Radioguy7268

In that price range, I'd recommend a used XPR6550 - hands down. You can buy them in good shape and working for less than $100 with charger on everyone's favorite auction sites. A decent new battery (prefer the Motorola OEM Impres batteries that would last 3-4 years) would run you less than $70. Audio quality is excellent, spec's are very good, and they'll do DMR digital - useful if you're a Ham, or just want to scan other stuff. If you don't like to deal with Motorola software - then go for a used EVX or VX portable by Vertex. Look for an EVX-539 for a Digital capable keypad radio - or the VX-459 if you want an analog radio with keypad. Other Vertex models don't have keypads - which aren't really necessary for GMRS and I've snatched up VX-231 or 261's at less than $20 each in good shape. Vertex parts, batteries, and software are cheap and available. Their radios have decent specs and quality, and they're good performers with a low entry price. If you're still not satisfied - look for a Kenwood portable. I'm not a Kenwood expert, and someone else could probably give you some better specific model advice, but in my experience - Kenwood has excellent audio & build quality and they're easy enough to work on. Parts and software are also cheap and available. ANY of those 3 are better choices than a new CCR.

I've got a couple of extra 7550 cables - PM me with your address. Free to a good home. Just pay it forward.

If I'm understanding what you're describing, it probably looks similar to this 3 channel unit: http://www.csgnets.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/UHF-CAVITY-TRANSMITTER-COMBINER-3-CHL-125W.jpg Each of those combiners would take up a little less than half of a full sized rack - so if you had two stacked, there's very little space left for much else. I haven't used one of those style combiners, so I can't vouch for their specs. They're supposed to be less loss than a typical close spaced ferrite combiner. Yeah, start up a new thread on your setup. That's impressive for what you started with vs. what you've managed to put in there.

A 4 port combiner technically has 4 ports. How you get 8 'technical inputs' from a 4 port combiner confuses me. Please post a part number, picture or description that explains the 4 port/8 input combiner reference. The only way that makes sense to me is if you're planning on 4 DMR repeaters - which we know isn't legal for GMRS. You're usually going to see much more than a 3dB loss in a 4 frequency combiner system. The lowest loss combiners that I'm aware of are the TX/RX T-pass racks, but their lowest loss ratings are when you're combining frequencies that are spaced more than 1 MHz apart. Combining tight frequency spacings like GMRS repeater transmit pairs onto a single transmit antenna would lead to very high losses - and would likely require something like a "hybrid" combiner - with losses more on the order of 8+ dB per channel. I've seen 4 cavity ferrite/hybrid combiners that required 100 watt repeaters just to get a 10 watt output up the coax leading to the antenna. Those setups were nice if you had a cold mountaintop site to heat up, but played hell on the air conditioning requirements for a cinder block shack in the summer time.

I would NOT recommend doing that on GMRS. While it's technically feasible - "creating" your own new repeater channels by offsetting your transmit center from the existing "main" channel is definitely outside the letter of the law - and would infringe on the repeaters on either side of your new split. I do agree with Gman's point about just putting up a Private repeater on standard LMR channels if that's what you want. I doubt there's that much spectrum congestion in Ohio. Run a UHF FB6 "Private carrier" - and just waive everyone's annual user fees if that's what you feel like doing. I'm not aware of any requirement for a Private Carrier to run as a for profit entity. The FCC has never asked to audit my books to make sure I'm making money. The only downside I see to that would be there's no option for 25 kHz analog wideband, but it opens up a bunch of other options - like Trunking, DMR, encryption, etc. As far as someone charging for use on GMRS - if he's doing it as a non-profit just to "cover the bills" then he'd probably be glad to see you take over with a larger coverage and save him the hassles. If he's actually doing it for profit (and the way you make it sound - I'm confused how he would get so many willing customers paying high enough fees on GMRS to make a profit) - then yeah, he might be upset. But what's his recourse? Complain to the FCC? Tell people NOT to go use the Free system with more coverage area? What's he going to threaten them with?

What's not to like? It's even got a "FUN" button! Seriously - if you want a scanner, it's probably not a bad choice.

