Volunteer fire department repeater

[erickirchey]

we have a station about 12 miles from the county's dispatch and about 6 from the county repeater in some of our district the reception is really hard to get and almost impossible inside homes.

what would it take to set up a repeater at out location where we get clear signal from to provide us better signal?

we are currently using vertex standard vx-180 radios for communication.

 

[SCPD]

Clarification

we have a station about 12 miles from the county's dispatch and about 6 from the county repeater in some of our district the reception is really hard to get and almost impossible inside homes.

what would it take to set up a repeater at out location where we get clear signal from to provide us better signal?

we are currently using vertex standard vx-180 radios for communication.

So what you are saying is there is 1 station, 6 miles from the repeater, that everyone is having a hard time hearing? First off, what do you mean by a station? A base station at a firehouse or other building?
And do other stations come in well for everyone?

Or did I misinterpret your query?

 

[erickirchey]

So what you are saying is there is 1 station, 6 miles from the repeater, that everyone is having a hard time hearing? First off, what do you mean by a station? A base station at a firehouse or other building?
And do other stations come in well for everyone?

Or did I misinterpret your query?

Sorry there is a county owned repeater about 6 miles from out department "Station"

what i am say is in our district some places we go the reception is not very good or command can not hear our transmissions we have no repeater or base at our department .

So i was curious what it would take to install a repeater at our fire station to give our district better coverage.
Thank you

 

[WA0CBW]

Like "Wyandotte" I'm not sure what you are asking so from the standpoint of a repeater you would need to apply for a repeater frequency pair from the appropriate coordinator and file for an FCC license. You will need the coordinates of the repeater, transmitter power, number of radios, height of antenna, ERP of the repeater and a number of other technical information parameters. This is assuming you have a place to install the antenna at the "station. It might also be good to run a coverage test (either actual or on paper) to determine if the station location will cover the intended area. Then comes the actual equipment list of all the components that are needed including the antenna, coax, and hardware as well as NEC grounding requirements. Depending on the height and type of the support structure (building or tower) you may need local, state, or even national permission. If you are thinking of a "do-it-yourself" install you will need some test equipment to setup the repeater and duplexer (and someone who knows how to use it). Don't forget the re-programming of ALL the units that will be using the new repeater frequency.
These are just a few of the things to consider.
BB

 

[erickirchey]

Well that kind of answers that question thank you! clearly I am new to all of this and just trying to learn.

 

[Baker845]

do you know the height of the location where the current repeater is at? It could be has easy has antenna up grade at the current site or moving the antenna up higher on the tower. Also you could install a repeater on the same frequency pair at you station and just program it with diffent PL tone.If you have any other questions feel free to PM me. I do lot radio stuff with my local Fire department.

 

[byndhlptom]

Fire repeater

If I understand correctly, the comm problem is portables/mobile to dispatch. If so, a remote receiver may be an easier solution. Install at your station, have an audio link to the dispatch (radio/phone/Internet). Dose not require any license, just an additional audio path in the dispatch counsole.

$.02