WRFP399
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Posts posted by WRFP399
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Woah. $400? Seems like a lot for an analog UHF radio?
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On 7/7/2021 at 7:43 PM, djxs said:
Hello. I would like to join the National GMRS Net conversation. However, I am fairly sure (checked map) that there is no repeater available. My only option, from what I understand is to utilize Zello. I am in the South West region. Can anyone help me out?
It's not your only option. You could also sponsor a node and then add coverage to your area. -
This noid isn't connected to a hub. It's only connected to the two others but it will show you what I mean by "red"
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The national hub isn't connected to any of the other hubs right now so there is nothing to listen to. Watch the map and find a regional hub with a nodes that show "Red" which means they are transmitting. Listen to that hub. Hub 169 is pretty active.
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Having a radio that can just push out location information would be nice for me. When backcountry hiking with a group sometimes we end up splitting up. If someone finds something interesting its easier to just read off the location vs calling it out. Even if the radio only gives me lat/long or UTM coordinates that would work for me. It's not a make or break thing.
If we were really getting crazy I would love if someone could make a plug in for OsmAnd where I can use the radio as a means to send data back and forth similar to ATAK. I use OsmAnd all the time when hiking and that would be super nice. I know we can't legally do that on GMRS now but I would be more than happy to give up one of the 1-7 frs/gmrs channels for data use....heck I guess we could just use MURS... -
11 hours ago, Guest Brandon said:
WRFP399, I appreciate your advice and your experience with this matter. This site will be setup in central Alabama, so I definitely won’t be getting the temperatures experienced in Alaska. I also appreciate you placing links to the solar panel and controller into your post. I haven’t registered for a license yet, because this whole project was meant to be utilized by my father; however, if I’m going to be the one servicing and setting all this up, I probably just need to buy the license so I can get involved with this forum.
I did notice on one of the other threads that you commented on about someone setting up a construction site in the Blue Ridge valley. I pulled a lot of great information from that feed.
My biggest concern was the battery size needed to power the RT-97 and the Solar Panel size to keep the battery maintenance free. I believe, just to be on the safe side, that I will run him a 50w panel on a 14amp hour battery.
One other question I have is the type of battery recommended (i.e. Gel, Lithium, Sel, Lead, etc.)? I’ve been looking on Amazon, and those are a few options I have noticed. Any suggestions would be most helpful. Thanks again for your wisdom, WRFP399.
Do everything you can to keep the panel in full sun. I chose a sealed lead acid battery. It is an AGM. I went with lead acid because they are forgiving with cold temperature charging. I went with sealed so I could transport it without the worry if leaks.
You also need to match the charger to the battery. You can't charge a lithium battery with a controller for a lead acid.
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It depends on your climate and how much use it will see.
The RT97 draws about 2 amps on high power and .09 amps when in stand-by.
I am running an RT97 on solar power here in Alaska. During the summer when we have lots of sun a 9 amp hour battery and 30 watt panel do just fine. Everytime I checked on it the battery was at 100% capacity. During the winter we have a few issues that make it more difficult. During winter solstice there is only around 4 hours of sunlight. We also have cold weather to deal with. Drop a lead acid battery to around 0 degrees F and you are down to around 80% of its capacity. Last winter I had it running on a 30 watt panel and a 14 amp hour battery. It wasn't enough. By November the battery was already being run down to the cut off voltage of 11.2 volts. 75% of last November the repeater was down. We didn't have enough snow to prevent me from getting to the site so I was able to get to it and swap it battery out for a 9 amp hour one I had. Yes it is smaller but I wanted to save the larger, more expensive, battery from damage. It lasted for about a week before going down again. I would come back up after a week or two for a few days and then go down again. From there it only got worse. The solar controller shut down the repeater for the majority of winter. Low voltage and cold temperatures resulted in a frozen battery sometime between December and February. Once frozen the voltage dropped to near zero and the solar controller shut down completely. My repeater site is inaccessible once winter sets in due to snow level and steep grades.
This spring I changed a few things. Keep in mind all my components need to be hiked up to about 2400 feet by hand. The components had to fit in or attach to a backpack or two.
