UHF repeaters

[kmcdonaugh]

I have the Retevis RT97S in almost exact same set up you have. The main difference, I do have an external antenna, and I get 20 miles coverage out of mine

[WRUE951]

On 2/20/2023 at 2:59 AM, gortex2 said:

As discussed in other posts, by the time you buy 2 KG1000 radios, cat 5 jumper cable, mobile duplexer you are at the price of a good used specific built repeater and reviews have not been that great on them.

 

I really didn't have any operating issues when i had my KG1000 radios set up for repeater..  Never had a duty cycle issue with them, they would talk pretty much all day with no issues.  I was getting 45 mies with KG1000..  The cat 5 jumper you refer to comes with the radio's and your duplexer is going to be required no mater what radios you use, although some one box repeaters have them built into their box and some require additional money to incoprate them..  Either way, you are still paying for the duplexer.   I'm not against specific built repeaters, i went that route too and for the most part ended up with Ebay junk..  Programing some of them, if not most of them can be a time consuming adventure and re-turning the duplexers seemed to be needed on every radio..  For most people getting started with GMRS, i think the KG1000 would satisfy them.  I agree there are other options and cheaper... The Maxon's i just set up are pretty much the same cost as the KG1000 but a much better radio.   I would recomend anyone to go with the Maxon vs. KG1000 as the cost is pretty much the same... The point with the used radio path,  most of them require a much broader knowledge base to set them up and get them running,  that can be frustrating for the new guy trying to get a repeater going..  I think it's funny here, some of the experts here cleary started out with Wuuxun radios, talked them up like they were the best thing on the planet.  Well, they are defiantly not the best, they're just o.k.     

[WRUE951]

On 2/19/2023 at 5:07 PM, jhouse said:

Appears to be simple enough, but a couple of questions -

1) What does the jumper do between the radios?

2) I've read some about duty cycle and would be curious about how that impact with two radios.  Would I still need to be worried about duty cycle even with moderate use?  

3) What type of specific duplexer should I be looking for?

the jumper between radios allow the two radios to 'handshake' with each other when used as a repeater.  The two radios need this handshake communication to allow both radios to work together.   the jumpers come with the KG1000

Duty cycle is basically how long a radio can transmit before damage or a shut down happens..  When i had my KG1000 repeater set up, i never experienced issues with duty cycle.  I had my KG1000's in a cabinet with a temperature controlled fan set up..  The KG1000 and the Maxons have protective circuits which shuts down the radios  if they overheat..  I'v never had that happen. 

I started out with an XLT duplexer tuned for the GMRS band, cost was around $150.  Later on i went with a Sinclair that was close to $800..  The loss between the two as barely .1 DB...  The XLT Duplexer works great and i recomend just going that route...  The XLT is available on Ebay or Amazon and at a better price than buytwowayradios. 

One area you dont want to fudge on is your coax cable..  Use a good LMR 200 or 400 coax and get some decent connectors.   I use crimp-ons with the proper tool for installing them..   .   

[N3OUC]

Hello,

I have used three different systems, the KG1000's, The Bridgecom 40U and Vertex Standard VX70R.  Let me qualify this information by saying my repeater has a lot of use on a daily basis so here goes what I have experienced. 

The 1000G's are not 100% duty cycle on high power and even with the fans running, the transmit radio gets super hot to the touch. I even placed an external fan blowing on the unit as well and it still got very hot. Although the radio's worked and didnt fail, I didnt get a warm and fuzzy feeling running them this hot. So I decided to purchase the Bridgecom 40U unit.

I received the unit about two weeks after ordering it and I thought that this was going to be a dream to run. The problem is the internal fan only runs when the unit transmits and if you had a bunch of people using the repeater such as in a net application. Once everyone was done transmitting, the fan would stop while the unit was still very hot and sure enough the RF output board failed twice! Bridgecom was nice enough to replace the failed boards but I spoke to the tech group at Bridgecom and explained the problem, but there was no way to change the fan setting at that time. I had to sell off this unit to someone with few subscribers and I hear its still running fine for him. BTW, after the duplexer, the power output is really around 29-30 watts out. 

I then purchased a new old stock Vertex UV70R 50 watt unit on ebay for a very reasonable cost  ($650). It was still wrapped in its original packing and it had the new car smell . Once I got it all programmed up and turned it on, found that the fan runs all the time. You could tell this unit is made for repeater use 24/7. Even under heavy use, the fan outlet temp rarely gets above 75 degrees. I have had it going now for about 6 months of very heavy use and it has never hiccuped one. The output after the XLT duplexer is very nice 44 watts and I have had reports the repeater is worked from 45-50 miles full quieting. 

I just thought I would post what I have found in working with these three types of repeaters. I hope it helps somebody in making repeater decisions if they have a lot of use with their repeaters. 

Take care,

Mike WROS919

[WSDZ745]

On 2/21/2023 at 1:04 PM, kmcdonaugh said:

I have the Retevis RT97S in almost exact same set up you have. The main difference, I do have an external antenna, and I get 20 miles coverage out of mine

Can I ask, what's your antenna setup and height?

[Guest]

On 2/21/2023 at 11:04 AM, kmcdonaugh said:

I have the Retevis RT97S in almost exact same set up you have. The main difference, I do have an external antenna, and I get 20 miles coverage out of mine

Wow 20miles?    Jeeebers 

[OffRoaderX]

8 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:

Wow 20miles?    Jeeebers 

QFT..
What it looks like when a 9 year old sneaks back onto the internet after his parents told him to turn off the computer and go to bed.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

QFT..
What it looks like when a 9 year old sneaks back onto the internet after his parents told him to turn off the computer and go to bed.

After drinking some of his dad’s hooch