Dave, You said: "that's what ham radio is in my eyes.... not some order it > from the internet catalog then plug and play. By building it, working > it into a working system, if something goes wrong, I can very quickly > identify the problem and fix it."
Why have so many others lost this feeling??!! I salute you and hope that you can find something to make work! The only thing I have to offer is that I am doing the exact same thing you are, only on 6 meters. I am building my own duplexers. Check out this web site if you haven't already: http://www.qsl.net/kf6yb/duplexer.html I am SURE that someone has done something similar to this on 2 meters.. I will let you know if I come across something. It was only MAY OF THIS YEAR when I didn't even have a license or know what a duplexer was for, but I knew then that "I wanted a repeater" I have learned a LOT since then, and I am only weeks from getting my repeater on the air. I am using a converted Motorola Mitrek radio with a home made controller, and a home made J-pole antenna on an 80' tower. If it works well, I will get a real antenna and put it on the TV stations's tower in a cabnet at 1000 feet! As for "finding a hobby you can afford", The only difference in a $2500 repeater and a $200 repeater is how much time you want to spend "doing it yourself" --John Clark KI4AWK ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Schmidt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 10:37 PM Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] VHF Duplexer needed > Thanks for the great info Eric! I obviously cannot afford new so in > order to weed out the stuff that cannot be used that is often found on > E-Bay I thought I post the question here to find out what I should be > looking for. When I mentioned cheap, I was thinking in the range of > $250-300 or so... not a $1500 TXRX set ;-) > > On top of which, this is by far, not for building a wide coverage > repeater. I only have a 60ft tower; this is more or less for me to > learn with. How to build effetive systems for a knowlege base so when I > do wind up with some commercial tower space, I have the knowlege to do > it right quickly the first time. I have a decent UHF system using low > cost stuff that required me to work at it to get it so it has decent > coverage with the surounding terrain around me. VHF would help fill in > the spots where the UHF does not make it - hence my want to build up a > VHF machine. If it requires me to work on something to get it to work > right, heck, that's what ham radio is in my eyes.... not some order it > from the internet catalog then plug and play. By building it, working > it into a working system, if something goes wrong, I can very quickly > identify the problem and fix it. Thats the way I look at it. > > Again, thanks for the info and for keeping it within the subject I > started ... not varing off explaining about using seperate antennas or > saying I should go into another aspect of the hobby if I cannot afford > top of the line stuff. > > Dave Schmidt / N9NLU > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
