Repeater site

[ljones135]

I'm wanting to put a repeater up in the area where I live, I can't put it up at my home. So I'm looking at putting a repeater up on a building nearby. Has anyone asked a building owner if they would allow you to install a repeater on their buildings rooftop? If so, how were you able to sell the owner or building manager on the idea? 

[rdunajewski]

I was able to get free access to the top of a condo in Florida on the beach by mentioning that it would be perfect for emergency use and residents of the building could get a license and use it for free. I eventually lost the site because wireless companies were snooping around and wanting to kick any "competition" out, and the condo association was wondering why I was there rent-free when they had a paying tenant looking to come in.

 

My mistake was not getting a contract or lease agreement with them. If I had that, they would have been able to tell the wireless companies tough, we already have an agreement and you'll have to deal with it. It can be an informal contract, just says why you're there, what you'll pay, and for the longest period of time you can negotiate at a time (so you're not having to renegotiate each year, for example).

[ljones135]

What were they asking for rent space? Did they want you to have liability insurance on the equipment? The building I'm looking at already has a HAM machine up there so that door has already been breached of putting any machine up there. I was just kind of wanting what kind of spiel to use to sell the idea. I had already told them it was for community betterment, ie, emergency use and preparedness.

[tweiss3]

What were they asking for rent space? Did they want you to have liability insurance on the equipment? The building I'm looking at already has a HAM machine up there so that door has already been breached of putting any machine up there. I was just kind of wanting what kind of spiel to use to sell the idea. I had already told them it was for community betterment, ie, emergency use and preparedness.

Contact the HAM repeater owner and discuss it. They can give you insight and you can also coordinate if it will work for both of you. You don't want to cause issues for him since he is already there.

[ljones135]

twiess3,

 

Yeah I tried to do that with the HAM machine. I never got a response. I'm being told by a mutual friend that the machine is still up there but hasn't been operative for some time, a couple years at least. You're right about not wanting to cause problems.

[Jones]

A ham and a GMRS repeater can live comfortably on the same rooftop or even the same tower.  If the ham repeater is an older one, there is a good chance it is a 2-meter machine, which is far enough away from GMRS that it won't be an issue.  Even if it is a UHF 70cm ham machine, both can live on the same space - just as long as both of you have good quality BpBr cavity filters, not just cheap duplexers.

 

Stop by and talk to the building owner or manager. Tell him that there is already a ham repeater up there on his roof, which is a federally licensed service, and that you would like to add an additional licensed service similar to, but not exactly the same as ham radio. Be sure to note that it is being done as a public service, and not for profit in any way.

[ljones135]

Jones,

 

It is a 2 meter machine. I'll take those suggestions, thanks.

[rdunajewski]

What were they asking for rent space? Did they want you to have liability insurance on the equipment? The building I'm looking at already has a HAM machine up there so that door has already been breached of putting any machine up there. I was just kind of wanting what kind of spiel to use to sell the idea. I had already told them it was for community betterment, ie, emergency use and preparedness.

 

They didn't even ask me to pay, they just wanted me gone. Either they were upset they agreed to no rent and wanted to kick me out, or they saw the non-compete clause in the contract with the wireless companies and wanted to clean house. Either way, I ended up scoring a much better site with patience and hunting around. I'm on a 500' tower a few miles away now. There was a company who needed a new site to cover their customers so I found the site and piggy-backed on their combiner. It helps to know people in the industry, so I lucked out there.

 

There were other issues where the person who granted me access to the site was on the board, and got approval from the president of the association, but the whole association didn't vote on it. So I think there was some bad blood between the members and I was the casualty. As far as the install, I had a local radio tech do the install since I live in NJ, and that way everything was done professionally and someone could be on-site with a day's notice to fix anything. We did a minimal install, small antenna, small wall-mount rack out of the way so it didn't bother anyone. He worked with the building maintenance guy to make sure everything was good.

 

I also think the antenna drew the attention of the wireless companies because they figured that condo had contracts to lease the roof space already, so it'd be easier to talk to them than to start from scratch with another building.