Billy

A radio like the Icom 6021 makes a very nice a very nice base or mobile, has 128 channels and is only a few dollars more than the 8 channel 6011.   A full 45 watts and very nice audio.  I use one in my car.   I like the additional channels as the frequency split is 400-470 mhz and I have all the ham repeaters and simplex channels programmed in as well as the GMRS.  Just make sure if you get one you get the 400-470 mhz version, their are a few other frequency split options.   Software and cable was about $30, not a big expense and very easy to program.  Power supply if used as the base will have to be 12+ amps as it does draw a bit.  Good luck!

Thanks for the report, I am often tempted by the price as in "hey why not".    I took a chance with the Anytone Dual Bander that I did a previous review on, a good radio for the price but I am still not willing to praise it.    For my money the best UHF only radio out there is the Icom 6021 128  ($260)  channel or its cousin the 6011 8 channel ($220).   I have the 6021 mobile and love it.   Loud on both ends and very, very stable.  Great performers, period!  

WB725NY is up and running.  On my meter I have 25 Watts to the antenna, better than what I had hoped for.  I didn't want to say anything prior to this out of fear that I may jynx myself but I have to send praise to the Ritron folks.
 
They took in my machine after I had tried to align it and broke a VCO adjustment Pot.  So I sent the entire radio to them for alignment, tuning of the duplexer and to have it set back to wide band.    The technician at Ritron replaced the pot as an upgrade, they replaced the noisy fan with a very quiet new one, tuned the duplexer and set the transmit from 12 Watts to 25 (he said 20 so I will say my meter may be off).  As of now it is running and sounding great for a total of $92.75 which includes the cost of shipping back to me.  Good Job Ritron.   Nice to see a company such as this. 
 
I will start some propogation testing as time allows and adjust the maping on this site accordingly.  Bill
 
 
And just if anyone is looking for a innexpensive repeater, with this work I am $325 into it.   That doesn't count JohnE's time which is priceless. 

I thought the BF888 was only rated at 2w high and 1w low, so I just searched some e-bay listings and found this,
Frequency: 400-469.995MHz 16 channel;50 CTCSS/105 CDCSS 1500mAh Li-ion battery; Low Voltage Alert; Intelligent Charging VOX Function; Voice Prompt; PC Programming; 3 Watt Transmit  
Some e-bay listings claim 5 watt's, but then some e-bay listing make a lot of false claims. most say less than 3 watts. Even the Uv5r is only about 3.86 watts.

The 888 is rated a (per the sticker) at <4W. Which means less than 4 watts. I ended up throwing one on my General Dynamics R8000 and it cam back as 1.96W in the GMRS area so the sticker did not lie…it was less than 4 watts.

Welcome Thomas, can you be more specific about what part of Long Island you will be operating out of.  I may be able to help you out and directing you to a few repeaters when you are ready.  Bill

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.

You are a mad scientist, in a good way.  Great Job so far!   That shed should give you a nice surface and angle to mount the solar panels. 

Yes absolutely, this is the place to list your repeater if you wish for it to be somewhat public.   The main reason is for band cooperation.  So others know who, what and where the repeaters are so that nobody sets up on your doorstep.  Repeater cooperation is very important given the limited bandwith allotted to GMRS repeaters. 

Yes absolutely, this is the place to list your repeater if you wish for it to be somewhat public.   The main reason is for band cooperation.  So others know who, what and where the repeaters are so that nobody sets up on your doorstep.  Repeater cooperation is very important given the limited bandwith allotted to GMRS repeaters. 

I recently attended a training session through the NYS Citizen Preparedness Program and Farmingdale State University.  The course itself was only a few hours and being it was the initial session it was mostly speeches by officials, including Governor Cuomo himself.   There are a few things in the works that might be of interest to NY'ers.  NYS is starting their own weather monitoring system similar to NOAA.  The reason being is that due to the recent changes in weather patterns the Governor feels that he needs a better handle on weather emergencies.  He states that he has been let down and led to make mistakes in deploying resources due to poor forcasting.  This is currently in the implementation mode.
 
There is quite a bit of useful information on the nyprepare.gov website including a way to receive alerts on your smart phone or via email.  You can customize this many ways, like amber alerts, weather alerts, terrorist alerts etc.  you set the parameters. 
 
All in all, I spent a few hours, was fed breakfast, received a nice suitable for framing certificate of completion and a really nice go bag (no joke, it is a good one full of practical things).  Cost, free just go to the website and see when a class is coming to you and register online.   That will officially make you a part of the NYS Citizen Preparedness Corps (I kid you not). 

I just finished up an off grid project on our classroom. My advice would be to always oversize what the calculators say you need. You will lose efficiency over time on both the planels and the batteries. I have three 200 watt panels on the roof with 560 Ah of wet cell batteries. It runs everything I need for 3 days of classes (lights, computer, big screen TV for power points, on demand water pump, etc. but bad weather and winter reduces its capability. I started with 400 watts of panels and that wasn't enough so I added another. I live in Alabama so that's an advantage over higher latitudes.

