Repeater History

The original repeater was put into service in the late 1960's or early 70's by VE3BYP, Len. It started out on 146.940 but was changed to the present frequency of 147.120. The first repeater was located on a 60' tower in Len's backyard, and was later moved to the western Thames Tower apartment building on Grand Avenue in Chatham.

In the mid 1970's, a provincial grant became available through Wintario, and the club members worked hard to match these funds. The homebuilt repeater was then exchanged for a new Spectrum VHF machine. It was moved to its present home on the CBC/TVO facility in the fall of 1978, where it was maintained by the site technician.

The VE3COZ repeater system was an offshoot from original club plans. It's located on the CKSY-FM tower, and maintained by former station owner VE3IJB, Carl. This site also hosts the VA3KCR and APRS machines.

VE3KCR is the club's flagship repeater. With an AHAAT of 570' and over 2 kilowatts of ERP, this machine offers wide coverage across Southern Ontario and parts of Michigan and Ohio. There are currently 8 remote receive sites, and another one planned for London.

The CKARC boasts of 5 voice repeaters in Chatham, an APRS repeater, and simplex nodes for EchoLink and IRLP. Each repeater has its own page with additional information.