DIY GMRS Repeater Build: Boost Your Camping Communications!

[@brucel399]

Did my repeater basically the same way. Used a larger box from Harbor Freight. I took a battery out of an old 12v jump starter that i had laying around and put it in the box using cigarette lighter adapters on the radios. I use a magnet mount antenna or my Tram antenna adapter system that allows NMO antennas to be connected on a 20 foot push up pole. The battery lasted nearly an entire week on our camping trip in Colorado Rockies. Hope yours works out well. CHEERS from Colorado

[@TechTinkerHobbyist]

Nice, that's great it lasted the whole week. Its nice to have something that's a set and forget. I just got back from a week long camping trip also and it worked great when I used it, definitely extended my range from previous trips to this locations. I didn't use it every day however so I am not sure about my battery life. I am just using the stock extended batteries in the baofengs with the option to add a USB battery backup... Need more testing tho...

[@jdscoco]

I just created a neighborhood repeater setup. I used Wouxon (2 of them paired) KG1000 Plus with a duplexer and (2) power supplies (This needs just 1 antenna). Testing today worked great on both HT and mobile in a highly dense wooded area. Excited about the results. An attick mounted TWAYRDIO Yagi Antenna UHF 400-470Mhz from amazon worked the best against all my antennas. Crazy good antenna that finalized my setup after much testing.

[@jdscoco]

SBR on this setup 1.0!

[@TechTinkerHobbyist]

Nice, that should be a pretty powerful setup! I wanted to use those KG1000's also, just not in the budget at the moment...

[@BMG-]

What duplexer did you use

[@paulbrown9574]

You found the duplexer that I had not been able to find. Thank you for that. I've been debating just figuring out how to position two antennas versus the power loss of a duplexer. Do you know how much loss you are experiencing through the duplexer? The other benefit of two antennas is being able to switch frequencies in different places. Nice build - thanks for sharing.

[@petemitchell6788]

It’s typically 50%. In the long run it’s cheaper and easier to buy a 10w GMRS repeater for $300. The Midland has been great.

[@paulbrown9574]

@@petemitchell6788 Look forward to your performance review. Would love to see what kind of difference you get in actual field performance between your build vs. the Midland portable system. Midland/Retevis claims 5 watts after the duplexer where you say you are likely getting 2.5 watts. With good placement and good antenna did you see a difference in use? Thank you.

[@shaneb704]

Can you explain how or why the duplexer was tuned to curtained frequencies?

[@TechTinkerHobbyist]

"curtained frequencies" - I am not familiar with that phrase. The duplexer was configured and tuned for a specific GMRS repeater channel

[@shaneb704]

@@TechTinkerHobbyist sorry that was supposed to be “certain”…how is a duplexer tuned? Sorry I’m still new to this… Is this something you do yourself or something they do before they ship it?

[@TechTinkerHobbyist]

haha no worries, I was wondering if I was missing something... A duplexer basically has a series of filters and isolation components so 1 freq does not interfere with a 2nd freq, as on a repeater both are being used simultaneously. As such they are typically configured when you purchase them for a specific set of freqs. Depending on where you buy they may just list the freqs it is setup for or, as was the case with this one I ordered from Aliexpress, I had to provide the freqs I wanted when I purchased. The downside for a mobile unit such as mine is that I am locked to this set of freqs so if I am camping somewhere and others are using this channel I just have to deal with it...

[@paulbrown9574]

​@@TechTinkerHobbyist The Midland/Retevis repeater really should be tuned as well but they center on 462.55/467.55 and let you change channels without re-tuning for ease of use. You can do the same and get similar results. Most of us don't have the equipment to tune a duplexer at home.

[@Novoworks]

So... how is this working with the equipment you linked?

[@TechTinkerHobbyist]

It's working pretty well. I just got back from a week long camping trip. It was definitely able to extend my range.