POWER GENERATION:
This spring I added a 50 watt panel. This brought up the solar power to 80 watts total. The 80 watts of panels should generate enough solar energy on a 4 hour cloudy day to replace the 2.2-ish amps that the RT97 uses while in stand-by for 24 hours. I based this on monitoring the output of the panels on an overcast day this summer. I waited until the sun's elevation (as informed by a smartphone app) matched that it in the winter and saw the battery being charged at a rate of about 800 milliamps. 4 hours at 800 is 3.2 amps. That is 1 extra amp...in theory.POWER STORAGE:
I upgraded to a 35 amp hour battery and put it underground by over a foot. Just being a foot underground shields the battery from the extreme highs and lows. At that depth theory says it should be at the avg daily temperature. If this setup works through the winter I am relocating the repeater to an even more remote location and will try to get the battery further down. Being underground also has the benefit of keeping the battery cool in the summer, which in theory, should prolong it's life. This 35 amp hour battery chould, in theory, keep the repeater running in stand-by mode for about 13 days or it could support about 14 hours of non-stop transmission in the winter with ZERO solar input. This factors in a 20% reduction in capacity due to cold temperatures.
With these two upgrades the battery should really never be run low unless we have significant activity on the repeater without any days of decent solar generation. The larger battery helps store "extra" power from the sunny days and/or the additional hours of overcast days before/after winter solstice. This keeps the battery at a higher level of charge. Being kept at high charger levels and buried underground protect it through the colds snaps.
Since I implemented the changes the repeater has been running 24/7. The past several weeks have been COLD here. The avg daily temperature as been between -5 and 5 degrees fahrenheit. Lows have been down below -20 degrees. For the past two weeks I have connected into the myGMRS national net for about 4 hours on Sundays. This has resulted in about 3 to 4 hours worth of transmission time each Sunday on the repeater as people talk across the nation. So far the battery appears to be doing fine as the repeater has not gone down. Hours of sunlight will continue to decrease through December at which point it will start picking up again. The skies will also start to be clear of clouds more often as we push past mid winter.
So for me, it looks like 80 watts of solar power and a 35 amp hour battery are needed but again that is due to cold winter conditions with low sun levels. I don't know where you are but if you are in the lower 48 I would say the system could be more like my first attempt, 30 watts solar and a 9 amp hour battery and I would bet a 50 watt solar and 14 amp hour battery would give some extra head room.
I have a few other posts up detailing my experiences with the RT97. If you register you can browse them.
Solar Panel:
https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Monocrystalline-Efficiency-Charging-Applications/dp/B07GTH79JP/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2OBPM6JH5RIF2&keywords=50%2Bwatt%2Bsolar%2Bpanel%2Brenogy&qid=1637621917&sprefix=50%2Bwatts%2Bsolar%2Bpanel%2Breno%2Caps%2C318&sr=8-4&th=1
Solar Controller:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q79TC2L?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-ypp-ro-model_ypp_ro_model_k0_1_10&crid=LSOHLRTW8QW2&sprefix=10+amp+sol
Battery:
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/slaa12=35c
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If it is worth anything I try to connect into the national net on Sundays from around 4PM to 9PM Alaska Time. If you drive into the coverage of the ER repeater you could participate.
- WRTT642 and dogfarts2021
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I got a lot of 7 VX-231s and a single VX-261 for 100 bucks. 3 of the radios came with batteries that were DOA. I bought two 2600 mah aftermarket batteries for about 25 dollars each and a single 1300 mah battery. I kept three radios for myself. I sold off the other working radios complete with a chargers and batteries for $35 to local users.
