Repeaters
WØAK DMRAA club repeaters
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 maintained by membership dues and donations. It is identified by the callsign WØAK and is located in Des Moines at Fleur Drive and Park Avenue. The repeater is a Kenwood TKR-750K2 with a Kenwood KSGPA22512 110 watt PA, TXRX duplexer and a rack mounted 35 amp power supply with battery back-up. The present system was installed January 2014.
The second DMRAA repeater WØAK-2 is located at Veterans Hospital at 30th and Douglas in Des Moines. This repeater is a Motorola GR500 with a TPL model RXR 70 watt PA deck and Sinclair duplexers. This repeater contains a remote base radio (GM300) which allows the repeater to be linked to select UHF repeaters in the Des Moines area. It is connected to the hospital’s dedicated generator circuit. 146.985 – tone 114.8
DMRAA’s third repeater WØAK-3 is a Yeasu Fusion DX-2 located at Broadlawns Medical Center.
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 DMRAA Freq Guide April 2022
Central Iowa VHF nets
There are several VHF nets in central Iowa to check into each week:
Sunday 6:00 p.m. 145.310- 114.8 WIRES-X Net
Sunday 7:00 p.m. 145.390- 114.8 Saylor Township Fellowship Net
Sunday 7:30 p.m. 444.725+ Iowa DMR Sunday Night Users Net
Sunday 7:30 p.m. 29.670- 103.5 PL Iowa Ten Meter Net
Sunday 7:00 p.m. 147.240+ Story County ARES (Ames)
Sunday 8:00 p.m. 146.610- 114.8 PL Central Iowa ARES
Sunday following ARES 146.940- 114.8 PL Central Iowa Technical Net
Sunday 8:00 p.m. 146.850- Boone County ARC (Boone)
Sunday 8:30 p.m. 443.400+ 151.4 PL SW Iowa Amateur Radio Assn. Net (Creston)
Sunday 9:30 p.m. 1972.5 khz Iowa 160M ARES net
Monday 7:00 p.m. 147.015+ 103.5 PL Hamilton County ARES (Webster City)
Monday 7:00 p.m. 146.940- 114.8 PL DMRAA Informational Net (Des Moines)
Monday 8:00 p.m. 145.190- 114.8 PL Dallas County ARES (Perry)
Monday following ARES 145.190- 114.8 PL HARC (Perry)
Wednesday 8:30 p.m. 53.250- Iowa 6 Meter Net 1.7mhz-
Wednesday 7:00 p.m. 147.375+ 114.8 PL Cyclone ARC (Ames)
Wednesday 11:00 p.m. 146.610- 114.8 PL Night Owls Ragchew Net
Thursday 7:00 p.m. 146.940- 114.8 PL Polk County ARES (Des Moines)
Saturday 7:30 a.m. 146.640- 114.8 PL Warren County ARES (Indianola)
DMRAA Net Script click here for the DMRAA Net Script
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 KDØIAN. The KDØIAN system employs 144MHz digital voice, and 440MHz digital voice. The KDØIAN system is funded by members of both clubs as well as generous donations from the Iowa amateur radio community. Click here for the D-Star User Guide v1.4(PDF).
System status can be found at http://kd0ian.dmraa.com. 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 (AEØMW), Larry Vandewater (NØBKB), and Tom Reis (NØVPR).
DMR
Digital mobile radio (DMR) is an open digital mobile radio standard defined in the European Telecom comunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Standard TS 102 361 parts 1–4[1] and used in commercial products around the world. DMR uses two-slot TDMA in a 12.5 kHz channel. The standard has become popular within the amateur radio community due to the relative lower cost and complexity compared to other commercial digital modes.
DMR was designed with three tiers. DMR tiers I and II (conventional) were first published in 2005, and DMR III (Trunked version) was published in 2012, with manufacturers producing products within a few years of each publication.
There are dozens of DMR repeaters across the state of Iowa. There are several in the Des Moines area. If you have access to a DMR repeater, then you have the ability to connect with repeaters in the state or world. In order to use a DMR radio to connect outside the local repeater, you will need to be registered.
To obtain a registration number go to Radio ID https://www.radioid.net/#! and follow the directions under the “Register” tab at the top of the page.
Questions concerning the local DMR system should be directed to Tom Reis, NØVPR or Ray Harden, WØRAY
System Fusion
System Fusion is Yaesu’s implementation of Digital Amateur Radio, utilizing C4FM 4-level FSK Technology to transmit digital voice and data over the Amateur radio bands. In the early 2000’s GMSK emerged in the Amateur radio market as the dominant digital mode, however in 2013 Yaesu introduced “System Fusion” which quickly became the dominating digital format in Amateur radio because of quality, reliability and enhanced performance in a wide range of environments.
Unlike it’s commercial counterpart, System Fusion is an Amateur Friendly Digital Operating mode, straying away from some of the design considerations that make commercial solutions less appealing and more difficult for Amateur Radio Operators, providing a simpler interface and features that meet the demands and needs of the Amateur enthusiast specifically.
APRS
The DMRAA maintains the WØAK APRS digipeater which is located in Des Moines at Fleur Drive and Park Avenue. 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.
