WRFP399

Eh. I ain't worried. The ISM band is filled up with so many LoRa devices they aren't just going to suddenly stop it. Meshtastic has continued to grow and be developed. The Apps continue to be refined and the firmware for the devices has ever improving functionality. There are a ton more devices on the market and we are now seeing MeshTastic devices ready to go without assembly. https://store.rokland.com/products/wismesh-pocket?srsltid=AfmBOopDuYyc38PNZ6uV2JIoHmiSzKw7670XSZsNnOQ2waQAdeyZL-00

Yes. I have two. Both are installed outside, exposed to the weather. The only modifications would be the replacement of the SO239 with a Type N.

I don't know the terrain or topography you are working with but your results are definitely not great and I can understand your concerns. I just wanted to drop a comment in here that I have two RT97s running out in the weather for 2 and 3 years now. Each of them gets range in excess of 20 miles, but I have height working for me as they are placed on mountain tops. Neither have had issues with water ingress of the RT97 itself or the LMR240/400 knock off cables feeding the antennas. These units are just strapped to back of 60 watt solar panels, no additional housing. All my coax connections are type N. I swapped out the "UHF" connection on the RT97. I covered each connection with self-fusing rubber tape (3M Temflex 2155) and Scotch 33. https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-3-4-in-x-22-ft-Temflex-Splicing-Tape-Gray-2155/202195401?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwjqWzBhAqEiwAQmtgT71-nMAnjU6Cg_oDfWybhJEd8tsCk2MJwSLI8WmaK9KsCCLlJKqNjBoCDGsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds I posted this hoping to provide some encouragement.

June 10th 2024 Update: It is still up and running and does so well. All the RF noise issue I had before have not returned.

I am over in Long Beach for the day. I can trigger it with a TYT MV-UV390 transmitting on 467.725 with CTS of 100.0hz.

Here is good information on charging lead acid batteires. https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-403-charging-lead-acid

Tram 1181?

Probably, but at this point the RF was put under control by the ferrite and I needed an IP67 weather resistance.

So I live in the mountains here in Alaska. I have found that GMRS signals (UHF) do very well at moving down the deep valleys flanked by tall/steep mountains. I assumed this is reflection/refraction. I can also confirm that GMRS (UHF) signals get chewed up by heavy forest. Further to that point, there is a commercial UHF passive "repeater" on a ridge behind my home. It is just a large flat metal "billboard". In my experience being in the mountains and away from urban areas "increases" the performance of the radio through better signal to noise ratios. Urban areas tend to drown out weaker signals but out in the back country were there is less RF noise that weak signal comes through strong.

Yes. The "Beta Version 3" is powered by a 60 watt panel (~33 volts at 2 amps) hooked up to an Epever Tracer MPPT controller rated to -40 degrees. I have two of these controllers running this winter. They seem to work fine in the Alaska winter. Downside is these MPPT circuits are louder RF wise than the PWM. I don't claim to be an expert on that but I found the controller was making RF noise when the sun was GONE and was quiet when the sun was present. I thought the opposite would be true but it wasn't. I was able to quiet it down with Mix 61 ferrites on all the outputs/inputs of the controller.

It's a middle point to show average line loss between 462 and 467 mhz...which are the two frequencies the GMRS repeaters operate on so it is quite accurate to use. Edit: I should have checked to see there was as page 2 to this post....I see this was addressed already.

It snowed and I never got back up to it but it's is now the end of March and I can update on the performance. The repeater stayed up 24/7 until around the beginning of January where low total solar hours due to reduced daylight and consistent clouds resulted a "low" battery state. The solar controller shut down the repeater when it saw a sustained voltage of 12.1 or lower. During this time we had nearly all cloudy days continuing through the start of February. The few sunny days we had the controller would turn the repeater back on after about 20 minutes of getting full sun on it's panel. We were only getting single days of sun with many days/weeks of clouds between. With the low solar hours from the high latitude a single day was only making enough power to keep the repeater running for about a day during January before the battery ran "low" again and the solar control shut the repeater back off. This would increase to about 2 or 3 days worth of power by February with the increase in the length of solar hours per day. It was good to see the solar controller doing it's job consistently protecting the battery while also consistently bringing everything back up in -20 degree weather provided it had enough sun. By late February we had 5 days of full sun in a row and significantly increased daily solar hours. The repeater has since has been up 24/7 since then. I have head multiple new GMRS members exploring it's RF footprint the past few days. Once the several feet of snow melts and the mud subsides I will try and post a reading of the data on the solar controller. I know this post is super long but I think it contains useful data for anyone else looking to make a solar charged repeater with a small physical footprint.

I know this is an older threat. I was using the search function to find another post and saw this. I just to add detail on the more/less power in not making more/less power out. I did a bunch of poking around inside mine and found the voltage is dropped down to about 8 volts before it goes into the radio unit itself. The RT97 is listed as needing anywhere from 12-24 volts input but due to that regulator it won't change what the radio itself sees. In the attached image you will see this circuit board circled in orange. Power comes in on the red and black wires, the other two are data (Red Arrow). The reduced voltage leaves on the ribbon to the radio unit itself, I don't recall exactly which in the ribbon are the main power wires anymore. (Teal Arrow)

I think by far the simplest "rugged" option would be a Vertex VX-231. While these aren't water/dust proof I have beat the snot out of mine over the last 15 years or so. I started using these radios back in the late 2000s for paintball. Rain, snow, mud, dust, getting hit with paintballs and they all stood up fine. I now use them along with Vertex EVX-531/534 radios for hiking and backcountry communication. They are cheap and work well. The receivers in them are far better than any of my Chinese radios. They are up to 16 channels but any channel slot not programmed will cause the radio to beep at you to let you know that channel is not programmed. Aftermarket batteries are still available for it, including extended run time batteries that will last up to 50 hours in stand-by. The programming cables you can get on eBay for 20 bucks do work for programming but won't for firmware upgrades. If you want the ability to upgrade firmware you need the Vertex FIF cable which is about $150. Upgrading firmware really isn't that important. I have the programming software I can send to you if you need it. I attached a screen shot showing what a single channel programming might look like.

Maybe it is the terrain I am in but I have yet to find an antenna, including an authentic 771G, that makes any significant improvement over the stock antennas on my radios. From the UV-5R, UV-88, Vertex EVX-534/531 and Motorola PR400. Are you guys seeing improvement?