the FM user may wish to program their radios with full CTCSS (encode and decode) to help alleviate unwanted noise. Employing full CTCSS will allow any analogue user to mask the digital data as is passes over your receiver.
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If you don't program your rig to full CTCSS and you happen to turn on your rigs scanning function, any digital traffic that comes across 444.700 will lock on the channel and all you will hear is a very loud loud white noise, which can be annoying. The actual C4FM signal sounds like like a starts/stop tones, followed by a very loud white noise hiss until the digital user unkeys. With full decode on, your rig's scan feature should fly right past 444.700, unless there's a FM conversation occurring.
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It should be noted that both the analog FM and Digital user will be co-sharing the four repeater pairs, but only ONE conversation can exist on the repeater pair at one time. If you hear a digital noise on the channel, and your S meter is showing a strong, yet unintelligible signal AND you wish to break in or make an emergency call, keying up in between their transmissions with any analog transmission will automatically force everyone's Digital radios (including the repeater) back to Analog FM mode.
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No matter what mode you are using to access the new System Fusion repeaters; all users should remember to check your rigs busy light or S Meter OR hit your monitor button prior to making a analog FM call. Good operators do this to make sure that they are not accidentally interfering with an ongoing digital conversation.
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Questions about the C4FM System
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So I'm still analog and have no plans to buy a new radio, how will this affect my use of the System Fusion Repeaters?
Normal FM users will be able to co-exist with new digital radio users. The Yaesu System Fusion DR-1X repeater will automatically select the proper incoming mode and pass normal analog traffic or the new digital traffic automatically.
Part of the test is the Fusion's ability to coexist with FM analog signals. FM users; just place your radio into full encode/decode to mask out any digital conversations. Please watch your busy light and hit your monitor button before transmitting.
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Digital users are requested to run their rigs in AMS (auto mode select) mode. That way an analog user can jump in and say 'break' in-between digi transmissions. In this example, the analog FM user key's up the DR-1X repeater and this will normally force the DR-X repeater and other users listening in the AMS mode back over to regular analog FM.
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Technical Support for Digital Radios
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All System Fusion radios, (FTM-400DR, FTM-100DR mobile, FT1D and FT2D) radios can operate in fixed FM mode, DN (Digital Narrow @ 6.25 KHz ) or VW (Voice Wide 12.5 KHz signal).
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We suggest running your system fusion rigs in the AMS mode to better co-exist with regular FM users.
Using the AMS mode (there is a display bar that appears over the FM/DN/VW) icon on the mobile and a rectangle bar to the left of the FM/DN/VW icon on the walkies.
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Note: When using any of the the System Fusion repeaters, please announce in regular FM - that you'll be using the digital side of the repeater.
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