I'll take a stab at critiquing that Ebay sale (Everybody on the internet is an expert.) First off - the XPR8300 is a 1st generation DMR repeater. It's really 2 XPR mobiles in a box, along with some system specific hardware to keep the two timeslots sync'd up. The XPR8300 was kind of famous for burning up the Transmit side if you ran them at high power - and let the cooling fan run off the built-in thermostatic control. The 'trick' was to run them at lower power, and hack the fan to run continuously. At that point, they would live, but still had limits. In the Digital world, the units were limited by internal memory for some of the higher end DMR functions. They weren't going to play well in a higher end system, but they were suited well enough for single site systems. The XPR8400 was the improved version of that design, and seems to have held up much better than the 8300. Next up - you've got the eBay side of things. $300 + shipping would be a fair enough price - IF you needed DMR, and you knew that the repeater worked. But, it's an auction listing, and you don't know what the final sale price might be (or who you might be bidding against!) Then you look at the seller, and you see someone with a nearly zero feedback rating. That's taking a major chance on the seller. The guy might be OK, or he might be fly by night... you just don't know. The listing shows a nice clean workbench that's apparently new - along with a Bird Wattmeter, so it makes me think the guy has some skills - but also makes me think that he probably found a burned up XPR8300 and swapped the bricks (flipping the burned up transmit radio over to the receive side - then re-flashing the 'good' radio to move over to the transmit side). That can be done successfully - but you need to have some equipment to make sure everything's up to spec once you're done - and I don't see any type of a Service Monitor in the backgrounds of the pictures. If I was searching for a GMRS analog repeater in a box, there's probably better places to spend my money. If I lived near to the seller in Kentucky - I might take a trip over to see that XPR8300 in person and talk to the seller - and see if I could save $50 in shipping. I like the MTR2000 for GMRS. You can grab one of those in the 40 watt "low power" version for $600 or less if you're patient.

The real problem is - they don't realize that for similar prices, they can buy used commercial radios that have 10 times better specs.

I'll agree that plenty of people pick and choose the rules they like & disregard those they don't. I was wondering about your comment regarding the ID requirements (Around here, I always hear people ID'ing in English - even if they're speaking another language during their conversation) - but then I saw that you're in Puerto Rico. I'd guess there's a little bit of a special case there. I'd have serious doubts that the FCC would ever get around to trying to enforce that rule on the "isla del encanto". Add me to the list of those who would like to see the exact rule that prohibits Internet linking. I'm of the understanding that they're doing a bunch of linking down in Puerto Rico ever since Hurricane Maria.

If the radio's codeplug is password protected -- you're going to need to find out what the Password was from the last person who programmed them. I'd start with the buyer - but if he doesn't know it, you're in a tough spot. I would be trying to return them ASAP if the seller claims that "I got them that way". To be clear, I am assuming that you were able to load the Retevis program, and hook up cables to read the radio. If the program itself requires a Passcode to install/open it - you're going to need someone more familiar with their software & any workarounds.

For goodness sake, IF you're going to amplify a hand-held, you should do it with something that isn't putting out spurious birdies on 3 different frequency bands. That would be a service to the GMRS (and surrounding) spectral communities. Amplifiers are broadband noise generators. They're going to amplify whatever you put into them, including spurious signals that your $39 CCR is generating. Cheap amplifiers hooked up to a cheap portable are a recipe for disaster. Even a good amplifier hooked up to a CCR is going to be problematic. As others have mentioned - just use a 25 watt mobile with a decent antenna if you want to put out more power. You will spend less in the end, and have a MUCH better solution.

