PastorGary

Absolutely - The one in the link below is also available at most Wal-Mart stores and Costco... just do a little research on local availability. Each of our Chaplain Responders has one of these ( yes, it can operate as a portable) and can be programemd for the S.A.M.E. alert codes for specific areas within a NOAA region. We highly recommend this style and it has a time-out reset feature as you requested... http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200492180_200492180?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Outdoors-_-Weather%20Instruments-_-20394&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=20394&gclid=COWly7qg37YCFZOHMgodw34ASA

Just a reminder for members here - Spybots from Search Engine Companies are camped out here in the forum. Any 'sensitive' information such as PL/DPL codes and frequencies for 'private' or 'permission only' systems should be done in Private Messaging Only. Thank you. Pastor Gary - Forum Moderator

Sounds good, William... I'll keep paper notes on the meeting place and frequency in the car.

William, thanks for the update and info that you also provided in P.M. I'll attempt to access it on November 01 mid-morning starting at about mile marker 300 on I-65. If I can't get to it because of that high terrain just to the east of I-65 - I'll try to contact you simplex CSQ on the same output frrequency as your repeater, so we can do that equipment exchange at the fuel stop at the exit that you mentioned. If you change anything between now and October 30, please let me know so I can reprogram the portable accordingly. Thanks.

David - No coordination is required under GMRS Part 95 reg's. It's first come first served... and it usually works out well that way except in the most populated urban areas. Good luck with things.

Most everyone on the planet finds Part 95 for GMRS confusing including the people who wrote the statutes. In any event, as long as you have a GMRS license you can put up a repeater system with a 50 watt max output. The ERP is not covered under FCC reg's, so high gain antennas are allowed. No system ID is required in code but EACH USER must ID with call sign at the beginning and end of their transmission string to comply. You can go to 199.9 feet from ground level to tip of antenna without lighting or alternating paint on the tower, but IF you are within the direct landing or take off pattern of an airport, in some cases you will need to follow FAA marking regulations. [ CFR 95.51 ] You can get to any statute by following the menu here: http://www.ecfr.gov I'll repost that part of the statute here: [ A repeater system is NOT a small base or control station station.]

Even a single stack such as that will give you just under 6dbi gain. With a 50 watt repeater and figuring a small amount of line loss, that's still an ERP of around 109 watts or EIRP of 179 watts. Check with JohnE concerning a coverage area - that should be easy to calculate with his software because your part of Florida is nearly flat. Good luck on your project!!

(1) If "some users" still have their equipment set to "narrowband" 11K0F3E - you may not adequately hear them on a wideband system. (2) It is not a single vertical omnidirectional antenna... it is a stacked array. I don't have a photo of the actual system... it's too high up for my camera to properly show detail. The system was installed commercially and it is somewhat similar to the system in this imaging below, but there are three of these elements on tower top outriggers: http://www.radiostructures.com/images/uploads/cdf450arraypic.jpg

In general terms, if a commercial radio shop does things correctly with a service monitor, the re-tuning should take 30 to 45 minutes of bench time. It all depends upon what their hourly rate is and if they charge a full hour for anything UP TO an hour or not. The local repeater tower close by is 197 feet above ground and the hill it's on is another 271 feet above the average terrain. It has a 50 watt output into a 15.6 db gain omni directional array and has coverage diameter of around 110 miles from mobiles. You don't have that much natural height in Florida so whatever you can squeeze out of it is a plus.

Logan 5 - Keep EVERYTHING in wideband mode including the repeater if that option is available to you. GMRS is under Part 95 of the Rules and was NOT included in the narrowband mandate effective January 01. Wideband will give a cleaner audio because of the bandwidth involved as well as providing more 'fringe' distance - portable to repeater. IF the repeater is currently set to narrowband - like 11K0F3E for instance - and it is hit with a wideband input signal, the repeater audio may distort to a degree and will not provide clear audio on the output side. 20K0F3E is a much more user friendly format in general terms for GMRS. The buzz is probably from the converter or converters. Some of those convert 12, 24 or 36 volts DC to 117 vols AC and then down again to another DC level - but have a SQUARE WAVE component rather than a nice clean 60 hz sine wave. Some pieces of equipment will not operate on a converted voltage where a square wave was generated anywhere along the line. Also, IF you are feeding a 13.8 VDC device with LESS than 13.8 volts, you will see the system straining to maintain frequency stability and may in fact be off frequency and that is where a possible FM phase noise is coming from on the output side. Make certain that the 13.8 VDC input is at the proper voltage UNDER LOAD (when the repeater is 'repeating') and that it is CLEAN DC with no ripple from any A/C converting in the power generating system. If you have 13.8 VDC at the repeater in standby and it loads down to under 12 VDC on transmit, the converter system does not have the power handling capacity that you need for reliable operation. Does that repeater have a regular 120 VAC power cord on it to simply plug in to a standard 120 volt wall outlet or is is 13.8 VDC ONLY?

