Wouxun KG-1000G repeater/ Baofeng GM-15PRO.

[WRUE538]

You'll hear differing views on repeaters. "Made for HD use" used Motorola's, don't waste money on a cheap setup, etc. Initially, I hoped I could use 2 KT-8900's for light duty with a homemade jumper. Naysayers were correct. They work crossband decently, not well in band. I'm at 6800' with optimal conditions. Mostly reaching areas 500' lower. I only needed 28' of LMR400 to the antenna,  $100 Harvest 5/8 wave. $125 50w duplexer. The key, I believe besides short high quality coax was fine tuning the duplexer with a nanoVNA. You not only want the lowest notch possible, but also ensure you aren't pulling the passing frequencies down. Bottom line, I have VERY clean transmission using a stock Baofeng GM-15pro in a car 20+ miles out. Which is only 4.7w.  I haven't really tested further distance yet. Obviously my Nagoya 771G antenna would do even better, or a mobile unit far better. It's a shame to use the KG-1000G's only as a repeater, as they are nice radios. But they are amazing for my use. They stay very cool in continuous use. The generic China 50w repeater is great, once dialed in. The threads are a little touchy but attention to detail makes all the difference. I'm probably most impressed with the Baofeng GMRS radios. Same as the GM30 radioddty but I like these better. Was sure others would want to know about a setup that actually worked well. According to propagation software I ran and plugged in the values, a good mobile should get me out around 75 miles in good line of sight areas. We'll see as we experiment. But thus far, this setup has worked excellent for me. 

[MichaelLAX]

Why do you like the GM-15s better?

[WRUE538]

I believe they are nearly identical radios. I like the color choice and antenna better on the Baofeng, and it's a better point. The 2 pack comes with extra whip antennas too which are actually decent antennas. I don't mind spending more for a better radio, but I think they're hard to beat. Hopefully they'll both be added to CHIRP soon. 

[MichaelLAX]

I think what keeps the Radioddity off of CHIRP is the lack of interest of someone to actually send the CHIRP team one of their radios, so that they can reverse engineer it.

[WRUA294]

I continue to be impressed with my GM-15 Pro.

[WRUE951]

i have the KG-1000's set up for a repeater and pretty happy with their performance, I'm making contacts with mobile's 60 miles out.. I'm, setting on a hillside  about 500' overlooking the Indian Wells Valley using a Tram 1182 on 30' mast.  I also cleaned up my mobile Duplexer with my Nano, the factory tune wasn't very good.  i am concerned about the duty cycle on these KG-1000G  radios,  they get very hot after about 15 mins of continuous use.  I plan to use these as mobile's so I actually have two Maxon 8402A radios on order, they create a repeater much like the KG-1000  but better because they are commercial radios and have a 100% duty cycle. They are also a little cheaper then the KG-1000 radios.  If you decide to go with the Maxon's be prepared to wait about 60 days, they are on back order.   I'm also using EchoStaton with a RIGblasger for my ID Controller.  IMO, this is the best way to go for creating an I'D controller on your repeater.  I have mine set up for Voice I.D. with a time and temp stamp.  EchoStation has a lot of flexibility and the software is very cheap, only  $19 bucks.   RIGblaster ties it into the radios via  the Mic ports.   Very easy to set up.   

[gortex2]

The maxon is not a 100% duty cycle radio. No mobile is rated for that. To get a 100% duty cycle you need to get a true repeater. The maxon will heat up just as much as the KG. 

[KAF6045]

2 hours ago, gortex2 said:

The maxon is not a 100% duty cycle radio. No mobile is rated for that. To get a 100% duty cycle you need to get a true repeater. The maxon will heat up just as much as the KG. 

Based upon the manual, the US version of the Maxon is also NARROW FM ONLY.

[jec6613]

On 10/14/2022 at 9:44 AM, gortex2 said:

The maxon is not a 100% duty cycle radio. No mobile is rated for that. To get a 100% duty cycle you need to get a true repeater. The maxon will heat up just as much as the KG. 

