Occasionally we get messages from repeater trustees who are upset when they find out their existing repeater coordination is invalid the instant they move their repeater to a new location or make a change that increases the coverage footprint.
This should not come as a surprise. Coordinations have always been issued for a specific location based on the height and Effective Radiated Power. The entire point of being coordinated is to protect YOUR repeater’s coverage footprint from being interfered with by other repeaters. We can only do this if we know the CURRENT operating parameters and location.
In the past 10 years the number of repeaters on both 2 meters and 70 cm has increased along with the demand for coordinated frequencies. What happens when your repeater that was coordinated at 50 watts and 50 feet suddenly moves to a 400 foot tower miles away from it’s original location – and you didn’t apply for a new coordination BEFORE the move? Well, you might be encroaching on another repeater on the same pair. Or, at some point in the future we might issue coordination to another repeater at a distance that would have been OK for your previous 50 foot location but does not work well with your 400 foot location.
At the end of the day, repeater coordination is here to help you protect your investment and to help make sure there aren’t interference issues that could have been avoided – by being properly coordinated.
If your repeater has been re-located or the height above ground or ERP has changed since your coordination was issued, please submit a new coordination request and include the frequencies in the “additional info” box.
“Update Existing Coordination” is for clerical updates like a change of a club repeater’s trustee, new phone number, and other things that don’t change the RF footprint of the repeater.
“New Coordination” should be used any time the coverage footprint has changed.