Repeaters & Packet
DMRAA club repeater
The Des Moines Radio Amateurs Association maintains an analog 2-meter repeater on 146.940 (negative shift) with a PL tone of 114.8. This repeater is funded by membership dues and donations and is identified by the callsign W0AK.
Central Iowa repeater guide
Trying to figure out the local repeater frequencies and tone codes for the central Iowa area? Look no further as we’ve compiled a downloadable list for you. Click here for the central Iowa frequency guide (PDF).
For information on the Mid-Iowa SKYWARN linked system, click here.
D-STAR
The DMRAA, in conjunction with the Des Moines Amateur Radio Technical Society (ARTS), established Iowa’s first D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) repeater system and is located in Grimes under the callsign KD0IAN. The KD0IAN system employs 144MHz digital voice, 440MHz digital voice and 1.2GHz digital data. The KD0IAN system is funded by members of both clubs as well as generous donations from the Iowa amateur radio community. Click here for a guide for getting started on the KD0IAN system (PDF).
System status and gateway registration can be found at https://kd0ian.dstargateway.org/. It is recommended that users register for gateway use with their nearest repeater. You only need to register once to use the gateway on any D-STAR repeater.
Questions regarding the D-STAR system should be directed to administrators Mike Waldron (AE0MW), Larry Vandewater (N0BKB), Tom Reis (N0VPR), and Dean Madsen (N0XR).
APRS
Iowa uses the nationally-recognized APRS frequency of 144.39. There are numerous digipeaters and i-gates spread throughout central Iowa.For a map of recent APRS activity in Des Moines, click here.
