Retevis RT97 Portable Repeater Field Test - Ham Radio Q&A
Вставка
- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Earlier this summer I took a look at the Retevis RT97 portable repeater. This is an FM analog full duplex repeater in a compact weatherproof housing. My previous video looked at the features and specs of the unit, so for this one I hopped onto the bicycle and did some range testing to see how far it would work.
Retevis RT 97 Portable Repeater first look: • Retevis RT97 UHF Porta...
Retevis RT97 UHF Portable Repeater(website): bit.ly/Michael-...
Echostation: www.synergenics...
BTech APRS Cable: amzn.to/2MPijsM
Samcom FPCN30A UHF Handheld: amzn.to/2MO1nCV
Trek Checkpoint AL4: www.trekbikes....
Support Ham Radio Q&A by shopping at Amazon: amzn.to/2kO6LH7
Read my blog: www.jpole-anten...
Colophon:
Camera amzn.to/2GV2Og1
Lens amzn.to/2GWC5zU
Wireless Microphone: amzn.to/2qt3vDc
Microphone: amzn.to/30lJheO
Music by license: www.premiumbeat...
#Retevis
#PortableRepeater
#RT97
You seem like an awesome guy. I don't even have a ham license, just a GMRS license that me and my family use on occasion. Keep up the great work.
After watching your test I operated an IC-2730A on medium power on my vehicle using an Diamond NR770HB, on an auxiliary battery and got about the same results. I did get the permission of the repeater owner for it (he was the one reading my signal quality). Parked it in the middle of a park plugged into a 2m repeater, set it for 70cm simplex input frequency with CTCSS and TOT-5 min for safety. an HT transmitting at 0.5W allowed me to talk seamlessly into the repeater about half a mile radius or so. Beyond that 2.5W covered about 3 miles. 5W covered to about 4.5 miles. FT-60R for HT.
thanks for the idea
73, KN4GEI
Very impressive. Would be great to see it tested with a higher antenna at the repeater location.
Mixing exercise with field testing. Great video on the repeater. Thanks so much Micheal for your videos. Kevin W8BRY
Why go by car when you can do it on a bike.
Thanks for the video. Would have liked to see the Repeater antenna pulled up into a tree. Maybe the PL259 1/4 wave ground plane with a small loop tied to some string. . You did a good job explaining the three things you need for better coverage. 73, Heath N4TWT
Great video Michael. Id be curious to see the repeater performance with one of your jpoles. Art. K2ADC
It works quite well with the UHF J-Pole antenna. I've put one on a small light-stand as a demonstration. I made a note to do a follow up video with a J-Pole.
@@KB9VBRAntennas is the video up?
I cant wait to use mine with your gmrs j pole
A seven mile radius implies over 50 square miles of coverage. Not too shabby for a 10 watt portable repeater in a box connected to a mobile whip on your car and a handy talkie.
That's a reasonable assumption to make. Of course coverage will be terrain dependent and if you get in a low spot or behind a hill, your signal quality will really suffer.
Michael, excellent video. I really enjoyed seeing Wausau, WI in the summer weather. I live in the Chicago area and visit Granite Peak to ski in the winter. Thanks for the tour and the video. I agree that the 10W repeater outperformed expectations. Keep the great information coming. I apprecaited the tip on the parrot software. I will look into that for testing.
I'm glad you come to ski, but you need to visit us in the summer. We're a four season town.
Wausau is a nice little city. Nice to see videos from home! Thanks!
Thanks for the ride! Great to see other cycling hams :) Perfect set up for emergency situations. For sure would love to see a future video of it with a higher gain antenna.
I'm glad you enjoyed my little ride around town. I'm sure the repeater will come out again in a future video.
You'll also be hearing the noise into the repeater recorded then doubled over with the noise back to your handset.
(edit!!! HA! You said this right after I commented.)
I;m thinking it might cover the entire west side of Beloit if you can get 7 miles out, maybe even the entire city too, maybe into south Beloit even. I think it would probably be a good temporary system, I'm considering getting my GMRS license anyway and since repeaters are allowed there, it would work for what I would use it for and that would be if I were to go somewhere and my sister didn't want to or couldn't, I could still communicate with her i9f needed.
That worked out a lot better then I would have expect.
Thank you for the great video.
73s
KD0OSF
Do you think if you didn't use the rubber duck antenna and used a different type of antenna, would you get better result
Most likely I could, especially in the fringe area when the signal was getting rough.
