How to Find Local Repeaters and Load Them With CHIRP

The quickest way to get local repeaters into your radio is to let CHIRP ask RepeaterBook for them. You run one query from inside CHIRP, copy the rows you want into your radio's memory, check the duplex, offset and tone columns, and upload. No typing frequencies in by hand.

By the end you will have the open repeaters around you in your radio's channel list, with the right shift and tone, plus a dated backup image. I wrote these steps for CHIRP build next-20261030, the build the official download page served when I checked. Menu names can move between builds, so match yours to the latest one.

What you need

• CHIRP installed and talking to your radio. If you have not done a download and upload yet, start with my CHIRP beginner's walkthrough, which covers the cable, the port and the clone routine. I will not repeat it here.
• A radio on CHIRP's supported list. Many of the radios in my guide to the best handheld ham radios qualify, including the Baofeng UV-5R and the Yaesu FT-65R.
• An internet connection for the first query. CHIRP caches RepeaterBook results, so a repeat of the same query works offline.
• Your rough location in decimal degrees (for example 45.0000, -122.0000) if you want results sorted by distance.

If repeater shift and tones are still new to you, how repeaters work and how to use them explains the ideas behind the columns below.

Load local repeaters with CHIRP, step by step

1. Download your radio and save a backup. Open Radio, then Download From Radio, and save the untouched image as a .img file before you add anything. The repeaters will be pasted into this image, because a list of repeaters cannot be uploaded to a radio on its own.
2. Pick the right band plan. Open Radio, then Select Bandplan, and choose the plan for your region (North American in the US and Canada). The band list in the RepeaterBook dialog is built from this setting.
3. Open the RepeaterBook query. Open Radio, then Query Source, then RepeaterBook. The same menu also offers RadioReference.com (premium account required), DMR-MARC, przemienniki.net, przemienniki.eu and mapy73.pl.
4. Set the search. Choose Country, Service (Amateur) and State/Province. Add your Latitude and Longitude in decimal degrees and a Distance to sort results by distance and drop far-off machines. Tick Only certain bands and pick 2 m and 70 cm, and tick Open repeaters only.
5. Read the results tab. The results open in a new tab. Read the Frequency, Duplex, Offset, Tone Mode and Tone columns for each repeater and decide which ones you want in the radio.
6. Copy the rows into your radio's tab. Select the repeaters you want (hold Shift or Control for several), use Edit, then Copy, switch to the tab for your radio, click the first empty channel, and use Edit, then Paste.
7. Set power and check the pasted rows. Select the new rows, right-click, open Properties, tick the power field and set it to high if your radio defaults to low. Then check every pasted row's Duplex, Offset and Tone again in your radio's tab.
8. Save the image and upload. Use File, then Save As to save the edited image under a new dated name, then Radio, then Upload To Radio.
9. Test against the directory. Check a few channels on the radio against the repeater's listing in a directory, then listen to the repeater and try a short transmission.

If you run a Baofeng, my UV-5R programming guide has the details for that radio if step 8 stalls.

The other sources in the Query Source menu

RepeaterBook is the one I would use first. It is free, it needs no account inside CHIRP, and it covers North America and the rest of the world. The other entries have narrower jobs:

• RadioReference.com needs a premium account, with a username and password typed into the dialog. It has United States and Canada tabs.
• DMR-MARC lists repeaters on that DMR network.
• przemienniki.net, przemienniki.eu and mapy73.pl are repeater databases for Poland and the rest of Europe.
• Radio Amateur Satellites and SatNOGS DB load satellite frequencies, not repeaters.

Using a RepeaterBook export file instead

The RepeaterBook website has more search types than the CHIRP dialog: proximity to a town, landmark, grid square or address, travel routes, multi-state and more. To use one, log in to RepeaterBook (exports need a registered account), run the search, and choose CHIRP from the export menu. Save the file.

In CHIRP, download from the radio or open your saved image first. Then use File, then Open on the exported file. It opens in its own tab, and you copy the rows across exactly as in step 6. A plain CHIRP CSV file you made yourself works the same way.

A CSV file is generic and does not belong to any radio, which is why it can never be uploaded directly. It always goes through the copy and paste into your radio's tab.

Reading the Duplex, Offset and Tone columns

These three columns decide whether you can open the repeater. Frequency is what you receive on.

ColumnWhat it should hold for a normal repeater Duplex+ or -, the direction you shift to transmit. split means Offset holds the exact transmit frequency. (None) means simplex, and off disables transmit. OffsetThe shift in MHz, used together with Duplex. Tone ModeTone sends a CTCSS tone to key the repeater. TSQL sends it and also keeps your squelch shut unless the same tone comes back. ToneThe CTCSS tone your radio sends when Tone Mode is Tone. With TSQL, CHIRP uses the ToneSql column.

Tone, PL and CTCSS are the same thing under different names. RepeaterBook lists the uplink tone, the one your radio transmits, so it maps straight onto the Tone column. If you only want to hear the repeater you are using, TSQL helps on a busy output. I would leave it off when you are not sure the repeater sends a tone back, because a wrong receive tone makes a working repeater sound dead.

Checks before you rely on the channels

• Every repeater row has Duplex set to + , - or split. A row at (None) transmits on the output frequency and will not key the machine.
• Each row's Tone matches the repeater's listing in a directory. A repeater coordinator's list may give tones from the repeater's side, so read it with care.
• Power reads high on the new rows. Rows pasted from a query can arrive at the lowest setting.
• Names fit. CHIRP names each query row after the repeater's landmark or callsign, and your radio may shorten it.
• You kept the backup image from step 1 and saved the edited one under a new name.

Common mistakes

Only one or two bands in the dialog

The band list follows the band plan. If you see one or two bands, the plan is wrong. Set it under Radio, then Select Bandplan, and open the query again.

Trusting the directory blindly

No repeater directory is ever fully current. Owners are not required to report their machines, and repeaters go off the air without notice. CHIRP's RepeaterBook query already drops machines not listed as On-air, but check anything that stays silent against its listing before you blame your radio.

Closed does not mean broken

A closed repeater is restricted to approved users, and a private one needs a paid subscription. Ticking Open repeaters only keeps both out of your list.

Pulling too much

RepeaterBook caps a CHIRP export at 1,000 repeaters, and a whole state's worth is far more than you can reach. A Distance limit plus two bands keeps the list short. For a search across state lines, query each state once, then run a distance search with Include Cached ticked. Many multi-state queries in a row can hit RepeaterBook's rate limit.

The export file is still open

If the exported file is open in a spreadsheet when CHIRP tries to read it, CHIRP reports no memory channels found. Close it first. My advice is to skip the spreadsheet and edit in CHIRP, since a spreadsheet will let you break the header row or put text in the Frequency field.

Expecting tone burst

CHIRP will not accept a 1750 Hz tone burst in the tone field. If a listing calls for one, the CHIRP channel alone will not cover it.

Once the repeaters are in, the next job on a Baofeng is the menu: what each numbered setting does and which ones to change first. That is covered in the guide to the UV-5R menu settings, item by item.