External Data Mac

RT Systems Programmers interface with four sources of data to make it easy for you to find repeater information. Some of these sources even include information for repeaters outside the US. Your existing subscription to a service (where required) works in the programmer.

• RadioReference Search – This database has commercial and amateur repeaters. A subscription through RadioReference is required to access this data.


• RepeaterBook Search – This database contains domestic and international repeater listings. It is free to use from within the programmer.


• RFinder Web Search – This database has both domestic and international repeater listings. RFinder offers the best search abilities with single location or routing options. A subscription through RFinder is required to access this data.


• Frequency Lists – This list is built into the programmer and can be accessed without an internet connection. The list includes common frequencies as those for Weather, GMRS, FRS, Marine Channels, MURS and several others. Entries are easily made into a programming file from the information found in the list.

Radio Reference Search

An Internet connection and subscription to the service are required for this search.

Enter the user e-mail and Password that you established when you purchased your subscription from RadioReference Then select the State– Select the state from the list and County– Select the state from the list to get repeaters for that area. Click OK.

Repeater Book Search

An Internet connection is required for this search.

Location – Enter City, State, Country (if not in the US).

Radius – Enter how many miles (up to 90 maximum) around this location.

Select Bands – This is not terribly important since it can be done on the next screen; however, you might want to limit the selection to reduce the number of repeaters in the results. Uncheck All Bands to make the individual bands active. Click OK.

RFinder Search

An internet connection and subscription to the service are required for this search.

Enter the User E-mail and Password that you established when you purchased your subscription from RFinder.

Location - Search around a specific city. Enter City, State and Country (if not US). Enter Radius up to 90 miles.

Route - Search along the route of a trip you’re planning. Enter the Start and End cities, a width (remember to limit this since you can’t hear repeaters that are too far away), and waypoints (other cities along the way). The search will travel along major interstate highways between the two cities. If the result is not along the route you plan to take, enter other waypoints on your route.

Map Route – Use this option to see the route the search will take. Close the map to return to the search screen.

Click OK.

The information is returned on a screen that is not yet ready for radio programming, this screen lets you examine the data to see if the results are about what you expected. You might find that you spelled the city name wrong which resulted in nothing being returned; or that you want to pull repeaters from further away; or you want to get repeaters for different bands.

There are options to manipulate this data on this screen. Once changed, the data is used to build the programming file just like it is shown on this screen.

• Name- Select the information that the radio will use as the Name display.
• You must consider how many characters the radio can display before making this choice.
• One way to get that detail is to return to a memory channel on the main screen of the programmer. Type in the Name field until no more characters are allowed. That is your total count.
• The manual for the radio should specify the number of characters allowed for name display.
• Once you know your total character display count, select a field with data suited to your needs and the radio's limitation.
• Callsign works well on a radio with less than 10 available characters.
• City is appropriate for newer radios that allow as many as 16 characters.
  Remember, the programmer will truncate the information at the maximum number of characters.

Resulting File

After clicking Apply, the programmer creates the file that you use to program your radio. Notice that all the Tones are set up with the tone frequencies. All done automatically.

What a list and all you did was enter a location!