Licensed amateur radio operators can legally access the public switched telephone network from amateur radio transceivers.  The device which connects the radio to the telephone network is a "telephone interconnect", more common known as an "Autopatch". 

These devices allow a ham to dial a telephone number using the tone pad on the radio microphone.  The autopatch accesses a telephone line and feeds the dialed number into the public switched telephone network, making the phone call. The ham converses over the ham radio, and the called party converses on their telephone.  When the call is over, the ham presses a tone on the microphone, and the autopatch "hangs up" the phone line.

There are three active autopatches serving the ham radio community in the central Shenandoah Valley.  Any licensed ham operator is eligible to subscribe to one or more of these patches.

(There is also a fourth, private, autopatch accessible from the area, but its use is limited to private use except for emergencies.)

Calls to phones in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County local calling area (plus some areas of Augusta County) from a 2-meter VHF FM radio, can be made on the 145.130 N4YET repeater.  Click HERE for details.

Calls to phones in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County local calling area from a 440-MHz (UHF) band radio can be made on the 443.150 repeater.  (This autopatch also allows you to receive incoming calls -- persons can call a telephone number and you can answer the incoming call from your ham radio).  This patch also has limited provision for long-distance access.  Click HERE for details on this patch.

Calls to phones in the Waynesboro-Staunton-Augusta County local calling areas from a 2-meter VHF radio can be made on the 147.075 repeater.  Click HERE for details. 

A fourth patch covers several calling areas, but is for private use only, on the N4RAG link system (147.225 and 146.895 repeaters).  Contact N4RAG, Donnie Mowbray, at telephone 540-289-5580, for more information on this private system.