There is no club or group to join and no annual membership fee.
We rely totally on your good will and generosity.
The systems have "GREEN" credentials, being solely powered by Solar Energy.
The repeaters are located in South Wiltshire, in IO81vc, close to the junctions of the A303 and the A350, and provide coverage across South Wiltshire, South / East Somerset and North Dorset.
Detailed information on the systems and their respective predicted individual coverage maps, can be found on the relevant pages: GB3JB and GB7JB.
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GB3JB is a simple to use, good old fashioned, basic 2m analogue FM, voice repeater, with no frills, bells or whistles. Neither is it connected to the Internet.
The ident is the Callsign + Locator square. i.e "GB3JB IO81VC"
The invitation to transmit is a single dit. There is no 1750hz tone burst access. Access is only via a 103.5 Hz ctcss tone, which must be continually transmitted. The timeout is set to 3 minutes.
Being on 2m, it has the greater stand alone coverage with specific areas such as the City of Salisbury, Yeovil, Salisbury Plain, the Blackmore Vale and Cranborne Chase being well within its range.
Coverage significantly extends for fixed stations, across most of central and parts of North Wiltshire, Southern Dorset and West Hampshire, plus parts of North and West Somerset. This is of course dependant upon the users location and installation, as is the case with all VHF / UHF communications.
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GB7JB is a Digital Voice Repeater, based on DMR TDMA technology. Thus providing the significant benefit of two simultaneous communications channels, or slots.
Slot 1, which only accepts Talk Group 9, is intended as a local natter channel, much the same as any other 70cm repeater, and provides a coverage pattern that is somewhat similar to that of GB3JB.
However Slot 2, which only accepts Talk Group 950, is linked into the SW Regional Cluster of (currently) 5 DMR repeaters, thus providing significantly greater combined coverage.
The ident is the Callsign + Locator square. i.e "GB3JB IO81VC". This is sent in analogue FM.
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A few very simple rules for using "JB" Repeaters ....
(1) The repeaters are available for ALL Licensed Radio Amateurs to use, be they 'newly licensed' or an 'old timer'.
(2) All users are expected to operate their station within the terms of their specific licence conditions and restrictions.
(3) When in QSO, please wait for the invitation to transmit (a single dit on GB3JB), and always leave a pause between overs' - always give others a chance to call-in.
(4) Please use good operating practices and procedures.
As with all repeaters, Mobiles have priority.
Remember, if a station calls in, during the gap between overs', always acknowledge them and please DON'T leave them sitting on the side, while everyone else in the group, has an over !
(5) Only use the minimum power necessary.
Remember there are other repeaters on the same channels. ALL repeaters only transmit with up to a maximum of 25 watts ERP, so if its' 5/9 with you, you don't need to use 50 watts to a high gain vertical or beam, when 5 or 10 watts will do.
If you use 25 watts ERP, then the signals strengths should be reasonably reciprocal, and you won't cause interference to users of other repeaters that are on the same channel.
(6) If, under lift conditions, you really feel that you absolutely must use another repeater that is on the same channel, please turn off the "JB" access tones and codes, etc., otherwise you will still access our system, and you could well be blocking the use of a "JB" repeater, thus preventing it's use by those who actually want to use it.
(7) Remember that you are Radio Amateurs, using an Amateur Radio facility, so please use the appropriate operating practices and procedures.
Since you have taken the trouble to get an Amateur Licence, surely it's not to much to expect, that you use Amateur Radio abbreviation and accepted terminology, such as the Q-codes, etc. We do not have a '20', we have a 'location' or 'QTH'. We do not have a 'personal', we have a 'name', etc., etc.,
If you still use CB, that's fine, no problem, BUT please leave the CB lingo for CB, and not when you use an Amateur Radio facility or the Amateur bands.
And finally ..... and probably one of the most important .....
(8) Ignore any idots - If you don't hear a callsign, do NOT respond - EVER !
This page last updated: 02nd August 2015 @ 1130 UTC.