According to the spec sheet, it'll probably heat up slightly more.  The Maxon draws as much power to output 40W as the Wouxun draws to output 50W, since the Maxon seems to primarily be a VHF radio.

Without getting a real repeater, the best one can hope for is to either: (1) reduce power output, (2) increase cooling, or (3) reduce usage.

[WRUE951]

On 10/16/2022 at 5:43 AM, jec6613 said:

According to the spec sheet, it'll probably heat up slightly more.  The Maxon draws as much power to output 40W as the Wouxun draws to output 50W, since the Maxon seems to primarily be a VHF radio.

Without getting a real repeater, the best one can hope for is to either: (1) reduce power output, (2) increase cooling, or (3) reduce usage.

FYI If you  look at the Maxon DMR UHF repeater you  find they  advertise it as a 100% duty  cycle..  Their DMR repeater is two Maxon's 8402A radios.. Additionally, the Maxon 8402A is a wide/narrow band radio.. The Bridgecom repeaters also use the Maxon 8402 Radios, they  too also spec their repeater as 100% duty cycle.   I currently use the Wouxuns KG-1000  radios and i can attest, these radios get extremely hot after 15 minutes of continuous use.. I have a friend who has t Maxon repeater and, i use it all the time and perforce is much better than the Wouuxun repeater...  His radios get warm on continuous use but not HOT..   Just giving real world experience...   

[jec6613]

1 hour ago, WRUE951 said:

FYI If you  look at the Maxon DMR UHF repeater you  find they  advertise it as a 100% duty  cycle..  Their DMR repeater is two Maxon's 8402A radios.. Additionally, the Maxon 8402A is a wide/narrow band radio.. The Bridgecom repeaters also use the Maxon 8402 Radios, they  too also spec their repeater as 100% duty cycle.   I currently use the Wouxuns KG-1000  radios and i can attest, these radios get extremely hot after 15 minutes of continuous use.. I have a friend who has t Maxon repeater and, i use it all the time and perforce is much better than the Wouuxun repeater...  His radios get warm on continuous use but not HOT..   Just giving real world experience...   

That's super common actually.  Motorola repeaters are just a pair of their mobile radio boards in the same chassis, same for Yaesu being a pair of mobile boards, Wouxun's dedicated repeater, and so on.  It saves a ton on development and manufacturing costs.  The real enemy is heat, as you've noted.

What dedicated repeaters do differently is cool the boards better - larger heatsinks, ducted fans, and forced ventilation are common in a front to back 2U 2-post chassis normally used for repeaters, while the mobile radio usually must passively sink the heat, or, at best, has a low noise 40mm fan.  A 2U chassis can easily vent over 2kW of heat if designed properly (just look at servers), a couple of hundred watts for radios and control boards is basically nothing a single 60mm fan can't handle.  At least, once you stop caring about the audible noise of the cooling system!

If I were building a repeater on the cheap, personally I'd pick up something like this and take my tin snips to the interior: https://www.newegg.com/black-athena-power-rm-2u200h/p/N82E16811192310

It comes with two 12V fans, plenty of room for the power supply and the RX unit, in a couple of hours it could easily turn two independent mobile radios into a repeater.  I'd probably throw in a temperature sensor and fan failure alarm too for my own peace of mind.

[gortex2]

Very few Motorola repeaters are made from mobiles. The original DMR XPR8300 was 2 mobiles and in the end was just as bad as a mobile. the PA would burn out and you would swap decks. The MTR2000,3000, SLR, Quantar and GTR are all quality designed repeaters. As much as I hate the GR1225 it is based on the GR series mobiles with special firmware. It has the larger PA but it never helped. Nothing of that nature will last in a 100% duty cycle. 

Normally by the time you buy 2 mobiles, repeater controller and power supply you are over the cost of a real repeater. The last Quantar I picked up was $1000. It will outlast any mobile based repeater out there. 

There is a difference between a home use/limited use repeater and a wide area coverage repeater. If folks are going to use it it wont last long without the proper cooling.