GMRS Repeater - Solar Powered

[JeepZJ]

We are in need of communications between our hunting cabin (0ff Grid) and our hunting grounds. They are 2-10 miles away from each other with a significant hill between them and lots of other hills in the area. This is a very heavily forested area far from civilization.

I want to put a repeater at the top of our hill, which is part of our property.

I'm considering the following equipment for the repeater site:
(2) 25 Watt  UHF radios
Celwave 633-6A Duplexer
Comet CA-712EFC Antenna
Renogy 50 Watts 12 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Panel
PowerStar 12V 35AH U1 Deep Cycle AGM Solar Battery
Genasun GV-5-Pb-12V, 5A MPPT solar controller with LVD
1/2" Heliax Hardline Cable

What I'm not sure about is the need of a repeater controller. They seem to offer lots of bells and whistles, but do I need one with modern radios?

[Logan5]

MPPT Equalization mode is not the same as pulse desulflation or even similar to the devices that claim to pulse desulflate.

[JeepZJ]

I was starting to think he was talking about the equalization mode.  My Morningstar MPPT Controller on the Cabin has that feature.  So does the charger that runs off the generator.  I'm going on 6 years with my Trojan L-16 batteries and they are still going strong.  The Bogart TriMetric is located in the living room and helps me keep an eye on what is going on with the solar system. The lowest my batteries have ever been is 80%.  What I use when the sun goes down is usually replenished by noon the next day.  Only in the deep of winter do I fire up the generator.

 

The repeater is going to be in a better location for sun than the cabin.  Only enemy will be snow covering the panels.

[Logan5]

I was starting to think he was talking about the equalization mode.  My Morningstar MPPT Controller on the Cabin has that feature.  So does the charger that runs off the generator.  I'm going on 6 years with my Trojan L-16 batteries and they are still going strong.  The Bogart TriMetric is located in the living room and helps me keep an eye on what is going on with the solar system. The lowest my batteries have ever been is 80%.  What I use when the sun goes down is usually replenished by noon the next day.  Only in the deep of winter do I fire up the generator.

 

The repeater is going to be in a better location for sun than the cabin.  Only enemy will be snow covering the panels.

with a nice steep angle optimized for winter sun, snow should less of an issue. Congratulations on 6yr batteries. My first set only lasted 4.5yrs. I was lackadaisical with maintenance and paid for it. I have a set of 8XT105's @48 volts now, they are nice batteries but I would have preferred L-16's, by the time I need new ones, I expect lithium batteries like Tesla to be much more reasonable.

[cdesigns]

MPPT Equalization mode is not the same as pulse desulflation or even similar to the devices that claim to pulse desulflate.

 

LOL, the point is that you need to give the battery some jolt once in a while to reduce the crystallization on the battery plates, expensive charges like the outback uses a controlled over charging method , and the desulfator is for those with cheaper charge controllers that don't have that equalization stage. Not the same methods, but at the end of the day it will jolt the battery to reduce crystallization. I have used it before on my cheap solar setups when I started doing solar and when I tried a desulfator the battery lasted longer 1.5 years more than my other setups, that were the same. This is for people who are using cheap solar chargers, if the OP decides to use a good charger then he doesn't need this.

 

 When the budget is low, I always recommend this MPPT charger, I have 2 running for 3 years now and they squeeze all the power from my solar cells and work excellent at least for the price, I have used them in solar powered pedal boats and electric wheelchairs lol

 http://www.eco-worthy.com/catalog/worthy-mppt-solar-charge-controller-12v24v-p-182.html

 

 

[cdesigns]

double post

 

 

 

[JeepZJ]

I designed everything around 12 volts.  Lighting, water pressure pump, TV/DVD, Electronics on the frig, Furnace, Fan over the Stove, Fans over the upstairs beds, bathroom fan.  We have a small sine wave inverter in the living room and a larger one at the battery bank that we rarely use.  I have been religious when it comes to adding distilled water to the batteries.

 

My panels for the repeater shack will be on a 12/12  pitch roof which is pretty close to the optimum angle for our locale. Even then the snow has a tendency not to slide off unless it warms up well above freezing.  I wont be using the repeater much in the winter so it wont be an issue.

