Southwest Florida · Lee County
What's Around W4YEA
A short, curated guide to Southwest Florida and Lee County radio. Links go to the live sources; the quick reference below is a convenience copy, not the authority.
Fort Myers Amateur Radio Club
The primary local club: Lee County repeaters and linked system, weekly nets, monthly license exams and the annual regional hamfest. W4YEA summarizes the essentials below and links to FMARC as the official source.
Meeting on the Air
Mondays, 7:00 pm
Linked repeater system
General meeting
Last Tuesday monthly (not December), 7:00 pm
Lee County Public Safety Center, 2675 Ortiz Ave, Fort Myers; Zoom available
Swap shop
2nd and 4th Saturday, 11:00 am
Waterway Park, North Fort Myers
Official FMARC site (opens in a new tab) · summaries checked 2026-10-07
Local RF snapshot
Quick reference, checked 2026-10-07. Compiled from FMARC's repeater list. Repeaters change, so confirm status and settings at the live sources before relying on any of it.All Lee County repeatersOfficial FMARC source (opens in a new tab)View on RepeaterBook (opens in a new tab)
145.170- MHz
Fort Myers
FMFMARC
146.610- MHz
Cape Coral
FMEchoLinkIRLPAllStar
147.225+ MHz
Cape Coral
FMFusionFMARC linked system
442.175+ MHz
Fort Myers
DMRCC1
442.450+ MHz
Fort Myers
FMFusion
443.450+ MHz
Fort Myers
D-STAR
View on RepeaterBook
RepeaterBook has the full, current listings. Pick an area.
Nets worth knowing
Local times, from FMARC's schedule. FMARC keeps the authoritative version.
FMARC Club Net
The Monday-night "Meeting on the Air". A Traders Net follows it.
Mondays, 7:00 pm
Linked repeater system. EchoLink via KR4PI-R and W2PAX-R; AllStar nodes 433.300 and 443.800, PL 136.5
ARES / ALERT Net
Wednesdays, 7:00 pm
145.170 (-), PL 136.5
Yaesu Fusion Net
Wednesdays, 8:00 pm
444.675 (+) primary, 444.750 (+) linked, 145.170 (-). Fusion room 21805, PL 136.5
Thursday Night Digital Net
Thursdays, 7:00 pm
SWFL-Link DMR talkgroup 311261; D-STAR 443.450 (+), reflector W4LCO-B
Local repeaters
Where to find what is on the air around Lee County.
Club and nets
Meetings, nets, exams and the regional hamfest.
Fort Myers Amateur Radio Club (W4LX)W4YEA
Meetings, license testing, ARES, the traffic net and digital systems, summarized here.
On W4YEA
Weekly netsW4YEA
Local nets by day, with frequency, tone and time.
On W4YEA
MeetingsW4YEA
General meeting, Monday Meeting on the Air and swap shop.
On W4YEA
License testingW4YEA
Monthly FCC exam sessions in Fort Myers.
On W4YEA
Southwest Florida Traffic NetW4YEA
Local NTS affiliate handling radiogram traffic.
On W4YEA
Southwest Florida Regional Hamfest (opens in a new tab)Event
Annual hamfest in Fort Myers. The 2026 event was January 16-17; check the site for the next one.
swflhamfest.com
ARRL club finder (opens in a new tab)Directory
Search ARRL-affiliated clubs.
arrl.org
Digital networks
The networks and tools behind the modes on this site.
Lee County digital systemsW4YEA
DMR, D-STAR, Fusion, AllStar, EchoLink and Winlink in the Lee County area, summarized from FMARC.
On W4YEA
QSO One guideW4YEA
A free app for AllStarLink, EchoLink, DMR, Fusion and M17 from a phone or computer. What it does, what each network needs, and how to start.
On W4YEA
RadioID (opens in a new tab)DMR
DMR ID registration and the user database.
radioid.net
BrandMeister (opens in a new tab)DMR
Worldwide DMR network.
brandmeister.network
TGIF Network (opens in a new tab)DMR
DMR network.
tgif.network
Pi-Star (opens in a new tab)Hotspot
Hotspot firmware and dashboard.
pistar.uk
Winlink (opens in a new tab)Winlink
Email over radio for off-grid communications.
winlink.org
EchoLink (opens in a new tab)VoIP
Internet linking to repeaters and stations.
echolink.org
AllStarLink (opens in a new tab)VoIP
Linked repeater and node network.
allstarlink.org
M17 Project (opens in a new tab)M17
Open-source digital voice protocol.
m17project.org
WXOPS
Tactical weather intelligence
Southwest Florida weather can turn fast.
Radar, severe-weather awareness and operational weather intelligence.
Open WXOPS (opens in a new tab)
Powered by StormOps. A separate project from W4YEA.
Emergency and weather
Official sources for storm season and emergency communications.
ARES in Lee CountyW4YEA
What FMARC lists for Lee County ARES: the weekly net and the repeaters.
On W4YEA
ARRL ARES (opens in a new tab)ARES
Amateur Radio Emergency Service overview.
arrl.org
Lee County Emergency Management (opens in a new tab)County
Official county emergency information.
leegov.com
NWS Tampa Bay (opens in a new tab)Weather
Local forecast office covering Southwest Florida.
weather.gov
National Hurricane Center (opens in a new tab)Weather
Tropical outlooks, advisories and tracking.
nhc.noaa.gov
Hurricane Watch Net (opens in a new tab)Net
Amateur net supporting the NHC during storms.
hwn.org
Learning and community
Getting licensed, and places to learn and ask questions.
Ham Radio Crash Course (opens in a new tab)Learn
Videos, a live stream and a podcast from an inclusive ham radio community.
hamradiocrashcourse.com
ARRL: Getting licensed (opens in a new tab)Licensing
How to earn an amateur radio license in the United States.
arrl.org
ARRL: What is ham radio? (opens in a new tab)Intro
A plain-language introduction to the hobby.
arrl.org
Local license testingW4YEA
Monthly FCC exam sessions in Fort Myers, with the details.
On W4YEA
Gear and suppliers
Retailers amateur radio operators commonly use for radios, antennas, cables and station equipment.
Listed for convenience only. No sponsorship, affiliation, endorsement or discounts.
Tools and references
The few sites worth keeping on your phone.
RepeaterBook (opens in a new tab)Lookup
Look up repeaters by place, band and mode.
repeaterbook.com
ARRL (opens in a new tab)Reference
National association: licensing, news and standards.
arrl.org
RadioID user database (opens in a new tab)Lookup
Search DMR IDs.
radioid.net
FCC license search (opens in a new tab)Lookup
Official FCC license database.
wireless2.fcc.gov
QRZ (opens in a new tab)Lookup
Callsign lookup and logbook.
qrz.com