WRTM295 Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 (edited) [Edited March 19th, 2025] Introduction: My name is C. Ryan, (KE0SKN). I am a member of Kasson Skywarn & Dodge County Minnesota ARES group. In April of 2024, Our group repeater was hit by lighting. The total damages were $2,000.00 to the repeater and base antenna system. We are looking for funding to replace the repeater. We are not approved for any local government assistance for replacing the repeater. The main reason is that the repeater is privately owned. The repeater system we are looking at is the Retevis RT97L 25W Repeater Kit with FRP Antenna and Coaxial Cable. This system will get us back on the air for our area, till we can save up for a better system. If you can help, we have a GoFundMe page with the link below. Again Thank You. Group: Kasson Skywarn / Dodge County ARES | Minnesota Website: https://www.kassonskywarn.x10.mx/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dcares/ GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/007b7312 Email: KC0CLC@arrl.net Pres: Marvin - KC0CLC Edited March 19 by WRTM295 More Information Added GrouserPad, gortex2 and SteveShannon 1 2 Quote
Socalgmrs Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 Why why why use a cruddy retivis when a 40w Motorola can be had for less than 1/2 the price. The hen you wouldn’t even have $1000 into it. Probably not even $750 total. Jaay 1 Quote
OffRoaderX Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 59 minutes ago, Socalgmrs said: ... why use a cruddy retivis when a 40w Motorola can be had for less than 1/2 the price. Please tell us where we can find a new, 40W, single-case/chassis, weatherproof Motorola repeater with a warranty, and weighs only 4Lbs, for 1/2 the price.... We're waiting.... WRYZ926, WRHS218, gortex2 and 5 others 4 3 1 Quote
nokones Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 1 minute ago, OffRoaderX said: Please tell us where we can get a new 40W Motorola with a warranty for 1/2 the price.... We're waiting.... Yah, I'll standby too! WRYZ926 1 Quote
WRYZ926 Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said: Please tell us where we can find a new, 40W, single-case/chassis, weatherproof Motorola repeater with a warranty, for 1/2 the price.... We're waiting.... 1 hour ago, nokones said: Yah, I'll standby too! I'll be standing by to hear where these mythical Motorola repeaters with warranty can be found for $1000 We recently replaced an older Motorola 2m repeater with a used Motorola Quantar 125 that was $1100 and it sure did NOT come with any type of factory warranty. And $1100 was on the cheaper end of the price range that used Quantar repeaters go for. You can find even older Motorola repeaters for less but you will need a Windows 3.1 or MS-DOS computer to program them. Plus those are quite a bit bigger than a 1U or 2U rack mount repeater. The Bridgecom and Baofeng GMRS repeaters are 3.5" tall which is 2U while the Quantar is 5U. A single unit for rack systems is 1.75" or 1U The 5U Motorola Quantar weighs 55 pounds while the 2U Bridgecom repeater (no internal duplexer) weighs 18 pounds. WRUU653 1 Quote
SteveShannon Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 The OP stated that the damage to the previous repeater and antenna was $2000. They’re only seeking $1,000 in their gofundme. The repeater they’re seeking to purchase is currently on sale for less than $600 including a built in duplexer, which seems very reasonable. A decent antenna plus cables and associated components could very quickly consume the remainder of the targeted funding. This seems like a very reasonable request and a reasonable solution. I would urge that we not get distracted by our reactions to the town drunk. WRHS218, WSDM599, WRYZ926 and 5 others 8 Quote
WRYZ926 Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 @SteveShannon I agree that $1000 seems like a fair amount to request for a repeater, coax and antenna. And they should be able to get good coax and a quality antenna to go along with the Retevis RT97L repeater. I wish the them luck in getting what they need to get back on the air. SteveShannon and dosw 2 Quote
nokones Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 It is my personal opinion, anyone, especially someone that is unknown and pops up with no previous history on this forum, and there first posting is an "Oh Whoa/poor Me" request for money by using the GoScamMe page is suspect and just doesn't smell right. Donaters be aware! dosw, WRHS218, OffRoaderX and 2 others 5 Quote
OffRoaderX Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 1 hour ago, nokones said: It is my personal opinion, anyone, especially someone that is unknown and pops up with no previous history on this forum, and there first posting is an "Oh Whoa/poor Me" request for money by using the GoScamMe page is suspect and just doesn't smell right. Donaters be aware! I was going to say the same thing but then I got all wrapped up in responding to the rheet-hards post, and forgot all about that.... I agree.. dont give any money to some random dude that shows up and the VERY FIRST thing he does is start asking for money. dosw and Hoppyjr 1 1 Quote
