Posted: 4/20/2011 5:56:23 PM EDT
Simplex Repeater Controller + HT + Zip Ties + Plastic Bag + Tethered Weather Balloon = Win! (well, sort of...)
Anyone tried the simplex repeater controllers from Radio-Tone, Cyber-Com or Argent Data Systems? |
I haven't used one of those units, but it would be ideal for a baloon or mountaintop in a pinch. I built a similar device for a 6 meter simplex repeater from an ISD 1000A chip from RS. We also used the ISD chips for voice store-and-forward for our pager site links. Pagers...I'm dating myself..
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Quoted: If you take two of the dual band WT's and set them for 2 meters in, 440 mhz out to second WT about 400 feet away, and out on another 2 meter freq. Hmmm!!! Those radios are inexpensive enough to do that with. Bob 2nd one would have to be just the opposite of the 1st. 440 in 2 meters out. Even at 400ft separation I think the 2 meter desense would still get you. |
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I tried this at my residence a couple of years ago using my Kenwood TM-V7A base and the Kenwood TM-V708A in my mobile. The distance was less than 300 feet and it appeared to work. I will have to try this again when my son is around to verify. My own Tac repeater is an old Micor Mobile with a flat pack duplexer operating on 147.600 in and 145.110 out. The combination of the Micor RF front selectivity and the Sinclair flat pack works okay. It was also very cheap.
RS |
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There are ham dual-band talkies that will do cross-band repeat - no external duplexer or dual antennas required. My old Yaesu FT-470 does it, albeit at reduced transmit power and with a kludged earphone-to-microphone cable.
I'm surprised that none of the ham talkies include a built-in simplex repeater function. The extra hardware required to implement it is next to nothing - and having it built-in would eliminate the need for a separate power supply and audio/PTT interface cable for a repeater controller. Ideally, you'd swap out the ducky antenna for something with a little more gain (particularly in applications where extra gain was easier to come by than extra transmitter power). |