 

 

By the way I have already researched the MPPT controllers and had decided on the ECO-Worthy 20A after deciding I needed more power for the radios I ended up with.

[Logan5]

My system is based on a 48 volt battery bank, makes running distance, voltage drop free over AWG10 wire. If the end load is 12v I use a 48 to 12v step down at the end of the run. It the load is 110v, I use a 48volt to 110v inverter at the batteries and run the distance 110v, higher voltages run longer distance with less voltage drop and loss. 12v is a very inefficient voltage for off grid living. 12v is is for automobiles, C class RV's and trailers. 24v is where off grid living becomes reasonable and 48v is most ideal for real off grid power.

[cdesigns]

I designed everything around 12 volts.  Lighting, water pressure pump, TV/DVD, Electronics on the frig, Furnace, Fan over the Stove, Fans over the upstairs beds, bathroom fan.  We have a small sine wave inverter in the living room and a larger one at the battery bank that we rarely use.  I have been religious when it comes to adding distilled water to the batteries.

 

My panels for the repeater shack will be on a 12/12  pitch roof which is pretty close to the optimum angle for our locale. Even then the snow has a tendency not to slide off unless it warms up well above freezing.  I wont be using the repeater much in the winter so it wont be an issue.

 

 

By the way I have already researched the MPPT controllers and had decided on the ECO-Worthy 20A after deciding I needed more power for the radios I ended up with.

 

I love the Eco-worthy 20amp MPPT charger, is cheap and it works great, here is one that I made for campings, it gives me the option to charge the car battery and add more solar panels, underneath the charger I have (2) 12ah SLA batteries. They power a brushless fan, LEDS and ipads etc on my campings or out on the field adventures

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-mKA2k4EN8

[WRZT743]

I have a Solar powered GMRS Repeater set up for off grid communications in UP Michigan. 

Items included -

powmr 45amp MPPT solar charge controller -$50 ebay

4 - 100watt eco worthy solar panels -$50 each =$200 total ebay

Retevis RT97S - $350 amazon

Raspberry pi /case -$50 amazon

Att 4g Hotspot - $50 ebay 4g service not included 

Retevis GMRS Base Antenna -$70 amazon

12v 100ah self heating Lifepo4 Battery -$220 amazon

say $1000 -$1200 when your all done with wires and brackets to set up everything 

comms will cover 5-10 miles easy

runs 24/7  365

8watts in stand by - 25watts tx low power - 35watts tx high power

(raspberry pi and hotspot are optional for controller) 

you only need the solar charge controller,  repeater, antenna,  battery, and solar panels to make it work 

with this set up it will use this many watts per hour 

3watts  in stand by 

20watts tx low power

30 watts tx high power  

 

 

[Lscott]

1 hour ago, WRZT743 said:

I have a Solar powered GMRS Repeater set up for off grid communications in UP Michigan. 

Items included -

powmr 45amp MPPT solar charge controller -$50 ebay

4 - 100watt eco worthy solar panels -$50 each =$200 total ebay

Retevis RT97S - $350 amazon

Raspberry pi /case -$50 amazon

Att 4g Hotspot - $50 ebay 4g service not included 

Retevis GMRS Base Antenna -$70 amazon

12v 100ah self heating Lifepo4 Battery -$220 amazon

say $1000 -$1200 when your all done with wires and brackets to set up everything 

comms will cover 5-10 miles easy

runs 24/7  365

8watts in stand by - 25watts tx low power - 35watts tx high power

(raspberry pi and hotspot are optional for controller) 

you only need the solar charge controller,  repeater, antenna,  battery, and solar panels to make it work 

with this set up it will use this many watts per hour 

3watts  in stand by 

20watts tx low power

30 watts tx high power  

 

 

Wow! Now that is a nice system setup. How long has it been in operation?

[tcp2525]

8 hours ago, Lscott said:

Wow! Now that is a nice system setup. How long has it been in operation?

Gotta agree! It's really refreshing to finally see someone actually designing and building something in this forum. Keep up the good work..

[WRTC928]

Isn't the RT97S a 10 watt repeater? How are you getting 30 watts out of it?