Looked a bit further.   The standard business model GU-16 comes with software and cable.  The GMRS model does not but specifies that the dealer can reprogram different codes.  It would stand to reason that the same software would work for both.  That is the only problem that I see is the pre-programmed codes.  I checked the FCC website and the Part 95 acceptance is there for the GMRS model and the Part 90 is there for the standard model.   ERP as tested was 4.23 watts and .73 watts. 

I bet that if an FCC check is done they are probably both Part 90/95 accepted.     I will do some research on that.   I am also sure that the generic Wouxum software would work.    The speaker mic and accessories use the Kenwood jack as do most of the Chinese radios.  I was just happy to see a new offering.  Shows that people have a renewed interest in radio lately and I bet Wouxum did the market research prior to offering this model.   I know that is the case locally.  There are quite a few emergency repeater groups forming, Ham and GMRS. 

I have had no dealings with them in particular.  There are quite a few of the older Motorola repeaters that show up on Ebay daily.   Also a bunch of individuals that sell Maxtracs and such programmed and ready to go.  Don't rule out the Ritron stuff, a good company and all of their gear is FCC Part 95a type accepted.  Bill

captdan, we spoke today on the SHTFLI.COM repeater.  Great talking with you.  Bill

Looked a bit further.   The standard business model GU-16 comes with software and cable.  The GMRS model does not but specifies that the dealer can reprogram different codes.  It would stand to reason that the same software would work for both.  That is the only problem that I see is the pre-programmed codes.  I checked the FCC website and the Part 95 acceptance is there for the GMRS model and the Part 90 is there for the standard model.   ERP as tested was 4.23 watts and .73 watts. 

I could not tell you for sure.  Having been there I can tell you that 90% of the cell phone service was down as well as a good portion of the civil service radio networks (Police, Fire, etc.).   But, that is what got me into the GMRS, as a backup.   

I think the first thing is to find out what area he would like to cover, the purpose and budget.  A small repeater system like mine (WB725NY) which is a small emergency repeater can be put up for less than $400.   Something with the coverage of ERS650NY now that is another story.  

Also as handhelds don't discount the Ritron Patriot RTX-450's available surplus.  A little big by todays standards but a full five watt output, Part 95 compliant and have great audio.  I have a bunch of them, some new in the box, and use them frequently on a local repeater and get great signal and audio reports.   I have sold a few to local guys because they like them so much.   High Capacity batteries are still available.   They do require proprietary software to program but if you go that route reach out to me I the software for them. 

I bet that if an FCC check is done they are probably both Part 90/95 accepted.     I will do some research on that.   I am also sure that the generic Wouxum software would work.    The speaker mic and accessories use the Kenwood jack as do most of the Chinese radios.  I was just happy to see a new offering.  Shows that people have a renewed interest in radio lately and I bet Wouxum did the market research prior to offering this model.   I know that is the case locally.  There are quite a few emergency repeater groups forming, Ham and GMRS. 

WB725NY is up and running.  On my meter I have 25 Watts to the antenna, better than what I had hoped for.  I didn't want to say anything prior to this out of fear that I may jynx myself but I have to send praise to the Ritron folks.
 
They took in my machine after I had tried to align it and broke a VCO adjustment Pot.  So I sent the entire radio to them for alignment, tuning of the duplexer and to have it set back to wide band.    The technician at Ritron replaced the pot as an upgrade, they replaced the noisy fan with a very quiet new one, tuned the duplexer and set the transmit from 12 Watts to 25 (he said 20 so I will say my meter may be off).  As of now it is running and sounding great for a total of $92.75 which includes the cost of shipping back to me.  Good Job Ritron.   Nice to see a company such as this. 
 
I will start some propogation testing as time allows and adjust the maping on this site accordingly.  Bill
 
 
And just if anyone is looking for a innexpensive repeater, with this work I am $325 into it.   That doesn't count JohnE's time which is priceless. 

Got an update from Ritron today about the repeater.  I is all alligned and tuned.  They replaced the fan that I thought was too noisey, appartently it was on its way out.  The tech was able to get 20 Watts out of the duplexer which he said should give me a little better than 65% duty cycle.  It needed a few upgrades that they do automatically upon service which was nice.  So hopefully I will get a package in the mail next week and be up and running. 

The Baofeng UV5R types are Part 90 accepted.  They will power down to 2 watts and will cover both UHF and VHF (MURS).  Easy to program with Baofeng downloaded software and cheap cable.  They will cover the GMRS bands as well.   Good radios for the $50 price tag.  Extra batteries are $15.   Something to look at. 

Thanks Gary, I do the same with all my radios after killing an HT that was transmitting from my workbag.  Darn nice HT I killed.  But like you say, It is not me that I am concerned about.   I don't think the factory 3 minutes is a bad number, if you cannot say it in 3 minutes your going to have to let it drop.  The programming cable did not come today, just the Ritron mic.  So needless to say I just got done playing with that, works good, audio is very nice so far.  Bill