What is a Repeater?
Repeaters serve a special role in the Amateur Radio community during both normal and emergency operations. Typically operated by a club or experienced ham operators with access to a tower or other high location, a repeater retransmits a signal received at one frequency onto another. This allows any properly authorized and licensed operators to communicate across much farther distances than would otherwise be possible without using a more powerful transmitter.
Another useful feature of repeaters is that their frequencies are well known and rarely change. This allows operators to quickly establish communications and coordinate with each other. Under normal conditions, the repeater might just be used by 2 or 3 hams to shoot the breeze. In an emergency, though, most areas will have one or two designated repeaters that are used to pass important information back and forth to law enforcement and other agencies.