coryb27

Saw this on YouTube.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EBJasGAymY

As long as the duplexer covers that frequency range you can tune it any way you like. I have tuned a duplexer to work like a combiner for 2 transmitters. Works great as long as you include isolators in your design.

I prefer the Telewave 44A, just as accurate and no slugs to change or buy at 75 to 100 each.

I agree, great repeaters but still pricey. I have been building GMRS repeaters out of MTR 2000's, they are bullet proof. I was not sure what he was trying to say with separation of 30 MHz vs 4MHz, GMRS uses 5MHz separation and a filter or pre selector would have 4Mhz of bandwidth. Sounds like he was trying to talk technical without knowing what he was trying to say. For his intended use a Quantar is way over kill....

I build repeaters, tune duplexes, transmit combiners and I have no idea what you are trying to say here.... What?

You will not have any issues at all, i have commercial pairs way closer then that and combining TX.

https://mygmrs.com click on the map link

Because its live on the site that was a link to test. Try this https://mygmrs.com/map/#/

You need to edit the repeater, it as simple as hit edit, hit save, that will get you current for a year and put you back on the map. Corey

Mine are all public, anybody is free to use them. If a user is more then just passing thru and plans to use the systems often I require them to create a profile on my website should I need to contact them off the air. Frequent users that do not sign up are asked to or permission is revoked.

You can add mine! https://mwgmrs.com

That is the new logo, he applied it yesterday. Hes been working on some long needed site improvements. Corey

As a side thought, if GMRS is something you enjoy and plan to keep using save you penneys and purchase a new part 90 radio with real features and the ability to program 1000 channels any way you like. Yes these radios can be priced from 300 to 800 but well worth it. I have several HAM rigs in the 800 to 3000 range, an Aeroflex service monitor that costs me many thousands, its my hobby and I invested it. I would love to see anybody find 1 case of the FCC tracking down somebody and issuing a fine for using part 90 gear because its not going to happen. Calls to the FCC will get you a response like, so long as we are not investigating you for other violations your part 90 radio is just fine. I have run into FCC field officers at commercial tower sites and have addressed the question in person showing them my GMRS setup (Motorola XPR5550 with handheld control) and the response was, that's a nice radio. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR plain and simple, cheap is cheap for a reason.....

You are asking a lot for 150 bucks, quality components and engineering cost money. The small profit margin would require every GMRS license holder in the US to purchase several 150 dollar radios just to recover the engineering costs let alone the rest of the expense of bringing a product to market. Its simple economics and GMRS is to little of a market share to invest in.

I have tested Motorola, Kenwood, Icom, Midland, Macom, etc.. All of these radios are for the most part spectrally clean, the audio does not over deviate and the error rate on the transmitters is always within spec. This just goes to show you get what you pay for in electronics.

This is no different from any of the cheap Chinese radios that have come across my bench. I think its time the FCC starts doing its own testing, this goes to show the Chinese manufactures dont care and will fudge the paperwork to make this junk sellable in the US. As I have stated before none of these CCR's belong in use on GMRS as even the certified ones don't meet spec or standard. The spurs in the 900 band where strong enough to pick them up several 100 feet away on a scanner.

I will let these images do the talking... All tests done on Wideband 462.550, High power, 1 min on 5 min off for a total of 10 min TX time over 60 min at 14.7V. I have worse results but these will do. After the 3rd cycle the power output started to drop and the current draw increase. Not sure if poor thermal management is part of it but I am sure most of it is the junk output transistors. http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/1.jpg http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/12.jpg http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/9.jpg http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/50x1/testresults.jpg

I program all the repeaters I want in the radio and update the program as needed. I don't have FPP on any of my radios.

