The BARRA Repeaters at a Glance
 

Freq: Offset: Call: Location: PL/Notes: Services:
29.68
(-)
WB2JQK Boston, NY PL 107.2 Hz Voice
145.17
(-)
K2ISO Wethersfield, NY None Voice
146.73
(-)
KD2GBR Wheatfield, NY D-Star DV Voice
146.91
(-)
W2EUP Boston, NY PL 100.0 Hz Voice
147.00
(+)
K2LED Kenmore, NY PL 107.2 Hz Voice
224.82
(-)
N2ZDU Boston, NY PL 107.2 Voice
442.00
(+)
WR2AHL Wethersfield, NY PL 110.9 Hz Voice
444.00
(+)
WA2HKS Buffalo, NY None Voice/Echolink
444.75
(+)
WB2DSS Kenmore, NY PL 151.4 Hz Voice
444.8375
(+)
KD2GBR Wheatfield, NY D-Star DV Voice
444.9625
(+)
WB2FXY Boston, NY DMR Voice

The BARRA Repeaters In-Depth:

W2EUP/R 146.91 & N2ZDU/R 224.82


Located on club-owned property in the town of Boston, NY, this system is all solid-state, computer controlled and is powered by 12 volts DC, derived from commercial mains and backed up by batteries.The microprocessor-based computer system was designed, constructed, and programmed by club members, controlling all equipment at the site. The Boston site is the switching hub for all repeater links between BARRA repeaters and outside systems. Elevation is 1,640 feet above sea level and there are two self-supporting towers on the site.

The 146.31/91 repeater and the 223.22/224.82 N2ZDU machine are housed at this site. Also located at this site is the receiver for the WB2JQK 29.68 10 meter repeater. The 224.82 and 29.68 repeaters can be linked together, as well as to the WA2HKS (444.00) repeater. The on-site computer system provides an extremely flexible linking system to all repeaters connected through it.

Sunday, September 8, 2019 saw the completion of the Cole Road tower replacement project. The last of the antennas and feedlines from the original west tower were moved to the new tower and the old tower was taken down, completing a very long project that started back in January of 2017 when the top section of the original tower broke and folded over in unprecedented 70+ MPH winds.  Thanks to the efforts of our site coordinator, Jan Jarecki, WB2FXY, and his helpers a new tower was sourced – with huge thanks for its donation from Bob Schober, K2CRR – and erected. Donations from interested members and friends of BARRA helped to finance new antennas and hardware, the concrete base for the tower and physical plant improvements to the A-frame building at the site to make the systems located there more reliable than ever.

We have found vastly improved coverage on the 146.910 repeater with it being raised back to 90′. The W2BRW DMR repeater was upgraded with 7/8″ hard line and an 8 dB commercial antenna which has proven to almost give handheld coverage in Southern and Central Erie County. The N2ZDU 220 repeater suffered a transmitter problem but was repaired under warranty and will be back on the air soon. Once that is online we will get some coverage reports from its users.

Click for a great view from the east tower taken by BARRA member N2ZDU during the summer of 2005. Click on the site picture at left for a full-size (640K) view of the shack and west tower, and the Field Day 2005 gang hard at work.

 


444.9625 WB2FXY

The Boston 444.9625 repeater is located in the Town of Boston and hosted at the Buffalo Amateur Radio Repeater Association (BARRA) site.  This is club-owned land and is located at 1,640 ASL. The repeater is a Motorola XPR 8300 which has a split TX/RX antenna system. The TX side is currently a Comet GP-15 antenna at 60′ on the west tower fed by LMR-400. The RX side is part of a combined antenna system fed by 7/8″ Heliax and a tower mounted 10 dB preamp. The repeater is connected to a cbridge which allows us to link to Brandmesiter/DMR-Marc/Independent DMR networks. The current available talk groups along with some sample code plugs are available at www.w2brw.net


 

KD2GBR 146.13/73 and 444.8375/449.8375

For many years the 146.73 repeater was located on Grand Island along the Niagara River then relocated a few miles north to Niagara Falls, NY. Its present site is nearby in Wheatfield, NY, at an historic (1922) site that was originally the location of broadcast station WMAK (forerunner of WBEN) and later Inland Marine Radio station WBL (http://www.imradioha.org/WBL.htm).

In January 2014, the original GE MastrII equipment was replaced by interested members of BARRA with Icom digital voice D-Star equipment, for both the 146.73 VHF and a new UHF repeater on 444.8375. The new hardware provides D-Star compatible repeater operation, including cross-band operation. See QRZ.com for more information.


WA2HKS/R 449/444.00

The 444 repeater main rack Overall 444 Site

Located on the Main Street campus of the State University of New York at Buffalo, this repeater is a versatile and reliable machine providing linking capabilities to the Boston, Wethersfield and TFMCS repeaters, as well as having a four-site voted receiver system, backup transmitter, backup battery power, and a wide coverage area. Also located at this site is the transmitter for the AB2UK 29.68 repeater. Activity on the 444 machine is virtually continuous – one can find area hams rag chewing at almost any hour. The equipment at this site is almost entirely home-brew; from controller and well-known female identifier to most of the RF components, Ted Ertl, WA2HKS, has constructed or has specially modified every piece of equipment associated with this site.


K2ISO/R 144.57/17

This repeater is located at the mountain transmitter site of WTSS FM (107.7) in Wyoming county at an elevation of over 2,000 feet. The repeater antenna is 400 feet above ground level on a community antenna system and provides excellent coverage from Buffalo to Rochester and well into the Southern Tier. The repeater equipment at this site is comprised of Motorola products and features emergency power capabilities.


WR2AHL/R 447/442.00
This BARRA repeater is located at the Wethersfield site with the 145.17 machine and has similar coverage as the K2ISO repeater. A PL tone of 110.9 is required to use this repeater.

Buffalo Amateur Radio Repeater Association, Inc.
Post Office Box 507
North Tonawanda, NY 14120-0507