NavyBOFH

Thank you again for helping out with providing access! While my wife and her team ended up staying around the Lavon/Dallas area and then traveling into the affected area as needed, I felt a LOT better knowing that your repeaters were online, available, and monitored if things went bad during their work. If you are ever in the South Carolina area our repeaters are open to you any time!

With respect to the moderators and others here: I had this debate a while ago in a Radio Reference thread which ended up getting locked because of flames and rants. With that being said: the NPRM (which is now becoming law of the land on the 28th of this month) spoke of how the FCC realizes people are using Part 90 equipment on GMRS and that it was mostly acknowledged and ignored. While I understand the "part 90" and "part 95" rules, the actual technical certification of transceivers in both parts adhere to similar, if not exactly the same specifications. It is why the FCC hasn't intervened to slap down people using Part 90 equipment which is usually many times more expensive than "commercial offerings" from other brands. That being said, I still say "go with your gut" considering that on GMRS here we have almost all Motorola repeaters running with a absolute skew of radios. Since I also maintain an almost 30-repeater DMR network, most people use their Motorola or Hytera or other Part 90 accepted radio for DMR and have the local GMRS repeater programmed into the zone right next to the DMR and analog ham channels. I am at a crossroads for my own gear because I have a Connect Systems CS710 and CS810 in my possession for GMRS/DMR/Amateur radio/UTAC/etc use which were purchased and furnished to us by state emergency management as a tool since we maintain many of their systems - not to mention they wanted to see how they stacked up against similar offerings. While I love the radios for my truck and to throw in my work bag - for personal use I haven't adopted DMR (and in turn any UHF radios) for myself. I owned Motorola XPR gear and sold it just because of the price of the CPS and the remote head or HHCH mount for my 5550 was more than what I paid for the radio. Now I want the CS800D for my personal vehicle but have a love/hate with the one in my truck because of the small screen and tinny audio. But the remote mount was AWESOME! Simple Cat5 cable and that's it. For my handheld I want to hold out until the AnyTone dual band comes out, because I don't like how the MD-2017 is snapping SMA connectors for some people. Anyway - enough ranting on about the radios. I just hope with the new rules and what I mentioned above about the FCC acknowledging Part 90 radios on GMRS people can stop tip-toeing around the issue and just use a "reputable commercial radio" for their budget and needs. I just sent my last two MTS2000 radios down to TX with my wife for flood relief with the thought that the radios might not survive the trip if they get dunked. I sent them because they ARE cheap radios... and wasn't going to send my work XTS5000s down.

You have described why we are trying to get our GMRS repeaters onto some sort of access control system. We have 5-6 repeaters in Midlands SC area right now, and all of them end up being molested by unwanted people at some point or another. Almost everyone running on the repeaters has MDC1200 ability so we COULD set it up for a silenced MDC1200 Repeater Access Code but no way of making it happen. MSF5000s and Quantars had the ability through a VERY obscure module, but otherwise I am hoping that someone eventually will make a Raspberry Pi or Arduino based repeater controller with MDC1200 features.

That's why I come here! I love the collection of people available for technical help. After working on the SCHEART network here my brain gets so overloaded I always need help remembering a detail I forgot. I will have to look up the manuals you mentioned - I am assuming I will just have to find a pair of those mobiles (I bet I have some laying about my work in a box), a duplexer, P/S, and a RICK? I also have an old interface board which connects to the RICK for CWID and such. I guess the mobiles have been the part I have been missing.

I know I have mentioned this before - but have still been working on setting up a family repeater for my license. I would like to have the ability to run MDC1200 for repeater access to only approved IDs or a Repeater Access Tone. What repeaters are capable of doing this? Or what controllers? I am familiar with the Quantar/MSF5000 Station Access Module but that is a bit much (and rare) for a GMRS repeater in my attic. Anything else I am coming up short...

I work for SC ETV as a Field Engineer and know we have several towers in your area, with several ham, commercial, and state repeaters on them along with the SCHEART and NC-PRN ham radio network which we own... and all those sites have beautiful coverage at 40-50w. Finding a tower will be your hardest part, and even for us we have limited tower space for antennas even though our actual buildings have space for several more repeater racks.

That's good news for me. I've been looking at a CF-18 or early CF-19, and the CF-29 or early CF-30 as well. Still debating whether I want small or big. Also on that list is the Motorola ML910 and a Getac V100 I've been watching on eBay. All of them are either Core Duo or Core 2 but the earliest versions of them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are they even out yet? I was following them for a while and once they missed their delivery date I kinda lost hope. But I've heard their equipment is pretty decent for the price. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know which one you're talking about - that's going to be an exciting piece to see in person finally. I like P25 since it's more "universally accepted" and in my opinion - audio sounds better as well. I have heard too many DMR systems that sound like Peewee Herman - but that might be my partial hearing loss! I think I was 100% settled on P25 until Vertex's newer EVX revisions brought a better display, MDC signalling for analog, and AES encryption that doesn't need to be bought... and a price under $400 each.

I am thinking of picking up a Toughbook to keep as a programming/field computer and load it with other random items as well for taking it places. There's a few CF-28s out there but I am wondering if a CF-29 would be able to take place and still boot under DOS via USB... would that work?

That's a pretty good idea. My idea is to keep it "semi-permanent" but mostly that I want it to look clean in the sense that it looks good in my home, or will be protected in a different site. I saw the Gator Box but wanted something smaller since a 4u setup that shallow doesn't need so much rack space. Thanks for the links though! I saw that power supply but was afraid to use it. Now I know it will work just fine.

