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2- Selecting a repeater

Using RepeaterBook​

It is likely you are in range of one or more amateur radio repeaters. A very handy tool to identify them is RepeaterBook. You can use RepeaterBook to search for repeaters in your region.

For example, at time of writing this guide, searching for "Montreal" yields multiple results1. In this guide, we will be using the VE2MRC FM VHF repeater whose antennas are located on top of Cégep de Rosemont in Montreal2.

Figure 1: RepeaterBook map for Montreal 1 (screenshot)

You want that both you and the person you want to communicate with over the repeater are in range of the repeater. In some cases, even when you are in the stated range in distance, communication is still difficult or impossible due to poor wave propagation.

What information to look for​

Once you've chosen a repeater you want to communicate with, you need to identify the following information about it:

  • downlink frequency (usually given in MHz)
  • offset (difference between the uplink and the downlink frequency)
  • uplink tone, if any
tip

Most repeaters use uplink tones, tones that must be heard by the repeater to trigger retransmission. Some don't (like the Concordia University station VE2RCU) and others use different mechanisms to come to the same result such as DMR color codes3 but those are outside the scope of this guide.

All the necessary information is displayed in the repeater detail view on RepeaterBook.

Figure 2: Details for VE2MRC on RepeaterBook4 (screenshot)

Footnotes​

  1. “RepeaterBook,” Repeaterbook.com, 2026. https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/map_v2/map.php?maptype=location&state_id=ca10&type=city&loc=montreal (accessed July 17, 2026). ↩ ↩2

  2. M. Landry, “Club Radioamateur Ve2mrc | Club Radioamateur Ve2mrc,” Ve2mrc.com, 2021. https://ve2mrc.com/ (accessed July 17, 2026). ↩

  3. KD6KPC, “DMR [RepeaterBook Wiki],” Repeaterbook.com, Dec. 11, 2024. https://www.repeaterbook.com/wiki/doku.php?id=dmr (accessed July 17, 2026). ↩

  4. “Repeater Details,” Repeaterbook.com, 2026. https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/details.php?state_id=ca10&id=10236 (accessed July 17, 2026). ↩