dosw Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 6 hours ago, OffRoaderX said: Please tell us where we can find a new, 40W, single-case/chassis, weatherproof Motorola repeater with a warranty, and weighs only 4Lbs, for 1/2 the price.... We're waiting.... And it must also have a 200 mile range any time, rain or shine. WRYZ926 and SteveShannon 2 Quote
WRYZ926 Posted March 19 Report Posted March 19 A few of us let Negative Nancy distract us. As far as the OP, I'm sure that he would have better luck doing a local fund raiser instead of asking total strangers on the internet. SteveShannon 1 Quote
OffRoaderX Posted March 19 Report Posted March 19 1 minute ago, WRYZ926 said: A few of us let Negative Nancy distract us. That's not Rheet-Hard Ralph's real name.. SteveShannon 1 Quote
WRYZ926 Posted March 19 Report Posted March 19 11 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said: That's not Rheet-Hard Ralph's real name.. No it's not but the name does fit him. SteveShannon 1 Quote
WRTM295 Posted March 19 Author Report Posted March 19 18 hours ago, nokones said: It is my personal opinion, anyone, especially someone that is unknown and pops up with no previous history on this forum, and there first posting is an "Oh Whoa/poor Me" request for money by using the GoScamMe page is suspect and just doesn't smell right. Donaters be aware! Wow, I have been a ham radio operator for more than 10 years (KE0SKN) and a firefighter for 25+ years, Radioreference user for more than 10+ years and you're calling me a scammer. Wow! I hope you don't run into any issues, and then you need help from the community. Plus you could have googled for 3 minutes and found out that we are a small ARES group run by KC0CLC. So yeah we are the real deal and not scammers. Yes, this is a cheap route we are taking, As we need to get back on the air and save for a better system. Quote
OffRoaderX Posted March 19 Report Posted March 19 8 minutes ago, WRTM295 said: I have been a ham radio operator for more than 10 years Confirmed he is a true H.A.M.s radios operator with that line. Hoppyjr 1 Quote
Hoppyjr Posted March 19 Report Posted March 19 Wow, I have been a ham radio operator for more than 10 years (KE0SKN) and a firefighter for 25+ years, Radioreference user for more than 10+ years and you're calling me a scammer. Wow! I hope you don't run into any issues, and then you need help from the community. Plus you could have googled for 3 minutes and found out that we are a small ARES group run by KC0CLC. So yeah we are the real deal and not scammers. Yes, this is a cheap route we are taking, As we need to get back on the air and save for a better system.Or…..you could have provided more information in your initial post. If you’re a local group, why not seek donations from the local members and community? Since you run an ARES group, consider asking local government for funding. Random folks on a GMRS forum don’t know you. Heck, you didn’t even provide a location!You didn’t really think this through now did you? dosw and OffRoaderX 1 1 Quote
WRTM295 Posted March 19 Author Report Posted March 19 We are a small group that used a private repeater (462.675 PL: 141.3) That was open to the public and used for non-amateur radio operators to communicate to Net control for relaying weather information. We have gone to the county to see if there is any funding to replace the repeater, however, since the repeater was private own were on the hook to replace it. Group: Kasson Skywarn / Dodge County ARES | Minnesota Website: https://www.kassonskywarn.x10.mx/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dcares/ GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/007b7312 Email: KC0CLC@arrl.net Pres: Marvin - KC0CLC Quote
WRHS218 Posted March 19 Report Posted March 19 18 minutes ago, WRTM295 said: We are a small group that used a private repeater (462.675 PL: 141.3) That was open to the public and used for non-amateur radio operators to communicate to Net control for relaying weather information. We have gone to the county to see if there is any funding to replace the repeater, however, since the repeater was private own were on the hook to replace it. Group: Kasson Skywarn / Dodge County ARES | Minnesota Website: https://www.kassonskywarn.x10.mx/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dcares/ GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/007b7312 Email: KC0CLC@arrl.net Pres: Marvin - KC0CLC No offense intended, but if you had started your first post with this information you probably would have received a different reaction to your first post on this site. I hope your group can get the funds to get you back on the air. Hoppyjr and SteveShannon 2 Quote
WRTM295 Posted March 19 Author Report Posted March 19 12 minutes ago, WRHS218 said: No offense intended, but if you had started your first post with this information you probably would have received a different reaction to your first post on this site. I hope your group can get the funds to get you back on the air. I see where you are coming from. You are right on that, I have been stressed these past two months. Grammar, Format, and Spelling were not the top priorities. AdmiralCochrane, GreggInFL, Hoppyjr and 1 other 4 Quote
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