Announcement: W3OC Repeater System Now Has The Ability To Repeat Emergency Alerts And Warnings

The W3OC repeater system now has the ability to repeat emergency alerts and warnings issued by the National Weather Service that they broadcast on 162.55 Mhz.

Alerts will be repeated on both 147.120 and 442.250 repeaters in real time. It will NOT be repeated on the 441.975 digital repeater. The controller will treat the alerts as a priority message and will keep the transmitters on until the end of their message.

The NWS tests their alert system every Wednesday at 11:00 am Eastern time. I ask that you listen for the alert so you become familiar with the sound when it happens. The controller will return to normal operation 8 seconds after the end of the National Weather Service transmission.

Currently the 442.250 repeater is off the air due to not having an antenna and also an issue within the repeater. We will work to get it back on the air as soon as we get new antennas installed for both UHF repeaters.

Due to the coverage area of our repeaters, we have the weather receiver set to respond to alerts for: Allegheny, Westmoreland, Butler, Washington, Fayette and Beaver counties.

I hope you find this feature helpful. We all have cell phones that provide alerts, but sometimes they don’t work and also you may find yourself without cell coverage. So if our system helps just one person, it’s worth it.

If you have any questions or comments, please forward them to me.

Jim Bricker N3JHB
President