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FR3000 & FR4000 Linking question...

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crowe604

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Would it be possible to easily take a FR3000 & FR4000 and link them together at the same site? The goal is to basically have the VHF & UHF repeaters linked for coverage and interoperability. My fire department is looking to kill two birds with one stone. Install a UHF Backup repeater and have a link/bridge to give us the ability to talk to the neighboring VHF agencies easily. The VHF side could be a simplex link but repeated would be preferred. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I used the FR3000 & FR4000 as reference, if you know of another model or brand that would work better please add that too.... Thanks, again.
 

jeatock

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Yes. Any two repeaters in any band can be linked. Do it all the time both analog and digital ... but it is not the sort of project that you can do based on forum posts.

FR3/4000's are bulletproof at 50watts 100% TX, but no longer in production. If you have them, keep them. The new FR5/6000 are much more capable, but with less cooling. They can do 25w 100%, or 50w at less time. For more horsepower add an external PA and go upwards of 300watts if you need. The FR5/6000 are designed with internal IP linking (with the additional boards). Plus, a basic FR5/6000 2-rack-unit housing can hold a second UFR5/6000 RF repeater module.

For simplex, you can use FR's, or any of the mobile radios.

Icom's VE-PG3 is a 'magic box' than can link anything to anything else. One unit can be used at a single site, or multiple units can link over IP at any distance. (Note: 'Anything' means ANYTHING!) http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/systems/ip/vepg3/bridge-mode.aspx

Find a good local dealer, or call Icom Government sales in Kirkland.
 
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crowe604

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Thank you for the information... I knew it was possible, I just don't know how to do it. Plus I wanted to make sure is was done correctly and legally... I didn't want the big bad wolf knocking on the door if you know what I mean.
 

jeatock

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The legalities are really very simple. All fixed location transmitters must have a license, period. If you are using a low power control point radio to access someone else's repeater, you may be able to get by with a written agreement to transmit on their frequency under their 6.1 meter FX1 license.

If you put up a simplex base you must have coordination and a license. Mobile (MO) authorization does not apply to any radio screwed to something immobile.

Your existing repeater should have a FB2 license. Cross-connecting another source is already covered.

Receivers require no licensing.

The big issue is having 'their' traffic and 'your' traffic connected. The increase in routine traffic may be unacceptable. Doing so requires a written agreement (MOU) between all parties.
 

DisasterGuy

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This arrangement is commonly called a "back to back" repeater. Harris sells are harness kit for the Mastr III stations and supports the configuration in their software. As mentioned you will want to coordinate both frequency pairs and license them. I would recommend having a competent shop handle the entire project. It shouldn't be more than about $3,500 over the cost of the hardware.
 

HowardSmall

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Icom's solution

The Icom sales manual shows linking options and details of the cable needed to connect the repeaters. I am in the process of doing this but have not had much luck yet. Hopefully a friend of mine who is knowledgeable in this area will help me in which case I will post the info here.

So, to see how it is done have a look at http://cara.memberlodge.com/Resourc...M IC-FR3000 FR4000 Sales Handbook-red-v10.pdf

Howard
 

70cutlass442

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Howard, any luck? I successfully linked one of our FR4000's for a customer of ours. I had a custom interface cable built and all seems to work well thus far.
 

HowardSmall

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No luck so far. Icom tell me that the cable i made is correct and should work which makes me think it is either a fault in one of the repeaters or something in the configuration i loaded. Any chance i could get a copy of your configuration file to compare with mine?

Thanks, Howard
 

70cutlass442

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I was going to say give me a call and I will step you through it... But I see you are on the other side of the world! What issue are you having? for me, I used a F221 radio as the link radio and had troubles finding a COR output despite the literature from Icom
 
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