Reepaters were first licensed in 1972 when the FCC issued the repeater rules. They were granted 'WR' callsigns in 1974 (which was discontinued around 1978).
They were never prohibited in Part 97 AFAIK based on my research of repeaters. They were required to have a control operator at a control point (or locally) until 1998-ish when the FCC authorized automatic control. Joe M. Jim wrote: > > mch wrote: > > Huh? When were they not legal? W6MEP's repeater was on in 1956. > > > > Maybe your friend didn't have a control link? > > > > Joe M. > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> I have a buddy (WA5QKE) who had a repeater on the air in Conroe TX > >> before they were legal. He was headed to a site with an FCC engineer > >> one day when it got keyed and the squelch tail was plainly audible > >> along with the ID. He had to take it off the air for several years > >> until they were legalized. > >> > >> 73 - im W5ZIT > > And it seems to me there was a point in there where it had to be > licensed as a repeater. If he didn't have that, I could see his dilemma. > But I don't think there was ever a time they were completely illegal > here in the US. > > -- > Jim Barbour > WD8CHL > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
