[New GMRS HT Pending - Wouxun KG-UV9G]

Email today from BSR stating the release date is pushed back even further, possibly 2 months due to issues with FCC certification. The 8 watt output couldn't pass SAR (radiation exposure) requirements and they are now pursuing it at 5w.

If it was pushing 8w it would never be approved anyway. 5w limit on gmrs hand held and all that jazz.

 

 

Anyone hear anything new yet on this radio yet?

[Crickets. Aaaaaggghhh!]

Where exactly are you at?

[You just got your GMRS license, now you want your own repeater?]

No, not wanting to put two repeaters up on same frequency. Wanting to put up 4 repeaters on 4 different pairs. Two being semi-private, the other two being free full access.

I do love that ya'll have taken and classified the CCR's and even given them an abbreviation.

And for clarification, when I say transmit combiner, think duplexer that allows 4 repeaters to transmit on one antenna.

And the repeaters I have are MTR's , XPR's and Kenwoods. So no junk.

 

So my issue is this. I don't want to interfere with anyone purposely. BUT, If I want to put up a repeater, or several and a person has taken ALL the pairs up with pay repeaters (didn't realize that you could do that on GMRS) I am not really concerned that I am going to interfere with his pay units if I am putting up FREE access units. But I am curious about what others are going to think about all that.

Keep in mind that we did have a group find the current repeater that the site owner put up and were using it. And they contacted us. We explained that it was a sort of private machine, but we were in process of putting up public machines, and I am retuning their duplexer so they can get on the air. They were ecstatic that they would have access to a repeater on our tower with the coverage it provides and not just working off a 10 foot pole bolted to a house.

 

And yes, if I had dumped a ton of money into repeaters and others came in and parked on the pairs I was using, I wouldn't be happy either... But if I am CHARGING for access to those repeaters, and the other guy has his own gear and wants to do his own thing and not PAY for access to my stuff (still not sure how you can charge for access, this ain't commercial radio), then why should I be mad about it either.

 

And as it's been mentioned before. Commercial LMR (licensed business band radio) share pairs with different PL's and all is good, but they have licensed operating area's designated on their license (so many kilometers from the transmitter) which GMRS does not.

Put them up. Capitalism and all that. If he wants to keep people on his system he will have to do something to make paying for access worth it. The only way I'm "paying" for access to a repeater is if it's for a private group and were all paying to cover upkeep etc. Only way.

[Armored 1 down?]

So same thing tonight. I can pick up chain of lakes but armored 1 isn't kicking out the feed anymore. It shows connected. Anyone know what's up with it?

[Armored 1 down?]

Was hearing it just fine earlier now its crickets. I can hear the Midwest feed here, shows armored 1 connected but It doesn't show it when you key it up.

[You just got your GMRS license, now you want your own repeater?]

That's not a mobile repeater in that pic, its a HAM operating HF. As far as a mobile repeater it really is a waste of time. I have done this already and it was a total disappointment.. Unless your car is at a substantial height advantage you will not have any better coverage then simplex. Again you can and will try to explain or reason away my logic without listening to what I and others have been trying to tell you. I have tried the mobile repeater, the setup was a 50W Motorola SLR 5700 with a 4 cavity BP/BR duplexer connected to a 5.5dB gain antenna on the top of my truck. After testing for about month I realized it had no practical use and only offered slightly more range than simplex, best part I ended up needing a jump after a day at the fair. Mind you this was a $2400 repeater, $800 duplexer with an antenna that was tuned using an Anritsu S331D. I promise I nor anybody on this site will try to steer you wrong, I hold a Commercial, Amateur and GMRS license, own and operate several large repeaters and have all the gear for building, testing and maintaining these kinds of systems.

I know I'm the new guy here but your dead wrong if you think a mobile repeater is useless. Like everything they have thier uses and thier place. The key is knowing that place and that use. It's a tool like a knife or a screw driver. And like any tool using it for its purpose will provide better results then using the wrong tool. I get it mobile repeaters are not a cool and sexy as a stationary set up up on some high tower someplace, so what, it doesn't mean they don't work or are pointless. What they do is allow you to have a capability someplace you wouldn't normally have it because there are plenty of places in this world you can't just build a tower and put up a repeater. From my personal experience with them they work for thier intended purpose and when built correctly work very well for that purpose.

