truevil

Uniden, many of us here have lots of experience with radios. Pastor can answer anything. I am also a ham so get your license there also. Lots of opportunities.
 
Jerry

Congratulations on being a new father! That is quite the experience. I have a teenage daughter and is also an experience :-)
 
I started in GMRS about a year ago and shortly thereafter got my technician license.
 
Curious as to why you want to put up a GMRS repeater? I had thought of that also, but ultimately never have. Talk with family, friends (licensed), neighborhood or just plain old geekiness. I thought of doing it for family and geekiness myself! remember talking to someone that I had started noticing cool areas where one could mount an antenna for wide coverage.
 
If you want, email me at my ham call sign @gmail.com for some additional information.

I have had one of these in my vehicle for 5 months now. No problems at all, and reports are it sounds great. I highly recommend it! 

I never had any real noise to begin with. What I can tell you is to the west I can get out 13 miles with full quieting talking on an HT. This is all over nothing but rural farm land that is very flat. To my east I can get out 14 miles with a lot of noise, but I can still make out the words being said. At 10 miles it is full quieting. This is over neighborhoods and shopping centers while driving on the freeway. With the Ed Fong the furthest I ever reached was about 4 miles, and there was some noise, but not terrible.
My little repeater is only 25 watts, and the base of my Comet is mounted at 37 feet, for reference.

Hi all,
 
I wanted to ask why it appears to be common practice to require a valid GMRS user to seek permission before using a GMRS repeater. When I obtained my Amateur Radio license, I was surprised that virtually all Amateur radio repeaters were open to properly licensed ham operators. 
 
On several occasions I have requested permission and have never heard back from the repeater operator. I don't use the repeater of course, but that experience makes me wonder why the person required someone to seek permission if they were not going to reply back. If an owner/operator has posted their information on www.myGMRS.com, then isn't implied they want to have their system used. It would be really nice to be able to look up and use a GMRS repeater without obtaining permission. I could then give my family GMRS radios to be able to communicate instead of cell phones. My family is not licensed Amateur Radio operators, so that is not an option for us.
 
One GMRS repeater in my area --- BART-R1, published on myGMRS, lists in the comment section: "As long as you have a valid GMRS license and ID every 15 minutes as required, you may use the system." This is good!
 
I wonder if making GMRS repeaters "open-systems" to licensed GMRS holders would help the GMRS community grow? Would a diminishing community cause the FCC to possibly put a target on the GMRS frequencies as a potential for reallocation? There is such a grab for spectrum these days, I wouldn't doubt it!
 
I know there are a lot of non-licensed GMRS frequency users out there and I am in no way defending or supporting their illegal use of  the frequencies. A non-licensed user wouldn't even know they were supposed to seek permission or probably wouldn't even care! 
 
 
Thank you for reading my post and any reply you might have.
 
 
WQSE362
KK6ILT

OK guys - I'm convinced. 
Now to paint that white antenna olive drab
 
A few weeks ago I tuned my Yaesu to the CB band. I haven't ever really monitored that service and I was amazed (appalled) at what I heard there. If GMRS ever began to sound like that, it would be a total loss. 
 
Steve

The more systems in GMRS service that are operational the better communications will be in a regional or even national emergency.   When public safety systems start failing because of poor planning and lack of interoperability, GMRS systems will shine !

Where they went wrong in their petition was bringing up amateur transceivers. Any commercially marketed amateur transmitter (in the US) has to be type certified for operation in Part 97 and the receivers have to be at least Part 15. However, being amateur radio, any home brew or "modified" (this includes Part 90 gear running in ham land) equipment just needs to meet the technical standards of Part 97. Most of the current petitions out there (or most recent) are from hams who won't suck it up and get a radio without VFO. There is tons of surplus Part 90 (and 95) equipment out there that simply did not meet narrow banding. Ham's either A) trying to petition the FCC to allow Part 97 equipment or trying to petition the FCC to allow hams to use GMRS without applying for the licensing and using equipment that meets or exceeds the technical specs won't get anywhere.
 
Also if you look into the emergency side of the statement, you'll realize that many of the guys who are a part of RACES/ARES and utilize GMRS also hang up their Part 97 FM transceivers in an emergency in favor of Part 90 FM transceivers because they are more or less idiot proof, much more rugged, and allow for easier interoperability between all emergency personnel.

Steve,
I recently replaced an Ed Fong antenna with the Comet CA-712EFC, and it easily doubled the range of my repeater. It seems to be a great antenna.

I use 75 feet of LMR600, into a comet712-EFC. It's a very quiet setup with good range, I have also used LMR400, I  I have never had a problem with either. But Zap knows more than I. I have no question of that.

Echolink is a service for amateur radio operators. You won't find anything GMRS related on there. What a lot of guys are doing is using the Allstar download and then stripping the Allstar connectivity (leaving just the Asterisk 1.4.23-pre program) and then linking from there.
 
