Getting 50 watts actually out of repeater

[WSEL330]

That was 48 Watts outta the repeater and 24 Watts outta the duplexer.... that loss is huge and lame at the same time!

 

[WRYZ926]

That is just how it works with duplexers. You will always have a lower power output after the duplexer than what going in. How much loss will depend on the quality of parts used and how well tuned the duplexers are.

I did an unscientific test to see if 50 watts had more reach than 20 watt. There is a GMRS repeater about 50-55 miles away and while I can get in at 20 watts, others had a hard time hearing me. My signal was loud and clear. The extra power did not get me anymore range but it did punch through foliage and other obstacles better than

[LeoG]

I've confirmed this too.  I was able to hit my house with my repeater (50w) but the 20w base couldn't hit the repeater reliably.  I swapped up to a 50w mobile at the house and now it's a reliable connection.  Before it would come in some days and others I could barely hear it.

Now I've changed a few things out and it's so much better.

[WSEL330]

foliage punch is what I was looking for. Now I will work on better coax, verify quality of connectors and connections, upgrade the antennas. OF COURSE, I am new and excited but I need to take time to evaluate the amount of RF junk and etc... in the shack of radios A.O. Oh yeah, get the truck outta the trees and gain elevation! Calling my realty person, LOL.

[WSEL330]

FYI, the Duplexer I am/was using which gave me 24W from a 47W input is the DP-GMRS-100 by XLT.

[WSEL330]

Soooo... I might have a duplexer for sale, Justa sayin....

[LeoG]

I have the similar XLT 100 watt duplexer, DP-GMRS-100R and it has less than a 1.3dB loss through the duplexer.  I think the difference is it's in a rack case and has N connectors instead of 239s.  I saw almost no difference between the 3 duplexers I have from the output of my repeater.

[WSEL330]

5 minutes ago, LeoG said:

I have the similar XLT 100 watt duplexer, DP-GMRS-100R and it has less than a 1.3dB loss through the duplexer.  I think the difference is it's in a rack case and has N connectors instead of 239s.  I saw almost no difference between the 3 duplexers I have from the output of my repeater.

Noted, I may need to visit that facet

[LeoG]

Maybe your tune is a bit off.  Doesn't take much.

[TerriKennedy]

3 hours ago, WSEL330 said:

FYI, the Duplexer I am/was using which gave me 24W from a 47W input is the DP-GMRS-100 by XLT.

That's either a very mis-tuned duplexer or a broken one.

I'm using an EMR 526-4 on my repeater, tuned to .700 by a dealer. Other than being huge, heavy, and looking like an out-of-control party at a steamfitter's convention it does an amazing job. N connectors on input and output (and I assume throughout, but I'm not checking because I might throw the tune off).