We (I say WE, I work for a Kenwood/Harris/Icom/Johnson/etc...dealer) have tried some of the new digital icom repeaters. I do not remember the model number. We put 4 of them on an LTR site (analog mode) and 3 of them in a chemical plant (also analog mode) and the receivers like much to be desired. They seem to be about as selective as a uniden scanner. Sensitivity is not a problem however..... ;-)
----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Sat Dec 12 15:42:51 2009 Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: 50 Watt Repeater (Shameless Kenwood Dealer Plug) > OK let me give you another dealer input > Yes we are a Kenwood and also an Icom dealer. > From our own use we for our in house systems > use both brands of repeaters. > If I was going to do a 2 meter today I would > use the ICOM FR-5000 the new 50 watt unit. A Government Customer bought some of the newer generation Icom Repeaters from "another dealer" for a pretty good size LTR Trunking System. I was asked by the Trunking Controller Mfgr (CSI) to help trouble-shoot an on-going drop out problem, which was traced back to the discriminator output of the Icom Receiver. The receiver would chop/slice sections of the recovered discriminator signal well within the normal expected bandwidth. The customer ended up replacing those receiver models with different equipment. And they/we found the problem with more than one Icom Repeater Receiver Model. I would suggest new buyers of what I call the newer low tier/cost Icom Repeaters have a look at the receiver discriminator output with a service monitor (scope) so you aren't fighting a non uniform discriminator output problem... not so easily fixed. Icom like all the others makes some pretty decent gear... but some of the newer lower tier repeaters have that known issue, which I feel is pretty darn important to know about when starting out. cheers, skipp skipp025 at yahoo.com
