WRFP399

Well....so here is where I got with this. Size and Weight constraints left me with a 60 watt, 24 volt panel. The system has been running for 4 months so far. The months of July and August have been basically nothing but rain and overcast. Today we had a sunny morning and a rainy afternoon. I hiked up and took some reading on the solar controller. Even with all the clouds it was still making more power than the RT97 was using. I will try and get backup there just prior to the first snow and see how the readings are.

I know this is kinda old but I wanted to add a bit of info. I have two RT97 repeaters. One of them I got first and the duplexer appears to be tuned for the 625 pair. The second I bought appears to be tuned for the 550 pair. I have had the 550 tuned unit running on 625 and 575. I noticed zero difference between the channels. Same went for the 625 tuned unit. The furthest range I got out of these units was 31.2 miles between the repeater and a 5 watt handheld. The antenna on the unit was a simple j-pole from N9TAX thrown in a tree. The audio was clear. I was surprised honestly. The audio remained clear for the 48 hours or so I was out in that area.

Frequency change. The EagleRiver 625 is now 575. I also decreased it's output power.

The antenna is a Laird LG4603. The "0" gain version is FG4500. The "5" dbd gain version is FG4605. You can link the RT97s together using the myGMRS network. The RT97S has a port (DB-9) on it to connect the myGMRS node to where at the original RT97 doesn't. You can get the RT97S at myGMRS.com: https://shop.mygmrs.com/collections/featured-products/products/retevis-rt97s-portable-gmrs-repeater Or direct from Retevis: https://www.retevis.com/rt97s-full-duplex-portable-gmrs-repeater The linking bundle is found here but is sold out due to the chip shortage. https://shop.mygmrs.com/products/repeater-linking-bundle?variant=31585827848227 Obviously the myGMRS linking relied on the internet, so when the internet fail the links fail and it is a stand alone system at that point. If you have a building at the place where the repeater is and it has access to power, I would very much recommend going with a better repeater. Something like a Vertex would outperform the RT97. https://www.ebay.com/itm/195289552939?hash=item2d782a182b:g:zMQAAOSw8Tpi-wXQ&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoBnQJ%2BCKPCwO8wardYyOb521OxW0d6orfX8eY9KcgYKx4DpoViV%2FtMX5qtLirHrlfZAOLOdDk6fZI62JsC2N%2BDTNZs6XotXvWzN90Bq3guAwQmGTE%2FUNKp3QDRo9%2BkxmGmUrNCfCOsozXmC4dp3zanOq%2B4BvaAlXBkiHGduTrEovYZ20wEFPPluGBheHkbrgE5X%2Fgv8XF9wHwBXNqE%2Fpdh8%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_6q88zVYA https://www.ebay.com/itm/115365686337?hash=item1adc54ac41:g:4KsAAOSws7dibT1j&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoAzUUUGmyw9qbzeLy4dJ40OWasd7odjVwBdCf1%2BZyOASOg6GL8QbEqfoeFvqw3jAzc5zIvy1irSL1CD0eeUk870A%2Fo6dsRCkX5MWIxOHobzUWq3K5rjiZ43PRhkxHYHcEjJol9h4FcKDHgMttnleCQ0CM4PNlsj2HmRFENwEN%2BEme%2FYjBS4VXo6YSm2VrgmfETl9BHnrsBWR2mKM2hKbs64%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7C4_8zVYA The Anchorage 700 repeater is probably up on Flat-Top and part of the Anchorage Amateur Radio Club.

If someone would create a plug-in for OsmAnd you could use any old radio to do the same thing, kind of like ATAK.

I have not programmed the 5400s but I have programmed the EVX-531 and 534. They appear to use the same software. If you want wideband software I would highly recommend that you download the international version. That is what I did. That software allows both wide and narrow without any funky date setting. If the radio was programmed in the US already it might be "locked" to narrow band. I have found two ways to get around this. First is the wide band recovery tool from vertex. The second is to just upload a factory profile that comes with the CPS International Software. Open up one of default code plugs for that radio, turn it on, hook it up and write to it. Don't read the radio first. I have also found the factory cable works 10 times better and allows you to upload current firmware where as the clone cables do not. I did this all on a Windows 10 and Windows 11 machine.

Thank you...I bought that kit. Not worth the effort to source the materials when its only 30 bucks!

Same tones as it was. I went up and "replaced" it in late May. I used a higher voltage panel and a better MPPT charge controller. The controller is rated for colder temperatures and I was able to program it to cut off the load at 12.0 volts instead of 11.2. It is also running a Laird 5/8 over 5/8 collinear antenna vs the roll up J-Pole. I saw no improvement in reception or transmission with the Laird but I have not done any extensive testing. When I removed the battery and power line from the "old" repeater a month or two later, when the ground was thawed. I found that the battery was at 12 volts still. I examined the power line and found it was broken internally. Corroded and failed. It is very likely the system failed in December due to that and not due to a frozen battery. Winter will be here in a few months and we shall see what happens this time. Feel free to use the repeater. It has seen very light use this summer.