I also have two of these PR400s. One sits at the house in the kitchen monitoring the repeater. It's primary job is being a radio for emcomm (think earthquakes). The second stays in my work vehicle with a second battery, again think emcomm. They have been good radios as well, just a but bulkier than the VX-231s.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255195094877?epid=112043976&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item3b6ad01f5d:g:6eQAAOSwMlhhdiVE&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACkPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSg3Ye8yTWgOW7pmE1t838dtAS0BE%2BJwVPoCGtmELWsG9A7Wwl%2BUy0Kxov6AJhPnkdGmhUvMuwnqGmgPsNuTsfSnqDqqFm2w%2BDhAO6KKpRa2HUWgJXoa6P0Od3Tm%2Fowfmc9xvdwdrDq4pQ5yjfxw%2F3N6xaQwP5h0K8Cw5c8C6kgCpO9NgE3jozvmGSrHZv7QMIB1uOPw0HQyPl52jXlrjo1ooG7%2F6z0U%2FymFSCcNvLg4qxqwO0MkdOggnnr6BaRcfnazKRtawkbyDg9KmOlOEDJBGH2M3UZVrecxmH7%2FVZOXcgvlnhoNH511U4tJIXDxeXaCyfb%2B6RlLDddrQJLe%2F7xbfaIfVDdeIiWbmkSyNlT1wkmo8Z3wNHv5xCa4oPMxjckVdcw7eJ16V%2FvDZciHB1dHimZdmz%2FrGTaW%2Fy%2BjBxMkd7sHFQihAV0vh23Lerdynk4QzHjrIFjcnxqAaezrhiSvzgjNdiR2Df9KJThHkV7MkNl%2F%2FQLKYavMJmTQX8dS%2F4cMqZx%2B16enUMSVSFei%2FK6qsmMl946M2IYQc8w0qZ38LixU3J3FcFt1C9OowzV1XxquqmMyEqXKbvuOWovOLbhdPMCJhkz0n2ZwqxLcBas3nrtJ1PNxK7ScXRqJDV03TFdWEa8k0TrYvCx1g5a2qeYAj2fr2%2B2z8lxhhn3i%2FKbcJ%2BYnYDP0ZOlRcyDUpJxVGgdwNXkZpILqfIQrHxkAsQ%2FDP41L%2BmEyJr3Nn4MEVRX%2BnQMj5GoKBxPlF1QWAKyRkBYcXS2UKSUzdP1cBhpZpnDMbAhz%2Foxbr0FBlaayKSKpudoQxbHr%2F88r1tZisTLG4d|clp%3A2334524|tkp%3ABFBMgq_79KRf -
Another option,
A pair of used Vertex VX-231 radios can be had for 20-40 dollars each on eBay. Get a programming cable for about 20 bucks. Download the programming software for free (CE99).
Now you have part 90 radios that blow the doors off CCRs.
- wayoverthere, jc1240 and Radioguy7268
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You might be better off contacting Rich directly via private message.
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Your repeater works on its own just like it normally would. You transmit to it, it hears your transmission and repeats it. So local users can talk to local users.
When you attach and enable the linking bundle you can connect into a regional hub (177 for me in Alaska). Other linking users like yourself also connect to the regional hub. Anything that your repeater now hears is pushed out via the internet to the hub which distributes it to the other systems linked to it. Those other linked systems take the internet audio and transmit it out on their end for others to hear. Someone on that end can respond on their radio. Their signal goes into their repeater, to the link, to the hub, to your link, to your repeater which broadcasts it to your radio.
The Pi can be enabled to use Wifi to connect back to the internet. I have mine setup that way. Ethernet is probably more reliable. The RT97S that is available on this site is plug and play with the myGMRS net from what I understand.
https://shop.mygmrs.com/products/retevis-rt97s-portable-gmrs-repeater
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This repeater is tied in with the myGMRS net now. If you are around on Sundays there should be some activity on it. If you check the netork map you can see when I have it actively linked.
https://network.mygmrs.com/map -
RT97 “Duty Cycle”
I had a replacement RT97 come in today as a replacement for one that failed. The prior failed as it would not longer talk to a computer for programming. The TX/RX worked fine. I decided to test this new units “duty cycle” and heat displacement abilities.
The first thing I did was open it up and see what it has internally to bridge the transmitter to the aluminum outer housing. The bottom of the RX/TX unit has large fins cast into its aluminum body. It appears to be bedded in thermal paste to make a conductive path the aluminum outer housing.
I took a food thermometer and put it into the thermal paste. The unit was at 70 degrees.
The “Test”:
- Stage One: I had it transmitting on high power. The transmission was broken up into three 1 minute sections with 10 seconds between each followed by a whole 2 minutes of TX. The transmitter rose from 70 degrees to 82 degrees. Hardly warm to the touch. (12 degree rise for 5 min Total TX w/ 40 seconds rest)
- Stage Two: I gave it about 2 minutes of rest and hit it with two more sessions of 2 minutes transmissions, separated by 20 seconds. It had fallen to just below 80 prior to and rose to 89 after.(9 degree rise for 4 min Total TX, w/ 2 min 20 seconds rest)
- Stage Three: I finally let it sit for 1 minute and did five more sessions of 2 minutes transmissions, separated by 20 seconds. The temp started at 88 and rose to 102 (14 degree rise for 10 Min Total TX w/ 2 min 20 seconds rest)
End total of 19 min of TX w/ 3 min 20 seconds of rest. The temp rose from 70 degrees to 102 degrees.
