About the 575

About the 575,

   St Charles 575 is a club for licensed GMRS “hobbyists” that enjoy using GMRS airwaves to communicate with others. The St Charles 575 is a repeater located in Weldon Springs, St Charles County, Missouri. It uses the GMRS frequency of 462.575000 with an offset/TX Freq + 5.000000, tone squelch of 136.5 (must be FCC lic. to operate on the repeater). Daily there are members communicating with each other, anyone is free to join the conversation. Permission is required to use the repeater from the owner WRMA779. 

A bit of history about the repeater:

The Owner WRMA779 recalls, 

   When I stood up this repeater, there was an Arnold repeater and what is now called Big Head 2.  Since then a number of repeaters have been stood up. 

I was back/forth on what type of equipment to purchase so I went with the inexpensive solution first with a good antenna figuring that I would get what I paid for with a Retevis RT97S.  The next year they had a flash sale with them at $286 so I bought a backup unit since it was so cheap….I put it into service and stored the original unit figuring I would leverage warranty if I needed….well…both have been stellar and with the antenna, I’m truly amazed at the distance achieved.

 We have a Cuvier River power line that traverses our back yard then does a dog-leg and passes by the other side of our house by 15’.  As a result, a tall tower is not an option…maybe the best I could achieve is 40’.  I am using a gable mount which puts the Tram 1486 at about 30’ above ground level.  The spend for the extra 10’ has been determined not worth it. If I didn’t have powerlines around the house, I would have invested in a nice size tower as the HOA starts with my neighbor’s home…we are not in it.

 I should be good with what I have…my original intention was to link with other local repeaters since I was limited with antenna height.  The owner of Big Head 2 was on board and the owner of the repeater in Wildwood and one in Marthasville were on board as well. I tried a couple of attempts with the owner of Big Head 1 but no response and the owner of Barnhart was also interested.  We were seeking to offer a St Louis/St Charles metro linked solution then the FCC had a change of heart so we are all stand-alone.

 Here are the stats of what I have:

Repeater: Retevis RT97S gives 5-6 watts to the antenna

Coax: LMR400 20’ cable

Antenna: Tram 1486 6db gain and is tuned with SWR of less than 1.1

 With my 6db gain vehicle antenna, I have reached the repeater from as far as I-270 at I-170, from Wentzville at Wentzville Parkway and I-70, and from an HT from a driveway in Portage Des Sioux.  Considering the wattage and antenna height, it serves fairly well.

 I have had one experience where the wattage impacted the coms.  A person north of I-70 (somewhere near the GM plant) who had a 20watt base could reach my repeater with clearer audio than they were receiving. I am open to considering alternative hardware .... been keeping that temptation on hold until usage dictates. 

All members are encouraged to join the weekly club coms. on Tuesdays at 7 pm CST. 

All club members please help promote GMRS.