gortex2

I agree with your comment about Digital emissions, the FCC has been pretty clear that GMRS is supposed to be analog voice in a clear & unencrypted state (foreign languages allowed - as long as your ID is in English or CWID).
 
However, when it comes to Part 90, I'm pretty sure that an FB6 private carrier repeater license can be used any way that a paying customer chooses to use it. I've never seen a single action from the FCC since the deregulation in 1980 for "casual communication" on Part 90 frequencies.  
 
I've got more than one licensed FB6 (and FB8) system, and I've never cared what a customer talked about. I also don't think the FCC ever asked to look at my books and see how much I was charging those FB6 customers. I think the definition of "Private Carrier" is fairly loose. I just told the Frequency Coordinators that I was planning to offer airtime service to my customers.

DB404 is my go to antenna for repeaters in the UHF band. If I can squeeze out a few more dollars its the DB408. I have some that are over 25 years old and still going strong. They seem to hold up well with snow, ice and rain of CNY.  I plan to order 2 DB408 for my new tower in VA as soon as i get the base set.

DB404 is my go to antenna for repeaters in the UHF band. If I can squeeze out a few more dollars its the DB408. I have some that are over 25 years old and still going strong. They seem to hold up well with snow, ice and rain of CNY.  I plan to order 2 DB408 for my new tower in VA as soon as i get the base set.

Interesting wall mounting... guess if yo use the fiberglass you dont have to worry about ground loops 
 
The one on the tower looks like mine ! We had some pretty stiff winds over the summer and it appears the tower guy didn't crank down the top braket enough. In the spring they do tower inspections so going to have him re-align it then. Mine if only a DB404 or Id send him up now. Sadly I have seen antennas sit like that for years and still work fine, yet minue would topple to the ground the day i need it.

I know this topic comes up every couple of months. I have a group of friends who are radio guys. In the past we used MURs, then GMRS, and even some public safety stuff. Most of them are hams also but not all. Solution. Get a UHF Land Mobile frequency and do what we want on it. Yes coordination can be a pain, but most of the frequency coordinators can give you a good idea of frequency use in your area. I think all in all we spent around $500 but they got a license, do DMR and used the same repeater site they had for the GMRS stuff. Bonus was as guys want ot come online they no longer have to get a GMRS license.
 
I know this isn't the goal here, but if your set on a DMR radio go this way. We still use multiple GMRS repeaters.

I had some in storage. I can't get there until the weekend but will try to dig one out. 

My family uses unit numbers, but not very often. Names work just as good.
 
In my family; my wife and I, and our oldest son are all hams.  Our 2 younger sons are not hams. (yet)
 
What's funny is that our youngest son takes this GMRS identification business more seriously than any of the rest of us.  I will call him on GMRS as: "Hey Mike, it's Dad, copy?"  He will respond with: "This is WQYM-Five Four One, unit 5 to unit 1, go ahead Dad."

I ditto on turning the power down. 20/25 will do as well as 40 in most cases, as the higher the tx power the more chance of drowning your input, even with dupexor (unless you are spending $3,000 on it, and even then I have turned them down to necessary power only. 
 
When I worked for M we had a customer that used a 25 watt mobile for 2 way and phone interconnect, and 2 HT600 portables, but her repeater antenna was on a 500 foot tower she owned. We had the repeater all rigged up blowing A/C directly into it, as she liked to use that phone for 20-30 minutes at a time, and it was an R100 repeater! We had it set down to get about 2 watts out the antenna, and it had great coverage, more than she needed.
 
Input path to the repeater will determine the usability in most cases not power out. Too many guys have CB mentality, not what you need.  

Northeast Communications
244 E. Union Turnpike Wharton, NJ 07885

Are you looking ot change the website or the forums ? I think there is a real need for the website to be able to be updated with inaccurate info (old repeater sites). As for the forum I think its good. I'll be honest I come here for GMRS only. I go to RR for ham or commercial stuff. Keeping somewhat on a single topis is good and think there is good balance here. 

Are you looking ot change the website or the forums ? I think there is a real need for the website to be able to be updated with inaccurate info (old repeater sites). As for the forum I think its good. I'll be honest I come here for GMRS only. I go to RR for ham or commercial stuff. Keeping somewhat on a single topis is good and think there is good balance here. 

How big of a mast are you looking to use ? Our SAR team purchased the mast here on ebay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTENNA-TRIPOD-29FT-ALUMINUM-PORTABLE-TOWER-MAST-KIT-NEW/361384099911?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131227121020%26meid%3Dc8638571b9a64db4b78809ad1b1b3bc3%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D360908000786
 
It works awesome and is light enough to carry up a trail. As for cable I tried various options from RG213 to 1/2" superflex. When all said and done we had the best luck with RG142. The loss for 30' is not enough difference than the 1/4" superflex hard line and holds up much better. I liked the 1/2" and 1/4" hard line but after both were kinked in half on the first deployment i knew they wouldn't work.

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 ! 

Antenna Porn
 
Andrew DB408-B
180' of 7/8 Hard line
4' Side arm
 
Now all I need is some good weather, my climber and a few friends!
 

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. 

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. 

If you want an antenna to last a lifetime spend a bit more and buy a DB404. I run these on all my repeaters and have yet to have an issue including when they are iced over or not. I also use one as a portable antenna on my mobile repeater and being all aluminum holds up better than any fiberglass stick i have ever tried. 

I highly recommend you DO NOT use LMR400 for a repeater. Get some hard line. There are lots of info out there on the issues with LMR400 on duplex operations. I have tried it a few times with mixed results.