New Here

[Rich]

Hello folks, just got my GMRS license the other day. Studying for my Ham and should be taking in the near future. Live between Conroe and Houston, TX. My learning curve is still straight up at this time. I would like to check into starting up a repeater due to the fact there aren't any in my area. Any info would be appreciated.

[jmoylan69]

Welcome,  i am not sure about your area as far as buildings etc. but here in Nevada, we've got wide open spaces and plenty of mountain ranges,  i have a Ritron RRX-450 that im going to be placing up. its 8 watts 100% duty cycle. im in the process of working on getting agreements with the folks who already have buildings and antenna masts to co locate. for you i would not imagine that it would be any different. except for maybe local ordinances codes etc. should be fairly easy. hook up with a few radio guys in your area. (HAM) and they can help you.

 

Did some checking. Conroe is 38 air miles north of Houston. and spring is about half way point.

 

Id call these guys and ask them if they know of any businesses or shops that might be willing to allow you to co-locate a repeater.

 

http://www.twarc.org/

 

keep this in mind. i use a radio with LMR-400 feed line and a simple jpole antenna. i routinely hit repeater 50 miles out with EASE...(NO Its NOT a high end radio, its made in china) i have virtually NO buildings to be in my way. I do however have to shoot over a mountain range to hit the repeater. my antenna sits about 2 feet above my roof. if it were higher, much higher id probably get 80 miles out of it. but for you i fear people on the ground level with allot of buildings may cut that range WAY down. perhaps some of the folks who live in cities areas can comment.

 

on a side note out here. i can hit a repeater and talk just fine from one of our Ham 70CM jobs, its a solar powered 2 watt and YES they work and get out. so don't be discouraged about low power. but good feed line like LMR-400 and a high gain dipole will greatly help you in your area, even it were powered by a 5 watt handheld!!

[Rich]

Thanks for your reply and advise. Houston, Conroe and Spring are all one big town, it has grown over the years. Most of the of the tall building are grouped together, I think my biggest issue will the trees in my area.

[jmoylan69]

I am not sure id worry to much about trees, 70CM wavelength can usually cut through and bounce around pretty good to make contact. but buildings and allot of them at street level may pose a small problem for those folks, other than that i don't think you should have much of an issue. but hey, experiment and go have fun