At the 2007 VHF Convention the subject of CTCSS control and access to repeaters got a good hearing.
In the words of Vaughan ZL1TGC the moderator of the VHF FORUM;
“For many at Convention, this was something needing more thought and input, and it was agreed that over the next year a set of standards and national guidelines would be developed. In some areas, the continuing interference from LIPDs was an ongoing problem and in the Hawkes Bay and Christchurch plans were already under way to implement CTSCC on repeater inputs. It was agreed that that provided the CTSCC tone frequency was published in the Call Book, there was nothing to stop this being implemented where needed on repeaters. An interesting development is the use of CTCSS to give a two level squelch for repeater receivers mobiles with CTCSS enabled can open the repeater at say -120dBm, while users without CTCSS would need to be closer or to run higher power to get access”.
It was agreed that Wellington VHF Group would convene a study group on behalf of the VHF/UHF community, with the following objectives;
- consult with and record the views of interested Amateurs
- establish a set of standards
- develop national guidelines
- report and make recommendation to the next VHF Convention
The report on progress was published in the May 2008 issue of Q-Bit. It is now also available online here as a PDF file (100k) - (CTCSS PAPER May 2008).
If you wish to contribute to this important topic please send your comments to either:
E-mail ZL2WA@clear.net.nz, with CTCSS in the subject field
Postal:
CTCSS Study Group
Wellington VHF Group Inc
PO Box 12259
Thorndon
WELLINGTON