WQKQ332

Keene, NH GMRS

462.725Mhz   141.3PL In/ 156.7PL Out

General Mobile Radio Service

As of about 5pm on Nov, 4, 2009, the new Keene GMRS repeater is on the air.  Tests seem to indicate that it's got fairly decent coverage and should reasonably replicate the coverage of the ZedYX 443.8 repeater.

The equipment consists of a couple Motorola GM300's, the transmit radio drives an outboard repeater amp so it can supply 100% duty cycle service and not melt down the GM300. Both radios are tied together using a Motorola RICK repeater controller. Nothing fancy there at all. The radios then are tied onto the UHF Combiner, which share the exact same antennas as the ZedYX 443.8 repeater, which are located at the very top of the TV52 tower overlooking the CT River Valley on the ridge just North of Keene, NH. A couple runs of 7/8 heliax run from the combiner to the antennas. If you look at the below photo of the top of the tower, the antennas are on the top of the right leg. The Super StationMaster at the top is the Receive antenna, and a little below that is a 16 bay folded dipole array that the Transmitters are connected to.

I've started experiencing some interference that seems to have a mixing element to it which was locking up the repeater, so that has temporarily forced me to change the Output PL to 156.7Hz. So, just as a head's up, if you're running tone decode, be aware that they're different, or just run carrier squelch on your end. You'll still need the 141.3Hz encode to access the repeater.

As of right now, the repeater is an open system, however permission would really be appreciated!  Just to keep a handle on who's doing what under my license!

My hopes are that it's well received and used, and will provide an alternative for families and individuals to Amateur Radio.

A GMRS license IS required, but after one member of a household obtains one, every member of that family may operate under that license.

A few reference sites to help you decide if GMRS is right for you, or perhaps to explain just exactly what GMRS is all about are listed below:

GMRS.ORG   and  PRSG

Licensing info can be found at the FCC ULS site.

If you'd like to use the repeater, contact me and let me know....

Thanks!  And hope to hear it getting some usage very soon!

Joel..>>

Friday, March 02, 2012