Coordination Policy

Coordination Policy of the Upper New York Repeater Council

It is the applicant's responsibility to supply UNYREPCO with an acceptible operating frequency pair. This applies even if a UNYREPCO official is a participant in the frequency search. The Council will not be responsible for interference resulting from insufficient search methods or conditions that are beyond control of the applicant or the UNYREPCO official who may assist the applicant.

Applicants shall supply UNYREPCO with accurate data about their site, equipment, ERP and other requested information. Any material changes resulting in a change of radio contour must be submitted for reconsideration by the Council.

Coordination standards include but may not be limited to the following rules:

    • The ARRL Band Plans for Repeaters will be utilized by UNYREPCO. The Council on the 70cm band uses the "in high-out low" offset for repeaters with frequency pairs ending in .x50 or .x00. For systems with .x25 or .x75 pairs, the "out high-in low" offset applies. Adjacent councils may modify this plan for the 70cm band (e.g. WNYSORC and WPA use ALL "in high-out low" pairs here). Where applicants exist near the border with these councils, the Coordination Committee may grant an exemption to the rule provided that no lockup conditions can occur with other coordinated repeaters, especially those in UNYREPCO's service area.

    • Repeater-to-repeater distances for 10, 6, 2, and 1.25 meter co-frequency coordinations are 120 miles. This becomes 160 miles for Very High Profile Repeaters (VHPR's) with AMSL at or above 3000 feet. For coordinations at or below 3000 feet AMSL, the Coordination Committee may consider the terrain/ERP factors to achieve a good coordination at a closer distance. Especially flat areas of the state, however, may require a longer distance. (Areas of concern are the Mohawk River Valley due west to Rochester.)

    • For the 70cm and higher bands, co-frequency coordinations are 100 miles minimum distance. This may be extended as experience shows for repeaters at or above 3000 feet AMSL. For coordinations below that level, the Coordination Committee may consider terrain/ERP factors to achieve a good coordination at a closer distance.

    • Adjacent coordinations in the 15KHz bandplan (e.g. on 2 meters) shall be no closer than 30 miles and 15 miles spacing for 20/25/30 KHz adjacent coordinations. (This spacing assumes a state of the art repeater receiver with users limiting their deviation to no more than 5 KHz.)

    • Applicant's transmitter deviation with one CTCSS tone should be limited to 4 KHz. For those systems using 2 CTCSS tones encoded simultaneously, this may be increased to 4.75KHz while two tones are being transmitted. Applicants are strongly encouraged to encode a tone on their outputs to promote the state of the art and to help quiet mobile receivers in today's digital automotive environments, especially where the noise floor can be increased by similar vehicles driving in the same area. This also reduces the startle factor to drivers suddenly hearing an open squelched receiver when another vehicle approaches them with emissions that raise the noise floor on the frequency being monitored.

    • While CTCSS-decoding receiver systems are allowed, the intent of their use is to provide added protection from incidental noise signals or long distance transmissions received during band openings. Trying to close-space repeaters with CTCSS may result in channel blocking of the desired signal by an undesired one and is not considered good practice. The Council does recognize the applicant's right under FCC Rules Part 97.205(e) to limit users. The Council, however, does NOT coordinate CLOSED repeaters where the basic function of repeating a signal is limited to individuals. This policy in no way must be construed to apply to the ancillary functions of the repeater (e.g. Autopatch or Remote Base), where the applicant may request appropriate donation's for the use thereof and limit access to such ancillary functions. This policy does not apply to actions involving improper use of the repeater by individuals who have been ordered not to use the repeater after abusing it. However, a definition of abuse that does not meet societal/FCC Rule norms may be considered as an attempt to 'close' the repeater and may result in the suspension of the Council's coordination. The Coordination Committee has assigned preferred CTCSS tones to various areas of the Council. This information is available from the Secretary.

Coordination Process:

    • Requests for coordination, or changes to existing coordinations, are made on coordination forms available from the Secretary, Coordination Committee, or the Officers of UNYREPCO. Completed forms are returned to the Secretary with a legal-sized S.A.S.E if an acknowledgment is needed by the applicant. The coordination process for UNYREPCO starts with a peer review that includes an inspection of the application against the Official Database. This review is held at generally quarterly meetings held at various places around the Council's geographical area. Some meetings may be cancelled due to lack of coordination activity for that quarter or due to unusually severe weather that may preclude safe travel. The peer review meetings are followed up by a field verification study generally conducted by the repeater owners, UNYREPCO officials, and already-coordinated repeater owners. Additionally, after the peer review results in a 'go-ahead' from the Coordination Committee chairman, the adjacent councils within a 75 mile area of the coordination site are given 30 days to review and veto the coordination. (UNYREPCO was a party in an agreement among adjacent councils to honor each others' vetoes at a meeting in Newington, CT in the late 1980's. The recently formed National Frequency Coordinators' Council will be used to resolve inter-council disputes (UNYREPCO, charter member)). Applications failing the coordination process are returned to the applicant in 60 days of determination of the failed process. The applicant can then amend the application and resubmit to restart the process. Due to the interactions and information obtained in the failed process, the Coordination Committee and Secretary may 'fast track' an amended application should the applicant be able to correct the item that resulted in the initial failed process. This would not require waiting for another full peer review. Other 'fast track' coordination efforts include modification applications for small repeater changes within the original geographical area of the repeater that do not significantly change the repeater's original radio contour towards co-frequency and adjacent frequency repeaters.

The Coordination Paperwork:

    • A Notice of Coordination can only be issued by the Secretary or a majority of the remaining Executive Committee members acting in the Secretary's absence. The Secretary does this by mailing the applicant the Notice of Coordination and applying the coordination data to the UNYREPCO Official Database and Internet Homepage (if in existence). The applicant's coordination is official when either the Internet posting or their receipt of the Notice of Coordination is completed. NO other officer or Coordination Committee member must be allowed to tell an applicant that they have completed a successful coordination process. Should a failure occur to the Internet posting, the Official Database will prevail in all disputes. The Notice of Coordination becomes final ONE year after issuance when the applicant's system has demonstrated interference-free operation during that year after the Notice is received AND the repeater is placed in operation. Any system NOT in operation SIX MONTHS after the Notice is received will nullify the Notice and require a new application for coordination. If a second SIX MONTH lapse of operation occurs after the issuance of the second Notice, the Council must majority vote an approval to accept any further application for that applicant for the system in question. The applicant will give written notice to the Secretary when the repeater system is placed in operation so that the ONE year time period may be duly recorded.

    • All coordinated repeater applicants must notify the Secretary of a significant outage of their system (other than routine maintenance), especially when it may appear that the frequency pair is abandonded. A coordination is nullified after ONE year of terminated service by the applicant's system whether the applicant notifies UNYREPCO or not. UNYREPCO may then consider the frequency pair available for reassignment after giving 60 days written notice to the previous applicant. The Council may also consider other penalties against the previous applicant in consideration of the lack of notice by said applicant to the Council for service termination.