These video is great info 👌 we can now determine that using another tune base antenna in a higher place , and using whip antenna on the handheld radio or instead of using a bike , having a tune antenna on top of your car will def increase range, and quality of your signal 👌 without using anymore power so thank for the video 👍👍
can you do a video setting up Echo station from beginning to end cuz when I downloaded it it made me download Voxer and I guess not Echo station
Thanks
Excellent presentation
I've been talking with the retevis and hopefully eventually they'll make one that will work with gmrs it would be awesome to have a Deployable gmr's repeater that I could take anywhere
This would be an awesome GMRS repeater, if they could work out the kinks and get it certified.
isnt the llimitation the HT in this test? The advantage is multiple radios, with repeater in the middle.
I agree that would have been an interesting test/review to see what the other stations sound like at equal distances compared with the repeater. I would trade anything to have helped out vs being in this August Texas heat. 😎
Possibly. The purpose of a repeater is to provide one to many communications to a set of users that might not otherwise be able to communicate point to point. I could have done the test with multiple people. I went the parrot route as I wanted to hear the quality of my own transmissions in an objective manner.
Okay we all agree that a 30 foot mast and a well tuned antenna pushing 40 watts would get you somewhere near 50 miles on flat ground right? What do y'all think the duty cycle would be?
Duty cycle is an interesting question. It depends on the power handling capability of the transmitter. Most repeater sites running at 100% duty cycle will use a transmitter only putting out a few watts and use an amplifier rated for 100%. I've seen repeaters built with commercial grade gear running at 40 watts output without an amplifier get smoked from overheating. Long story short, if you can keep the transmitter adequately cooled, it will run all day.
@@KB9VBRAntennas indeed
I wonder what would happen if you used DMR. There wouldn’t be any authentication on the repeater since you can’t send analog CTCSS, but the signal quality would be perfect right up until the end of range.
are you not bypassing the rt97 all together?...you only need an HT and a controller ( computer and software ) for a simplex repeater system...the Rt97 does not even have a controller port...the RT98 does. am i missing something?
New to radios, but would this work with gmrs radios?
Nice test. Enjoyed the video.
2 Question please 👋, can this be used or run 24 hours and like everyday use,, or doest it has to be turn off and only use for like couple of hours. Question 2, u when 6-7 milles in one direction, can another person go 6-7 milles opposite side and talk to eachother making it up to 14 range radius
Yes to 14 miles. The users manual does not list the duty cycle. My guess is that it can be left on. You'd probably want to limit transmissions to 2 - 3 minutes with a break of about 5 minutes in between. Only testing will tell. Let us all know when you've completed the testing.
Good video, im looking for a repeater like this possibly for our neighborhood in the event of Fire.
Thanks for this video
I see you are in wausau area. Same! Always looking for new repeaters to add to my radio, do you have a gmrs set up on the hill?
Hi Michael thanks for your videos!! You think you could do a video someday about EchoStation? I would love to learn more about that software for sure!! Thanks for all your work that you do on you tube. Also I watched one of your vids where you make a tape measure antenna. I made one after watching you and get great satellite comms with it and can hit repeaters about 50 miles away all on an Anytone 878. 73's... KC1LED
I wonder what a high gain antenna on the walkie would do. Since it would reduce transmitted noise. Then also to raise the repeater antenna on a mast for example. To avoid the effect of curvature of the earth or even local terrain issues. Great video though. Thanks
Using a higher gain antenna on the handheld would fill in the fringe spots, but most likely wouldn't appreciably increase the range. Increasing antenna height of the repeater could increase range, though. This was designed as a simple test of capabilities and not so much an exploration of how I could cover the most territory possible.
Disappointing the repeater doesn't have an id'r built in but it is impressive. KA9SGZ
That is one of the downsides of this repeater that I listed in my first video on it: ua-cam.com/video/0EBJasGAymY/v-deo.html
I'm impressed with the results, especially using that rubber ducky! A Nagoya or Signal Stick might have been even better.
An aftermarket antenna would have made a difference in the fringe areas, I was pleasantly surprised with the handheld I used in the test.
@@KB9VBRAntennasI thought the set-up worked well, regardless. Also, we know what we can expect at a minimum. Keep up the good work, Michael!
Thanks for the thorough field test of the RT97. I'm curious if you use it often and how it's holding up? I purchased a VHF RT97 directly from Retevis a few weeks back. Out of the box it worked for about 24 hours while I did some initial field tests on it (
What would be the incentive to choose this product over a more flexible item (i,e, more power and adjustable freq) with a dual band x-band repeat mobile?
rather stay on a single band the is optimal for the terrain/conditions.
