P25 Repeater

[kjl13]

Hey, RadioReference of Massachusetts,

For a while now I have been planning to set up a P25 commercial UHF repeater in the northeast region of the state. I had plans to use a relatively high site and use a Motorola Quantar.

I am looking for people who may be interested in joining me, I had some people who planned to help out. But they bailed once they had the idea to move out of state.
Send me a direct message and I'd be happy to conversate in regards.

Thanks for reading!

Kind Regards,
Kyle

 

[kjl13]

For reference, this is what we would be looking at for repeater transmit and mobile receive with the current setup:

For repeater receive and mobile transmit:

And finally, for repeater receive and handheld transmit:



We can always use a different site or repeater setup to increase the range.

 

[12dbsinad]

I would assume you're talking about P25 in the amateur band using a commercial repeater?

 

[kjl13]

I would assume you're talking about P25 in the amateur band using a commercial repeater?

No, I'd be using a commercial license for more possibilities.

 

[12dbsinad]

No, I'd be using a commercial license for more possibilities.

I guess I'm a bit lost. What exactly is your intent on a business band channel running P25? What are people supposed to "buy" into? Just curious..

 

[kjl13]

I guess I'm a bit lost. What exactly is your intent on a business band channel running P25? What are people supposed to "buy" into? Just curious..

Using a "commercial" frequency allows you to make it private, and adds the ability to encrypt if wanted.

 

[12dbsinad]

Using a "commercial" frequency allows you to make it private, and adds the ability to encrypt if wanted.

But the "commercial" band isn't intended or legal to rag chew on like ham radio service. It's in a entirely different group. I'm sure you already know this. Maybe perhaps the use of Encryption will "mask" you, but I just wanted to make that clear.

 

[kjl13]

But the "commercial" band isn't intended or legal to rag chew on like ham radio service. It's in a entirely different group. I'm sure you already know this. Maybe perhaps the use of Encryption will "mask" you, but I just wanted to make that clear.

My intent wasn't for it to mask anything, I could keep it in the clear. But, what I am doing is completely legal and my intent is for it to still be semi-professional.

 

[12dbsinad]

My intent wasn't for it to mask anything, I could keep it in the clear. But, what I am doing is completely legal and my intent is for it to still be semi-professional.

I'm not going to be the radio police here, but all I can say is asking for people to "join" in setting up a repeater sounds like it's intended use would be ham radio related.

Good luck.

 

[kjl13]

I'm not going to be the radio police here, but all I can say is asking for people to "join" in setting up a repeater sounds like it's intended use would be ham radio related.

Good luck.

Well, it's not. Have a fantastic day.

 

[prcguy]

Just going on memory, many years ago a friend had a P25 commercial UHF repeater but he was licensed as a manufacturer and it was on a specific frequency allocated for that type of license. It allowed him to demonstrate P25 equipment for prospective sales or for engineering purposes. I was told at the time that P25 was otherwise not allowed on commercial business frequencies as it was only license-able for public service or for use by amateurs. At the time he had a very unique system to play with.

Fast forward to the present, are you sure you can license P25 for general IB or commercial business use?

 

[kjl13]

Just going on memory, many years ago a friend had a P25 commercial UHF repeater but he was licensed as a manufacturer and it was on a specific frequency allocated for that type of license. It allowed him to demonstrate P25 equipment for prospective sales or for engineering purposes. I was told at the time that P25 was otherwise not allowed on commercial business frequencies as it was only license-able on public service or for use by amateurs. At the time he had a very unique system to play with.

Fast forward to the present, are you sure you can license P25 for general IB or commercial business use?

Yea, I contacted a frequency coordinator, they have the license all set. I would just need to pay.

 

[prcguy]

How high is your site above average terrain?

 

[kjl13]

How high is your site above average terrain?

The site I have in mind is located at:
42-38-22.0 N 070-56-20.0 W

The tower is 55.2 meters tall, and the overall height(tower and hill combined) is 125.0 meters.

 

[kjl13]

Here is the ASR Registration:
ASR Registration 1015369

 

[prcguy]

That's not all that tall. The hill up the street from where I hang out in Tewksbury has a tower that I measure around 412ft above seal level and the surrounding neighborhoods are in the 180 to 190ft above sea level range. That doesn't make for great coverage. At the moment I'm in So Cal at 355ft altitude on the side of an 1,100ft hill and my repeaters here including a Quantar don't get range that I am all that happy with. The surrounding mountains about 45mi away are all in the 5,000ft and up range and and full of repeaters. That gets reasonable coverage.

Isn't there anything taller in the NE area of MA?

The site I have in mind is located at:
42-38-22.0 N 070-56-20.0 W

The tower is 55.2 meters tall, and the overall height(tower and hill combined) is 125.0 meters.

 

[kjl13]

That's not all that tall. The hill up the street from where I hang out in Tewksbury has a tower that I measure around 412ft above seal level and the surrounding neighborhoods are in the 180 to 190ft above sea level range. That doesn't make for great coverage. At the moment I'm in So Cal at 355ft altitude on the side of an 1,100ft hill and my repeaters here including a Quantar don't get range that I am all that happy with. The surrounding mountains about 45mi away are all in the 5,000ft and up range and and full of repeaters. That gets reasonable coverage.

Isn't there anything taller in the NE area of MA?

Unfortunately, this is one of the taller hills, let me check quick.

 

[kjl13]

So, it appears Holt Hill in Andover is the highest in the Essex County.

 

[prcguy]

I'll look that up tomorrow. I suspect the hill next to me in Tewksbury will be in the way.

So, it appears Holt Hill in Andover is the highest in the Essex County.

 

[kjl13]

I'll look that up tomorrow. I suspect the hill next to me in Tewksbury will be in the way.

Ok, I will also make some more range maps up for that hill.