Welcome to the SCARS Website

In recent past, our repeater was recognized as The Friendliest Repeater in the Southeast. While this accolade does not go unnoticed or unappreciated, it's sometimes important for us to take a step back and remember all the people who make this recognition possible.

First, without was great technical team who takes the time to maintain the repeaters, who knows what the day to day status of our repeaters would be. Additionally without our team, our repeaters would not have the footprint that we enjoy. Currently it reaches all of north central Florida and coast to coast. North and south this includes roughly from the I-10 corridor all the way down to the Orlando / Kissimmee area.

Next it goes without saying that the 146.970 MHz repeater is one of the highest repeaters in all of Florida and maybe even the southeast with antennas located at around 1000 feet above the ground. The only antennas in the southeast that may be higher would be those antennas located on top of a mountain. For this we are thankful and appreciate all those who negotiate and maintain our space on the tower.

Here's an interesting fact: The footprint of the 146.970 MHz repeater coverage area is more than 5 times larger than the entire State of Rhode Island. According to Wikipedia, Rhode Island is 48 miles North to South and 37 miles East to West or 1,545 sq mi including land and water. (Square Miles of the Repeater Coverage using the formula to calculate the area of a circle π times r² where r is estimated to be 60 miles)

Last and certainly not least are the all people who use the repeater. Your station operations within the FCC Part 97 rules and guidelines, your willingness to pitch in and help others or offer some advise where and when you can and your general friendliness are all key elements that make this recognition possible and it's what new hams are looking for. Also we acknowledge all those who go out of their way to host ham radio events and bring our group together for dinners, hamfests, field day and any other event. Your time and efforts do not go unnoticed.

In a recent Email from John (KA4WJA) he wrote:

I just wanted to pass-on some updated info on the 146.970 repeater to some of you... most of which you might already be aware of, but since I put this info on-line, and tried to make it concise / easily understandable by those new to repeaters and/or new to the area, I thought you all might find it interesting as well as pass these links onto others so they'll see what we're doing.

Take a moment to read some of the below messages posted in the eham.com forums. I think the information in these messages is important and relevant as to why other hams call our repeater the best repeater in the southeast.

For a good deal of info and some pics, images, coverage maps, Goggle Earth maps, etc...have a look here at these eham posts:

Each message includes more information. Just read down to the bottom of each thread.


• Reply #21


• Reply #24

And, for a bit more background info and more pics, coverage maps, etc... have a look here:

• Reply #16


• Reply #18

Sometimes we take for granted all the time, work, expertise and money that goes into maintaining the 146.970 MHz repeater. By simply using the repeater and enjoying it's vast capabilities, it's clear that you appreciate the time and hard work of everyone involved. It's nice to show your appreciation by a simple Thank You.

Have you ever wanted a GeoChron type program but didn't want to spend up to $500 or even more to purchase the software. Now there are 2 alternatives that are both nice pieces of software in their own right.

Simon's World Map

Click on the image for a larger view

The first is Simon's World Map which is also an SDR software package. It runs on a PC and is highly configurable and includes features like satellite tracking (almost every satellite you can imagine), rotor control, solar weather, moon phases, Maidenhead Squares, CQ and ITU Zones, Sunrise and Sunset and a lot more.

The current release is 1.40 and was released on Sunday, February 4th, 2024. What it does not include right now are live DX Spots but they are working on it. The cost is FREE but they do ask for donations.

The second is HamClock and it runs on either Raspberry Pi or Linux. It too is highly configurable and includes DX Spots, a live contest list, visual solar spots, POTA and a lot more. The down side is that have to purchase a Raspberry Pi computer (about $125) and you need to learn the operate and install software on a Unix type of operating system. The cost for this software is also FREE.

I run both programs and like them both equally. Visually, I like the dispay on the Simon's World Map better. However, I like the features of the HamClock software because of the DX spots.

I have compiled and run the HamClock software on a Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 (8GB RAM) running the Raspberry Pi OS, on a Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 (8GB RAM) running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and 24.04 LTS and a PC running Ubuntu Linux 22.04 LTS. Currently I am running HamClock on a small Celeron PC (8GB RAM) with Ubuntu Linux at 2400x1440 resolution mainly because I found the Raspberry Pi platform to be a bit sluggish if you only have 4GB of RAM, especially if the app was run at the highest screen resolution (3200 x 1920).

Side Note: I found Ubuntu to be a bit limited when running on the Raspberry Pi hardware. If you want to run Ubuntu do it one a PC based computer. Some of the apps don't work properly. Google Chrome will not load at all. Hopefully these issues will be addressed.

Grid Tracker
UPDATE: June 13, 2024

Click on the image for a larger view

I found another nice program. Grid Tracker. I haven't had a chance to look into it but I've included the link so you can try it out.

You decide what's best for you.