I think the incentive to choose this over something bigger and more powerful is that it is an all-in-one package, so it can travel well and be easily deployed. Repeaters by their nature aren't very frequency agile- you have to retune the duplexer if you change the frequency, and sometimes more power isn't always better. As I demonstrated, 10 watts covered the entire city; so its perfect for situations were you only need to cover a well defined area. Crossband repeat is a different animal altogether, I made a note to cover that in a future video.
Thanks for another excellent demo! I have one of your j-poles and like it a lot. I am looking at this repeater for EMCOMM/ARES SAR applications with a mobile dual band slim-jim on a 40 ft fiberglass pole. Got any VHF setup suggestions for a “custom” request from the vendor? I’m in rural Texas. 73, Gary KG5DEA
Since you're using a recording of yourself transmitting with an HT, what portion of the noise and dropouts you hear are on the repeater input? Or to put it another way, if you were testing with a 50W mobile instead of a handheld, would that eliminate much of rhe noise? Also, if you could get it up on a pole and out ofnthe fresnel zone it might work even better. Maybe try parking at the top of a parking garage.
Hi Michael. I just purchased the rt97 gmrs. Looking to get your opinion on this situation. When I am 5 miles away from repeater I can hear repeater transmission no problem but the repeater will.not rebroadcast my transmission. I know the repeater is picking up my signal as verified by HT close to repeater and my mobile is 25 watts. When I unkey from 5 miles away the tail tone pegs my meter but will not retransmit my voice or a carrier only a "kerchunk" or tail tone unless I am within a couple hundred yards or less. Very frustrating.
Think the rt97 is bad? I can't think of anything else to do. Fellow cheesehead from down by Sheboygan hey. LoL
What are the legal requirements with being a portable? This looks a great piece of kit for portable stuff. Great video thanks for sharing
In my previous video on the RT97 I do take a bit about some of the legal issues concerning this repeater: ua-cam.com/video/0EBJasGAymY/v-deo.html. But in reality there isn't really anything different you need to do with a portable repeater as compared to a stationary one. The biggest concern would be frequency selection, but most state and regional repeater councils have a pool of itinerant or portable frequencies that you can use without fear of causing interference with a coordinated repeater.
@@KB9VBRAntennas Thank you for the info this piece of kit can play great part with experimental stuff great video Thankyou
Am I missing something? What is the point of a 16 channel repeater if you have a specifically tuned set of cans behind it?
What about parking up top Rib Mtn?
Might get a few more miles?
I'd certainly get more distance putting the repeater on Rib Mountain- although with all the other transmitters up there it is a pretty RF rich environment. I'm sure that would make other weaknesses in the RT97 come to light. Plus I did the test on my bike and as much as I love to ride‚ I'd be really adding on the miles.
Another great video, thank you
Kb9vbr, two good pieces on this portable repeater, but I believe you did not do it justice in your field test.I believe that I performed way better than what was shown. You tested it with a gain antenna on your car, I assume at least a 3db gain, which means your effective output was at least 20w. You tested it with a 5w HT and a small antenna. Sure you were hearing static when you got out at a distance, but I believe that it came from the HT in it’s transmission to the repeater since it was just rebroadcasting what it received, noise and all. It was not a pure transmission from the repeater. You should have had someone close with a good clear signal to the repeater to talk to. What it did show is that your HT could make it the 7 miles. Just my opinion, but you might want to give it another field test. K6EZY
Are you aware of any other portable repeaters on the market? I was wanting to use as a GMRS repeater when camping but change to VHF for HAM use at other times - something user configurable would be nice... any thoughts?
Hi, are you using your Ham Call Sign for GMRS? If so how do you link the two? Thanks for doing the test been on the fence about buying this and it helped the decision process.
This repeater is available for GMRS, but I had my unit tuned for the 70cm amateur radio band. Hence using my amateur callsign.
When you did this video did you use the repeater on UHF or VHF?
I didn't see in the video if you had it on one or the other.
Message back and let me know.
Thanks.
I tested the UHF version of the repeater. The closest split they can do between transmit and receive is 5 Mhz, which would make it unusable in 2 meter amateur band which is only 4 mhz wide. But a 5 Mhz split is perfect for 70cm and GMRS repeater pairs. My repeater is set to 70cm amateur, but the performance would be identical on the GMRS band as those UHF frequency ranges are pretty close together.
