SURECOM SR-629 REPEATER CONTROLLER

[@sammywong9350]

Glad to see your fair comments for my products. Surecom is working hard to improve our products. Thanks for your input. We value your reviews. Hope to see more from you in the future.

[@wancable9702]

you need to upgrade this controller, too much interference. better signal if dont use the controller with same antenna.

[@stoatrepublic]

@Sammy Wong Looking to put repeater up at home in countryside, Antenna seperation is not a problem, just thought I'd take this oppertunity to ask how development of this product has progressed since this video.

[@djshnibz]

Cool experiment, part of what ham radio is all about

[@knoxieman]

Thanks 😀 got more tests on the way with some proper data to look at 😎

[@rod1cooper]

Great video thanks Paul. I've experimented with the Surecom SR-328 and experienced exactly the same issues, i.e. works OK with strong signals but as soon as the level drops slightly you lose the transmit audio. I can't get the specified aerial separation at home, which may be the issue. I agree that I can get better range without the repeater, which defeats the object really!

[@knoxieman]

Thanks Rod glad it wasn't just me 😎

[@rickb06]

Enjoyed the video, well done, nice proof of concept!

[@knoxieman]

Cheers

[@wancable9702]

thanks for the copper shield and ferrite bead...

[@414RadioTech]

i've got one of these and I use that to re-broadcast scanner audio remotely when I'm in the store or anywhere shopping where range is limited so I can still listen to public safety and railroad traffic so basically whatever my vehicle hears I will hear wherever I am at works great all over the place I've even tried it on FM CB now that that's available and it works even better so yeah because of no limitations to using this product the FCC says it's OK to have these items if it wasn't OK then they wouldn't of allowed that to be imported but I know they'll soon quickly change their minds because of all the abuse of it that it can be used to do a lot of damage and what not because my purpose is just to use it as a remote extender to hear everything that I can't hear while shopping because of interference on the inside of any building I were to go into would hinder my radio audio so I can't hear anything unless I put this on as a mobile extender so I can still listen to my railroad and public safety audio without it cutting out

[@cchalfantusa]

Cool idea

[@RingwayManchester]

nice one Paul shame it didn;t work out properly. That case is from the Surecom SWR/power meter they just covered the holes with the sticker.

[@knoxieman]

Ah right thanks for that mate, it's that springy sticker thing when you push the case that's really poor that is, overall a very poor quality product.

[@RingwayManchester]

Yeah I tried one a few years back and had the same issues. The concept 'works' but they don't take into account that antenna separation etc etc. Shame really. Like you say those demo's on youtube are fixed to make it look like it works.

[@nickkatchmar5408]

Thank you for an honest opinion.

[@RingwayManchester]

Hey Paul I'm sat here in my hotel room away from home with work, you said Wednesday! lol

[@undergroundnews_dk]

Thats nice - I think I will give it a try but using a raspberry pi with a mumble connection to and make a POC radio connection to CB radio/gateway but the delay is maybe to big then ?

[@Arthur-jd8cb]

Excuse me sir, if the RX uses a Baofeng UV 82 HT with a 12 meter high external antenna and TX uses a Baofeng UV5R HT with a 9 meter high outside antenna, how many kilometers can it reach

[@12voltag3]

Have use ferrit, long Kabel and antenna distance is long. Never problems, the let's sunflare make mistakes 😂❤🎉

[@blaconnectsolutions]

Hello, very good video, I would like to know if in Digital in with two Baofeng DM1801 it would work, have you made any tests in digital?

[@powellresident6447]

Any possibility of including a programmable CW ID function to a future model?

[@Goyotero1000]

Put a duplexor on the antenna and use a 5MHZ split.

[@knoxieman]

Yes I'm thinking duplexer but to be honest the UV8000 is just £60 at the moment and would serve better, I was cross band on this test VHF/UHF and it still didn't work reliably, at times it would lock up on transmit and just stay keyed up till the battery went flat.

[@Goyotero1000]

@@knoxieman - I would suggest dPMR, as digital output power is uniform and voice peaks like on analog don't interact so much receiver/transmitter. Duplexors tune up easier with a steady signal of dPMR.

[@spencergilchrist4489]

I did a ton of experimenting with setups like these and spent... Way too much money, but! I found that if the transmitter is directly above the receiver it does better. I separated them at different lengths to see if it changed anything and, as far as I can tell, as long as it's more that 4 feet apart it's pretty good. I got Max 10 miles out of that setup. The de-sensitization of the receiver is pretty awful for any kind of repeater setup like this regardless of the controller used. Then I doubled down, did a duplexer, 5mhz split, and wow what a difference. I got 27 miles and was still good readable. I live in Montana so that's the farthest I could drive to peak to peak and not have to spend a whole tank of gas or a weekend hiking in. At some point I intend to get an airplane up and test it some more to get a decent range out of it. I also tried different antennas and really didn't see much difference. I did notice that if the Rx antenna was smaller than the Tx there seemed to be some improved quality. Again it's not worth experimenting and wasting money. Go with the duplexer or the simplex repeater. Don't waste your time and money experimenting, we already did it for you.

