The Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club has received an Icom 2 meter band D-STAR repeater from the Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association, or PARA.  On Saturday November 9th PARA voted and approved a proposal to transfer a D-STAR repeater to our Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club.  This transfer comes with the understanding that we will activate the repeater in the near future.

PARA obtained this D-STAR repeater from the Penn State Amateur Radio Club, a student organization at Penn State University in State College.  That organization had operated the repeater for years as a low-profile D-STAR machine on the PSU campus.  After a change in faculty advisers at PSARC the internet connection was discontinued making this repeater an isolated machine with no access to the outside world.  Usage fell off almost immediately and it sat for several more years unused.  It was gifted to PARA with the understanding they would reactivate it.  After more than a year that has not happened and they are now entrusting CCARC with the task of reactivating the repeater.

PARA operates one additional D-STAR repeater from Philipsburg with the call sign W3PHB on the 70 cm band.  It’s a low-profile machine and currently off the air due to renovations at the TX site.  These two repeaters would be the only D-STAR mode access in Central Pennsylvania.

Looking forward to activating the D-STAR repeater, we already have duplexers lined up.  We are missing a computer for the control operations, an antenna and coax.  It’s a 2 meter band machine and we will operate it on 146.460 MHz +1MHz from a site yet to be finalized.  The repeater itself puts out 25 watts.  We do not have an amplifier but could add one in the future.

More information about this project will be released as it becomes available.