How would you stack a Kenwood TKR against a Motorola R1225?
On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 9:44 PM, Eric Lemmon <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Skipp, > > I agree with nearly every point you made, having had experience with both > the Kenwood and Hamtronics repeaters. However, Hamtronics and similar > repeaters have one serious deficiency: A total lack of PA protection > against > high SWR due to antenna or feedline problems. In addition, the Hamtronics > PAs have no active power control circuitry; if the supply voltage goes up, > the output power goes up, and vice-versa. The Kenwood TKR-x50 repeaters, on > the other hand, have both active power control and high SWR protection > built-in. > > I have a Hamtronics REP-200 repeater in service right now on 224.500 MHz, > and I took the precaution of hanging a single ferrite isolator on its TX > output to protect the very simple 15 watt PA. So far, so good... > > 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected]<Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com> > [mailto:[email protected]<Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com>] > On Behalf Of skipp025 > Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 9:35 AM > To: [email protected] <Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com> > Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Hamtronics versus Commercial (Kenwood) > Repeater Selection > > A Hamtronics versus a Kenwood Repeater... > > > If you are considering purchasing the Hamtronics REP-200 > > repeater, I would spend my money on a Kenwood TKR750/850 > > series repeater. They are about the same price, but the > > Kenwood is a much better built piece of equipment and has > > a decent built-in controller for basic operation. > > As a huge and long time fan of Hamtronics gear and of course > a full Kenwood Dealer and Service Station... I have to say > I'm in a corner regarding the above statements... > > Both complete Repeaters are in the same price range and of course > the Kenwood is a commercial quality/spec unit. But the Hamtronics > unit is also quite usable, has more desired Amateur Radio > Operational features (because of the internal controller). The > Hamtronics Repeater in basic form is lower in transmit power > output and the chassis is not as rugged (thick metal chassis > parts). But there's nothing wrong with the supplied chassis of > the Hamtronics Repeater if you buy the pre-made complete repeater > versus installing transmit and receive modules in your own > box of your selected size and material(s). > > Unless you install an additional external repeater controller onto > the Kenwood Repeater... you don't get an Auto-patch (telephone > interconnect), the ability to command CTCSS (PL) and Carrier > Squelch operation on/off and a number of other "bells and whistles" > you could research by inventorying the feature set page of the > Hamtronics Repeater Controller Manual (on their web page). > > > If you were looking to buy just the individual pieces from > > Hamtronics and put your own repeater chassis together, I > > would prefer to use just about any commercial equipment > > instead of those pieces. > > ... which shows a fairly obvious bias against Hamtronics Equipment > for what-ever reason good or bad. > > There's nothing wrong with current Hamtronics, Hi-Pro and > similar products if you understand what you get when you buy > them. They tend to be very decent performers and in the case > of the Hamtronics unit... probably also FCC Type Accepted. > > > I am not sure what features you are looking for in the > > controller but there is a large amount of support available > > in the amateur community for Arcom, NHRC, CAT, ICS, and > > Link-Comm controllers. The Pacific Research Controller > > does not seem to be used much in our area but it looks > > like it will do most things a person would need. > > So will the Hamtronics COR-5 Repeater Controller > > > Good luck with your project. > > I suspect the selection of radio products would obviously come > down to motivation and money. If you bought a ready to > rock-and-roll Kenwood TKR-850 Repeater (from me :-) you'd be > pretty much in a plug & play situation once you had a duplexer > & antenna scheme in place. You could then or later install > an external repeater controller onto the TKR-850 if you needed > additional operational features not available with the "stock > TKR-850 repeater controller". > > If you were interested in a converted surplus radio package, > you could save a bit of money and probably have to get more > into the technical details of the equipment while trying to > get it on the air. There are also a fairly large number of > usable repeaters made from surplus Mobile Radios connected > "back to back" with basic logic and audio cables. > > You could also go with a more modular and hand constructed > Hamtronics, Hi-Pro Modular type of repeater project, which > is a favorite topic of mine. You will learn a lot more about > both repeater and radio operation if you construct your own > repeater. > > There is a serious glut of cheap, high quality surplus radio > gear available at flea markets and Ebay... so all bets are off > on pricing on that type of gear... you might even find people > willing to donate equipment for little or nothing. > > When 224 MHz band repeater operation is desired... there is > less plug and play gear available, so cases like building a > project using Hamtronics and Converted Surplus gear should be > a lot more cost effective. Indeed I've done many a project > from Hamtronics and Hi-Pro Modules (as well as a number of > other brands) and of course have provided examples of these > projects in photos available in the Group Photos Section: > > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/photos/album/1157128983/pic/l > ist > < > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/photos/album/1157128983/pic/ > list> > > You could easily duplicate the above mentioned project in > the UHF 445 MHz Amateur Band with great results. Keep in mind > you have to do all the hardware (chassis holes, wiring, mounting > of modules, testing... etc) but if you're into that type of > building there's a lot of fun and knowledge to be had... > > So, I'm an advocate of both the buy-it or build it repeater > method. You have to figure out how much time, money and > resources you want or are willing to apply toward getting > things done (a repeater on the air). > > And of course "Repeaters are like opinions..." or is it the > converse? > > cheers, > skipp > > skipp025 at yahoo.com > > > > "k9bf" <k9bf@> wrote: > > > Hi all. > > > I am thinking about implementing the above products into > > > a repeater. I would like some comments from those that > > > have experience with any of them. Also, does anyone have > > > any for sale? This is for a UHF machine and would use the > > > newer Hamtronics components. > > > Thanks and 73 > > > Ben K9BF > > >