Hopefully you've already read the thread on: "I just got my GMRS License and now I want my own repeater". Solar and high power repeaters don't play so well together if your budget is less than NASA. If you've got a high elevation site, you can talk to everywhere you can "see" at relatively low power. Higher power margins just help to overcome background noise and decrease fading. I'd tell you that 10 watts going into an actual 6 dB antenna is an ERP of 40 watts - and probably overkill if you're using 4 watt portables to talk back. If you really want to make a repeater work better - a better receiver is worth much more than transmit power. If you really do have the idea of "doing it once, and doing it right" you need to forget about Retevis for a mountaintop site, and you also need to forget about using tupperware. A NEMA style weatherized box can be placed outdoors, and will hold up well against the elements if you pay attention to properly sealing up any holes or bulkhead fittings. I've got outdoor sites that have held up for more than 15 years with a NEMA box on a pole - but I wasn't dealing with 8000+ ft elevations or extreme winds/icing. You can buy a high end used commercial repeater like an MTR2000 for about the same cost as a new Retevis RT97 - and you're getting 10 times the quality. Most reputable sellers will even program it for you - saving you the expense of cables and software.

... and as usual, the topic has been sidetracked, the OP has disappeared never to be seen again, and we're left arguing minutia of the meaning of poorly written rules that aren't enforced anyway. <sigh>.

GMRS would probably do what you want - and might be a really good fit, especially if you want to use hand held portables. GMRS runs on UHF frequencies - and you would not re-use your old VHF antenna(s) for GMRS. If you're more interested in just having mounted radios in your vehicles, then VHF might still be a good option. Pricing for VHF vs UHF/GMRS radios would be comparable. The cost of a Repeater for UHF/GMRS would probably double the overall cost of your system. I think that you should probably try to get some local help - someone who knows radios and could take a look at what you've got, and ask the right questions about what you want to accomplish, and give you some ideas of what might fit your budget. Someone else will probably bring it up - but GMRS licenses run "per family" - ie: One license covers one set of relatives. If it's a family farm, it's pretty simple. If you've got unrelated employees, then potentially you would need to license each of them individually. A VHF or UHF commercial/business License would not have those limitations, but it is more expensive to set up a License for that type of operation with the FCC. I've got a nephew with a family farm out in Indiana. He's running GMRS with a repeater up in the barn, and he gets a good 3-5 miles with portables - even further with his mobiles.

Without diving into the ins & outs of tuning a duplexer (I've got my doubts on a 20 watt loss being blamed on poor design) - I'll just go along with your split antenna system and say this: Good practice theory says that for UHF you should use at LEAST 10 feet of vertical separation between the Transmit and receive antennas. Horizontal separation would require at least 1000 feet for antennas on the same plane, which really isn't practical. The higher your transmit power level (or the worse your receiver's selectivity) the more vertical separation you'll need. I'd still put some type of bandpass cavity on the receive side to improve selectivity & filter out unwanted noise. Somewhere out on the internet there's a few charts showing the recommended vertical spacing for different frequencies. (As you go higher in MHz, the need for physical separation decreases as a function of wavelength.)

If we are talking about the "low profile" VHF antennas that screw on to a standard NMO mount - they're about the size of an Oil Filter. They might not be tall, but they're still presenting quite a wide profile. The Pulse/Larsen ones I'm familiar with also required on the vehicle tuning to achieve anything close to a 1:1 match, and you usually got frustrated around 1.5 and said it was close enough. The bandwidth when tuned wasn't more than 1 or 2 MHz above/below the tuned center freq. Hardly "wideband". I would probably recommend just using something like a standard 1/4 wave whip tuned to the frequency you're most interested in transmitting on - and then just live with the performance on the receive side. It will likely be good enough for 90% of what you're interested in listening to. If you need to work specific frequency bands outside the tune of the antenna, just carry a few different lengths to screw on in under 30 seconds. If you're worried about what the antenna might hit, consider something like the Stico super flexible mast. If you really want low profile in VHF - then use a Transit style antenna like the Sinclair Excalibur - but get your wallet out. Those run @ $250 & still require tuning - with a narrow bandwidth.

Radio Mobile is one of the best available online coverage calculators available - especially when you consider that it's Free to use (for amateurs). My only comments would be that you need to bump up the "Required Reliability" % to something North of 95% to better reflect actual coverage. Also, realize that it's mapping Talk Out coverage for the most part - not taking into account the difference between a mobile mounted radio or a portable (other than antenna gain & height). I usually set antenna gain at Zero for a portable, with a 1 meter antenna height. I find that gives me a more accurate representation of Real World talk back conditions with a decent portable.