Great video! I have some questions for ya.
I am a car enthusiast, and a beginner in the HAM world.
My friends and I enjoy driving in the mountains here in SOCAL. The down side is there is not cell signal up in these canyons.
I was thinking of buying some sort of portable repeater, that one of us could keep in our cars. That way when someone goes on a run through the mountain, we (who are stopped down the road at a rest stop) can let that driver know there is a vehicle coming his direction or they could let us know if they have crashed.
The road we drive on is about 15miles long and very mountainous.
I have a Baofeng UV5R 3rd Gen.
Do you think that this Portable Repeater and the UV5R would be a good solution to this problem?
Are there any cheaper? Or more cost friendly solutions?
Thank you for taking your time to read this annd I would greatly appreciate your response.
This is a solution that can get complex very quick as public safety agencies have been working for decades to accomplish the same thing you are looking to do- that is, provide communications out of canyons and other areas that are blocked my hilly or mountainous terrain. UHF communications is line of sight and you if you are in a canyon or go around a corner, your communication will not be heard by a person in another canyon. For the repeater to be functional, the vehicle is going to need to be parked in a location that has good site lines into the obstructed areas. If the repeater is in the canyon, it isn't going to accomplish much more than the handhelds themselves. I think a good starting point would be to use an application like Radio Mobile to simulate coverage so you could estimate how a repeater would work in a variety of locations along your route: www.ve2dbe.com/english1.html
Any Chance you had the opportunity to hook this up to a spectrum analyzer to see if it meets the advertised specs? Just curious if it is spot on with 10 watts out. Thanks! 73 - KCØBNS
I am new to radio and want to get better coverage on our ranch. Do I need to have handheld radios that broadcast on one band and receive on another? I have midland XTalkers. I don’t think I can do that.
Thanks for the field test. Can you elaborate on the handheld to laptop connection with the BTECH APRS-K1? Does the laptop have a shared socket for audio out and in? Tnx
The Btech APRS cable is handy for connecting your handheld to a smartphone for APRS or other VHF digital modes. It has a TRRS plug and I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged it into the combined headphone/mic port on my laptop that it worked.
Hey Michael!
What frequencies did you use for the test on UHF and the offset? Also, does WI frequency coordinators have portable pairs
designated in their plan?
Thanks!
Pete/KD4QNA
Yes, Wisconsin has three Shared/Non-Protected frequency pairs allocated on the 70cm band (wi-repeaters.org/forms/WAR-Bandplan-Revised-2019.pdf page 15). I'm using the 441.500 - 446.500 combination.
Thanks for sharing. Is the B-Tech APRS cable going to be featured in the two-way APRS gateway video you will be doing sometime in the future? I think if I biked 14 miles I would die.
The Btech APRS cable is handy for connecting your handheld to a smartphone for APRS or other VHF digital modes. It has a TRRS plug and I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged it into the combined headphone/mic port on my laptop that it worked. The IGate video is still in development, I'm saving a bunch of topics for when the weather gets colder and I'm spending more time indoors. I'm not sure if I'll use that cable, a TNC like the Kantronics, or some other device. As for the ride, I actually ended up with 27 miles as it wasn't a straight shot from point A to B to C, etc. Oh yeah, since I parked my car on a top of a hill, I also had a steep 150 foot climb at the end.
@@KB9VBRAntennas Looking forward to that video...
Alright alright alright!! I have one... I get maybe a mile. What gives? What's your terrain? I'm on flat ground with nothing but houses and trees. I have it connected to the supplied AC/DC power supply connected to a Tram 1486 UHF Land Mobile Base Antenna tuned to 406MHz-512MHz at (15) fifteen feet.. The SWR is (1) one and the output is 6.67 watts. With that same antenna I can connect many many fars on both 2m and 70cm. Beyond (10) ten miles on 146.52000 to be exact. In Florida that's outstanding LOL. Did you have height advantages?
Witch antenna do you recommend for gmrs not for mobile but as base antenna home .
Do you know what is a duplexer i can use for the UHF frequencies im using. Im searching and i only see VHF/UHF douple
With my baofeng uv-5x3 I have made contacts over 10 miles with no repeater? So this seems not great ?
In certain circumstances, you can make contacts with a handhelds at a distance of many miles. But under normal circumstances, their actual range will be a mile or so. The bigger advantage of a repeater is it allows many people, in a variety or terrains and distances, to hear each other clearly.
