GMRS Repeater

[Shawnlin20]

I would like to purchase a 5-10watt GMRS repeater. I have seen several repeaters that people have built out of mobile or handheld radios but I am not a master with electronics. I would need a plug and repeater type. As in receiver, transmitter, duplexer, controler, and power supply all in one box. If someone could build one or let me know where to purchase one I would appreciate it. Also, a mobile version of this would be great too. One to use in my truck. Thanks in advance.

S

[bezking]

Having a 5 watt repeater defeats the purpose of having a repeater (in my opinion).

GMRSOutlet.com has some repeaters built from mobiles as well as real repeaters and they have all the parts as well.

[kayn1n32008]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8350i/4.6.1.294 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/126)

FleaBay as well search 'Uhf repeater'

[SkipSanders]

Bear in mind before spending money on a GMRS repeater than there may BE no GMRS repeaters allowed in a few months, as the FCC is totally rewriting the rules, and one thing they seem to be considering is lowering the power limts, and removing repeaters.

We have no way of knowing yet what they will end up doing.

[Shawnlin20]

I just need the 5 watts for use around the farm...no need for a larger one. Second, I had no clue that they were redoing the rules for GMRS. Where can i find more info on this? Thank you all for you help.

[SkipSanders]

Threads on the Notice of Proposed Rule Making at:

http://forums.radioreference.com/gmr...t-95-nprm.html

and

http://forums.radioreference.com/gmr...ents-link.html

[Dantian]

Originally Posted by Shawnlin20

I had no clue that they were redoing the rules for GMRS. Where can i find more info on this?

PRSG HomePage

is a good place to go.

The FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is a long and complicated document. It makes claims that sound reasonable to people who don't know any better, or don't know the history.

It seeks to throttle GMRS down to where it is just another consumer item -- a service that won't be an alternative to cellular phones, won't cost the FCC anything, and won't attract circles of organized users who could make demands on the FCC. This is what it calls the "evolution of how people communicate."

But the FCC has authorized milions of bubble packs on the market that confuse FRS and GMRS, while boosting the cost of a GMRS license to an unfair level (after saying they would reduce it but never did). Any radio person could have told them these were dumb ideas. No public proceeding was ever held to examine the implications.

So most purchasers ignore licenses. This will increase. We can have a slow slide into the muck where nobody knows the rules, identifies their stations or cares to cooperate with others. Any person, group, dealer or big-box store can jam your repeater or put repeaters on the air and go to battle, without worrying that the FCC will revoke licenses that don't exist.

This is not the first time it has been tried. The previous time -- when it proposed to order all GMRS repeaters off the air to create a "Consumer Radio Service" -- the FCC walked into a storm of opposition that included much Congressional contact.

(The FCC said afterwards that it had "calibrated user sentiment" and would not pursue the Consumer Radio Service. Radio Shack was not amused. It came in with the FRS and the FCC adopted it.)

I wonder what will happen this time.

[spd640]

From what I can gather from the new proposed rules if passed it still allows 50 watt base station/mobile use and 467 channels as mobile and control point use for repeaters.Only draw back is 2 watt hand held/portable radios and fixed 15 watt base stations,license by rule which will cause a free-for-all.

I did not say I was in favor of this at all and after reading the comments from the last poster it may turn into another CB circus,but with limited range and if this does happen I am glad to live in a rural area without the congestion and I do use non standard pl tones if needed and if worse comes to worse I can cut mine off.

I would rather have some GMRS compared to none at all but I think they need to rethink their decision about this.

[radioman316]

Originally Posted by spd640

From what I can gather from the new proposed rules if passed it still allows 50 watt base station/mobile use and 467 channels as mobile and control point use for repeaters.Only draw back is 2 watt hand held/portable radios and fixed 15 watt base stations,license by rule which will cause a free-for-all.

I did not say I was in favor of this at all and after reading the comments from the last poster it may turn into another CB circus,but with limited range and if this does happen I am glad to live in a rural area without the congestion and I do use non standard pl tones if needed and if worse comes to worse I can cut mine off.

