GMRS Repeater

[quarterwave]

Originally Posted by DaveNF2G

I have a 35-watt mobile. Many GMRS operators with mobiles (not portables) are using similar power levels. Of what possible use is a 5- or 10-watt repeater? If you put it on top of a tall enough mountain, then it will only be usable as far away as the base of said mountain.

I read all through this post before realizing it was like 3 years old....oh well.

Yeah, years ago when I managed for M we had a customer, this lady in a rural area, she was a mushroom farmer and a realtor. She had an HT600 portable at her office, one for her farm hand, a 100 Watt Syntor mobile in her Bronco, and a 25 Watt R100 Repeater with interconnect on the tallest tower in 3 county's, I think her antenna (ASP 10 dB fiberglass) was at 450 feet, and she had 7/8" hardline on it. (Obviously a M sales genius sold this one....lol). Anyway, the Techs were getting calls on it after a while. She was using the interconnect all the time, over heating the repeater and her mobile. The lead tech turned her mobile down to about 20 watts, and then worked on her repeater he cut it to about 10 watts, put a blower (not a fan!) on it, and piped some A/C from the site HVAC over to the repeater case and plumbed it right in...so it had like 50 degree air blowing in the cabinet in the summer, and the blower on the heatsink all the time. He said she got about 2 watts out of the antenna. She had all kinds of coverage...it was amazing. That deal worked for several years until AT&T built AMPS Cellular there and she bought a phone. Nightmarish all the crap I remember.

[Shawnlin20]

Three years later and I'm still looking. There has got to be a place that has or can build a portable 5-10 watt all in one repeater. And for you morons that need a breakdown. Portable = one case with dup, power supply and repeater all enclosed. I want to plug it in and repeat. For use mobile or desktop. Thanks to everyone for going off topic so many times and questioning the use of such a low power.

[kayn1n32008]

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Originally Posted by Shawnlin20

Three years later and I'm still looking. There has got to be a place that has or can build a portable 5-10 watt all in one repeater. And for you morons that need a breakdown. Portable = one case with dup, power supply and repeater all enclosed. I want to plug it in and repeat. For use mobile or desktop. Thanks to everyone for going off topic so many times and questioning the use of such a low power.

Calling people morons is NOT the way to get help. And for the record, I support the idea of a low power repeater. Beyond that good luck!

[robertmac]

Are repeaters on GMRS legal in Canada? I thought FRS/GMRS was limited to 2 watts output. Just to make sure Canadian readers of this forum understand it is different.

[kayn1n32008]

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Originally Posted by robertmac

Are repeaters on GMRS legal in Canada? I thought FRS/GMRS was limited to 2 watts output. Just to make sure Canadian readers of this forum understand it is different.

No, repeaters are not allowed in Canada. Yes, FRS/GMRS is limited to 2watts, and must have fixed antennas.

[quarterwave]

I really don't think it is that hard to find a repeater. 3 years?

Buy a Bridgecom and put it in a short, travel case 19" A/V type rack.

[kb2ztx]

Motorola, ICOM, Kenwood and just about every other manufacturer makes a low power all in one repeater. Just plug in and hook up antenna. The most common is the GR1225 desktop repeater.