IRA Repeater Usage Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to all users of the IRA repeaters. A .PDF copy is attached that you may download.

Revised December 3, 2017.

If you hear operations on our repeaters which you believe do not conform with these guidelines, please contact the IRA using the contact form on our web site (http://w9ira.org/contact).

1. The IRA repeaters are owned and operated by the Indianapolis Repeater Association, Inc., are coordinated by the Indiana Repeater Council, and are operated under an amateur radio club license held by the Indianapolis Repeater Association and its designated Trustee. The IRA officers and board members will make the final determination regarding usage of its repeaters and acceptable conduct on its repeaters.
2. Operate within the Rules and Regulations as defined in FCC part 97 and guidelines established by the Indianapolis Repeater Association at all times.
3. Emergency and public service communications shall have priority over all other communications.
4. The Indianapolis Repeater Association operates family-friendly “G” rated repeaters 24 hours a day. At no time will profanity, lewd language, or distasteful behavior be tolerated. Please remember that children and public officials monitor the repeaters on a regular basis and keep your activities on our repeaters courteous.
5. While discussions such as politics or religion are not prohibited in amateur radio, we must recognize that individual opinions may not be shared by everyone. Please keep all conversations on our repeaters balanced, with controlled discussions, and open to alternative opinions.
6. Listen to the repeater for more than a few seconds before initiating a call. The repeater may be busy with someone momentarily standing by.
7. If you hear a station(s) jamming or causing harmful interference, DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE STATION. If you can override the interference, continue with your conversation. If you cannot continue, sign off the repeater in a normal manner. This activity should be reported to the IRA Board of Directors via e-mail or phone call only and not over the air. The IRA website at www.w9ira.org contains e-mail contact information for all current board members.
8. Please wait for the courtesy beep before transmitting. This allows the timer to reset and other stations to break in. This is especially important if a station is trying to declare an EMERGENCY.
9. Keep transmissions short and thoughtful. Your “monologue” may prevent someone with an emergency from using the repeater.
10. Be considerate and limit conversations to 20 minutes or so. The repeater is a shared resource for many hams to use. Simply hesitating or asking if anyone else would like to use the repeater is not the same as clearing the frequency.
11. Do not “kerchunk” the repeater to test your equipment or see if the repeater is up. If you transmit then you must identify your station.
12. Use “Break” if you have priority or emergency traffic. Simply announce your call sign if you wish to join an on-going conversation.
13. Be sure to identify your station every 10 minutes or at the end of your conversation. There is no need to say “for ID” when you identify. Simply say your callsign.
14. When declaring yourself on the repeater with just your callsign, one should not expect a response if there is no ongoing conversation.
15. While we want our repeaters to be active, it is discourteous to use a repeater to talk to someone who is within easy simplex range. If you can hear each other on the repeater input frequency, switch to a simplex frequency for that any conversation that might become lengthy. Similarly, don't use a wide-area repeater if one with more local coverage will do.
16. All repeaters are assembled and maintained at considerable expense and effort. Those who are regular users of a repeater should support the efforts of keeping the repeater on the air.