Some are using NXU's or other ROIP gateways.

You can. There's nothing that says you can't in the current revision of the rules, most today are primarily focusing on internet linking though. In this case, it sounds like a good old fashioned (still see it occasionally today) RF link would be the best option. 
 
To sum up the Repeater Builder site on RF linking, there are 3 basic types of links. Point to point (simplex), half-duplex (shotgunning), and full duplex (link repeaters). In a point to point link, repeaters are linked through a link radio on each repeater. The radios run simplex (often with split PL/DPLs). When on repeater is keyed, it keys the link radio which sends a PL/DPL that only the other link radio receives, keying that repeater transmitter. The downfall to a point to point system, it can't be expanded to any more than two repeaters and it's questionable for use on GMRS the way the rules are currently laid out. Next is shotgunning where a link radio simply transmits on the input/output of the next repeater. You start out with a "hub" which is just a basic repeater. The next repeater's link radio transmits on the hub's input and listens to it's output. You continue like this down the line (wouldn't recommend it for more than about 2 or 3 hops). The finial link setup is a full duplex system. Basically it's another repeater…just for linking. Every site consists of a local repeater and a link repeater. The link repeaters run at 100% duty. They use PL detect to keep from keying the local repeaters.
 
The benefit to the first and last setups, they are band independent. You could use a common link band (say 900 MHz, 420 MHz, 220 MHz, etc) for all of the link radios where the shotgunned link radios have to be on whatever band the next repeater down the line towards the hub is. However, shotgunned is the most applicable method in terms of staying within the confines of the rules in Part 95A.
 
So, you generally need a controller that will handle links such as the NHRC 3.1, NHRC 4 and up, Electra 2000, RC2103, etc. so you can turn the link on and off, a link radio (1-5W with a yagi antenna is generally plenty), and a repeater. It is important to take into consideration power consumption (may want to make the off-grid repeater the hub), and the fact you will need separation between the repeater's antenna and the link radio's antenna.
 
The Repeater Builder site has a good page about off-grid repeaters. It's a good read if you haven't read it yet.
http://www.repeater-builder.com/tech-info/solar-power-thoughts.html

Hi all long time since I have posted but I have a question about linking. I have a pretty good size dead spot that I can not overcome. And it happens to be right in an area where I hunt fish 4 wheel and just veg out at. If I get on top of the hill I can hit my repeater no problem but in the lake area (big farm pond actually) 0 coverage. I have another repeater I can put in place and run it solar but can and how can I link them or can I ? Thanks again
John

Quaterwave, You asked about the terrain, well it is flat but we have a lot of trees. My wife and I did a test two evenings ago, and with her standing in the middle of our property we could not communicate at the farthest corner. A repeater may not be necessary maybe just a roof mounted antenna, but it still seems like a fun project to put together.

Appreciate the counter points. I wasn't suggesting the R100 was not a good unit, it was good for what it was built for, which was not to be a 100% duty cycle heavy duty repeater. We sold alot of them when I worked for M, and they generally were great. I did see some melted down because the customer needed a MSR2000 or MSF but didn't want to spend the money. I would hate to see someone buy one that may essentially be salvage, and may not be working....but buying one from a seller that can test, and would take it back if it wasn't what he said it was, would be better. Especially if you are are just-getting-started radio guy. 
 
I would disagree a bit on the Radius and Maxtrac....I have seen many a small repeater made from them, and they are a reliable, well made mobile. I have some that are 20+ years old and work just like new. 
 
I do understand that everyone's experience will vary, we each like what we like. 

Yes, once you find your way around M equipment, like I did working for them in the early 90's, its is cool to see what you can get into. Our shop built alot of interesting things back then. 
 
I run a pair of M208's as a small repeater, I have it set for about 15 watts, and it works just fine. Celwave mobile duplexer and a MRE1032 RA_1 interface. I used the interface to get the audio adjustment and drop out delay. I also keep a couple of my own cables around to make a quick repeater if I have to. 
 
My main machine is a 100 watt 100% duty cycle MTR2000 turned down to 50 watts....with a Zetron 37. Love that thing. 

You generally have to build them. R100's make great repeaters, you just have to have someone who can program them. I have two of them and my main problem is that I don't have a 486 or slower to program them with. It's also not just programming, you have to realign the receivers after you program them so you might as well align the transmitters while you're at it.
 
Best thing to do, buy two UHF GM300's (a wideband, 10-25W model should run around $30). Find someone who can program them for you (and turn the power down to 10W if you plan on using it a lot). Purchase a GM300 repeater cable ($10 on ebay) and a UHF notch duplexer ($80-100 on ebay) that will handle the power level you're wanting to run at. All you need now are the various coax connections, power supply (or batteries) and an antenna.