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Somebody pays for every repeater — the site rent, the power bill, the duplexer that took a weekend to tune. Both the FCC (for GMRS) and long custom (for ham) let that person decide who uses it. ChatterBack shows their decision as one of three labels.
Open
Any licensed operator in the service is welcome. Most ham repeaters and a good share of GMRS ones. Use it, thank the trustee when you meet them, and consider a donation to the club if there is one.
Ask owner
The licensee wants to know who's on the machine before you transmit. This is common on GMRS, where the repeater is often one family's personal station that they're generous enough to share. To ask:
- Open the repeater page; the Licensee card links to their profile.
- Send a short message: who you are, your callsign, where you'll typically be transmitting from, and that you'll follow whatever rules they have.
- Wait for a yes. Most reply within a day. Don't transmit in the meantime — listening is always fine.
If the listing has no contact, ask in the state's group. Someone knows them.
Closed
Members only — a club, a business-adjacent group, a family. Don't transmit. The listing exists so you know what you're hearing, not as an invitation.
A note on "it's open, technically"
On ham radio, a repeater that isn't explicitly closed is customarily open. That's custom, not law — Part 97 lets a trustee restrict use, and a trustee who asks you to stay off has the last word. Be the operator people are glad to hear.
Correcting a listing
Access levels change. If you know a listing is wrong, use Edit on the repeater page and say why in the note. If you're the licensee, tick I'm the licensee on your listing and you'll be able to change it directly.