APRS Frequency by State (text version)


The following is a text description of the APRS frequency map, on a state-by-state basis. Any corrections should be sent to Jeff Brenton KA9VNV

At this time, virtually all of North America is using 144.390 for 2m APRS. Exceptions are parts of Michgan's Upper Peninsula, a small area around Pensacola, Florida, and some areas where there isn't a formal APRS network yet... but, more and more, old packet networks on 145.0x are being moved to 144.390 for APRS, rather than being shut down completely.

While it might seem superfluous to have the rest of this document, it's here because I spent a lot of time typing it, so it's staying! B-)
Alabama Most of state is on 144.39, with the exception of  one digi along the border with Florida. See notes on SERA and Florida below.
Alaska From Ron Keech, KL7YK: "A fair amount of APRS users in the Anchorage area and a few scattered elsewhere in the state. Freq is 144.39 in Alaska, as it's the accepted standard these days. Both Fixed and Digi stations are online. Anchorage has several APRS IGates as well."
Arizona Arizona is officially on 144.39. The network has been limited primarily to the metro Phoenix and Tucson areas in the past, but it is expanding as new digipeaters are built. Some areas have have activity, but no WIDE digis; keep an ear out on 144.39.
Arkansas State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
California All of California is on or converting to 144.39 as the digipeaters can be reached.
Colorado State has officially changed to 144.39, and all WIDE digipeaters are reported as being operational there already.
Connecticut All of state is now reported to be on 144.39.
Delaware All of state is now reported to be on 144.39.
Florida Virtually all of the digipeaters within the state are reported to be on 144.39 at this time, except for 4 ARES-affiliated digis west of Tallahassee in the Panhandle (plus one on the Alabama/Florida border, which has since been taken off the air) that have switched back to 145.79 (ARES in the remainder of Florida continues to be on the national APRS frequency of 144.39).

The fact that these ARES-affiliated digis have moved away from the national frequency should not dissuade anyone from putting up a separate net on 144.39; at least one digi in the affected area has remained on 144.39, and Santa Rosa county just put up a new digi on 144.39 in August of 1999.

Georgia State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. See note on SERA below.
Hawaii Only limited APRS activity reported. However, as of March 1999, there is no longer a WIDE digipeater on Oahu. The equipment has been turned over to others, and I'm waiting to hear from them as to whether or not it will be put on the air.

Anyone want to set up some weather stations on the islands?

Idaho State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Additional information is available through Northwest APRS.
Illinois State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
Indiana State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
Iowa State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
Kansas State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
Kentucky State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. See note on SERA below.
Louisiana Shreveport area is on 144.39; no official report from other areas, but users report hearing most other LA stations on 144.39.
Maine The lone reported digipeater (Bangor) is on 144.39. It is expected that, as activity develops in the state, it will remain on 144.39, with the rest of the country.
Maryland State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
Massachusetts State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
Michigan Southern peninsula on 144.39. Some areas of Upper Michigan share the local LAN frequency of 145.09.
Minnesota State is on 144.39 as of the July 4th 1998 weekend. As a result, the northern portion of Wisconsin is now painted as being on 144.39.
Mississippi State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. See note on SERA below.
Missouri State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
Montana State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Additional information is available through Northwest APRS.
Nebraska State is on 144.39, and all reported digipeaters are operational on this frequency. Only Omaha has a digipeater so far, though.
Nevada Las Vegas area has moved to 144.39 as of July 19, 1999. Lake Tahoe and adjacent areas moved on 144.39 as of the end of August 1999, and other areas bordering on California are also on 144.39, simply because they are using the NoCAL net. Other areas lack "APRS-specific" digipeaters, so check 145.01, 145.03, and similar generic packet channels. Late word is that, as an APRS network is established, it is to be on 144.39.
New Hampshire State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Only one digipeater, near Warner, has been reported so far.
New Jersey State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
New Mexico State is on 144.39, with good coverage over a dozen well-placed digipeaters, "from Colorado to Socorro, from Santa Rosa to Gallup". There are more remote areas that do not have coverage yet, but there is a concerted effort to expand the network.

This network is composed mainly of "WIDE-only" digipeaters, with no WIDEn or other enhancements. Since most of the digipeaters can hear most of the others due to their mountain top placement, paths with more than two WIDEs should be avoided. Also, RELAY as the first hop in a mobile path is not likely to work outside of Albuquerque.

