Repeaters

SEMARA owns and operates three analog voice repeaters, plus an APRS digipeater station.  These four systems are situated at the rear of club property below a 180 foot multiple tenant communications tower.  SEMARA, which has exclusive rights to the top of the tower, has dedicated 1-5/8″ Andrews Heliax feedlines for its systems.

The tower also hosts numerous wireless providers through Blue Sky via a lease agreement, including AT&T Mobility, DISH Wireless, T-Mobile US and Verizon Wireless.  Several public safety and commercial systems including repeaters for the Dartmouth Fire Department (District 1) and Tremblay’s Bus Company, plus a voted receiver for the Dartmouth Police Department‘s digital P25 repeater are also located on this tower.

For more information on one of SEMARA’s systems, simply click on its link to jump to a full description:


147.000 Dartmouth Repeater

SEMARA proudly owns and operates the 147.000 Dartmouth Repeater.  It carries the club call sign of W1AEC.  It is open to all radio amateurs without requiring membership.  This is a wide-area coverage full service 100 watt repeater with an antenna height of about 150 feet above average terrain (HAAT).  Fixed and mobile station coverage includes most areas south of Boston, the western half (Upper Cape) of Cape Cod and the islands, plus Providence and most of eastern Rhode Island.

In times of real emergencies, all normal communications must cease to allow for priority traffic.  This repeater is affiliated with Massachusetts RACES (Region 2, Sector A).  Our sector’s on-air RACES drill is held on this repeater the first Monday of each month at 7:30pm.  It also serves as a backup for Eastern Massachusetts ARES/SKYWARN (primary is the 145.490 Dartmouth repeater sponsored by SMARG).  The repeater has auxiliary power, with the ability to stay on the air for days at a time without commercial power.  If the site’s primary 120 VAC commercial power is lost, the 100 watt amplifier is automatically bypassed via a relay and the repeater runs at 20 watts output to conserve battery power.

Extending coverage beyond the limits of RF, this repeater system supports the the VoIP networks of IRLP and EchoLink for inbound and outbound connections.  These two networks allow any amateur using the repeater to link to other amateurs across the country or around the world.  The internet connection is provided by Comcast Business and is supplied to the repeater site building from the clubhouse via a Point-to-Point (PtP) 5 GHz wireless bridge.  Like the repeater itself, all amateurs are welcome to use these links without requiring membership.  The DTMF access codes for IRLP and EchoLink are standard.  Simply enter the node number for IRLP or star (*) plus the node number for EchoLink and “73” disconnects either connection.  Please note that after 20 minutes of local inactivity, the connection will timeout and any active link will be automatically terminated.

Repeater Details

Location: Blue Sky Communications Tower
54 Donald Street
Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Established: 1974
Call Sign: W1AEC
Formerly WR1ADR
Band: 2 Meters (VHF)
Output Frequency: 147.000 MHz
Input Frequency: 147.600 MHz (+600 kHz)
CTCSS (PL) In/Out: 67.0 Hz
Output Power: 100 Watts (20 Watts Auxiliary)
IRLP Node: 4210
EchoLink Node: 4210 (W1AEC-R)
Default Link Status: Unlinked

Equipment Used

Repeater: KENWOOD TKR-750 Version 1
1974 – Homebrew Equipment
1984 – Kendecom KRP 5000
1/2001 – Motorola Micor
7/2004 – Hi Pro R4V/EV1
12/2005 – KENWOOD TKR-750
Controller: S-COM 7330
Antenna: Tram 1481
Duplexer: Bird Technologies/TX RX Systems
Battery Backup: Yes

224.800 Dartmouth Repeater

Repeater Details

Location: Blue Sky Communications Tower
54 Donald Street
Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Established: 2011
Call Sign: W1AEC
Band: 1.25 Meters (VHF)
Output Frequency: 224.800 MHz
Input Frequency: 223.200 MHz (-1.6 MHz)
Input Frequency (Aux): 438.800 MHz (+214 MHz)
CTCSS (PL) In/Out: 67.0 Hz
Output Power: 30 Watts
IRLP Node: 4215
EchoLink Node: 4215 (W1AEC-L)
Remote Base: 16 Channel UHF
Motorola GM300
Default Link Status: Unlinked


Equipment Used

Repeater: BridgeCom Systems ComLink™ BCR-220
4/13/2011 – Hi Pro R1
7/16/2015 – BridgeCom BCR-220
Controller: S-COM 7330
Antenna: NRG Comet CX-333
Duplexer: Bird Technologies/TX RX Systems
Battery Backup: No

927.8375 Dartmouth Repeater

Repeater Details

Location: Blue Sky Communications Tower
54 Donald Street
Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Established: 9/19/2009 – Motorola MSF5000
Call Sign: W1AEC
Band: 33 Centimeters (UHF)
Output Frequency: 927.8375 MHz
Input Frequency: 902.0625 MHz (-25.775 MHz)
CTCSS (PL) Input: 77.0 Hz
CTCSS (PL) Output: 67.0 Hz
Output Power: 150 Watts
IRLP Node: 4617
EchoLink Node: none
Default Link Status:
NEAR-900 Network

(Click here and scroll to

9125 to see who’s linked)

144.390 Dartmouth APRS Digipeater

The SEMARA APRS station is running on a Kantronics TNC and Motorola GM300 loaned by Jeff, AJ1L.  It’s antenna is located at the top of our 180 foot tower along with the repeaters.  At one time, we had iGate functionality and this might be restored at some point in the future with new hardware.