Analog repeaters
The primary repeater for the Helena area is 147.22+ and it requires a tone of 100.0. You may hear it referred to as “Belmont” due to it’s location on Mt. Belmont, 20 miles northwest of Helena.
The Tuesday night ARES net is at 1930 on this repeater. Anyone is welcome to check in.
This repeater is accessible via Echolink, but only while the ARES net is in operation. Connect to W7MRI-L, node 160014.
If this repeater is not operating, nets switch to 147.50 simplex.
Montana Repeater Link Association
MRLA (pronounced “marla”) is a statewide ham radio repeater linking system. This system can be connected to other linked repeaters outside of Montana.
- 145.45- (“Hogback”, tone: 100.0). It is a MRLA link. It is located on Hogback Mountain, 25 miles northeast of Helena.
- 147.32+ (tone: 100.0). This is also a MRLA link, and is located in Townsend, 30 miles southeast of Helena.
Digital repeaters
All are Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) and are on the Brandmeister worldwide DMR network.
- 147.10+ on MacDonald Pass, 15 miles west of Helena.
- 444.10+ also on MacDonald Pass.
- 448.90- on Helena’s ‘north hill’.
- 449.20- near Boulder, 20 miles south of Helena.
More on the DMR repeaters can be found here and here.
Since DMR talk groups are usable on all repeaters, the most common local talk groups are:
- MPRG1: talk group 31301, color code 1, time slot 2
- MPRG2: talk group 31302, color code 1, time slot 1
A complete list of talk groups can be found here.