Thanks.... completely forgot about them. http://www.dakotaalert.com/catb2b1/index.php?cPath=36_46&osCsid=uct66jhp8tueg1fsd21fgdpik7

+100

This link below may have some info that is applicable to the situation... hope things work out for you. http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2887 That is a dual band antenna designed for 2 meter and 440 amateur operation and may not be broad enough to load up properly at 462-467 without it looking like a direct DC short to the RF being applied. An SWR meter for UHF is not cheap... hope you find one.

Good news for certain. The time out timer is a feature that is provided in case an operator sits on the mobile mic and renders the repeater essentially useless until the idiot gets his butt off the mic. I personally set up my own private systems with the MOBILES timed out - not the repeater, but in a shared system where many different users and programmers are involved, you may wish to use that feature to protect the output stage.

We have seen that the Google, Bing, Ask and other search engine spybots are camped out here reading new posts. Just a word to the wise... use your discretion in posting personal or sensative information that could possibly compromise your personal safety, security, lead to identity theft, or give non-licensed individuals a way to access your radio systems.

Good luck with the delivery and please keep us up to speed on setup and any tech issues that you may have.

Please don't use an "N" Tee... just imagine a 50 watt blast of repeater RF entering your HT antenna connector. Besides, a TEE will mess up the impedance and SWR. You can try something like this in the following link, but don't forget to return the selector to the ACTIVE device. Click > http://www.gigaparts.com/store.php?action=profile&sku=ZMF-1702&gclid=CKPk7Mb8rrYCFZFaMgodgGcAiQ You can make a very effective UHF base station antenna using a used center loaded mobile 5.4 db gain antenna and NMO magnetic mount on a piece of galvanized steel flat plate (about 22 gauge will do) 2 feet square. You can place it just about anywhere and it works great. I have one just outside my Rectory office window and can hit a regional repeater 17 miles away with a 4 watt Kenwood HT.

Bill - Most of the GMRS repeaters in my general area have a two second hang time and so do most of the business and law enforcement systems close by. That seems to be fairly standard - at least around here. As I understand it, that saves energy and allows slightly cooler overall operation than having a 6 to 10 second hang time.

Thanks for the update... The reason that here was limited usership here was completely to do with the last forum software and glitches, when members couldn't log in properly. This new format from IP Bulletin is bullet proof and is operating very well. May I just make a mention... Rich D., the owner of MyGMRS.com, has a 'donations' patch at the main website. If you have the ability, please consider helping Rich keep the main website and this forum operating, so we all can have a place to get more knowledge about equipment and to assist each other to make what we have operate to it's fullest capabilities. Thank you.

Mark - Thanks for the reminders about the Motorola MTR2000. Let us know how the old system works out at the new location and please list it at the main MyGMRS website or update the info.

Thanks to all who have contributed thus far. While MURS is a bit congested in places, it may be a good alternative to GMRS simplex once in awhile where UHF RF just doesn't travel as far. Using Motorola and Kenwood equipment, our Chaplain Responder group can get as much range back to our emergency field dispatch center on 2 watts as the GMRS portables do using 4 watts. We monitor 154.570 wideband as well as 462.600 while on responses into natural disaster areas. We also have a mobile repeater on 462.600/467.600 and can hear any non-repeater capable simplex portables if necessary - if they are using the repeater output side CTCSS. Keep the suggestions coming - very much appreciated...

Matt - Since this forum is not closed to spybots, if you do not want the system to be hit by unlicensed operators, please edit out the CTCSS code in your post - or I can do it for you. Might be safer to not post that info in the open. Thanks.

Don't worry about time stamp unless the repeater is connected to a computer to log usage... and it didn't sound like that's what you will be doing. I have operated on a dozen GMRS repeaters over the years and none of them had internal ID or a time stamp. As I mentioned, it is the responsibility of each USER to properly ID themselves at the end of their traffic sessions. If it is set up OK from the seller, all you need is some high quality low loss UHF cable (Andrew Hardline is what many use as well as short runs of RG213)... and some way to fine tune the duplexer, and it should be good to go. You have a ham callsign, so check with your colleagues on 440 to see if someone is up to speed on that particular system. They may even have some mic info for you or at least a wiring diagram of the mic connector so you can get something brewed up yourself. P/S - Add on: This company was a servicing dealer for that type of repeater. If all else fails, call their service department to see if they have MIC info for you... HUTTON COMMUNICATIONS 2520 Marsh Lane Carrollton, TX 75006 P 877.648.8866 F 877.762.8274 E-mail sales@huttoncom.com www.huttononline.com

You don't need to have a repeater transmit a callsign automatically. In fact, since persons OTHER than your family will be using it and they have their OWN licenses, it is THEIR responsibility to properly announce ID when they are finished with their traffic. If your own ID is transmitted and someone else is doing things that they shouldn't be doing on the system, it is YOU that will have to answer to that. With that in mind, it's probably not necessary to find programming software and a cable IF what you were told is true. Can't help you with the mic situation, but we have many members here and I hope sometone can help with that question. I took the liberty of eliminating the CTCSS code from your post for security reasons - mainly to keep bootleggers off, because this forum is open to spybots. Best of luck with the system. P-G =========