No lightning to worry about but induced voltage from lightning is. Grounding is still an important part of any antenna system. Because I am in a condo I used a #4 wire attached to a cold water pipe and grounded the shield on all of my hardlines with bonding kits. Since the UHF and VHF antennas are folded dipoles any static buildup is shunted to ground. The scanner antenna has an add on suppressor for stray voltage. The performance of the antennas for the most part is great. I regularly talk 40 miles simplex on VHF and work repeaters 50 miles away with little trouble. The results are a little less on UHF, simplex is good for 25 miles and repeaters about 45. UHF can be funny during the winter if we get snow build up on the roof, it cuts simplex distance in half but little change on repeaters. I spared no expense when picking and installing my antennas as the antenna is the single biggest factor in the performance of any radio system. The antennas are as follows and in order of the photos. UHF = https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/commscope-db404-b-4267 = Covers 450-470 MHz 5dB SCANNER= https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/mp-antenna-08-ant-0863-7002 = Covers 25-1300 MHz VHF = https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/telewave-ant150d3-4446 = Covers 138-174 MHz 6dB

DB-404 in the attic of my 2 story condo, simplex base to base 25 miles and repeaters 45 miles. http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/uhfbase2.jpg Fed with 1/2 hardline http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/hole.jpg Into a custom wall plate with N female bulkheads. I have a UHF, VHF and Scanner antenna up there. http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/wallplate.jpg http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/scanner.jpg http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/vhf.jpg

Sounds like another decoder issue. I have got wind of this issue from several users of this unit. This is caused by overloading the front end, or simply being to close to a base or repeater. This is what cheap hardware gets you, in order to cut costs you have to cut quality and engineering. For the record it can be repaired but in the end its not worth it. I don't know about others but my min charge is an hr and that is more then the radio costs new.

I have to know, why are you so set on a repeater like this? Unless a Manufacture knows its going to sell 100's of units its not going to put the time and money into this. Even construction sites that only need a repeater for a few blocks install full size repeaters simply for the duty cycle and reliability. Now in the part 90 world you can have your self a Motorola SLR1000 these do analog or DMR and are made to be tower mounted. This is all deal breakers for your wish list, its not part 95 and it will set you back $1900 but hey it is "new". I have state of the art SLR5700's in use on a business system and many 15 year old MTR 2000's in use on GMRS. For the record the SLR5700's I own (2 @ $2200 each) have given me more issues in 2 years than 10 USED MTR2000 have in 4 years. In fact one needs to go back to the depot for repair again! NEW is not always better, the list price on a NEW MTR2000 was upward of $8000 so I am more then happy to run a USED $8000 repeater I got for $800 bucks or less vs a NEW machine I paid $800 to $1000 for. In your price point and requirement of off the shelf and legal I envision this big lunch box size FRS/GMRS radio with a 4' telescopic center loaded antenna and a rechargeable battery inside. I'm sure adding a solar panel and maybe a dynamo crank to charge the battery, a local mic, weather channels, maybe even a flashlight and an AM/FM radio will help sell more to the masses. This all sounds good (ha ha) but an off the shelf turn key repeater marketed as part 95 for GMRS is just a bad idea. Last thing we need is 100's of unlicensed repeaters all over the place with kids on them causing interference to real repeaters that people invested time and money into. If you need an example just look at all the FRS/GMRS combo radios that never got a licence and the FCC just made them licence by rule, again not good for GMRS. This unicorn you have been hunting will work about as good as simplex without an antenna at significant height above ground.

You cant go wrong with an MRT2000, this lunchbox repeater idea has been beat to death and tried with mostly poor results by many. I have not seen a single lunchbox or ammo can repeater outperform simplex. I currently own many MTR2000's with 5 of them in GMRS service at this time. I have also built and sold several others as turn key repeaters for people without a single complaint. I looked into this retevis RT97 and it has no FCC certification, its intended market is HAM or out of the country use.

I would not worry about it, 1000's of them in use and nobody is doing anything about it so 6 sitting in survival kits is null. I think your survival bag is a fantastic idea with the way things are in the world that bag may be all somebody has. It don't matter if its a natural disaster or armageddon people that have communication will be the ones that survive.

Several of our GMRS repeaters provide 20+ miles of portable coverage, if you can find a good high spot for a repeater a used part 90 repeater with some good front end filtering and a preamp will give good portable performance. MURS VHF on the other hand can be used without a license and can legally have external base antennas with no restrictions on ERP but limited to a transmitter power of 2W.