gortex2

There are many ways to "extend" a system but all involve money and technological know how. There is voting systems that would allow for receive input to be better and simulcast but thats gets pretty expensive pretty quick. I have a similar issue in my area and solved it via the "poor" mans voter system. I use the same repeater pair on the second repeater, however the receive input PL is different. This way I can still hear both repeaters and if i can't get to one i switch channels and try the other. As long as someone is in range of both it will work well. Some LEO's in the state used a similar system with a North and South repeater but used the same transmit so if they forget to change "zones" they still hear dispatch. This is definately a user training issue but is probably the cheapest way to do what you want to do. I guess you could also install a tower tall enough to get into those canyons but i doubt the cost would benefit the advantages.

They do and I have tried. a couple got it when the fees dropped but thats it. A few have also went for there HAM ticket instead. I guess part of the issue is our VHF and UHF Public Safety repeaters work so well in addition to the P25 trunking system we use folks dont understand the benefit. In addition being all volunteer and buys all our gear ourselfs already costs a member upwards of $1000.00. I'll keep hinting to them all about it and hope someday more will jump on the boat. Until then I'll just keep installing repeaters until i run out of frequencies !

How do you get operators to spend the money on a licence. Our SAR team has had GMRS repeaters for almost 20 years and i struggle to get more than 4 of us to buy the license. I would love to use the channel more but dont want folks using it unlicensed. We have a mix mash of VHF and UHF public safety channels we use for normal operations but keep the GMRS for the chat channels. We actually handle comms for some large races and would love to use GMRS instead of our PS channels.

If there is a current repeater on that Frequency I would pick another pair. Even though you plan to use a different PL/DPL tone you still could cause interference to each other. If your area is using all channels available then you may talk to one of the repeater owners and see if he offers any other tones. MY repeaters have multi-pl controllers and I can allow certain tones for certain people. This is how I allow the "travel" tone yet dont have to listen to people chat away on my base radio. Although this eliminates the "noise" the repeater is still in use and cannot be used at that point. Pro and Cons to all situations. On the same topic if the repeaters are streatched out or coverage is weak co-channel may be able to be worked around. I have 2 low power repeaters about 20 miles apart. Neither one can hear each other so i use the same tones just for ease of changing channels.

This topic is an interesting one for the reason I operate multiple GMRS and Part 90 VHF and UHF repeaters for our regional SAR Teams. Sometimes something as this can also be a learning tool and educational. Many SAR teams have no clue about radios and buy what a "friend" tells them and its normally a CCR. On my team we have multiple members who have a GMRS license and one of my repeaters is hosted by the team. Team members with the license use this to chat when they want. The repeater is also at a large recreational area and is open to the public. Every radio our team owns has the channel in case of a civilian calling for an emergency. Being we operate on multiple formats in our area the repeater is quiet most of the time. I have found internally the repeater has actually been a good way to get folks to buy the GMRS license as a way to talk to the other members who use it. Lastly as others have said what the sense of having a repeater up with all the costs of a proper install at a tower site just to sit idle. I have invested thousands of dollars on the gear and hope it gets used. If i want privacy we I go to one of my P25 repeaters and run secure if its really important.

There is no speaker on the O3

I use MDC on all my repeaters and gear. Being I also have VHF public safety repeaters for Search and Rescue I used the same ID structure for all. Anyone on my team that also gets GMRS uses there ID also. Mine are all 4 digit now as we are migrating to P25 also so wanted to stay the same.

Haven't seen one of those in years. Used to have one with a HTX-202 from Radio Shack on it ! It was a solid little amp and was great to run in the vehicle with a mag mount and speaker mic.

Came across the cable left over from another project and didn't want it to go to waste ! The MTR is a rock solid repeater. Unfortunately mine is a MTR3000 and I'm not a huge fan of it. Have a few Quantars sitting so may swap one in.

Nice looking equipment. Kudos on the 1/4" for jumpers. What hard line are you running up the tower. Just installed 150' of 1 1/4" on my repeater and amazed at the night and day vs the 1//2" it replaced.

Just go to the pinned post.... Part 95 Certified Transceivers (Kenwood, Motorola, Etc.)

Sad part is most likely the people casing the issue have no licence and more likely would never see this post. This is the struggle i have with posting my repeaters on the site vs leaving them out there unknown. I have 3 posted but 4 others not for this reason.

