WRFP399

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. 
 
 

FYI. Anchorage 625 is down for now. Something went sideways at winter solstice. I am unable to get to it to trouble shoot it until spring.

It's up for the evening as just a simple "throw down" repeater. I would assume Palmer, Alaska is blocked a bit by some terrain features but who knows. Give it a shot.
 
I will be collecting this tomorrow.

The main 625 repeater is "off" as it ran low on power from all the "abuse" I was putting it through. While that is off and charging I am thinking about putting up the second RT97 tonight near Mt. Baldy to see how it works with that national net. Just gonna drop it on the ground somewhere with a battery and roll up J-Pole stuck in a tree. 

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.

Sounds like a solar recharged RT97 w/ a simple N9TAX rollup antenna might work for you. Simple, small, portable, and little to no environment impact.

If you want a complete setup that can be carried in a large backpack:

A 30 watt solar panel can fit in a large backpack. A 30 watt panel and a 14 amp hour SLA battery seems to work well here in Alaska during the Spring/Summer/Fall Season but can't keep up during the cold winters with little sun. If you are not in an area that suffered from greatly reduced solar in the winter it would be a solid place to start.

Use some alum angle riveted to the back to mount the RT97 and a small solar controller directly to the back of the panel. You can attach the panel directly to a tree, place the SLA battery at the base, and hang the N9TAX in the tree itself.   I have posts in this forum about my setup and it might stir some ideas for you.

Is this some 100% Duty Cycle Commercial Grade Setup? Nope. But I get 20-30 miles out of mine to 5 watt handhelds and it works for us.
 

 

Rigged up my first outdoor solar "repeater". Inside this ABS box is a SLA batter (lithium can't do cold weather charge), a small solar controller, a step down converter to get from 12 volts to 4, and a Lilygo T-Beam 1.1 without a screen. 
 
It uses 90mA at 12 volts when transmitting and 30mA at 12 volts when sitting.

Just messing around with it I was getting 10 miles of communication.
 
The RT1 was just dropped next to a road on a hill while I walked around some trails.
 
 
 

Rigged up my first outdoor solar "repeater". Inside this ABS box is a SLA batter (lithium can't do cold weather charge), a small solar controller, a step down converter to get from 12 volts to 4, and a Lilygo T-Beam 1.1 without a screen. 
 
It uses 90mA at 12 volts when transmitting and 30mA at 12 volts when sitting.

Rigged up my first outdoor solar "repeater". Inside this ABS box is a SLA batter (lithium can't do cold weather charge), a small solar controller, a step down converter to get from 12 volts to 4, and a Lilygo T-Beam 1.1 without a screen. 
 
It uses 90mA at 12 volts when transmitting and 30mA at 12 volts when sitting.

No...that would be nice though.

Just messing around with it I was getting 10 miles of communication.
 
The RT1 was just dropped next to a road on a hill while I walked around some trails.
 
 
 

Just messing around with it I was getting 10 miles of communication.
 
The RT1 was just dropped next to a road on a hill while I walked around some trails.
 
 
 

I have two of these. I added the answers inside your quote.

I have two of these. I added the answers inside your quote.

So. If I understand this all correctly you have two repeaters. One is made up two KG1000s and the other is an RT97. The KG repeater is not receiving the same signals that the RT97 can receive.  If the antenna and feedline are the same between the two, and in the same location, than that indicates there is a problem with either the duplexer or the receiver of your KG repeater.  

We can start with simple problems starting with the squelch levels of the receiver making sure they aren't set too high.  Try swapping the KG's around to see if one works better than the other at receiving. If that makes no change take a look at the duplexer or take it somewhere to have it looked at to ensure it is tuned correctly. 

The SPECIFIC equipment that you need to check a duplexer is a tracking generator and spectrum analyzer.  And the knowledge on how to run it. 
You can also use a VNA including those cheap little ones but they are not going to be as accurate as a better quality piece of equipment.
 
Now there are other ways of doing it that don't involve as much expensive gear.  A GOOD watt meter can get you close on the pass. 
You would place the watt meter in the line BEFORE the duplexer and then connect a dummy load (not an antenna) to the antenna port on the duplexer. 
Transmit and check your forward and reflected power.  If you have more than 1 or 2 watts of reflect, the duplexer is probably not working or tuned right.
Then place the watt meter between the duplexer and dummy load.  You are looking for LESS than 2 dB of loss.  So if the radio is doing 10 watts, expect 7 to 8 watts out. 
If you are getting 6 or less, then again there is an issue. 
Now for the RECEIVE side.  Program the radio to transmit on the INPUT frequency of the repeater.  Connect it to the HIGH side of the duplexer and do the same test. Again you are looking for 2dB or less of loss.  At NO POINT should you try transmitting the wrong frequency through the duplexer.   The reflect from doing so is higher than having an open coax and WILL blow the finals in the radio you are using to test.  And you are also advised to turn the power down on the radio to 10 watts if your watt meter has a setting that it's close to full deflection at that power level.  But the lowest setting creating the greatest deflection on the meter is the way to go with this.
DON'T try tuning the duplexer with this test method.  Doing it wrong will tune the notch across the transmit frequency and again, blow the radio. 

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.
 

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


Battery-S-12330.pdf

Use silicone to secure the wires in place inside the radio to prevent rubbing. Seal up the hole at the back of the radio where the wires pass to the exterior. Attach the mini-XLR connector to the wire. White goes to pin 1, yellow goes to pin 2, red goes to pin 3, green goes to pin 4 and black goes to pin 5.
 

Congratulations you have a 'Rugged Radio' for a total cost of $120 instead of $260.
 

Use silicone to secure the wires in place inside the radio to prevent rubbing. Seal up the hole at the back of the radio where the wires pass to the exterior. Attach the mini-XLR connector to the wire. White goes to pin 1, yellow goes to pin 2, red goes to pin 3, green goes to pin 4 and black goes to pin 5.
 

Yeah. Super happy with LetsGetReady.
 
 
Here is the link to the other post
https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/4693-tyt-th-8600-vs-rugged-abm-25gmr-25/#comment-45840
 

The Rugged GMR-25 is a TYT TH-8600 radio which can be had for $104 from letsgetready.com
 
They are a good seller and stand by their work. I found one of my TH-8600s would not decode PL tones. TYT wanted me to send the unit back to Chinda. LetsGetReady took the unit back and gave me another one.
 
The only difference between this and the Rugged Radio is the 5 pin mini XLR connector they add to the back so you can plug in a Rugged intercom kit.  In a week or two I am going to add this exact same pigtail to my TH-8600. You can get 5 conductor wire and a mini XLR connector for about 10 bucks. Very minor solder skills and you have the exact radio for $114 instead of Rugged $250.
 
I have a post started somewhere on these forms and will update it soon.
 
If you are looking for a handheld to round out the setup, a matching TYT UV-88 is a good dual band radio.