Steveradio
Member
Why are the Kenwood TKR820 repeaters UHF/VHF going so cheap on ebay for?
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TKR820 Repeater Why so Cheap?
- Thread starter Steveradio
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MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
they are old, aren't narrowband compliant, and can be a PITA to program (DOS software) and are no longer supported by Kenwood.
that being said, they are fairly decent low power repeaters, on par with a Vertex VXR5000, Motorola R100, etc.IF you have what it takes to program them, and can get one properly aligned.
that being said, they are fairly decent low power repeaters, on par with a Vertex VXR5000, Motorola R100, etc.IF you have what it takes to program them, and can get one properly aligned.
Steveradio
Member
We have one for our roads crew which is not the best believe 20 watts the radio service said they came in made it narrowband compliant. if have a high location the unit works great . was thinking of picking one up doing local GMRS frequency..
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DOS software? More like a standalone handheld programmer (KPT-50) that is damn near impossible to find on the used market.
That said, if you can find the programmer they are fairly straightforward to get aligned for 440 ham or GMRS. Tune your VCOs for 4.5V at the test points, inject a test signal into the RX port and peak the receiver front end for maximum signal, and away you go. One caveat is that they are not very widebanded and must be retuned if you move them up or down more than 1 MHz or so.
That said, if you can find the programmer they are fairly straightforward to get aligned for 440 ham or GMRS. Tune your VCOs for 4.5V at the test points, inject a test signal into the RX port and peak the receiver front end for maximum signal, and away you go. One caveat is that they are not very widebanded and must be retuned if you move them up or down more than 1 MHz or so.
Steveradio
Member
Well that would make sense why the repeater sounds like crap unless your on the range. once get into valley of our community not so great.. They even added directional antenna and new feed line which cost $$ so not sure would have them fine tune a used one. Ya spend $100 or so on ebay and prob more to retune..
jbailey618
Member
TKR-820
I know I shouldn't say this because I'm quite enjoying the low cost of these on ebay, but here are my findings. The TKR-820 is an amazing value. Great little repeater for the money. I had the pleasure of using one on GMRS in New Mexico that was at high altitude and my little 4 watt hand held hit it from over 60 miles away. I was able to have a conversation with the repeater owner for about 2 hours of my drive through New Mexico, while I was looking for a good place to eat and a good hotel room in Santa Fe. The sound quality was so good that I bought one myself after returning from my trip. I had it programmed and the duplexer tuned by a friend who is a Kenwood dealer, and I installed it in my home with 100 feet of LMR 400, and a Ed Fong DIY dual band antenna (great antenna, but not necessarily optimal for a UHF repeater) mounted about 15 feet above my roof, for a total of about 35 feet above ground. (also not very high considering I live in a very mountainous area with my other GMRS repeater being a TKR-850 installed at a 4500 ft mountain site on a 200 ft. tower easily has a 50 mile service area). With all the limitations on my location and the low install (my home is on the valley floor and kind of in a hole at that as well) We're still easily getting 10 miles in each direction with out only real limitations being terrain. The audio quality is terrific, and it's been working great. We're going to move it to a better location, another mountain site on another 200 foot tower, and we'll also likely not use the duplexer, but instead use the existing receive antenna at the top of the tower, pre amp, filters, and a separate TX antenna about 40 feet below the RX antenna.
So all in all these are GREAT repeaters for GMRS and Amateur. I'd imagine with the narrowband kit these would still be very useful still as commercial repeaters.
I know I shouldn't say this because I'm quite enjoying the low cost of these on ebay, but here are my findings. The TKR-820 is an amazing value. Great little repeater for the money. I had the pleasure of using one on GMRS in New Mexico that was at high altitude and my little 4 watt hand held hit it from over 60 miles away. I was able to have a conversation with the repeater owner for about 2 hours of my drive through New Mexico, while I was looking for a good place to eat and a good hotel room in Santa Fe. The sound quality was so good that I bought one myself after returning from my trip. I had it programmed and the duplexer tuned by a friend who is a Kenwood dealer, and I installed it in my home with 100 feet of LMR 400, and a Ed Fong DIY dual band antenna (great antenna, but not necessarily optimal for a UHF repeater) mounted about 15 feet above my roof, for a total of about 35 feet above ground. (also not very high considering I live in a very mountainous area with my other GMRS repeater being a TKR-850 installed at a 4500 ft mountain site on a 200 ft. tower easily has a 50 mile service area). With all the limitations on my location and the low install (my home is on the valley floor and kind of in a hole at that as well) We're still easily getting 10 miles in each direction with out only real limitations being terrain. The audio quality is terrific, and it's been working great. We're going to move it to a better location, another mountain site on another 200 foot tower, and we'll also likely not use the duplexer, but instead use the existing receive antenna at the top of the tower, pre amp, filters, and a separate TX antenna about 40 feet below the RX antenna.
So all in all these are GREAT repeaters for GMRS and Amateur. I'd imagine with the narrowband kit these would still be very useful still as commercial repeaters.
I have a small pile of dead 720s and 820s that I won't waste my time to repair.
DOS software AND the KPT-50 are required to program them, and they're NOT narrowband compliant AND if a radio shop says they made one narrowband compliant, THEY LIED because the FCC does not permit non-compliant equipment to be modified for narrowband operation. Oh, you can modify the circuits but the radio is not going to be FCC type accepted for narrowband operation and that's the crux of the matter: NOT TYPE ACCEPTED. And thus, NOT LEGAL for operation in the US on commercial frequencies.
They're old, obsolete, hard to support, and parts availability is hit or miss at best.
I would not put forth any effort to keep one alive or repair it.
They were good in their day but that was a long time ago.
DOS software AND the KPT-50 are required to program them, and they're NOT narrowband compliant AND if a radio shop says they made one narrowband compliant, THEY LIED because the FCC does not permit non-compliant equipment to be modified for narrowband operation. Oh, you can modify the circuits but the radio is not going to be FCC type accepted for narrowband operation and that's the crux of the matter: NOT TYPE ACCEPTED. And thus, NOT LEGAL for operation in the US on commercial frequencies.
They're old, obsolete, hard to support, and parts availability is hit or miss at best.
I would not put forth any effort to keep one alive or repair it.
They were good in their day but that was a long time ago.
tornado229
Member
You could order these units narrowband already. If it has a "n" at the end of tkr-820 then it is narrowband and compliant. Someone made a narrowband kit for the units much like you can get a narrowband kit for a gm300/maratrac.
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If you want a commercial repeater then get a commercial repeater. If you want this repeater and can get it programmed and/or tuned properly its a fantastic little repeater that can be set up mobile. I have one on 440mhz, got it programmed and tuned with a built in duplexer. Puts out 20w and on top of a hill it has a 25mile range. Got an external duplexer and power amp, on top of a hill it reaches over 50 miles. Works great.. Again you do have to be careful and you do have to either be able to program it and/or have it tuned properly. Its a great little back up and/or mobile repeater for hams.
George
George
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