The Utah VHF Society
The
Intermountain
Intertie
The Intermountain Intertie is a more-or-less informal collection
of
repeaters located in northern Utah/Southwestern Wyoming, many of
which
(but not all) are supported in part by the VHF Society. This
system
is a hub-and-spoke system, with the Hidden Peak (the so-called
"Snowbird")
repeater 147.18 (+) repeater acting as one of the hubs. If
you
are
interested in seeing pictures of this repeater and reading
more
about it, go to the Hidden
Peak Repeater page. There is also a page for the
146.86 Medicine
Butte repeater. To look at a growing collection
of
pictures
and info about other repeaters in the Intermountain Intertie, go
to the
Other
Repeaters of the Intermountain Intertie page.
Configuration: Normally, this system is always
linked
to
other repeaters/systems in the network that collectively cover
much of
central and southern Idaho, southwestern Wyoming, northern Utah,
western
and southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona, and northeastern
Nevada.
Etiquette: Because of this extensive geographical
coverage,
please be courteous of others that may be wanting to use the
system,
frequently
leaving time for breaks, and limiting QSOs to no more than 10
minutes
during
the heavier usage times - and it is uncouth to monopolize the
system at
any
time. Keep in mind that it takes a good portion of a second
for
all
of the various links to 'turn around' so be sure to pause for
several
seconds
when you allow for breaks, and key up for about a second before
you say
your first word.
The repeaters directly linked into this
system:
The Hidden Peak Repeater (at the top of the Snowbird tram, at
11,000
feet) has several links. The 'hub' portion 'talks' directly
to
the
following repeaters:
- 147.180 + Tone: 100.0 Hz. Hidden
Peak (East of Salt Lake City, Utah, at the top of
the Snowbird
Tram) - Coverage into Park City, Heber, Duchesne, Coalville,
parts of
northeastern
Utah, southern slopes of the Uinta mountains, and parts of
southwest
Wyoming.
Note: This repeater has spotty coverage in populated areas
of the
Salt Lake and Utah valleys. This repeater is aligned with
the
Utah
VHF Society and is the northern Utah hub of the Intertie.
If you
are interested in seeing pictures of this this repeater
and
reading
more about it, go to the Hidden
Peak Repeater page.
- 147.120 + Tone: 100.0 Hz. Farnsworth
Peak
(southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah) - Coverage into the greater
Wasatch
Front area (i.e. Salt Lake, Provo, Ogden) as well as to the west
along
Interstate 80 into Wendover, Nevada.
- 147.020 + Tone: 100.0 Hz. Bear
Lake (Laketown) - Covers Bear Lake and its
communities, and
various
portions of northeastern Utah, southeastern Idaho, and southwest
Wyoming.
- 146.670 - Tone: 100.0 Hz. Aspen
Mtn
(south of
Rock Springs, Wyoming) - Covers the Green River/Rock Springs
area and
I-80
as far west as Little America and is linked to the system via
the
Medicine Butte repeater.
Please
note: The following repeaters share the
same frequency as
two other Intertie
repeaters, so
please refrain from using any of these three repeaters in
areas
better-serviced by a more "local" intertie repeater.
Also be
aware that the Mount Harrison repeater also shares 145.270
as well.
- 145.270 - Tone: 100.0 Hz. Scott's
Hill (approx. 2 miles south of Brighton,
Utah.)
Coverage
is nearly identical to that of the Hidden Peak repeater,
except
that it has somewhat better coverage in Park City, Deer Valley,
and in
the Evanston/Kemmerer, Wyoming areas.\
- 145.270 - Tone: 103.5 Hz
Levan
Peak
(central Utah, near Levan.) The
primary
coverage area of this repeater is along the Interstate
15
corridor from Santaquin to south of Fillmore. It
covers large
portions
Juab and Sanpete counties plus portions of Utah,
Tooele, and Millard
counties.
The link to the south:
Until fairly recently, the link connecting Northern and
Southwestern
Utah was done on the 222 MHz band, linking Frisco Peak and Hidden
Peak.
While the equipment is still present at both sites, the linking is
now
done on 70cm between Frisco Peak and the 147.12 site on Farnsworth
Peak.
Some of the repeaters linked on this path are aligned with the
Utah
VHF Society, while some others are voluntarily linked into the
system
by
their respective organizations and owners. Through the
southern
link,
the following repeaters are also connected:
- Southwest Utah:
- 146.940 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Frisco
Peak (Milford,
Utah)
This repeater covers Delta, Cedar City, and other parts of
southwestern
Utah and eastern Nevada. This repeater is aligned with
the Utah
VHF
Society. Photographs of this and a few other sites may
be found here.
- 146.800 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Blowhard
Peak
( Near Cedar Breaks National Monument) - Covers parts of
southwestern
Utah
such as Cedar City, Kanab, some of eastern and
southeastern
Nevada,
and portions of northwestern Arizona.
- 146.820 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
St
George
(Utah
Hill, west of St George) - Covers St. George, parts of
southwestern
Utah,
southeastern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona. This
repeater is
aligned
with the Utah VHF Society.
- Southeast/Central Utah:
- 146.960 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Navajo
Mountain (east of Page, AZ) - Covers most of
Lake Powell
and large areas of southern Utah
as well as Northern Arizona. By local option, this repeater may not always be
linked to the Intertie.
- Southeast Nevada:
- 146.880 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Las
Vegas
(Mt.
Potosi, SW of Las Vegas) - Covers Las Vegas, southeastern
Nevada.
