Argent ADS-SR1 Simplex Repeater

[SvenMarbles]

I don’t know how many people here play around with these sorts of devices, but I recently decided to purchase the Argent Data ADS-SR1. Previous to that I owned the Surecom SR-112 simplex repeater box. 
 

They’re pretty useful things if for no other reason than to test your own equipment. They can serve as your helping hand on your remote station to key you back and let you know when you’re still hitting the home station. And to play back a recording of how you sound coming in. 
 

The problem that I always had with the Surecom version is that it just didn’t work sometimes . It seemed like it made a bad connection in the audio jack, and it could be solved temporarily by just unplugging it and plugging it back in, twisting it, or just otherwise agitating the connection in some way to re-gain electrical contact. Then it would work again, for a while.. Additionally it had a tendency to chop the first couple of seconds off of the transmission, so I had to be in the habit of keying up dead air for the first second of every transmission. It just wasn’t reliable. Cheaply made, and you could feel it by holding by the box. It was just kind of junky. But, it was $60 and the Argent one was $90 and you had to purchase the connection cable separately ($10 more). 
 

So about a week ago I had a use for the simplex repeater that I had for a test that I wanted to do, and found that the Surecom box was dead. No longer held a charge on the internal battery and the way I needed to use it required it be on battery power. At that point I just trashed it since it never did work well in the first place. So that’s the end of that thing…

I placed an order for the Argent Data version of this device as well as the appropriate cable. 
 

Firstly, the best part about this one is that it just simply works. It uses an RJ45 connection at both ends which isn’t really susceptible to a “bad” contact like an audio jack type connection could be. No chop off in the recording. 
 

Basically this product is the version of the thing that I think all people are trying to get when they buy these things, that actually just WORKS as intended. 
 

Buy once, cry once. Get the Argent Data simplex repeater. It’ll actually do the thing you’re trying to accomplish with it..
 

 

[WRWE456]

Looks like a pretty cool device. Nice to know about this option. Thanks for sharing!

[MarkInTampa]

I've had pretty good luck with the Argent. I originally bought it so I could hook it up to the base station and test HT's and antenna's out in the wild without needing somebody on the other side and it did a excellent job of that. Since it does CW-ID, I loaned it out to a repeater operator to send out the CW-ID through a HT to the repeater until he got a new controller. Also use it on occasion to repeat voice back to the repeater for radio checks if somebody wants to hear what they sound like through the repeater. But most of the time it sits in a box unused, but a nice tool to have when you need it.

[DeoVindice]

I concur, they're excellent units and the documentation is also very good. RJ45 is the right connector for the job because of how easy it is to build custom cables.

[SvenMarbles]

On 10/16/2024 at 11:39 AM, MarkInTampa said:

I've had pretty good luck with the Argent. I originally bought it so I could hook it up to the base station and test HT's and antenna's out in the wild without needing somebody on the other side and it did a excellent job of that. Since it does CW-ID, I loaned it out to a repeater operator to send out the CW-ID through a HT to the repeater until he got a new controller. Also use it on occasion to repeat voice back to the repeater for radio checks if somebody wants to hear what they sound like through the repeater. But most of the time it sits in a box unused, but a nice tool to have when you need it.

That's exactly what I use it for as well. A pretty useful piece of test equipment. I like that it can be set to make an "announcement" at an interval you determine. I'll record that locally before I leave for a road test. This way I'm hearing what the home radio is sounding like with it's own full audio in addition to what the "bounce back" audio sounds like from the remote station.

I recently got of the mind that I wanted to get my GMRS simplex situation beefed up and not just be reliant on repeaters. I went and bought at GP-9, got it nice and high, new  antennas for the mobiles, and I've been doing a fair bit of testing in various directions from our home radius to understand what the capabilities are. This tool has allowed me the ability to really do a lot more.

Additionally, should I ever need to, I could set this thing up in an emergency repeater configuration. I figure this device, any decent handheld, an N9TAX slim Jim,  some para-chord and a throw weight pretty much complete the kit of a very capable hill-top ad-hoc repeater setup.. Throw it all into some type of nice weather proof box..