BSRG : Big Shanty Repeater Group : APRS : Balloonatics : Atlanta ATV Home Page

Our New Memorial Club Call Sign Is W4KIP
"Hi Kip""

How To Program Your Radio For The Repeaters

What's BSRG ?

BSRG stands for Big Shanty Repeater Group. Big Shanty is the old railroad name for the town of Kennesaw, where we were founded. Located in Metro Atlanta, GA, we have operated an extensive Amateur Radio repeater network for almost 30 years.

How are we funded since we don't have "memberships"? We are funded entirely by N4NEQ as well as the occasional donation. Our monthly expenses of about $154.00 include electricity, internet, generator fuel, county taxes, building, tower, and repeater maintenance and improvements.

If you would like to make a monetary donation for repeater upkeep, we would love it! Use this link for Venmo

Or this one for PayPal We are a Group, not a Club. Therefore we can be very quick on our feet when we want to be and have always been known for technical progress, guided by our participants, whom we expect to chip in when able with contributions of all types.

Please see the bottom of the page for our Facebook Group link

Repeater Information

This is basic information. For detailed DMR info such as talk groups, we have a PDF that is available on our Facebook page or we'll be glad to send it to you. Contact groupinfo at bsrg dot org. We'll have it here on the page shortly.

146.655-

On the air since the '80s, this 2 meter analog repeater is located on Little Sweat Mountain at a 100% Ham owned & controlled site. It is on BSRG LINK and you need a 151.4 PL to access it. We're working on getting all the original features working again. The repeater's call sign is now our Memorial W4KIP.

147.345+ Repeater

This may be the oldest or second oldest repeater in Metro Atlanta. It goes all the way back to the early 70's when Neil Stone WB4UPC first built it. Old Neil is still around, living in Idaho, but Ralph and Frank bought his site and repeaters. The repeater's on Little Sweat mountain and is standalone, not linked. PL access is 151.4 of course.

146.73- Repeater

Originally the GRAPES 1200 baud duplex packet repeater (one of two in the nation), this was transferred to BSRG by Doug KD4NC when packet use declined. The agreement was that it remain digital, which it has! We revitalized it as a DMR repeater and is the only VHF one North of Valdosta. It is on BSRG LINK. The repeater has been up since the 1980s. Color code 1.

224.22- Back on the air

After being down for a bit due to severe lightning damage, 224.22 is back on the air with new equipment. Break out the old 220 rig! If you have an Anytone 578, remember that you can program 220 frequencies into it. Ask us how. Don't miss out!! Actually, we have an interference issue so it is back off for testing. When it comes back it should join the other repeaters on BSRG LINK.

444.05+ Repeater Atlanta

One of our Brandmeister UHF DMR repeaters. It is on BSRG LINK. Located Pine Log Mountain. Color code 1.

444.05+ Repeater Auburn

One of our Brandmeister UHF DMR repeaters. It is on BSRG LINK. Located in Auburn Alabama Color code 1.

442.7125+ Repeater Valdosta

Belonging to KB0Y (WR4SRG), long time friend and linking partner with BSRG. It is on BSRG LINK. It covers I-75 in South Georgia. Brandmeister Scheduled to be moved to a taller tower, it should then cover from Lake City Florida up to Cordele GA. Color code 1.

444.775+ Repeater

One of our Brandmeister UHF DMR repeaters. It is on BSRG LINK. Located at our Little Sweat Mountain site. Color code 1.

443.6+ Repeater

With donated equipment from several of us, Mike and Alan activated a new UHF repeater in West Cobb. It is analog only but is linked to our DMR repeaters as well as 146.655. That network is called BSRG Link and allows analog users to interact with DMR users without having to buy new radios. Another FIRST for Georgia and BSRG! 151.4 PL is required to access. Its not a wide area machine but does cover West Cobb and most of Marietta pretty well. It has been worked from Woodstock and Canton occasionally.

Site News

Repeater Work Parties

In December 2023, we worked for a couple of days replacing the leaking roof on the wooden addition to the original brick repeater shack, also known as "Petie's House". Thanks to Stan KBIA, Mike K8MDM, and Ralph N4NEQ.

In late October, we asked for some help in hanging 2 sheets of siding. Only two people spoke up, Good Old Stan KB4IA and Jeff KK4ZC. Jeff picked up the siding and Stan and Ralph got it installed. We had a bad experience with a borrowed paint sprayer that was clogged and cost us about half a gallon of paint.

Ralph repainted the building 2 weeks later with a new sprayer.

We appreciate all of you who listened to our 24/7 Space Shuttle broadcasts on 146.655 (dedicated to Tim Mallory AI4B) on our repeaters and watched on the BSRG Amateur Television repeater. We still get people thanking us, even now.

The BSRG has a rich history of firsts.
Some folks have complained about listing our laurels, but we are proud of them!

We don't want anyone to miss out, even if they only have analog transceivers, so we built the first system of linked analog and DMR repeaters. Known as BSRG LINK, We have 2 meter and 440 analog repeaters linked to our 440 and 2 meter DMR repeaters. We will soon add 220 analog to the mix. Its a combination of Brandmeister, Allstar and fairy dust. The main work and knowledge for this came from Alan Barrow KM4BA and Spencer Fowler. To get on BSRG LINK from anywhere in the World, just use Brandmeister talk group 311340.
We had the FIRST dedicated RF linked repeaters in Georgia. Way back in the 1980s, the 146.655 repeater in Marietta and the 147.135 N4BZJ repeater in Dalton were linked over a dedicated UHF frequency. Many other systems imitated us later on using remote bases on the other repeater's input frequency. However that just caused interference to other distant repeaters and gave linking a bad name.
We had the FIRST two Brandmeister DMR repeaters in Metro Atlanta. First 444.775 and then 444.05 one month later. The incumbent DMR network did not allow homebrew repeaters or hotspots, whch crippled DMR in the area until then.
We had the FIRST 2 Meter DMR repeater north of Valdosta. 146.73, formerly the GRAPES packet repeater by Doug KD4NC. And its STILL digital!
In 1997 we had the FIRST two IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) repeaters in the entire Southeast. We were linked by duplex paths via Internet to hundreds of other systems Worldwide.
We had the FIRST Ham repeater system with voting receivers located all over Metro Atlanta allowing HT coverage from almost anywhere.
We had the FIRST 900 MHz Ham repeater in Georgia. As a matter of fact one of our founders, N4NEQ co-wrote the new SERA 900 MHz band plan that enabled reuse of cheap Motorola radios. This laid the foundation for other 900 activity all over the Southeast.
From 1990 to 2012, the BSRG retransmitted all NASA Space Shuttle mission audio non-stop throughout each mission. Our Shuttle audio transmissions (as well as the video feed the Big Shanty TV Repeater provided) were a memorial to Tim Mallory. AI4B. Tim and Ralph (N4NEQ) had an idea years ago to provide this service to the Amateur community. We proudly presented it as a tribute to Tim and his love of radio!

BSRG's Facebook Group

BSRG's Facebook Page