What would be a better antenna besides the whip u have on your car ?
does the echostation program not work anymore? I attempted the download to 2 diff computers, and cannot get this to work or run. Any help would be great, or is there another program to use? I have the RT97 now also. thank you
What's the website address for that terrain map that graphs elevations between the various map points?
I use Strava to track my bicycling. That application created the elevation chart that I used in the video. You can also create an elevation profile in Google Earth or there are other 3rd party extensions that will create profiles in Google Maps for you.
Hi Michael, thanks for you video. Could you tell me the whip model you used on your car ?
Many thanks. Greetings, 73, Benjamin
The whip on my car is the Comet SBB7 dual band mobile antenna
On the walking dead they can talk states away with handhelds only sometimes in the belly of steel boats with perfect reception and the batteries never die
That, and zombies are real . . .
Did u had to tune the antenna to the repeater default frequency ?
Hi Mike. I liked the video and your others btw. I would have liked to see the price and I would like to find out if it could work in full-duplex. Just my $0.02 worth.
Thanks for the comments. I don't usually mention pricing in the video as prices can change. The RT97 is $399 and there is a link in the video description that takes you to the Retevis website. The unit is full duplex, my first video describes more of its features: ua-cam.com/video/0EBJasGAymY/v-deo.html. The 'parrot' I was using to repeat my transmissions was an additional radio and software that recorded my transmission and retransmitted it over the air.
Excelente video.
Maybe I missed it if you mentioned it, but what is the elevation of site where you placed your repeater?
Towards the end of the video there was an elevation chart so you could see the difference between the repeater location and the test spots, but I believe the repeater was about 200 feet above average terrain.
@@KB9VBRAntennas Thank you. By the way, I have one of your 6 meter antennas and also a 220 mhz antenna. Both are great!
Thanks for your info. With regard to the GMRS version which is now available, it is noted that the transmit/receive frequencies pair can be pre-programmed at the factory, but it has 16 channel capacity. Does this mean that EVERY channel must involve that one pre-programmed pair? If so, is the reason for the 16 channels to simply permit different TONES for that one pair of frequencies? Thanks.
The duplexer in the repeater needs to be tuned to your frequency pair. If you stray from that tuned frequency, the system will desense when you transmit. So really the only use of the 16 channel memories is for different tone codes.
@@KB9VBRAntennas Thank you so much for the prompt reply. Always appreciate and enjoy your presentations. Unfortunately, I have had no luck trying to get a GMRS repeater operating with any distance at all. It obviously needs a VERY TALL UNOBSTRUCTED antenna.
@@KB9VBRAntennas It was noted that the programmed paired frequencies weren't one of the standard GMRS repeater pairs. Although that is apparently legal and might result in less uninvited traffic, it could possibly prevent contacts with transceivers unable to use other than the standard repeater frequencies. What is your experience with regard to the repeaters non altered frequencies -- or did you order specific frequencies?
I have two of the GMRS versions. The notch in the duplexer is large enough that I can use all the various GMRS repeater pairs from 550 up to 725. Both of mine came with the correct GMRS frequencies programmed in.
Great video
Great review and look at the excerise you got....just for us.....😎
Thanks, it was a good workout. 27 miles and I had to bike back up the hill where I left my car and the repeater.
how much prominence does the water tower site have over where you are?
I noticed that the gmrs version of the repeater does have PART 95E certification according to fcc.gov. So that is pretty cool.
Since this video has been produced Retevis has develped a GMRS compliant unit. If you look at 8:50 you'll see an elevation plot of the repeater location and each test site. At 8:15 you can see all the sites on a map along with projected coverage.
@@KB9VBRAntennas Thanks for pointing that out (I was listening to the video in the background so I didn't see that)! I
I think I'm going to purchase this RT97 for a GMRS application. Is there a way to set then repeater to auto identify? Or maybe an add on?
No there isn't a way to make this repeater easily auto identify. That's one of the downsides to the RT97 that I highlighted in my earlier review video.
echostation seems to not install on my laptop any fix?
Hi Michael. This all new to me. If u would please help me. I have a tree business and I work in the forest and city. I use walkies for my guys but sometimes bad range. What kind of mobil repeater and antenna should I get. I have those big forestry trucks. Thanks in advance.
Great Video Michael Love you show Man Keep up the Good work still working on my General License Aloha & 73 From Hawaii WH6FLQ Qrz
I wouldn't waste any time on a license use pmr446 license exempt channel
This might be a silly question (radio noob here). Could you use this in conjunction with the Btech amplifier? Going from 10 to 25 watts?
