rough portable coverage based on 3dBd antenna 25W w/1.5 dB line loss at 8M high http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/maps/steve_zpsdc0dcc5e.jpg
I will second Quarterwave on this. I have 3 machines and have helped a few other do theirs and we all have significant $$$$ in them. our time, our money, our discretion, to be blunt about it. if you read through the threads for my machines you will see i have shut mine several times for people "playing" w/them.
found this to supplement the trunking question http://www.signalharbor.com/ttt/00may/index.html and for the record LTR data fits into the 95.181 (g) rule.
some additions http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0062_zps90b743f2.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0061_zps21d770f5.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0057_zpsda67897f.jpg port entry, ground rod and ground buss http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0055_zps4b24358a.jpg batteries wired and charging http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0063_zps5dff42a9.jpg hard line protected from anything that may crush it. still need to be secured a little better though. still need some minor hardware and items to secure the shack better.
that means in simple terms no phone patch the other refers to remote control of the radio over leased lines other wise known as a radio tie line. tie lines are used in a voting system but as stated previously it would be cost prohibitive for the average person just putting up a repeater.
should be a fun weekend to be on the radio http://spaceweather.com/ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_SOLAR_STORM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-10-17-56-39
I didn't get too many pics of the process. the gentleman who did the climbing did all the work from trimming to the mounting of the antenna. I found it very difficult not being the one up in the air doing the work. it is also the first time I have ever hoisted an antenna whole w/cable attached to it. on a side note I was amazed at how little the tree moved compared to a tower. anyway pics http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0046_zpsb5f5e85c.jpg chinese finger to hoist the cable http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0047_zps897aaae5.jpg ground bar and poly-phaser http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0050_zps2bdbfa05.jpg all put together before the hoist http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0051_zpsd3ea7288.jpg cable stretched out http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0048_zps5c4642aa.jpg top chopped http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h358/erscom/off%20grid%20site/DSCN0049_zpsfb5a1bf8.jpg debris I used a test channel at 100W to check the SWR reflected power was 0.8W. I expect pretty good coverage out of this. will do further field testing w/genset and the repeater over the next couple of weeks.
antenna was mounted into the tree yesterday. man what a job, took 8hrs to trim top and mount , pull and secure the cable. will post what pics I have later. I was pretty on about the height measured from base to the bottom hole for the mount was 74' , +10 for the pipe and the antenna is 78" over that.
you can "getaway" w/about 3/4 Mc but there will be degradation on both sides as you go out from center. theoretically w/a good duplexer that is properly tuned to 462/467.6375 you "could" span all the channel from 550 to 725. I have seen this done once in the past and I serviced it for a few yrs but it was 2 transmitters and 2 receivers set up as a quasi combiner w/duplexer to operate off one antenna. now to the other option 2 antennas can be done "if" you have enough isolation. horizontally at 10W you would need about 30' or so w/unity antennas. vertically you could do about 10' w/lower ant inverted.
it is I really liked their stuff. we had numerous desktop supplies go bad rather quickly over a short period including on on my bosses desk. pretty funny when it went POP and then there was the smell......................
bought 2 of these for myself from the above vendor as my supplier is no longer carrying Astron products. I asked why and it appears there has been some QC and PR problems. I am now looking at Samlex and Duracom. I have never been a fan of switching supplies but it seem that that is the trend. this http://www.samlexamerica.com/products/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=34 wow not a bad price http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/sxa-03271
just an FYI on the 1225 machines https://forums.mygmrs.com/index.php/topic/195-motorola-gr1225-uhf-repeater/?do=findComment&comment=1612 also all of the ones I've seen and serviced were 40W and 32-36 after the filter. at a stand alone site they're pretty good, in high RF environments you better have some damn good filtering. I have also seen the PA's put out junk from time to time.