Bob Dengler wrote: > Kenwood SkyCommand. 100s of "remote bases" in SoCal. I won't speak for > other areas, since I'm not familiar with what operators in those areas > consider their systems to be. Here, they're "auxiliary stations". Don't > believe me? Consider that back in the early 70's when repeaters & > auxiliary stations required separate licenses from the FCC, remote base > owners had to submit detailed information to the FCC (block diagrams, etc.) > in order to obtain those licenses. Many licenses issued for what most > people on this list consider "repeaters" were actually auxiliary station > licenses, which IIRC used callsigns from the standard group D block (2x3) > at the time (i.e. WA6BCD); repeaters had the special "WR" prefix. > > So if these systems that clearly "repeat" were "repeaters", why did the > owners apply for auxiliary station licenses, & why did the FCC issue all > those auxiliary station licenses to these "repeaters" after receiving the > detailed paperwork clearly indicating the mode of operation? Because these > stations, by nature of their operation, were in fact auxiliary > stations. Obviously they do "repeat", but if they operate within a network > of cooperating amateur stations, they can be classified as auxiliary > stations. The definition as written is rather loose, but that is a debate > for some other reflector. > > Bob NO6B
You're right-the definition is pretty loose. Some of it is dependant on the intent. A UHF 'repeater' that has a 'normal' simplex or half-duplex base station tied to it, and whose primary purpose is to repeat the 2M signals to UHF and the UHF signals to 2M, is a remote base, and in auxiliary operation. But a UHF 'repeater' that most users transmit on the UHF input and listen on the UHF output, and once in a while someone brings up the 2M base, is only a remote base when that is on-line, so it is normally in repeater operation, and in auxiliary operation only when the remote base is enabled. Same with things like auto-patch: normally it's in repeater operation, and can operate under automatic control, but when someone uses the auto-patch, the station is no longer a repeater, but a remotely-controlled base station, and requires a control op. Even querying the controller for the time of day falls into that category. -- Jim Barbour WD8CHL
