1. WPA ARES Simplex Channel Reassignment
The Hows and Whys

2. A Little History A Long Time Ago…
ARRL created the WPA Section July 1, 1926
One of the first 4 – if not THE first!
Today, WPA is still the same 33 counties

3. A Little History Around 25 years ago…
The WPA Section was organized into four districts
They remain the same to this day
They are used by WPRC and other agencies

4. A Little History
Around 2000, WPA ARES leaders assigned a simplex frequency to each county

5. The Problem
A recent interference analysis discovered major interference potential in cases when adjacent counties have different events at the same time
Some neighboring counties even shared both a border AND a frequency!

6. The Problem Realigning the frequencies is the obvious solution… but…
NOBODY likes having to gather up and reprogram a County full of Baofengs!
Or any other radios for that matter!

7. Plan “A”
A conservative realignment of chan-nels would result in Plan A.
After a week of juggling, it works out so that only 11 counties need to change their radios.
The lucky 22 would also enjoy reduced QRM.

8. Plan “A” This plan resulted in the minimum amount of change.
No county touches another with the same frequency
Co-channel counties are as far apart as practical while minimizing changes

9. Plan “A”
Interference analysis was performed using the following WPRC criteria, which is based upon LMR industry standards and FCC Regulations...
Channel Spacing
16K0F3E
Wide FM
7K50F3E
Narrow FM
0 kHz
50 mi
10 kHz
20 mi
12.5 kHz
40 mi
10 mi
15 kHz
25 mi
5 mi
20 kHz
15 mi
25 kHz

10. Plan “A” Interference analysis results QRM with more than 1 county
QRM with 1 nearby county
Adjacent to repeater input or output

11. Plan “A” Nobody Got Worse, 15 Unchanged and 18 Got Better

12. Plan “B” The Scientific Approach
4 Color Map Theory claims ANY map only needs 4 colors
We can assign a specific frequency to each color
Only need FOUR frequencies instead of EVERY simplex frequency on 2 meters
Spacing the frequencies at least 30 kHz apart solves even more problems!

13. Plan “B”
Allegheny, Clarion, Clearfield, Greene, Huntingdon, Mercer, Potter, Somerset, Warren
Beaver, Blair, Franklin, Jefferson, McKean, Venango, Westmoreland
147.54
Armstrong, Cambria, Cameron, Erie, Forest, Fulton, Lawrence, Mifflin, Washington
147.57
Bedford, Butler, Centre, Crawford, Elk, Fayette, Indiana

14. Plan “B” 29 Counties are free from QRM Two pairs are “short-spaced”
Clarion and Warren are 3 miles too close
Clearfield and Huntingdon are 8 miles too close
All overlapping areas are sparsely populated and separated by ridges
Three “lucky” counties are unchanged…
Forest stays on
Indiana stays on
Somerset stays on

15. Plan “B”
12 Simplex channels remain unused and free for backup, District Alternate and other uses such as foxhunting, SAR teams, Shadowing, traffic handling, etc.
145.51, , , ,
, ,
, ,

16. District Alternate Channels
These frequencies are available for use as alternate channels by any counties in their respective district:
NORTH
NORTH
SOUTH
SOUTH
The use of “PL”, CTCSS, “subaudible tones” and the like on simplex channels is very strongly discouraged.

17. Advantages
Plan “A”
Only 11 counties have to change
Clears up the worst QRM situations
Plan “B”
Program 4 frequencies and you’re good in every county
Only uses half the channels, freeing up valuable spectrum resources for others

18. Disadvantages Plan A Plan B
Still have a lot of QRM potential from nearby counties
Doesn’t give everybody something new to complain about
Plan B
Almost every radio in the Section will have to be reprogrammed
Gives most people something new to complain about

19. Channel Naming
Everybody likes to assign their own, awesome names to channels, like TAC4 or COMMAND1, but here is a nifty set of channel numbers that are easily memorable…
They cover every county and district, and throw in 52 Simplex as a bonus
Note: There is no channel 6, so you can assign it as you see fit might be good for portable crossband repeater* inputs… Just sayin’ (*Everybody listens on and transmits on It’s a 300 MHz split!!!)
Channel Number
Frequency 1
145.51 2
146.52 3
145.53 4
147.54 5
146.55 7
147.57 8
146.58 9
145.59