Vehicle Repeater?

[BuggyBoo]

Anyone think of putting a Vehicle Repeater in their car?
like one of these?
PYRAMID VHF MOBILE SYNTHESIZED VEHICULAR REPEATER TRANSCEIVER SVR-200V have many | eBay

What are the pros and cons it pose to radios in the vehicle and around and what about the legality of it?
If someone were to have it as a repeater for their Fire Department Local Channel, (Not Dispatch or Response, more of when on scene for other FFs to communicate with each other like a local Fireground)

 

[kayn1n32008]

Anyone think of putting a Vehicle Repeater in their car?
like one of these?
PYRAMID VHF MOBILE SYNTHESIZED VEHICULAR REPEATER TRANSCEIVER SVR-200V have many | eBay

What are the pros and cons it pose to radios in the vehicle and around and what about the legality of it?
If someone were to have it as a repeater for their Fire Department Local Channel, (Not Dispatch or Response, more of when on scene for other FFs to communicate with each other like a local Fireground)

That particular mobile repeater is simplex or half duplex. it is not capable of acting like a traditional repeater. That device is designed to simply rebroadcast what ever the mobile hears(to portables) or transmit what it hears from the portables back over the mobile radio. you would need to something like the Futurecom DVRS repeater to be able to have a local onscene repeater.

 

[mmckenna]

For amateur radio or for Fire Department use?

If you have an amateur radio license, nothing wrong with it. Many dual band amateur radios will do "cross band" repeat.

If you want to use it for your fire department, then there's a couple of issues you need to look at:
1. You are adding additional transmitters to your agencies system. The FCC part 90 rules make it clear that the licensee, not the employee, is in complete control of the license and all users who work under it. So, based on that, you'd need to clear this with your department.
2. It's a potential interference source, so making sure it's done right is important. This falls under the heading of "Don't be THAT guy".
3. Your department will need to license the input channel for the mobile repeater. This either needs to be well away from the primary channel or needs to be on a different band. You cannot easily run mobile repeaters on closely spaced channels.

Doing this cross band (ie: VHF <-> UHF or UHF <-> VHF, or 800, etc.) is easier than trying to do it in-band. If you want to do it in-band, you need some filtering between the primary radio and the mobile repeater to prevent desense.

If you do cross band, it means that you have to have a dual band radio, or you are using a radio that you cannot use on your primary dispatch frequency. For this reason many agencies do the in-band thing, but that requires the filtering, which adds cost.

 

[BlueDevil]

For amateur radio or for Fire Department use?

...many agencies do the in-band thing, but that requires the filtering, which adds cost.

What do you recommend for filtering? I have been wanting to do "In-Band" repeating for our Fire Department. My thought is to put filter on the Pyramid or Vertex vehicle repeater device. This would keep the full functionality of the mobile radio that the vehicle repeater is attached to however it would limit the vehicle repeater to a single channel operation. The setup that would serve us the best would be to have the vehicle repeater on a simplex frequency/channel and link it into the mobile radio that is rebroadcasting the radio traffic on a repeater frequency.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[kayn1n32008]

What do you recommend for filtering? I have been wanting to do "In-Band" repeating for our Fire Department. My thought is to put filter on the Pyramid or Vertex vehicle repeater device.

That I have to leave to others. I have never done an in-band vehicle repeater before.

however it would limit the vehicle repeater to a single channel operation.

Usually vehicle repeaters are only single channel. The Pyramid and vertex repeaters have the ability to know and react to another mobile repeater being activated on the same frequency, and will ensure only one repeater is actively operating at a time.

The setup that would serve us the best would be to have the vehicle repeater on a simplex frequency/channel and link it into the mobile radio that is rebroadcasting the radio traffic on a repeater frequency.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

What you described here is exactly how a Mobile repeater operates. There is a cable that is attached to both the repeater and the mobile repeater. a button on the control head is mapped to turn on and off the repeater. When off, the mobile functions like it normally would. once activated, anything the repeater hears, will be transmitted over the mobile radio, anything the mobile radio hears will be transmitted by the mobile repeater and will be heard by portable radios with in range of the mobile.repeater.

 

[nd5y]

Here is Pyramid's page on in-band filters.
In-Band Filters - Pyramid Communications

 

[mmckenna]

What do you recommend for filtering? I have been wanting to do "In-Band" repeating for our Fire Department. My thought is to put filter on the Pyramid or Vertex vehicle repeater device. This would keep the full functionality of the mobile radio that the vehicle repeater is attached to however it would limit the vehicle repeater to a single channel operation. The setup that would serve us the best would be to have the vehicle repeater on a simplex frequency/channel and link it into the mobile radio that is rebroadcasting the radio traffic on a repeater frequency.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

N5DY posted what I would have. Other than that, separate the antennas by as much as you can.

 

[wrath]

You would need some serious cans that had been tuned for a single frequency a good set of cans would probably run you at least $1500 plus all the equipment to tune them which would be a bundle regardless of if you due it or take it to a shop and have it done , and then of course like others have said space between antennas , I know many departments that have mobile repeaters in the command vehicles for fireground repeat ,most of them have been around $5000 all in for the whole thing , it's definitely not a cheap undertaking .and has been said it would be the departments license and therefor really there's even if you paid for it technically.

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

[kayn1n32008]

You would need some serious cans that had been tuned for a single frequency a good set of cans would probably run you at least $1500 plus all the equipment to tune them which would be a bundle regardless of if you due it or take it to a shop and have it done , and then of course like others have said space between antennas , I know many departments that have mobile repeaters in the command vehicles for fireground repeat ,most of them have been around $5000 all in for the whole thing , it's definitely not a cheap undertaking .and has been said it would be the departments license and therefor really there's even if you paid for it technically.

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

likely only need about 70-75dB isolation between mobile transmitter and mobile repeater receive... not all that serious. but done right, yes, it will not be cheap.

 

[jim202]

If your serious about a vehicle repeater for public safety channel use, It would be good to start with the agency head to get their blessing. The second step should be working with the several vendors that make the VR (Vehicle Repeater). They can provide the needed engineering to be able to get a package that will provide you with an in band package.

The problem as has been stated, you will find that due to the cavity system that will be needed, you will be limited to just one frequency. Best thing to be considered is to have your agency channel at one end of the band and the VR at the other end. This makes the cavity system be minimal and not have to take up half of the back seat area.

Don't forget that any portable you plan to use with the VR device, will need to have the frequency flexibility to function with the VR and your agency system.