The XTL2500 is still supported by Motorola and software is not just downloadable. You need to sign up with MOL , sign a software agreement and purchase the software (around $250). There are various cables in Serial and USB. Depending on the version XTL will determine what is the best cable.

Northeast Communications 244 E. Union Turnpike Wharton, NJ 07885

Ditto. check with some local radio shops. When i worked at a shop once a year we would chop it all up and scrap it for burgers ! Anything less than 50' is normally junk to them.

Dont use LMR400 or youll be asking for trouble. If this is a slow project wait and get some heliax.

One thing to try is a common TX tone from the repeater. I have 3 repeaters on a the same frequency but use a different input PL for each repeater. This used to be done in the LMR days as a "poor" mans voting system. It would allow a PD to have a north and south repeater but the units could hear either when in range. The way i set mine up i can hear all three from my control station at home and depending on the area depends on which tower i pick in the radio. This also allows me to listen so if someone is on one of them I dont cover with my traffic.

You really need to read the control card with software. The labels on the chassis are great when new, but i have a chassis that shows VHF and has all R1 UHF modules installed. Someone could of done the same on that unit. Can he read it and send you screen shots ?

I have been successful in putting a BNC rubber buck in the back window of a car with a short cable to the VXR. It is out of sight and performs well. The VXR is only 4 watts anyway so it is just acting as a portable at this point. If you did a quarter wave on the center of the roof with this configuration and stay away from your mobile TX frequency you may be ok for what you are trying to do. I would limit your mobile to lowest power you can go and reliably get into the repeater. I use a CDM1250 and have low power at 10 watts. That will help your decense greatly. If money is not a factor using a tuned ceramic filter inline with the VXR is another way to clean up the signal but then you are limited to one channel only.

It could have been UHF. In addition many public safety agencies have VHF units on V TAC 36 as that gives the separation needed. Our SAR team has one on V TAC 36, one on our TAC channel and one on GMRS all in pelican cases however are all labeled on the outside of the box with our team name in paint.

I wont get into a rules argument however have installed many of these mobile repeaters/extenders in vehicles over the years. The biggest issue you will have is with the VRM being decensed by the mobile radio. This is extremely difficult in "IN BAND" configurations such as uhf uhf. I have done many in cross band configuration and work very well. In UHF the issue i ran into was frequency separation. Using a mobile on 462/465 and the VRM on the 462 may get you enough seperation but i think you will still see poor performance. If your 20' from your car all is fine but if your inside a building with your car in the parking lot it will have issues. You also need to seperate your antenna as far as possible. The last system i did in band was a mobile on 453/458 and the VRM on 465. We still had issue on high power so switched to 800. As for the VXR1000 its a solid little unit and is great for what you want to try. The nice thing about the vertex is the channel change. So in reality if you had someo ther channels outside the FRS band in your mobile and portable you could use it for both services, vs just locking it to one channel.

Location is key. A $20,000 repeater system isn't going to do any good in a garage behind your house (well unless your on a mountain top). I have put repeaters in a shelter on a mountain with an antenna bolted to the wall that cover much better than predicted or expected but height is everything. As for repeaters I would say Quantar or the MTR2000. With that said all of my repeaters are GR1225 with good duplexers and filtering. Powered down and pushed into a expternal amp seem to be pretty solid and reasonably priced. Antenna and Feedline will be almost as important as the location. Spend the money to get the best bang for your buck so to speak, but dont skimp. I run 7/8" hardline on all my repeaters and a few are only 25' up a tower, but i also like the idea of the same parts so spares will work anyplace.

I built a VHF one for our local SAR team in a small pelican box. We utilized 2 ICOM portables that we had with battery eliminators. 20 W duplexor from ebay and a 7AH gel battery. We use the repeater for standby events and other uses. Only issue we have had is heat. We now leave the lid open some if we cannot get it in the shade. I wanted to find some data type radios just to make it even more error proof. Right now they need to turn on both radios and controller, hence errors happen. The data radio idea is flip a switch and leave. Keep us posted on the outcome. I was thinking a similar project for when i go camping in an ammo can.

No idea but just sent the check to the FCC to renew this week....

Awesome picture....looks about identical to my pile behind my barn. I think i have antenna's from 30MHZ all the way to 900MZ and at least 2 towers laying in the pile ! Of course mine is currently burried in the snow !