 

I hunt out in the lacrosse area. We used to hunt with this old marine who served in ww2 and korea. He was a comms junkie lived, breathed, ate radio. He had an awesome portable system that worked great in that area. And yes we would put it rather high up on the bluffs or up on the rock out croppings above the valley we would be hunting in. They made a night and day difference in our ability to communicate. Not just down in the valley but with people up top as well.

 

We also used a similar system regularly at a friends house in the Reedsburg area and it again improved the ability to communicate effectivly and clearly over the areas where we were working on his property. Put the antenna up on am old grain silo on his property so it was up almost 100ft above us put the box with everything at the base of the silo and bam done. Clear wonderful communications.

 

Are they perfect for every situation? No, no they are not however they have thier place as well.

 

I'm in Racine I have a friend that lives 2 miles away from me. We both run hand helds. You know what I can't hit him on when he is at home in his house or when he is working in his basement? A simplex channel. Yup cant have anything close to a clear convo simplex at 2 miles in Racine. You know what I can hit him on and have a clear convo? The little mobile repeater we set up.

 

Racine doesn't have a lot of tall buildings to get in the way of signals and seeing that neither of us has an option to put an external antenna on the houses we live in simply putting up an external antenna to solve the issue isnt an option.

 

Do I need it to cover Racine and parts of mke or keno? Nope, will it? Sure if it's high enough and I kick up the wattage to 45w-50w. But I have no intention of doing that. Why? Because i can hit two repeaters from my house if i want to talk to other people.

 

The sole purpose of the little repeater we made was to improve the ability for US to talk within our little 2mile bubble without having to use the local repeaters and for an emergency situation or for camping/hunting/fishing trips. It does exactly that. We no longer have to be outside of our houses to be able to clearly communicate and with the weather turning cold I appreciate not having to be outside to have a convo with him lol.

 

I also have a system I can take with me camping and hunting in which I can vastly increase coverage range of communications if need be because I can if I want put this antenna 100-200ft up using multiple methods. And let's face it an antenna 100-200ft up above you pushing 45w-50w signal is going to have some reach. Even if it's 50-70ft up its going to make a difference especially if that gets it above most obstructions.

 

The other thing I have is emergency access to a repeater should something bad happen and the local repeaters are down. Stationary repeaters are all well and good till they lose power, get damaged in a storm or any number of things that can make them go down either temporary or permanently. Since my primary reason for having radio comms is for emergencies I'm not going to assume that the local repeaters will be up and running in said emergency. I have a second option by having the mobile set up and that second option gives me a warm fuzzy feeling even more so because I know the system works.

 

Would i prefer my own repeater on some tower some place sure. Is it practical for me? Is a mobile repeater the best option for me? Yes, yes it is based on what i use it for.

 

Its a tool and like all tools its meant for a spesific task. Mobile repeaters have a place and as long as you understand the limitations of the system and what you need to do so you can get the most out of them they are effective tools that have thier place. My opinion on this is based on actual use of several mobile repeater systems in real world conditions. Are you going to be able to run as much traffic as I hear over say armored1? No but these are not intended for that. I have had 20 people on my mobile system in the past and it's held up just fine. But the traffic wasn't 20min long convos like u hear on armored1 either. It was hey we need this material or that material or need this person here or just quick updates on people's locations etc. but the thing is the system worked and wasn't overloaded.

 

For a guy like me who is used to using radios for work listening to armored1 is a trip because it's traffic I'm not used to hearing. I'm used to radio comms being short to the point work/task related not casual convos that would be better had on a phone. And most of my radio comms is still that work/task oriented type of comms. Which I think also plays into how people view the whole repeaters/mobile repeaters thing too your use is going to dictate how you look at the subject. While most of you look at it from the hobbyist prospective I look at it from a more work/service/tool for doing a job use prospective.

 

Again perfect for everything? No. Perfect for some things, yes. Does everyone need one? No but most people will come to that realisation as they start looking into building one and thinking about where in thier life they would actually use it.