DSRC FM Repeaters

The David Sarnoff Radio Club operates two FM repeaters:
2-Meter FM repeater on 146.46 MHz (see below)
– 70cm Repeater on 443.4 MHz Repeater (follow this link for the 70cm repeater)

Since 2020 we have held informal nets on 146.46 on Tuesday Evenings at 9 PM (was 8 PM during COVID. The script we have been using for these nets is available HERE

Duplexer cavities and cables and a tag that reads "THIS DUPLEXER IS TUNED TO TX: 146,46, RX 147.46 ,,,"
Repeater Duplexer

Quick Facts 2-Meter Repeater a.k.a. “Sarnoff Repeater”

REPEATER CALLSIGN: N2RE/R (identity send via Tone-CW at frequent intervals)

REPEATER OUTPUT: 146.460 MHz FM
vertical polarization. Transmitter power is approximately 25 Watts

REPEATER INPUT: 147.460 MHz FM (repeater split is +1 MHz)
Tone Squelch (PL) required to access repeater: 131.8 Hz (this is tone “3B”)

LOCATION: Quakerbridge area, near Trenton, NJ FN20

USE POLICIES: Open repeater available to all licensed amateurs. Emergency groups have priority. Please be courteous to others.

COORDINATION: Repeater is coordinated.

Coverage Map

a map of New Jersey with a green overlay, showing repeater reasches from near Atlantic City to New York and Philadelphia
Estimated Coverage Area for N2RE/Repeat. Green is strong, Yellow if fringe signal. Assuming users with mobile antennas

History

The early history of the club repeater comes from RCA Engineer Dec 1978/Jan 1979 issue:

The David Sarnoff radio club was officially organized on March 6, 1975. The two-meter repeater was an early project and first went on the air in August 1975. The first selected frequency interfered with another repeater in northern NJ, so the club moved to 146.46/147.46 in November 1975, with power increased to 25 Watts and callsign WR2AJC.

From the start, our repeater has been an “open” repeater. It attracted many special-purpose operations from special event stations to emergency “net” communications.

The Sarnoff repeater has gone through several configurations. In the early years the RCA Princeton transmitter had great coverage, but the receiver was not sensitive enough to reliably pick up signals in that coverage area. Utility was improved by adding remote “voting” receivers at RCA Somerville, NJ and RCA in Burlington County, NJ. These fed received signals via UHF links to the repeater at the RCA Laboratories in Penns Neck, West Windsor, NJ. As various RCA locations closed or changed ownership, the remote receivers were disabled.

When space was available on the new broadcast antenna in Lawrence Township, the transmitting portion of the Sarnoff repeater was moved to the new tall tower. Receiving was still at RCA Laboratories, with a dedicated phone line carrying audio and control signals.

Later, as RCA was being broken up (and when the phone cost of the dedicated lines went up), the receiver portion of the repeater moved to be housed with the transmitter, and a duplexer was added. The higher antenna gave the Sarnoff Repeater regional coverage!

(more to come… )