Question for Ham operators?

Question

I just purchased a nice UNIDEN ARU 251K repeater for my family that has a output of 20 Watts UHF on TX-464.875 & RX-469.875 PL-186.2, im putting up a 20 foot Antenna, i was curious what kinda range we would get out of this unit? (We will be using a bunch of Puxing 888's and a couple of alinco rig's) Also we live on a hill, and have mild to moderate tree population, the reason we would like to put up a Repeater is because we are always @ different places @ different times around the farm, going to the local store, feeding, in the woods, etc. Cell phones are obsolete (at least around these conditions) and FRS radios are useless (2 miles range @ most) No silly or rude answers , Thanks -Cody D.V.M.

Answer 1

I'm not sure where you found a 20' UHF antenna. UHF is pretty line of sight and height helps a lot more than gain for the antenna. If you're line of sight you can talk 30 miles away. RG-214 will lose about half your power every 70'. We've replaced it all with LMR400 ultraflex. It's the same size as 214 with half the loss.

I don't know what Bob was drinking as he typed his incoherent post but Uniden repeaters are fine. They have about the same sensitivity as Motorolas that cost four times as much, and a watt is a watt no matter what makes it.

Duplexer tuning can be tricky on any repeater. There are tricks to do it without a $14000 service monitor, but it's not a subject for a Yahoo post.

Answer 2

not silly or rude - factual.

The Chinese imports are crap radios. Leave them on ham radio.

The Alinco is a ham radio and is not certified for anything except ham radio.



did you just buy this repeater off ebay, do you have a valid coordination and is it licensed?



duplexers??



Antenna type? fiberglass radome ham radio junk or a Phelps-Dodge StationMaster? Eight bay dipole?



UHF REQUIRES GOOD FEEDLINE... no RG8, no RG214....Belden 9913, Times LM600.



If you install it correctly, you should be able to cover the county.







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I just re read my post, I cannot find any where that I said anything about Uniden repeaters. I happen to have 4 in service and two spares. They are nice desktop and a lot cheaper than MSR's. I called the ham radio portables JUNK.



I question the freq choice. If you do not already have a pair, then you are going to need to take the repeater to a shop, have the cans tuned and recrystaled for your pair.



I did misspeak on the Times cable - 600 might be a bit hard to use, 400 is what you need. I happen to LIKE 9913... perhaps I like it because I know how to seal the stuff.



20 foot mast - kinda low, if all you need is the farm, then 20 feet might be enough, if you need county wide or farm to town, go 55 feet ot better.

Answer 3

style of like Greenie. I have been given my beginner license in 1957. You had to bypass to the closest Federal place of work development, which meant my dad drove me approximately 50 miles to take the attempt. You had to repeat and deliver 5 phrases in line with minute for the beginner license and 20 for the stepped forward. The beginner examination required common electrical energy and electronics and circuit thought. They had to comprehend which you will build a transmitter that could desire to deliver on the acceptable frequencies and not intrude with the community radio station! My mothers and dads gave me electronics kit for my 9th birthday, and that they chipped in $50, which became countless income 1957 for me to construct my first station. beginner radio became plenty greater exciting then than that's now, a minimum of for us "techie" types. Electronics became all vacuum tubes then, and you had to comprehend the way it worked to function it. And all however the richest grown-up hams outfitted their very own kit. W4ZLF went on the air on a chilly, crisp night with a sledgehammer 5-a million/2 watts PEP making use of a transmitter I outfitted with a cookie sheet for the chassis. My third call, I have been given a respond from a ham approximately 600 miles away in Illinois. (All in Morse code, of direction.) If I wasn't hooked already... So the microelectronics age has made beginner radio very distinctive. you do no longer could desire to complication very plenty approximately how issues artwork, and no-you will build their very own chips. i think of hams could be only as committed as they ever have been, even nevertheless it only would not seem to have the attraction it did once you burned holes on your pants with a soldering iron to get on the air. that's nevertheless a super studying interest. The amateurs i comprehend are greater nerd-like than we've been in my day, and oftentimes additionally bypass to megastar trek conventions. yet on the entire they're ok. have exciting!