I'm sure you will get a few more more educated replies than mine- Here's my two cents. Double the power, the most you would theoretically get is 3db more signal. Will the end users notice- probably not very significantly. I have heard and experienced systems that ran *high powered* amplifiers on their repeaters, one in particular failed but only the users 50 miles away noticed a difference (and that was on pure exciter power). What are the downsides- consume more power, potentially introduce more de-sense. You will create more heat in the cabinet as well. Is it worth it? You could probably argue it either way. If the money is sitting there to burn and it makes some people happy, what the heck, give it a shot and let us know your results. Is it going to make the machine full-quieting "60dB over S-9 OM" everywhere it hears? Likely not. Remember, the next complaint from the other people is " I hear it full scale but I cant get in!" and your next post is about voters! Tom W9SRV
----- Original Message ---- From: Tony L. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, February 5, 2007 8:47:34 AM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Effects of doubling RF output on UHF repeater? One of our 70cm Amateur Radio repeaters is currently outputting 50 watts into the duplexer. We're considering replacing the existing RF power amp with a 100 watt model. Current draw on the 50 watt unit is 8 amps. The 100 watt unit will draw 20 amps. Our power supply is rated at 36 amps continuous, and the duplexer is rated at 250 watts. Half of our users believe that the repeater's output power is perfectly matched to its receiver. That is, users of high powered mobile radios generally lose repeater reception at about the same time the repeater's receiver loses them. However, the other half of our users believe doubling the repeater's power output would generate increased activity since the repeater could be heard more "comfortably." We could upgrade without changing any of our other infrastructure. However, these questions arise: 1) Will the hundreds we pay to upgrade actually translate into significantly increased range? 2) Will we risk generating additional receiver noise by doubling our output power, thus losing coverage in the process? 3) Will using a higher power level shorten the life of other system components over time (e.g., power supply)? By the way, our frequency coordination would be valid even if we doubled our output power. Yahoo! Groups Links ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/
