Hi Skipp,
Good to hear you. All of what you have said is true about the version 1.0 repeater and the version 2.0 has all of the below complaints addressed and has been a very reliable repeater. The RKR repeater is a good repeater but seem to melt down at the rated 25watts for 100% duty cycle, at least the ones we have had. Mike Mike Mullarkey K7PFJ 6886 Sage Ave Firestone, Co 80504 303-954-9695 Home 303-954-9693 Home Office & Fax 303-718-8052 Cellular From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of skipp025 Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 9:46 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Kenwood TKR850 > One of the repeater groups in my area is prepping a TKR-750 > for installation. I did the checkout and setup of the > machine, and my opinions are mixed. The radio (the TKR-850 > is the very similar UHF model) appears to be fairly well-made, > but I have some doubts about it being well-designed. ? > There have been too many reports of the PA failing to give > me a lot of confidence. It may be that the owners of the > failed repeaters did not heed the warning that it was rated > for continuous (repeater) duty only at 25 watts. Bingo! If you need continuous duty high power... you simply drive an external RF Amplifier designed for the cause. > In my opinion, the Motorola RKR1225 is a better repeater, > for the same or less (!) money. I've fixed more than one Motorola R1225 repeater with a self de-soldering RF PA Section than had failed in service. As a full service Authorized Kenwood LMR Service Station I've never had to fix a bad TKR Repeater PA in/from anyone who has kept to the mfgrs spec. In fact... I've not ever had to fix a TKR version 2 repeater pa, ever. > The TKR-750/850 repeater is an entry-level (low-tier) radio > that has a lot of features for the money. "entry-level (low-tier)"..? want eggs in your beer? > When operated within its limitations, it should be a > good investment. How about "within the manufactures recommendations"... > Be aware that the TKR-750 is not really intended for > operation in the 2m band, and a 600 kHz split may result in > higher than expected desense due to internal leakage. I can sell you a TKR-750 designed to operate within the two meter band. So far I've not received any reports of desense problems in any of the many repeaters I've sent out the door. > The unit I tested did not have courtesy beep, but it > did have built-in CWID. In Amateur Radio Service, both the above are most often provided by an external amateur radio repeater controller connected to the rear I/O jack. In stand alone applications the courtesy beep is much less desired over a CW ID'er. One can easily tack an external courtesy beep tone gen circuit to the back if you need the "roger beep" acknowledgment after each transmission. s.