What I find interesting is that after the radio “warmed up” it took significantly more time to heat up further. I expected the 10 min spent TX'ing in Stage 3 to raise it more than it did. At the end after only about 60 seconds of rest it already had dropped to 94 degrees from a high of 102. I did not repeat this test on low power but I can only assume it would take longer to heat up.
Being as my use with these repeaters are outdoors here in Alaska it doesn’t appear that heat will be an issue for me. During the winter our avg daily temp is around 20 degrees and we only get to an avg daily temp of 60-65 in the summer. This leaves a lot of head room. The cooler ambient temperatures should further increase the rate of heat dissipation as my home was 70 degrees to start with. Anyone see any flaws with my logic?
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On 11/8/2021 at 2:17 AM, BoxCar said:
A little 5 to 10W repeater on battery and solar with a J-pole would more than meet your needs. I'd put the antenna and solar panel on a pole part way up on a ridge or hill to limit the exposure off the property. Use codes on both the in and out frequencies to limit any unwanted users.
This is the exact setup I am running here in AK. Retevis RT97 somewhere between 2200 and 2600 feet up. Mounted the back of a 50 watt solar panel. The battery is a 35 amp/hour SLA which I have stored about 18" under ground to try and protect it from the extreme cold snaps we get. During the summer I can easily run a much smaller battery. A 9 amp hour battery and 30 watt panel was more than sufficient during our summer. The larger battery and panel is needed for cold temps and low sunlight in the winter here. There is a small solar controller mounted to the rear of the panel as well. I have an N9TAX single band GMRS antenna. The repeater can be heard out at 20-25 miles and I can get back into it at that distance with 5 watts. 1 watt under ideal circumstances. The repeater does suffer from desence a bit as I can always hear it further than I can get into it with an HT. If I drop it to low power it performs almost identically to my HTs (VX-231s and PR400s) in that if I can hear it, I can get back into it with about the same quality.
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I opened up the new RT97 to see if there are any changes made to it. None that I could see besides the duplexer in this one is tuned for 550. My others were 625.
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GMRS625 is running. The 700 doesn't seem to ever be up. I contacted the owner months back and was told they were updating it.
Been trying to get the 625 on the myGMRS net but I am either doing something very wrong or the net isn't designed to do it the way I am trying.
You can get into the 625 from the Point Mackenzie Area. I got in well enough with a 5 watt HT and a mag mount 1/4 wave antenna. Don't know if that helps you.
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Working with Rich a bit...I am thinking my radio programming is part of the issue.
I currently have PIN 8 set but I think I need to have PIN 12 set as well. When I put both set on "High" for active the node gets audio from the radio but it's locked open. When I have it set on "Low" it kinda works. It doesn't hold audio and just "clicks" on and off.
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Welp. I dunno. Maybe something is wrong on the hardware side of things.
Here is the audio.
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Yeah. I was able to connect off to 175 hub. It was transmitting traffic coming over the node from 175 but I couldn't talk back. The guys on the net were excited to see Alaska but I couldn't key up when they called.
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Ummm? Did I set this up right? Is it working? I think I got it connected to the Mountain Hub (177)
When it connects to the Hub I can hear it telling me that Hub is connected to the Node but I don't hear anything further like "Transceive" or whatever. Should I? -
If you are up in Wasilla the ER repeater can't hear you due to Mt.Baldy. It blocks the signal. Think of the coverage circle on the map as more of a Semi Circle.
I attached a Nautel Radio Coverage Map that is fairly accurate.
If GMRS had more of a formalized user group up here I am sure we could arrange to get a repeater at one of the wide area sites like Mt. Baldy, Site Summit, or Grubstake Mountain.
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I tried this....and ultimately after looking around it was cheaper, easier and got better performance to wait for a RT97 to go on sale and buy it. They will jump around in price from $250 to $350.
https://www.retevis.com/rt97-portable-gmrs-repeater-mobile-repeater#A9150CX1
Linking a private Net?
in Technical Discussion
Posted
Pretty sure there are a few "Private" MyGMRS nets on the map. You can see them but you can't link to them. There is one near Harrisburg PA. I tried to link to it to see if I could but no joy.