3rd. I know I have posted this around before...but this is my "throw down" repeater. It was originally a "proof of concept" for my solar repeater, so it's not the prettiest of construction. Hike this up a mountain in a backpack..."throw it down"...walk away. Coverage for 15,20, 30 miles depending on height.

I am installing a Motorola CM300 in a side by side UTV. The radio is mounted up on the underside of the roof but I want to mount the microphone down on the dash. I have found a water proof RJ45 bulkhead port that I can install on the dash so all I need to do is run some CAT5/6 cable from the radio to the port. Easiest option would be connect it right into the front of the radio at the RJ45 port on the front. I would prefer a cleaner install and I am wondering if anyone had any experience in using the 16 Pin connector on the rear of the radio? If I wired in the microphone there that would be my preferred option.

Delete Me. Used Wrong Forum.

Na dude...those badges are only for the direction finding task force agents of the ARRL.

Alaska Statute: AS 11.46.475. Criminal Mischief in the First Degree. (a) A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the first degree if, having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right, (1) the person intentionally damages an oil or gas pipeline or supporting facility; (2) with intent to cause a substantial interruption or impairment of a service rendered to the public by a utility or by an organization that deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property, the person damages or tampers with property of that utility or organization and causes substantial interruption or impairment of service to the public; (3) with intent to damage property of another by the use of widely dangerous means, the person damages property of another in an amount exceeding $100,000 by the use of widely dangerous means. (b) Criminal mischief in the first degree is a class A felony.

I am connected now. Seems like there was something up with the myGMRS Network itself. I see all the hubs appear to have disconnected from each other as well as a significant number of nodes are now disconnected.

This setup worked just fine for the past several weeks. Prior to that the interface board that plugged into the Motorola 16 pin had a failed solder joint. This interface replaced that one. The node connected in just fine this morning and I thought all was well. Now I can't even get it to try and connect to any hubs or node. It won't even give me the connection failed audio. Acts just like when you first boot it up and are waiting for the system to recognize the node. I have once again tried to reboot everything with no change. sudo asterisk -r gets me: Connected to Asterisk GIT Version adaec47 currently running on node-20201 (pid = 16877) node-20201*CLI>

I noted that a lot of the Alaska Off-Road Facebook group tends to use Channel 20. It seems to be a popular channel in the Knik River Public Use Area as well.

Anchorage 625 is back up.

Connected to Asterisk GIT Version adaec47 currently running on node-20201 (pid = 539) [Jun 12 04:04:25] NOTICE[646]: chan_iax2.c:9712 socket_process: Registration of '20201' rejected: '<unknown>' from: '34.194.144.228' node-20201*CLI>

No sir. In fact my Node sees very little action and I generally only connect it when there is a net going on. It is still failing to connect and telling me as such.

My node, 20201, suddenly won't connect to any of the hubs or other nodes. I tried rebooting it as well as my entire network. No change. Any thoughts on where to start trouble shooting?

Not only that but instead of "stale" repeaters they can be community confirmed to be working which might filter out some of the repeaters that are listed but do not exist.

We need a forum section for the myGMRS Node owners to help each other trouble shoot.

So for my HT I just bought on of these antennas: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X2LJ4HB/ref=twister_B08G1B6L6R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 The antenna stub just pulled out of the knurled threaded section. I cut off the coils. I removed the paint on the cut end and pushed it back into the knurled threated section. I just use it as a 1/4 wave whip for GMRS. I reduced the coax to about 7 feet. Done. Small and quick to "deploy". Best antenna out there? Nope but far and away better than trying to use an HT inside a car with the stock antenna.

So as it turns out there was a signal on 467.625, the repeater input. I could pick it up with a UV-5R and the squelch turned off while near the repeater site. It vanished about 12 hours after I first heard it. That warble/wobble/harmonic vanished with it. As I was checking other near frequencies I found that on 467.5875 was a constant signal again. As I sat there with a radio I could hear what sounded like faint voices and machines. By moving the antenna around and using the terrain I was able to tell it was coming from a particular direction in relation to the repeater site. I drove off in that direction and again using terrain I was able to narrow down the signal. As I got close I could hear voices and back up alarms echoing. Sounded like the inside of a warehouse. I was able to narrow the signal down to two city blocks in an industrial area. I posted about it on FaceBook and found there are these intercoms that use FRS frequencies. These intercoms can be set to "monitor" which leaves one station transmitting for 10-24 hours depending on the model. It appears that another group of persons had a similar issue in another part of the US. They were able to direction find and found a HoSmart HY777 which was transmitting on 467.625. That is out of spec for their FCC approval and could have been mis-programed.

Anyone ever heard this before? A strong signal into the repeater will cover this but the weaker the signal the more overpowering this becomes? Noise Repeater.m4a