Can you cite any instance where the FCC has actually fined anyone ANY dollar amount for using a Part 90 radio for GMRS? In fact, can you even locate an enforcement action where the FCC has admonished a user for using a Part 90 radio in GMRS? Just saying, because if you're going to wave around a $10,000 fine - you actually should show that the weapon has been used. At least once.

I believe that Montgomery County has 462.725 on the air as an "Emergency Service" repeater using the 141.3 travel tone. I'd assume that they monitor that channel - and if it was a constant carrier that was opening up all radios on Channel 22, the county themselves would be aware of it. I am in Central Montco near 476, and I just went and put both 467.725 and 462.725 into a radio attached to my roof mounted antenna to listen & see what I could hear, and I'm not receiving anything constant on either 462.725 or 467.725 on CSQ. I do get some sporadic and weak simplex analog voice on 462.725 that sounds like its related to construction work. I'd ask what type of radio you're hearing this on - and what's your situation? (in car portable, mobile with roof mounted antenna, base radio, etc.) The fact that you refer to it as "Channel 22" makes me think you might be suffering from front end overload on a cheap portable. There's a ton of radio traffic on the Route 476 widening project right now.

The model you want will start with P94ZRC90 The P1225 came as either a 2 channel or 16 channel model (plus a 16ch keypad version with display). Software can be a stumbling block if you're not friendly with someone who has a copy. It used to be available for anyone who had a MOL (Motorola Online) subscription. I've got a boatload of the P1225's. PM me and I'll hook you up.

How long is the run? How flexible do you need the cable to be? (do you have tight spaces/tight turns?) What's your budget? Generally - what's termed "hard line" - Coax with a solid jacket (often called Heliax) - is going to have the best performance specs, the highest cost, and be more rigid. Braided coax (like LMR400/600) is more flexible, a little less expensive, and brings it's own issues.

I've sold at least 3 phone patch enabled repeaters within the past 4 years, and I'm 30 minutes away from Route 95 in the busy Northeast Metro corridor. In-building coverage is usually the issue, as well as the cost to equip 5-10 people with 'casual' but important phone service that might require less than 4 or 5 calls in a month. Compare the ongoing cost of 10 phones at a bare-bones $35 per month + a BDA system to provide in-building coverage, and suddenly 10-15k for a simple phone patch repeater makes all the sense in the world.

WRAK968 - send me a PM if you're interested in a used (but good) housing for an XPR7550e.

Motorola does an ALT process (Accelerated Life Test) where they automate certain functions like turning the radio on & off repeated times quite rapidly, changing channels, pressing the PTT button, along with repeated drops from a 4ft height onto a hard surface. This is supposed to simulate 5 years of typical use within a short testing time frame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_ScXS4mrvY This isn't exclusive to Motorola - other manufacturers have similar testing procedures. Any radio with Mil-Spec ratings probably went through similar testing. I am not disputing your experience (and a replacement XPR housing from Motorola is quite expensive!), but I am saying that the radio is designed to survive a typical drop - and I've got stories of units that dropped 30 ft. down an elevator shaft onto concrete and survived. I even have one story about an old SP10 plastic chassis radio that went through an asphalt plant, emerged looking like a bent black banana, but still would transmit & receive! I've also seen some units that appeared to be almost brand new on the outside, but were totally crushed inside - and the customer swore they didn't run over it with a dump truck.

Yes, the XPR7550e has some great performance. There's also a plethora of programmable audio options, and you can purchase (or not) a bunch of minor EID's that will enable things like Face-down mute, Enhanced Noise Cancellation (SINC+) Receive Audio Leveling, and Bluetooth. One point about your testing - be real careful just swapping around antennas just because they fit the connector. I think if you do a back to back test with the standard EVX ATU-16D antenna, you'll find an improvement over the PMAE4048 Motorola antenna. I think if you measure the length, you'll see that the Vertex "Standard" (Pun intended) antenna is a bit shorter. I've also noticed that the aftermarket Vertex antennas available by the dozen on Ebay seem to have issues with breaking apart internally due to over-torquing.