Amateur Radio Repeater - Repeater Types - Store-and-forward Systems

Store-and-forward Systems

Another class of repeaters do not simultaneously retransmit a signal, on different frequency, as they receive it. Instead, they operate in a store-and-forward manner, by receiving and then retransmitting on the same frequency after a short delay.

These systems may not be legally classified as "repeaters", depending upon on the definition set by a country's regulator. For example, in the US, the FCC defines a repeater as an "amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels." (CFR 47 97.205(b)) Store-and-forward systems neither retransmit simultaneously, nor use a different channel. Thus, they must be operated under different rules than more conventional repeaters.