Repeater Question (GR1225)

[Mattkuhar]

I am going to be setting up my GR1225 repeater fairly soon, It will be housed inside of a non-climate controlled shed (doesnt get very warm in the summertime) Do I need to heat the space for the repeater, or will it be OK in cold temps that can sometimes be around 0 Deg F?

 

[mmckenna]

Temperature swings can be an issue. Expansion/contraction cycles can cause damage to circuit boards, components, etc. Ideally you want to keep the temperature pretty stable.

The 12 volt power supply is going to generate some heat. Might want to use that to your advantage. Putting the repeater in an enclosure of some type to keep the temperature relatively constant will be helpful.

Heat buildup in the warmer months can be an issue, especially if you think the repeater will see a lot of use. A fan to circulate air through the enclosure can help with that.

Rigging up the fan to a thermostat would be pretty easy. I've got a couple of very remote repeater sites that have a 10 watt UHF repeater in a box run off solar and backup batteries. The enclosure has a small 12 volt fan and a thermostat to turn it on if it gets too warm. Air temps rarely drop below freezing, so it's own heat generation keeps it stable in the colder months.

 

[Mattkuhar]

Ok, I was thinking i might be able to do that and let it warm itself up, i will try that and see how it goes. Thanks!!

 

[MTS2000des]

Currently running a 15 year old GR1225 at a site with no A/C in Georgia. Sees quite a bit of duty cycle as it's on the UHF amateur band. Has survived just fine with the internal cooling fan which is thermostatically controlled. Set to 22 watts and the PA has never over temped and has been solid as a rock.
Temperature fluctuations have more effect on duplexers/combiners due to the expansion and contraction of metals than radios. So long as you're adhering to the manufacturers' published operating temperature range, the radio should perform as designed.

 

[ipfd320]

if anything insulate the shed also to keep the cold down a bit-especially around the door and windows and fill all the holes going out to antennas / power and whatever

 

[speedway_navigator]

According to this site the specs say the repeater is good to -22F.
MotorolaRadio.com > Products > Repeaters > GR1225 > Features

When I did winter X games with Bearcom we had repeaters in an unheated tent half way up the mountain. The repeater specs bottomed out about 32 and we had many nights below that, so I had ESPN buy a heated blanket to cover them.

After I put in on I was wondering how I could tell how cold it was underneath the blankets and was about to go down the mountain and have them get a thermometer. I started out of the tent and realized I left my water bottle on the table, as I picked it up I had a minions light bulb moment and stuck the bottle under the blanket. Next morning the water had failed to progress to the the solid state so I knew the radios would be OK.

 

[jeepsandradios]

I have 2 GR1225 UHF repeaters in an uninsulated shed in CNY. Temps last winter went down to around -20 on the hill and never had an issue. I did have issues with extreme heat one summer but that was it.

 

[mikewazowski]

We deployed a GR1225 enclosed in a rack in a barn for several years and had no problems.

We threw in a thermistatically controlled light bulb which kept things warm when the temperature got too low.