New York State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency.
North Carolina State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. See note on SERA below.
North Dakota State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Only Fargo reports an operational digipeater.
Ohio State has officially moved to 144.39, with most stations confirmed to have moved. There are some hold outs on 145.79.
Oklahoma Oklahoma has reported that their digipeaters moved to 144.39 during the first week of September. Source: Radio Amateur Scientific Society
Oregon State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Additional information is available through Northwest APRS.
Pennsylvania Eastern half of state and Lake Erie shore area are on 144.39. Reports from other areas are scarce. New digipeaters are in the works for the Pittsburgh area on 144.39.
Rhode Island State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. 
South Carolina State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. See note on SERA below.
South Dakota State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Only Sioux Falls has an operational digipeater at this time.
Tennessee State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. See note on SERA below. .
Texas State is officially on 144.39 as of September of 1999. Coverage is not 100%, however. The eastern half of state, including Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston areas, the Panhandle area, the immediate El Paso area, and areas along and 75 miles either side of Interstate 20, between El Paso and Abilene are operational on 144.39.

Other areas unreported, but may be on 145.79, 144.39, 145.01 or 145.03.

Utah Utah has moved to 144.39, and an improved network is being built. Digipeaters are scarce outside the Salt Lake City area, but efforts to change that are underway. Expect the Las Vegas to Salt Lake City corridor to be the first major expansion, being worked on from both ends.
Vermont State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. So far, only a single digi near Montpelier has been reported.
Virginia Most of state is on 144.39, with the exception of any digis that couldn't be reached during the Great SERA Halloween QSY. See note on SERA below.
Washington State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Additional information is available through Northwest APRS.
West Virginia State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. See note on SERA below.
Wisconsin State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Not much reported activity in the north, but it should all be on 144.39 now, since Minnesota has moved.
Wyoming State is on 144.39, and all digipeaters are reported to be operational on this frequency. Of course, the only digipeater reported so far is in Rawlins, although along the Laramie to Cheyenne corridor of Interstate 80, it is possible to reach the Fort Collins, CO digipeater.
Canada All provinces are officially on 144.39. Additional information for the western provinces is available through Northwest APRS.

Historical references

Southeastern Repeater Association (SERA) note: Per Ralph Fowler N4NEQ, on July 25, 1998:

"The APRS digipeater network in the 8 states coordinated by SERA (The South East Repeater Association), along with the Digis in Central and Northern Alabama, will be moving to 144.39 MHz on or about Halloween weekend (October 31) 1998.

"We have obtained recognition by SERA for APRS use of the new frequency, formerly allocated to AMSAT for future Oscar operations. SERA approves our use of this frequency with one major stipulation: We are to use proper engineering and RF practices to protect the 145.xx voice repeaters- whose inputs lie as close as 120 KHz from 144.39. Several digis are co-sited with these repeaters and others are very close. Our digipeaters must be outfitted with the proper filtration devices (band pass and notch cavities) to accomplish this task.

"Some digis will need little or no work and others will need total replacement due to the lowness of the frequency being used, hence the October date. This should give the owners ample time to make adjustments. Cost to the each digipeater owner will range from nothing to well over $1,000.00 ! If users in the affected areas would like to contribute to the expenses that their local digipeaters will incur, you may contact the owner directly or through me.

"There are at least 48 digipeaters represented here. Since the approval by the SERA Board early this month, I have personally corresponded with the owners of all but 5 of them. After numerous attempts to contact these 5, I have decided to carry them as unknowns. I think they are all in the KY-TN-VA area. Of the 43 digis remaining, 5 of them (two in SC and two in distant GA border areas) elected to not cooperate in the Group effort and already moved this past Spring- prior to the frequency being approved by SERA. One more is currently advertising that he plans to move this weekend.

"So... there you have it. Throughout history, we in the South have stuck together on causes that are important to us and have endeavored to always "do the right thing". We believe that an orderly study of all the implications of this move has taken place and that the outcome will be positive for all APRS users.

Subsequent reports indicate that, for the most part, the Great Halloween QSY went as expected.

SERA is the official repeater coordination body for the states of Georgia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

APRS is a registered trademark of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR.


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Last updated on: December 03 2018 22:42:55.