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Extended Access Program

What Is It?

The SWCRS Extended Access Program (“XAP”) provides the following:

  1. Access to high-profile GMRS repeater coverage in our more densely populated service area; the Phoenix, Tucson, and Albuquerque metropolitan areas.
  2. Access to DTMF based remote control codes that can be used by program users to manipulate the link arrangement of the repeaters, pull weather reports and other travel services, and allow for priority paging (including emergency traffic notification).
  3. Access to other SWCRS resources such as the N7GMR club callsign on the amateur radio side, Zello gateway, and real-time system monitoring from the system’s web console.

The program serves as a validation process to ensure that users of the program’s resources possess the basic operating knowledge needed for the repeaters and any additional functions it offers. This has proven especially necessary in our populated service areas, as repeaters serving these communities can quickly become overwhelmed and degrade the functionality of the rest of the system if improperly used. The enrolment review confirms a user possesses the following:

  1. A valid GMRS license issued by the FCC.
  2. A basic understanding of the SWCRS operating guidelines and policies, along with the system’s general operating concept.
  3. A basic understanding of radio operation and how to get on the air.
  4. Someone to get a hold of in case they have questions regarding the system or radio communications in general, and has someone to talk to to get guidance on the above items above should it be needed.

As always, these are no dues or fees required to enroll – all our repeaters are available for anyone with a GMRS license to use at no cost.

The following repeaters are under the Extended Access Program:

  1. Lemmon 650, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona
  2. Pinal 675, Pinal Peak, Arizona
  3. Sandia 675, Sandia Crest, New Mexico
  4. East Mountain Canyon 700, Tijeras, New Mexico

All other repeaters (ie, most of our repeaters) remain fully open (see Open Repeaters), with their access information readily published on myGMRS, the predominant repeater database in the GMRS community, which only verifies a user has adequate FCC licensure to access repeater listings. You do not need XAP access to use these repeaters; although you are welcome to enroll should you have a need for the user control or emergency alerting capabilities built into all SWCRS repeaters.

Enrollment

XAP enrollment is open to any licensed GMRS users; there are a number of ways to initiate enrollment:

  1. Get Another User to Sponsor You:
    • Attend one of the happy hours, campouts, or other events and talk to people. Check our Facebook group for more information. Any XAP authorized user of the system can enroll you.
    • Ask to discuss with someone who is a registered user on the air. This can be done on any of the open repeaters. Any XAP authorized user of the system can enroll you.
  2. Amateur Radio Operators: Directly enroll by reciprocity.
  3. GMRS Only Operators: Enroll by Qualification: Read a few pages, fill out a form, and take a quiz.

Please do not ask for endorsement via email or contact form as we do not have the resources to maintain continuous back and forth correspondence in this format. Use one of the methods above; we just require that someone have a quick discussion with you to get on the same page and keep our workload minimal and focused on keeping things on the air.