Rules and Operating Practices

• Emergency Traffic: protection against the immediate loss of life, bodily injury or imminent damage to property.
• Priority Traffic: urgent matters, if not handled in a timely manner, that may become an emergency in nature, or other traffic that falls below Emergency Traffic but above Routine Traffic.
• System Testing and Maintenance: the repeater is maintained by volunteers who have regular jobs just like you. Sometimes maintenance must take place at a time that may inconvenience operators. Remember, this is amateur radio, not a public utility.
• Public Service and Scheduled Nets : these operations are time driven and need to take place during the scheduled time of the event or the scheduled net time.
• General Use: last, least, and only if other traffic is not in occurrence.

Control Operators : Control Operators are amateur radio operators designated by the owner/operator of the repeater to control its operation. This includes FCC Rule enforcement and rules established by the owner/operator. Let control operators handle interference problems and repeater rule enforcement. Control operators do have the authority and responsibility to alter the rules of operation to meet temporary requirements.

• Do not acknowledge transmissions from unlicensed stations causing interference.
• Do not discuss interference on the radio. Discussing interference only encourages those who desire to cause problems to others.
• Do not discuss problems of the Intertie on other repeaters. We do not want their problems on our repeater, so we should not take our problems to their repeater.

• Follow all applicable FCC Rules. Be a courteous operator. Lead others by example. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Listen to see if there is an ongoing QSO before making a call.
• Identify yourself with your call sign at the beginning of your transmission and then as required by the FCC. Until a station identifies itself, control operators will consider the station an unlicensed station. Be proud of your call sign; use it.
• Use your call sign to enter an ongoing QSO or if you need to make a contact and are unable to wait until the QSO is complete. Do NOT break into an ongoing QSO unless you really need to or have something to add. Interrupting is no more polite on the air than it is in person.
• The word BREAK indicates emergency or priority traffic. Relinquish the frequency immediately. Failure to comply may lead to you losing your repeater privileges.
• Wait until you hear the courtesy tone before transmitting. This allows the repeater timer to reset and not cut you off in the middle of a transmission.
• Keep QSOs short! Due to the large number of users, it is necessary to have this system operate on the short contact, not rag chew type operation. Do not tie up the Intertie with a local QSO. Take the repeater off the link or move to another repeater or just move to a simplex frequency.
• Refrain from using "CB Lingo". We are Amateur Radio Operators and should be proud that we have earned the privilege to transmit on amateur bands. Amateurs have created their own lingo: 73, 88, handle (yes, handle is ham lingo), and others. Listen to some mature hams (not necessarily the ones you hear talking all the time) and emulate them. Mature hams should offer to be an "Elmer" (another ham term) to new hams. Direct them down the path to good operating practices.