Skinnerfam95

Hi, I'm late to the game to join in with this comment. This was a test using two Radioddity GM-30 5W radios (about $40 ea)-- using 20" mobile mag mount antennas. This is largely a forested area. The quality was poor, but I was able to have two way communication in this scenario. Although I think you can't go wrong with the Wouxun KG1000g... you may find it is way overkill. Or, when you do your testing, you may find that there are things in your environment that is better than my case... or worse. Lots of variables in radio that makes it hard to completely plan it out on paper. https://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-elevationtool.html

The test of 550 only worked up to about 1400 feet with 5W HT to the repeater both using mag mount antennas-- so 550 did not resolve the distance issue. Another point of interest is I also have a 25W mobile GMRS radio. At the 1400 feet distance it only worked on low power- medium and high didn't open the repeater. Rich commented "the higher power should work better as it would be overcoming the loss in the duplexer better". He asked if there could be an issue with 25W mobile. I don't think so at this point, but I'll add this to my list to investigate further. I sent the repeater back to Rich this morning. Hopefully, he'll let me know what he finds out when he looks at it himself. Thanks again for all the comments.

Ok... I wanted to give an update. I bought this RT97S from myGRMS.com. Rich immediately offered to replace it. I wanted to do at least another test... but in my preparation to send it back I grabbed the box. I discovered the sticker was on the box indicating it was tuned to 550. This may come down to Read The Flippin Box. I'm going to test 550 tonight or tomorrow night and will post back the results. The elevation profile below is "6.4 miles, channel 15, simplex using 5W HTs" test. One side had the stock rubber duck and the other side had a 35" mag mount. It was near the limits of the 5W HTs given the terrain. I'm going to setup the 550 test of the repeater in the same location, but I'll use a mag mount on the repeater side instead of the rubber duck. I've only attempted long rage tests on 650 (arbitrary, fairly vacant frequency in my area) and 725 based on my 300ft dummy load test. I tested all 8 channels at about 300ft with a dummy load... I did hear variations of quality.. but nothing stood out. I didn't take good notes.. but as I recall 550 had most static noise, 725 had the least noise.

Thanks again everybody for all the comments. I contacted Retevis and they referred the issue to Rich at myGMRS.com (which is where I purchased it). I'm waiting for his reply before I open it up. After watching some youtube videos I've order an "authentic" NanoVNA V2 Plus4-- FEDEX from China.. so I don't know how long that will be. I do have a NanoVNA H that I'm curious if it will give any indication... I certainly wouldn't attempt to tune it with this VNA. After I hear back from Rich I'm going to reach out to my ham club and/or a local GMRS repeater club to see if someone has the gear and the time to help me out. I'll post back here incase someone else ends up chasing the same issue. The only thing I hate more than a thread that dies before it's answer is the thread that just said "I got it working". Haha

Hi, thank you for the comment. If able, please comment on my baseline testing approach. Given the details below, I expect that the repeater should perform as well or slightly better than the simplex HT baseline test. If this works out the repeater will likely have less than 25 feet of LMR400 and an antenna that is better tuned for GMRS. I'm using Radioddity GM-30 HT's- advertised 5W, but shows 4.1W forward power on my "budget 120W power meter" to a dummy load with no feedline. The repeater RT-97S is advertised 10W (sometimes 5W depending where you look)... shows 6.4-6.6W forward power (measuring each of the 8 channels) on my "budget 120W power meter" to a dummy load with no feedline. That said, I need to do more study of the duplexer because all 8 channels pass similar forward power. With the HT's for my simplex baseline test I use the same antenna as the repeater tests (20 ft pole w/100 ft of LMR400). The distant HT is using a mag mount Nagoya NMO-200C. With the HT simplex test I'm getting generally 3 miles in this configuration depending on the direction w/ varying terrain... and over 10 miles as I climb in elevation. The 100 feet of LMR400 is a necessary evil to my ham shack being in my basement. I'm also using a Diamond X50A for the antenna for convenience of testing. The spec does not include the GMRS frequencies, but it has decent resonance based on my NanoVNA analysis. The discussion of 1000 FT is just because of the poor repeater performance.

Hi, thanks so much for your comments. Interesting option of the upgraded NanoVNA. Are you aware of an equally cost effective tracking generator??.. or is there an alternate method that doesn't require a tracking generator? I did a quick test and found the least amount of noise on the first channel. I put a dummy load on my repeater with two HTs in the same room- I'm may not be thinking right, but I want as much desense and noise as possible to compare the 8 channels and see which is the best. I'm going to try some 1000ft or more range tests tonight with the radios properly separated. The interesting thing is that is not well marketed by myGMRS or Retevis. Retevis offers a custom tuned duplexer option as well an explicitly GRMS 8 channel option. The GMRS option does not indicate choosing a frequency/channel at purchase. The repeater was preloaded with all 8 channels. You confirmed what little I do know about duplexers. I should have asked the question about how all 8 channels work before jumping in and buying it.

Hi, thanks for the reply. Let me see if this adds anything to what you're thinking. One of the tests I similar to what I was describing... there are two HT's. One HT is 1000FT away with line of sight to the repeater antenna. The other HT inside the house on the first floor. It is about 20 feet from the repeater and about 70FT from the outdoor repeater antenna. The repeater is in my basement with a 100FT LMR400 feedline to the outdoor antenna (on a 20FT tall pole) which is about 60FT from the repeater. I think that should rule out the desense between the HTs/repeater. Please let me know if I'm missing something about the concept.

Hi, I purchased the RT97S from myGMRS.com. I'm having issues as follows. My repeater settings: - Using the 650 frequency pair - ENC/DEC CTCSS codes to OFF on the repeater - SQL is set to 1 - Transit function is ON - W/N is set to WIDE (matches the radios) - TX Power is set to HIGH The repeater antenna is 20FT high, a gain of 7dB, and SWR of 1.3/1.8 respective to the frequency pair. I'm using Radioddity GM-30 (5W) radios. For a simplex baseline using two GM-30 radios: - At 3 miles apart I get crystal clear both ways - One radio is using the repeater antenna - The other radio is using a mobile mag mount roof antenna When using the repeater with the transmitting radio is line of sight less than 500 feet from the repeater everything seems to work ok. -- I've received clear transmissions from a receiving radio as much as 8 miles away line of sight away from the repeater so long as the transmitting radio is less than 500 feet from the repeater. I am having limited success transmitting at 1000 feet away line of sight. - Radios that are less than 500 feet from the repeater hear the transmission of the radio that is 1000 feet away clearly - Other radios at 1000 feet from the repeater hear the transmission broken - The tail tone (burst of white noise) comes through strong on all radios - It appears to me that the transmission is degraded only when repeating the transmission of a radio 1000 feet or more away. The tail tone is after the transmission has completed and comes through strong Transmitting radios over 1000 feet from the repeater have worse symptoms than described above. It is unusable. Please help. Thanks, Matt

Hi, I'm sorry if I haven't found these details if they are out there. I'm guessing that the "Sold Out" status of the link bundle has to do with PI shortages. I would like to buy the RT97S and start using the repeater. The Link Bundle/DIY option is less important-- but I do want to get it as soon a practical. I already have my own PI and I can buy a URIxB direct from the vendor. Is there a way to download or purchase and SD Card with the PI image? If not, is there any documentation on the required installation/configuration for Asterisk and whatever else is required? Thanks, Matt