Probably not. The Btech amplifier is looking for an input power of up to 6 watts and the repeater deliver 10 watts. So it would most likely drive the amplifier as there is no facility to turn down the power of the repeater. But also amplifying the signal from 10 watts to 25 isn't mush of a boost. With that said‚ there are other UHF brick amplifiers like the Mirage D-1010-N that will take 10 watts in and deliver 100 watts out. This is a 10db boost (or 1 1/2 S units) which would be a lot more appreciable signal gain.
Ok u were at 7 miles south from repeater. So what happends when another person goes 7 miles opposite side ?? Can you talk to the other person and will that make 7 miles radius ??? And also did u left the repeater with power on the car and what did u used or does it has charge ?
The range would be a seven mile radius, dependent on terrain. So in essence two stations up to 14 miles apart could communicate. The repeater was connected to a 12 volt battery for power.
Could the noisy transmissions be due to your ht and not necessarily the repeater?
The amount of other signals in the air.
How high up was the repeater
Doesn't bumper mounting cut the effectiveness of your whip antenna?
It's not as bad as some would make you think. I can hear a difference depending on the orientation of the vehicle, but usually that's in the fringe areas. The length of the Comet SBB7 compensates for a lot of that loss. Antenna location on your vehicle always entails trade-offs, and I decided the tailgate was a better location than drilling a hole in the roof and dealing with the headliner and airbag system.
Have you measured tx power?
why would someone choose one spit or the other? vhf/uhf?
Retevis seems to be one of the better China units. Definitely looks more durable.
Nice reciew
Thank you that was a very good video.
Why r u hearing ur self after u transmit? Why is it repeatering what ur saying on ur radio. So if im talking with my body using the repeater is it goin to repeat on my radio too
I had an audio recorder connected to the repeater so it would parrot back what I said. I could then judge, in the field, the quality of the signal. The RT987 does not do that in normal operation.
@@KB9VBRAntennas I live in urban area n in an apartment with a whip antenna in my porch . I have try the poor men's repeater project radio to radio 5 watt each , with a 2.5mm 3.5mm cable connected to both and acts as repeater. I was only able to get 3 milles but so difficult to get a clear signal every time n just dint work. Will this give me a better range ?
Cool
Would 10w VHF had more distance?
If there wasn't a lot of interference.
Great, small repeater
Very good review (as always), but I did see you transmitting at the 7 mile site holding the antenna not completely vertical (or so I thought). How much difference would it give if you'd held the antenna in a completely vertical position while transmitting? In reserve you held the antenna wright, so the rx was as normal. Keep the videos coming, 73's, Xander NL134
I looked at the original video footage from the seven mile test. I made two test transmissions at that location, the first was quite choppy and for the second I did reorient myself and hold the radio more upright. What you see in the final video is my transmission from the first test and the received signal from the second. I guess this goes to show if you are in a marginal situation the way you hold the radio and your position relative to the repeater can make a big difference.
I have one on a 9 DB gain beam antenna I get 12 15 Mile with my Midland 40 watt radio the antenna is about 35 ft in the air.. it works really well on a good base antenna with good cable..
Curious what it would do with a J-Pole antenna on top of a small cabin like I have at my farm. Might work well when we go deer hunting.
Hi michael.
This repeater what amateur band dos this work on
I hate those parrot stations; they sound like they have echolalia lol. the only way I would use one is if i were checking the quality of the radio I am using, never for regular regchew.
I love it, a roadie cyclist and a ham! .... Just like me. ✌️
This doesn’t put out 10 W. A little less than five.
The transmitter is rated at 10 watts, but the duplexer will consume a bit of power. I've heard others report an output power of about 8 watts, but nothing as low as 5. I guess your milage may vary by how well tuned the duplexer is.
@@KB9VBRAntennas wow!!! Did you test yours?? And if so did you post it on different video? I need to see that to believe it.
All that is is a glorified cable TV amplifier the cable companies use in the field up on the poles And this so-called company had retrofitted one of these set ups into a box like that you're better off making your own repeater system
haha oh yeah thats all it is ....why didnt i think of that...lol
I returned it back to Amazon it’s pure 🐕💩
Does it have an accessory port? It would be great to hook up an STM32 MMDVM board to convert it to a portable DMR or D-STAR repeater!
There is no accessory port on the repeater.I'm not sure if you could hack the audio chain to add an MMDVM board. This would certainly take a bit of creativity.