Between P25 and DMR, the pricing will be identical for what I can get my hands on - Quantars are slowly being replaced out here so I can get my hands on VHF or UHF ones for $1500 or so. Though DMR might be winner instead for the TDMA giving me 2 channels, encryption doesn't need a keyloader, and something like the SLR5700 repeater is SMALL and continuous duty. However - P25 allows me to get XTS5000s with XTVAs and turn them into mobiles in the car with little effort and price in the end... hence my debate. Itinerant was my choice because 1) no coordination needed and 2) allows my repeater to go from my home to my in-laws or the lake house for vacation and back without much effort - allowing my limits to be equipment and not licensing. GME coming to the US huh? That's gonna hopefully be a good option for us.

I gotta ask - where did you find the power supply? I am trying to use the SAME mounting (found on ebay) and put on it the power supply, duplexer, and repeater controller to make one easy unit - then maybe stuff it all into a small case with fans and call it a day. Did the tray you mounted the duplexer and PS to come with it?

MDC isn't bad at all - I am trying to use it for RAT and ID on a repeater I am building because the average bear around here is smart enough to use a CloseCall scanner or the sorts to get your PL or DPL tones and hijack a repeater if possible. To be nice though, I am trying to enable the repeater to do MDC RAT and ID for all users, with a "user" on the 141.3 tone. If I need to shut out "travelers" I can use a programmed MDC code to do that and re-enable afterwards. But I am still in the process of building and figuring this all out so I am being hopeful.

Are you doing all that through a business license? If so, I would love to chat with you about that. My wife and I use GMRS for now, but out here its decently popular and if I put up the repeater I am building it will end up being a community repeater (closed repeaters have issues finding tower space around here by the looks of it). But we want something secure for ourselves - DMR or encrypted P25... still undecided since both have their pro/con sides. However, I have no idea where to start trying to license repeater capable itinerant frequencies - since I don't want to pay a planner and want to be able to take my repeater and move it.

Sadly the GR300/500 explicitly skip the controller and call for another set of manuals for its service and programming. I was lucky enough that someone on another site had the same controller and managed to find the RSS, but no manuals still - and from what he told me the RSS is VERY convoluted. If I am to build a repeater, I might pick something else to use as the controller and save the i750r till I have all documentation and the opportunity to pull the PCB out of the case and clean it down real well. The 3 16-pin connectors on the back have some weather corrosion so I can only assume the PCB needs to be cleaned up as well. I am also picking up a GR300 chassis to put the CDMs into - I know I might need to snip/dremel a bit to make it work, but I think it would be a clean setup to house radios, controller, duplexer, and power supply in one box. Lastly picking up an old Panasonic Toughbook to turn into my "programming laptop". Still debating if I need to get an old PII system like a CF-27 for DOS and use my new thinkpad for the newer stuff, or get something like a CF29/CF30 and try running XP and DOS dual boot.

Thanks for the ideas. A little bit of searching and I found an adapter that was made for the CDM series to allow a 60-80mm fan to be bolted to the heat sink. I would probably just do that and let them run wide open all the time. As for the repeater panel - I have the RSS for it but no manuals, and the RSS is the old 486-speed DOS kind. So I won't be playing with that until I get an old computer around to load it up on. DOSbox didn't play well with it. If I end up making a community repeater though I'd save the controller for a repeater I want to put up at my in-laws house. They have zero cell coverage in the entire town so it's nice to talk back and forth there. I am going to see what the OEM Coordinator might have to say about tower space though. I know from one other repeater owner here that it worked for him. They matched him up with a TV station tower that was giving away space to the county. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is something I've wanted to do for a while - but haven't had the drive to do so. I am building a medium-duty repeater out of 2 Motorola CDM1250 mobiles, Astron power supply, duplexer, and a decently-advanced i750r Repeater Controller that allows for multiple PL/DPL access codes, along with MDC1200 access and setup/knockdown. I was liking the MDC idea since if I cannot find a location to make this repeater public, I can keep it quiet and "locked down". Now - for the biggest hurdle. I COULD put it up in my attic, run cooling fans on the TX radio, and stick a j-pole on my roof - but that's not going to be so effective and not good for the community (which the closest repeater that's working now is 20mi LOS to my west). I want to find a place to house the repeater - but have not a single clue where to begin! How has most people here managed to find a tower for their repeater?

Paul - willing to PM me some information regarding the FCC license? I looked into starting an application but didn't know where exactly to start with the whole idea. I was liking the idea of owning a repeater pair or two to make my own closed setup with DMR or P25 on the itinerant frequencies but didn't know the actual legalities of keeping a "portable" repeater in the same location(s)? I would definitely love the help!

I have a Windows 8 laptop that I use for programming most of my modern radios, but my main laptop is a Macbook Pro... see where the issue is? I think based off this thread I am going to try installing VMware and installing a Windows 7, XP, 95/DOS VMs within it and see if I can program anything from a Motorola HT1000 up to my Tytera MD-380 over VM. What makes it more interesting is if/how some machines will handle USB passthrough to the VM... that will make the difference of 1) whether the "serial port" shows up at all, and 2) if its an actual passthrough, the VM will have full control over the port... if the VM doesn't have FULL control and shares the resource with the host computer that's a bricked radio waiting to happen.

I am looking at building a private repeater, since the Columbia, SC area is so saturated I wanted to have something for my family and SHTF situations. My thought was to use DPL or reverse DPL... but I was really thinking about a system where only specific MDC1200 IDs can access the repeater. What kind of setup would be able to take advantage of that function?