- Northern Arizona:
- 146.300 +
Tone: 100.0 Hz
Jacob Lake (south of
Fredonia, AZ) - Covers portions of southern Utah and
northwestern Arizona.
- Links into California: There are UHF
remote
bases in
California that control their systems to bring up the 146.880 Mt
Potosi
repeater. These California Remote bases are only controlled by
them and
2 meter control back to California is not available to users of
the
Intermountain
Intertie or the Mt Potosi Repeater group.
The link to the north:
There is an additional link that connects to the north into a
similar
system operated in Idaho. The link to the north into Idaho
connects
these repeaters:
|
Current status of the
Intermountain
Intertie:
Hidden Peak:
The Hidden Peak (a.k.a. Snowbird) repeater is currently
online.
Links to the north:
Since the installation of the War Eagle repeater on
145.230,
coverage into Boise is once again available.
Links to the south:
As of late 2011, some of the links in and out of Levan
Peak are offline and it is not possible to fully-connect
it to the Intertie.
As of March, 2012 is is reported that the Jacob Lake
repeater (147.30+) is linked to the intertie.
Connectivity into Montana has changed.
Please
refer
to the Montana
Repeater Link
Association
web site for further information.
IRLP Connectivity: Direct connectivity to IRLP
Node #3660 is currently NOT
available. Please
read this
for more information.
Note: While many of the participating
systems
are usually
linked into the Intermountain intertie, they may be
occasionally
disconnected
due to local requirements.
For more information, send email to John, K7JL (at
the link
below)
and he will forward your request to the appropriate
party.
|
- Idaho:
- 146.850 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Jumpoff
Peak (west of Howe - Serves Idaho Falls.)
This is the
Idaho
hub for the intertie. For pictures and other info.
about this
repeater, go here.
- 146.430 Simplex remote, Carrier Squelch, near
Malad
Pass (west of Malad, Idaho.)
- 145.270 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Mount
Harrison (southern Idaho) For pictures
and other
info.
about this repeater, go here.
Note
that this repeater shares the same frequency as the Scott's
Hill
and Levan Peak repeaters - also linked via the
intertie: Please
be aware of this when in an area where overlap between these
systems is
possible!
- 145.230 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
Sawtelle
Peak (near West Yellowstone) Go here
for some pictures and more info about this repeater.
- 145.230 - Tone: 100.0 Hz.
War
Eagle Mountain (near Silver City) This site
provides
coverage
into the Boise area as well as much of southwestern
Idaho. Yes,
it uses the same frequency and tone as the Sawtelle Peak
repeater.
- Montana - Please note that links to the
Intermountain
Intertie and Montana are through Idaho (refer to
map)
so
connectivity
to Montana is dependent on the status of portions of the Idaho
link.
Also note that links into Montana have changed: For more
information, visit
the Montana Repeater
Link
Association
web site. Please direct any "Montana-related" questions to
the
email
address(es) at that site.
Occasionally, connectivity into Oregon (and other
areas)
is possible. This can happen when operators of those other
systems
remotely link into an intertie-connected repeater. Note:
Such
operations are not usually under direct control of the
operator(s)
of an intertie repeater.
There are other repeaters that may be linked to the above
repeaters
on a full or part-time basis. Information on other
repeaters will
be posted if/when it becomes available.
"Who maintains all of this?"
A system this extensive cannot practically be maintained by just
one
person. Suffice it to say, there are a few key people who do
most
of the work to keep this system operational. To list those
people
here would be unfair, as it is a group effort and someone would
undoubtedly
be overlooked.
If you wish to help maintain this system, please join the Utah
VHF
Society
(the address is given on the home
page) or the appropriate local repeater group (for those
outside of
Utah.) If you have any questions about this system, feel free to
ask John
Lloyd, K7JL. Even if he isn't in charge of the
repeater(s)
that
you are wondering about (i.e. the Southern Utah, Idaho or Montana
repeaters),
he can probably put you in touch with those who are
.
Current Intermountain
Intertie
projects:
The following is an incomplete list of projects
that were completed recently and those that are
currently underway having to do with the maintenance and
enhancement of
the Intermountain Intertie.
- Levan Peak: As
of
October 15, 2007, this repeater - and its links - were
completely
operational but as of late 2011, one of the links has failed and
Levan Peak cannot be fully connected to the Intertie.
- Farnsworth Peak:
There are currently issues with on-site desense on 2
meters. Due to the lack of winter access, these cannot be
addressed until summer.
- Medicine Butte (about
10
miles northeast of Evanston, Wyoming):
In mid 2011, this site seemed to go off the air, but upon
investigation it was discovered that the small building to which
the antenna mast was connected had blown over in the wind.
Upon righting the building and loading it with ballast (large
rocks) the site returned to normal operation.
- Blowhard and Frisco Peaks: In mid 2011, the UHF
link radios at these sites were replaced, allowing better
frequency re-use, improving link margins and solving some
ongoing interference problems.
If YOU are interested in helping out with any of
these
projects, please contact John
Lloyd,
K7JL.
Some additional information may be found at the Rainbow
Canyons Amateur Radio Club page describing this system.
This
site also contains pictures
of some of the sites. Also, see the Other
Repeaters of the Intermountain Intertie page.
Questions, updates, or comments pertaining to this web page
may
be
directed to: uvhfs@utahvhfs.org
This page was last updated on 20120313
Return to the Utah VHF
Society
homepage.