I would rather have some GMRS compared to none at all but I think they need to rethink their decision about this.

I like this post but before people start claiming that GMRS is going to turn into another CB circus, I would advise you to re-read the FCC rules. Nothing really has chang8ed

[WX9EMS]

I have an old Standard RP70 repeater sitting here just for that reason...waiting to see what FCC is going to do. Not real interested in dropping the money on new rocks if I can't use it. 2nd choice is to tune it for 70 cm, but that isn't as appealing...wifey doesn't want a ham license. Just hang out in limbo and see what happens. Hopefully they leave it alone, is quite handy to have around in addition to Ham license, but not holding my breath.

[rescuecomm]

In reality, nothing will change if repeaters are still allowed. The sales of consumer grade radios will continue as before. No federal agency presently has the manpower to enforce the illegal use of GMRS radios, that is why the license by rule on 2 watt and under radios will happen.

Bob

[rapidcharger]

This thread is 3 years old.
The FCC still hasn't come for the GMRS repeaters.

Just a reminder, it's never been cheaper to buy a repeater with the mass equipment dump on ebay but buying the repeater is just the beginning, particularly with the two mobiles connected together repeaters. There's antennas, controllers, duplexers, coax, power supplies, and cooling that you're going to need. That can all get very expensive. People often have unrealistic expectations about what a backyard repeater is going to accomplish.

[cdesigns]

I have (2) watt UHF programmable maxon radios laying around is there a repeater controller I can buy to make a portable repeater? I need to comunicate from point A to point B but there is a hill in the middle and communication breaks, 2 watts will do the job and the will be running from a AGM 12v battery and a solar panel, very light duty.

[rapidcharger]

Originally Posted by cdesigns

I have (2) watt UHF programmable maxon radios laying around is there a repeater controller I can buy to make a portable repeater? I need to comunicate from point A to point B but there is a hill in the middle and communication breaks, 2 watts will do the job and the will be running from a AGM 12v battery and a solar panel, very light duty.

Yes. There's many, many, many of them but you might do a search for Id-o-matic for an inexpensive one. Don't let the name fool you, it does more than just ID.

[cdesigns]

Originally Posted by rapidcharger

Yes. There's many, many, many of them but you might do a search for Id-o-matic for an inexpensive one. Don't let the name fool you, it does more than just ID.

Thank you very much I was about to spend $100 on a chinesse controller, the id-o-matic will do the job.

[gewecke]

Originally Posted by cdesigns

I have (2) watt UHF programmable maxon radios laying around is there a repeater controller I can buy to make a portable repeater? I need to comunicate from point A to point B but there is a hill in the middle and communication breaks, 2 watts will do the job and the will be running from a AGM 12v battery and a solar panel, very light duty.

I build controllers right here in the u.s., and a basic commercial quality dtmf programmable controller can be had for a lot less than $100
Look here,

Integrated Control Systems

73,
n9zas

[rescue161]

Originally Posted by gewecke

I build controllers right here in the u.s., and a basic commercial quality dtmf programmable controller can be had for a lot less than $100
Look here,

Integrated Control Systems

73,
n9zas

Nice! That is the controller that I use on my GMRS repeater. I like it alot. It was easy to program and it has been up and running for years with no issues.

[gewecke]

Originally Posted by rescue161

Nice! That is the controller that I use on my GMRS repeater. I like it alot. It was easy to program and it has been up and running for years with no issues.

Great, I'm glad to hear it! We are working on some new products still on the bench and in the software stages including a new dual port controller but that's all I can share for now.

73,
n9zas

[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.

[kayn1n32008]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 6_1_2 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B146 Safari/8536.25)

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 installed a 12.5w(before duplexer and feedline) UHF repeater on a 300ish foot tower and have a usable mobile radius in excess of 80km. When the coverage was modeled there was VERY little difference in coverage(less than 10 miles) between 12.5w output and 50w output. . Urban it will be noticeable with building penetration not rural.