Andrew, First I would try to find a site like Ham that has a big tower, a tall building, Farmers Silo, water tower or grain elevator to locate your repeater on. You may also need a small shed to keep your equipment in.
Use a quality antenna don't use ham grade antennas like jetstream, diamond and comet. Have a look at COMTELCO or Laird Antenex and Andrew. http://www.comtelcoantennas.com/PDF%20Datasheets/BSLL450XL6.pdf An ANDREW DB-408B or DB420B would be my choice for an antenna. As far as equipment it's like hot rodding how fast you want to go how much money you have to spend. Kenwood makes a nice repeater in the TKR-850 it has a DB25 connector on the back that you can interface any of the CAT controllers. The Kenwood repeater if you buy new has a 2 or 3 year warranty. Kenwood also has a newer model that is half the size of the TKR-850 now. You need to use good quality cable to the antenna. The cheep cable like 9913 or 9914 or LMR400 are not the way to go. You want to use 1/2" Hardline or larger dependent on the length of cable. There are guys here on repeater-builder that are radio dealers and they can help get you going, good luck with your build. Paul R. Dumdie Jr. "73" W9DWP/R IRLP-NODE-4455 443.025/2A 145.270/1B/1Z/NAC-293 ARC-Radio-8 KCARES KCAPS HERD546 EX WB9QWZ WQGG738-462.725 AAR5CU/T www.riflesandradios.com www.theherd.com