[@militaryrig]

@@spencergilchrist4489 What duplexer did you use?

[@spencergilchrist4489]

@@militaryrig I found one on ebay. Cheap $90 one with the 5mhz split. The newer one I got was $160 with 4.5 mhz split for more recent tests just in case. 8 cavity. But there are some 5mhz 6 cavity ones all over the place for $90-$100. Some will do lower powers for cheaper too. Just have to shop hard. I wouldnt put these in sites where there is other radio equipment to reduce the chance of interference but they really work good contrary to what you see online. You kind of have to experiment a lot though to shift through the garbage advice you find online. Also depends on the frequency your using and the freqs you are licensed on.

[@leungdom3041]

Very basic repeater RF setup Should have duplexer for your repeater antenna, otherwise you hv to find an relatively optimum positions of two antenna The 5/8 type of your antennae has an up tiled radiation angle, therefore the other quarter Antennae underneath can work correctly. You can also try working with two yagi antenna, or antenna positioned at two different polarised angles! Another comment is quality radios with good RF quality Cheap radios are using FRS chipset circuits added with TX boosters, low cost scenarios, but no good RF tune circuits!

[@knoxieman]

Thanks for this 👍

[@nathanbieber2840]

okay random unrelated question... is that an SDR app on your phone without the usb rtl-sdr dongle? its using the phones tuner? how are you doing that?? TIA 73 W0NLB

[@knoxieman]

The phone is connecting to my PC back home and relaying my screen to me via TeamViewer, so it's my remote desktop if you like.

[@alvinramsey9372]

Using a system like this I understand it's perfectly feasible to use a solar panel to charge the cell which in turn keeps the repeater working properly. Although I have to wonder how a handheld can be operating and charging at the same time when most of them tell you to make sure they're turned off before you put them on the charger?

[@knoxieman]

Yes many will work and charge at the same time however it would be better to use a panel to charge an external battery really, sun doesn't always provide enough power.

[@martirjd]

Thank you.

[@viagro1980]

I'm interested in using this unit as crossband rpt vhf - airband. Is it worth buying?

[@knoxieman]

No

[@oldladyme]

I have had bad luck with all the Surecom products if you want a repeater that works all the time use ARGRNT DATA this is a quality product.

[@knoxieman]

Right will have a look cheers.

[@mlaurent2045]

What is the application used on the mobile phone where a scope is displaid on ?

[@knoxieman]

SDR sharpe

[@randolphangeles4955]

Not a true repeater, plus it ties up two extra radios that could be used for simplex relay of comms. Radio shack put out a similar unit around 20 years ago

[@JosStrange]

What was the RadioShack model?

[@DarkAngel-ry2pm]

I have been testing this unit, and have found some odd issues with it. I have it running 2 baofengs in bidirectional mode ("1+2") with the "input radio" on 70cm, and the "output" radio on 2M. What I noticed is that the controller seems to "kerchunk" the input radio frequently.. anyone else have this issue? I also noted that if you leave the USB power plugged into the controller, it freaks out once in a while where it keys the radios and sends this awful screeching sound. Otherwise, It works nicely.

[@knoxieman]

It's hit and miss at times, I just couldn't get it to work reliably at all.

[@TheVe3tww]

Are you using repeater or crossband repeater

[@12voltag3]

Position 2

[@BisdakCutie]

The casing looks like its the same casing used on their frequency counter

[@knoxieman]

Yes it probably is there are lots of unused holes under the sticker

[@Gtfokthx]

Turn the rx antenna upside down

[@charlesdean2002]

Don't place the 3 side by side the harmonics is the problem I think . At least mine works best separated.

[@56001as]

This is sold as a repeater with dtmf. But here it is not.

[@jsunhack]

Turn down the volume on the receiver.

[@stephenwilliams5201]

We live in a valley. And to be honest all I do is call my backside off. For nothing. Not shot full of cash thinking of setting up a simplex(store and forward set up) for at least ten miles we will have system . Wish me luck de kv4li 73

[@knoxieman]

Keep an eye on the channel, I've built a 10 dollar Arduino store and forward repeater, easy to make and operate, you can buy a product off the shelf but more expensive and not as versatile, I'll get a video done soon.

[@stephenwilliams5201]

@@knoxieman wow! I'm way behind in tec . Had to be mom/dad, cheife cook and bottle washer after wife passed. Now I'm getting back in ham radio. Kinda like a steam boat engneer. Beeing dropped in to a atomic submarine. The tools are different . I get the concept. Just caching up on the tec. Will keep my ear to the rail so to speak tks de kv4li.