Where you'll hear us on the air
DeKalb ARES is heard across the county on two voice repeaters and a dedicated APRS digipeater/iGate. The voice repeaters are part of the W4BOC repeater system operated by the Alford Memorial Radio Club, whose support of DeKalb ARES has been continuous and substantial. The APRS station, W4BOC-1, lives on top of Stone Mountain and is built and maintained by DKARES members.
W4BOC repeater family — courtesy of Alford Memorial Radio Club
The Alford Memorial Radio Club operates a multi-band repeater system under the W4BOC callsign. DKARES uses the primary 2 m machine for the Sunday training net, monthly meetings, and most ARES activations; the backup 2 m repeater, the UHF Yaesu System Fusion machine, and the UHF DMR repeater are all additional options for members and the broader Atlanta amateur community.
| Repeater | Frequency | Mode & tone | Site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary 2 m | 146.760 (−) | FM analog · PL 107.2 | Stone Mountain |
| Backup 2 m | 145.450 (−) | FM analog · PL 107.2 | Exchange Park |
| UHF Fusion | 444.250 (+) | Yaesu System Fusion (AMS) · PL 131.8 | Exchange Park |
| UHF DMR | 441.8125 (+) | DMR · CC 1 · Brandmeister | Stone Mountain |
The UHF Fusion repeater is a Yaesu DR-2X in AMS (Auto Mode Select) — it accepts both analog FM and Yaesu C4FM digital, switching automatically based on the incoming signal.
The DMR repeater joined the Brandmeister network in July 2025, giving any DMR radio access to talkgroups worldwide. Default talkgroups are TS1 = GA Statewide (3113) and TS2 = Atlanta Metro (31131); other talkgroups can be programmed on either time slot. The DMR site also runs an APRS gateway. See AMRC's DMR page for the full code-plug guidance.
Other on-air resources
- Simplex — 146.460 MHz. Used for the monthly simplex segment of the Sunday net and for direct station-to-station communication when the repeater is unavailable.
- EchoLink — W4BOC-R · node 330246. Reaches the 146.760 primary from outside the county footprint; useful for travelers and members who can't directly hit the repeater from where they happen to be.
APRS digipeater & iGate — W4BOC-1
W4BOC-1 is the DeKalb ARES APRS digipeater and iGate, permanently installed at the summit of Stone Mountain. As a digipeater it re-transmits APRS packets it hears on the national APRS frequency (144.390 MHz) to extend coverage across the county; as an iGate it bridges those packets to APRS-IS so they appear on aprs.fi and other internet services.
| Callsign | W4BOC-1 |
| Frequency | 144.390 MHz (APRS, North America) |
| Site | Stone Mountain summit |
| Roles | Digipeater + iGate (RF ↔ APRS-IS) |
| Live status | aprs.fi/info/a/W4BOC-1 → |
The W4BOC-1 station page on aprs.fi shows live position, digipeater statistics, and full battery / charger telemetry — anyone, including non-members, can see whether the station is healthy at any moment.
For the full deployment story — battery, charger, telemetry pipeline, and the underlying power-system upgrade for the Stone Mountain rack — see the April 2026 deployment writeup .