[SteveShannon]

Just now, WRTC928 said:

Isn't the RT97S a 10 watt repeater? How are you getting 30 watts out of it?

That’s the power consumption, not the RF output. 

[WRTC928]

Just now, SteveShannon said:

That’s the power consumption, not the RF output. 

 My bad! I wasn't paying close enough attention.

[SteveShannon]

Just now, WRTC928 said:

 My bad! I wasn't paying close enough attention.

Completely understandable. 

[LeoG]

Plus it's 10 watts out of the transmitter, not the duplexer.  About 6.5 watts out of the duplexer.

[WRTC928]

2 hours ago, LeoG said:

Plus it's 10 watts out of the transmitter, not the duplexer.  About 6.5 watts out of the duplexer.

Thanks. I did know that part. I was just using the nominal 10 watts because it's obviously less than 30. My RT97L puts out 21-22 watts from a nominal 25 watts, so that degree of loss checks out.

[WRZT743]

Everyone on here is correct. 30watts is the power consumption..   The repeater is a 10w repeater.

I run it in low power and I am on my 3rd rebuild/design. This repeater is in the thick forest with horrible sun so I would turn the repeater off when I left camp so the panels could slowly charge the batteries for the next time I was up.

My first build had (2) 12v 12ah sla batteries with 50 watts of solar and a pwm charge controller and was a more portable setup good for 3 days. Repeater would boot up with direct sun on panel but not overcast sun.

Next, I took the 31 group flooded lead acid battery from my boat 200 watts of solar to a pwm charge controller with adjustable battery disconnect/ reconnect voltages stretched the repeater to 7-9 days and would cut the battery off at 1/3 charge rather then taking the batteries down to nothing. then it would reconnect once battery hit 12.6v again. Repeater will always boot up during the day hours overcast or not, if clear sky battery would keep repeater going overnight  

Redesign 2.5 added (2) 100 watt panels but pwm charge controller didn't like it...so only ran (2) 100 watt panels out of the 4...

This is now my third redesign and should be my final. I am going to be cutting down some trees hopefully this winter if not in spring to get some more sun on the solar panels. I am switching to the lifepo4 battery and the mppt charge controller and added (2) more 100w solar panels

[WRZT743]

this is how it all started picture shows (2) 12v 9ah batteries but I upgraded them right away

[WRZT743]

And a little  off topic on solar but here is my home repeater built off (2) cdm1550.  This repeater is on 24/7  and another repeater I put and my brothers house both are identical 

[WRZT743]

And some picture of solar build for the off grid cabins I build two of these solar systems for my dad.one for his cabin one for the Snack Shack everyone hangs out in. 12v 100ah lifepo4 battery , 400watts solar powmr mppt 

This is a ad/dc system. The lights, usb plug, diesel heater, and 12v socket are all 12v it also has 120v ac outlets feed off a 300 watt inverter for small items like fan or boot dryer but it has auto transfer switch so when you start the generator it switches the ac power from inverter to generator allowing for 1800 watts of power to the outlets and starts charging the battery automatically . All power is run threw a relay so a switch at the door kills everything except the charge controller 

 

 

 

 

[WRZT743]

This is the solar system for my cabin very similar to the one I built for my dad but its a 24v system 1200 watts of solar mppt charge controller  looking to upgrade from 24v 100ah to a 24v 320ah 

 

[WRUE951]

My Solar Powered repeater consist of 8 210W Solar Panels, 8 100A Battleborn Lithium batteries, 2 80A Outback Charge Controllers, 1 Victron Multipluss-II 3000W Charge/Inverter.  With the left over power I can run everything in my RV including one AC for a few hours.  

[WRZT743]

10 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

My Solar Powered repeater consist of 8 210W Solar Panels, 8 100A Battleborn Lithium batteries, 2 80A Outback Charge Controllers, 1 Victron Multipluss-II 3000W Charge/Inverter.  With the left over power I can run everything in my RV including one AC for a few hours.  

pics or it didn't happen. lol        (fishing / hunting rule in my family)

[WRUE951]

57 minutes ago, WRZT743 said:

pics or it didn't happen. lol        (fishing / hunting rule in my family)

ihere are some install pics.   My wallet will prove it did happen.