The KB6MIP/R Project Page

Works in progress in the MIP Shop

Update 28 April 2023

It doesn't look much different, but I now have a 20 watt UHF repeater on the air in Talent. It is on the Oregon Region Relay Council (ORRC) recommended LARS channel (440.7500 MHz, input 445.7500 MHz, decoding and encoding CTCSS 82.5 Hz). I guess it's not coordinated, per se, but I have a Special Testing Authorization (STA) from the ORRC that allows me to have this thing up and running in my garage until such time as I can find an elevated area to locate this thing at.

The RF hardware is all stock:
Daniels MT-3 Audio Control Card AC-3E
Daniels MT-3 UHF transmitter UT-3/460-SNC200 in wide band
Daniels MT-3 UHF receiver UR-3/460-SWC200 (factory wide band)
Daniels MT-3 UHF Power Amplifier AMP-2/450-3000 (set for 20 watts)
Daniels MT-3 System Monitor SM-3-H0-014-00

This Daniels package feeds an EMR Corp "pocket duplexer," which is two side-by-side two-bay notch filters configured to reject the two frequencies in use. I was able to adjust it for around 100dB of isolation on each side. Great for keeping the system from talking to itself, but there's not much protection from the rest of the RF world. My plan is to purchase a new to-spec duplexer, IM panel, and antenna system for this package once my final operating pair are determined.

The controller is an S-Com 7330 three-port full function repeater controller.

The system is using a "fire camp" base station antenna consisting of a portable ground plane kit and a 3dB gain mobile whip. Hey, it isn't much, but I can work it from south Medford. Not bad for a true "garage repeater," right?

The Tait radio's future is yet undetermined. I may use it as a link radio, or I may put it on a GMRS pair in stand-alone mode, or ... I don't know. I'll get to that when the primary repeater is on a hilltop somewhere.

Stay tuned ... !

This is the beginning of the systems I hope to build and deploy sometime soon. My desired service area is the I-5 corridor in the Ashland - Medford area.
Ultimately I would like to have two systems, perhaps three, in service. They would be:

A VHF high band (two meter) repeater.
This repeater would at times be linked via some RoIP platform to a small, private system in the southern California area, so that I can chat with the ham radio friends I left behind there when I moved to Oregon. It would be an open repeater, and would be based on the Daniels VT-3/160-SWA800 and VR-3H160-SWA200 modules in the second rack from the top. A sharp eye will also notice the VT-3H045-SWA300 and VR-3H045-SWA200 modules also mounted in this rack, they would be for a potential six meter remote base on 52.525 MHz.

A UHF repeater that would become part of the Cactus Intertie.
I have been a member of the Cactus Intertie for some time now, and (as with the VHF repeater above) would use this repeater to stay in touch with ham radio friends I have made in my travels across the western US. It would be a closed repeater, as the Cactus Intertie is a closed system. My repeater would be based on the Daniels UT-3/460-SWC200 and UR-3/460-SWC200 modules in the first (top) rack, and possible use the AMP-2/450-3000 power amplifier next to them as well.

I have family in the area who have little interest in radio communications that require any kind of testing to avail themselves of. Potentially I could be putting a GMRS repeater on the air using the Tait TB-7100 you see in the rack here. I'm not certain of this only because I have not explored the GMRS spectrum here in the Rogue Valley and surrounding area. There may be existing, open systems my family and I can use. We would mostly be using them as a medium for emergency communications. We all got to thinking about that after the Almeda Fire.

Meanwhile, I am in the market for infrastructure for these repeaters, including duplexers, IM panels (or circulators), and most importantly, a site. I have developed a passing interest in two local sites here, Roxy Ann and Little Baldy. As soon as one or more of my systems is actually operational in a test mode here in my shop, I'll start shopping rack and tower space somewhere, hopefully in one of those sites. We'll see how well that goes ...

Meanwhile, I'm hanging out ("monitoring") on the Peak Radio Association network, and monitor some of the local channels here in the southern Rogue River Valley. If you have any of that infrastructure gear I mentioned, and you're interested in selling or trading for it, give me a shout, or drop me a line. I'd appreciate hearing from you.

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