The WG6OTA repeater can be found at 449.160 MHz with a standard offset of minus 5 MHz and a CTCSS tone of 77.0 Hz. The repeater also broadcasts a tone at 77.0 Hz for those wishing to use tone squelch. It is connected to Echolink Node #: 106963 and Allstar Node #: 569430. It is connected to grid power and has full backup power if needed.
Listen to the repeater active feed on “Broadcastify”: GOTAhams Amateur Radio Repeater WG6OTA
Nets
Nightly Net – 7:30pm (PST). The GOTAhams host a round table net every night except the second Thursday of each month, which is our Club Meeting. Every night has a different topic for discussion. You can discuss the topic or just tell us about your day. Any licensed amateur can join, you do not need to be a club member.
Marconi Net – 1900 (UTC) usually on the second Saturday of most months. The WG6OTA repeater will be linked to the GB3IW repeater in the UK. The KS7MC repeater in Arizona may also be linked during these nets.
Special Event Nets – Occasionally the repeater is used for special events such as the Covina Christmas Parade, Tour de Foothills, which are closed nets, for use by only the stations assigned to the net. Other events like J.O.T.A. and the Great Shakeout are open to any licensed amateur to join.
Location
The repeater is located on Sunset Ridge, due north of Claremont at an altitude of about 1 mile above sea level and provides very wide coverage of Southern California.
The road to the repeater can be challenging given weather or recent weather events and this can result in delays in maintenance. There are some YouTube videos of repeater trips on the “GOTAhams on the Go” channel @ (380) GOTAhams OnTheGo – YouTube our latest video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANPVE6DpxtI&t=431s
Support
The WG6OTA repeater is privately owned. The owner has chosen to make the repeater available for Club activities and to offer it as an ‘open’ repeater for the use of the local ham radio community. The repeater is supported by direct user donations and volunteer effort. If you would like to contribute to this activity please contact Ken, KC6WOK at KC6WOK@GMAIL.COM
Ken also has a backup repeater that can be switched on anytime the hilltop repeater goes down. The backup has less power and is at a lower level, so there will be less coverage. The backup is in Claremont and was used for much of the time when Sunset Ridge lost power until we were able to get the new backup systems ready.
More About the Repeater
The owner asks that the repeater is used with courtesy and that conversations remain family-friendly and avoid divisive controversy. Use of the repeater should remain in compliance with F.C.C. Part 97. In the event of any emergency communications, users should give way to the emergency traffic immediately. It is hoped that this can be a friendly and welcoming space for those new to Getting On The Air! Many of the Club’s UHF-FM activities are centered around this repeater. For this reason, the Club’s call sign: WG6OTA, has been assigned to the repeater by the Club Trustee with the approval of the elected officers.
When Ken first acquired the repeater it was in need of repairs. It took several trips involving several people to get everything working. [more detail coming]
More repairs and improvements were made to the network connection, Allstar and Echolink node, Transmit and receive antennas, cables, housing racks and added battery backup.
In 2025 wind and fire caused a lot of damage on Sunset Ridge. The repeater site lost power for months, antennas were damaged and the network connection became unstable.
We added another rack to house new batteries with enough capacity to power the repeater for days. We added a solar system that can power the repeater and fully charge the batteries in less than a day of sun. We installed an automatic generator that will power the repeater and charge the batteries if the charge gets to low, with enough propane to last for weeks. We also added a Starlink network connection and restored the Allstar and Echolink connections.
We added a second computer connected to a IC-7100 that will be used remotely for HF and UHF/VHF simplex operation. Unfortunately the HF antenna was damaged by wind. We hope to have this operational in the future and available for club use.
The Repeater on Sunset Ridge is working normally now and in better shape than ever.