A suggested answer follows:
The setBackground() method 
is a member method of 
the content panel of the frame.
So to use it in the constructor for Repeater,
you must first get the content panel (as below).
   public Repeater()      // constructor
   {  
      getContentPane().setLayout( new FlowLayout() ); 
      getContentPane().add( inLabel  ) ;
      getContentPane().add( inText   ) ;
      getContentPane().add( outLabel ) ;
      getContentPane().add( outText  ) ;
      getContentPane().setBackground( Color.green );
      outText.setEditable( false );
      inText.addActionListener( this );
   }
   . . . . . .