Comparison

HamClock vs RepeaterSTART Premium

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

HamClock

This app provides a clear display of local and UTC time, along with sunrise/sunset and grid square information for amateur radio operators. It features an interactive map to find grid squares and displays the gray line. Optimized for both phone and watch, it's a useful tool for ham radio enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • Local and UTC time display
  • Sunrise/sunset times
  • Grid square locator
  • Interactive grid square map
  • Gray line display
  • Watch compatibility
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

HamClock is a handy clock with features for amateur radio operators! One screen shows your local time in 12H and 24H format along with UTC in large, easy to read text. If your location is available, your grid square, local sunrise and sunset are also displayed. An interactive grid square map lets you find the grid square for any location, and displays the current gray line. Flip to landscape mode for a larger UTC time display. Great for keeping track of things while operating. On your watch, you can also quickly display your grid square and location. HamClock is great for finding your grid square while traveling, or use it as a handy clock in your shack.

About

RepeaterSTART Premium

This tool helps amateur radio operators find and program local repeaters. It displays repeaters on a map and in a sortable list, with offline functionality. The premium version adds advanced search and radio programming guides.

Highlights
  • Ham radio and GMRS repeater map
  • Offline map and list view
  • Search by country, peak, or IARU Locator
  • Look up ham locations by callsign
  • Step-by-step radio programming guides
  • Supports multiple popular radio models
  • Filter by GMRS or Ham repeaters
Features
Read full description

Repeater-START (Showing The Amateur Repeaters Tool) is a ham radio (and GMRS*) repeater map utilizing the repeaters at Hearham.com. This app lets you see nearby repeaters on a topo map, and on a list, sorted nearest first. Once updated, the app works online or offline. No cell service? power outage? - no problem! This premium version includes: * Search functionality to move map directly to any country or peak (internet required). * Search allows input of IARU Locator (maidenhead locator), even offline - move map to position and show nearby repeaters. * Look up location of other hams by callsign and move map directly to position (internet required). * Simple step by step instructions to program local repeaters on your radio. Anytone, Baofeng, Baofeng-mini, Retevis RT85/TYT UV88/Explorer QRZ-1, iCom, Quansheng, TIDRadio, Radioddity GD77/Baofeng 1801 DMR, Kenwood (TH-G71, TM-261, and TM-281) and Yaesu( VX-6, FT-4X, ft 25, ft-70, ft-65, ft-60, ft-2980) radios are supported with more coming soon... * GMRS and/or Ham (amateur radio) can be selected to show or hide, in the settings. (*GMRS repeaters list is available for Washington, Oregon, Idaho: https://hearham.com/GMRS) * Print out ability to print the step by step instructions to a networked printer. Missing repeater information? Don't panic - the database can be easily updated by adding the information at https://hearham.com/repeaters/add. Wrong information / unusable repeater? Add a comment to the repeater's page and an administrator will review and update the database as needed.

Screenshots

HamClock2 screens
RepeaterSTART Premium4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: RepeaterSTART Premium at 100% against HamClock's 48%. RepeaterSTART Premium also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 4 months). HamClock's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $9.99) and chart position (#96 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

HamClock costs $0.99 and RepeaterSTART Premium $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RepeaterSTART Premium holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HamClock has 24 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of HamClock's written reviews are positive against 100% of RepeaterSTART Premium's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HamClock ships an update every 4 months, RepeaterSTART Premium every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
HamClock versus RepeaterSTART Premium: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHamClockRepeaterSTART Premium
Price$0.99 — better$9.99
Rating3.0 (24 ratings)4.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews47.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings24 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#96 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.4 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBen SinclairGreat Maps LLC

Customer experience

HamClock

All ratings24 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative41.7%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive47.8%
Neutral13.0%
Negative39.1%

RepeaterSTART Premium

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

HamClock

No in-app purchases

None

RepeaterSTART Premium

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HamClock free?
HamClock costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is RepeaterSTART Premium free?
RepeaterSTART Premium costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HamClock or RepeaterSTART Premium?
RepeaterSTART Premium is rated higher. HamClock averages 3.0 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while RepeaterSTART Premium averages 4.7 from 3 ratings.
Do HamClock or RepeaterSTART Premium have ads?
Neither HamClock nor RepeaterSTART Premium shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HamClock or RepeaterSTART Premium?
HamClock ships an update every 4 months, and RepeaterSTART Premium every 5 weeks. Most recently, HamClock was updated on September 19, 2026 and RepeaterSTART Premium on September 17, 2026.

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