Here's my new com setup

[austinrob]

4000' damn that's nice.

Best we can do in central TX is 1680' tower just NE of Ft. Hood. it's local county EOC repeater and covers a good chunk of central TX. (K5EHX Amateur Radio Repeater Mapping) I can't hit it from here with my 5W HT, but I have a mobile rig in my future.

[bacpacker]

It is very nice. Best thing is the owner is Chief Engineer for a local radio station and got access to the tower with generator capabilities. It stays up for all but direct lightning strikes and he keeps all the gear up to date and tuned up.
We have another repeater near here that's over 5000' but it's older and not maintained as well.

[bacpacker]

for that question, I would refer you to bacpacker. He's my RTO and subject matter expert on all things radio.

Izzy, you shouldn't blow so much smoke bout me. I don't qualify for SME on anything. I just try and stumble along and not step on myself too much.

[izzyscout21]

Izzy, you shouldn't blow so much smoke bout me. I don't qualify for SME on anything. I just try and stumble along and not step on myself too much.

You're the mad genius offering advice on my coms setup. I hold you responsible. That make you MY SME on all thing radio. You should really be careful when you give info to a gear whore. Look what happens.LOL

[bacpacker]

Mad Genius! I like that. The Mad part is accurate, the genius part, not so much. You gotta remember, I ain't hardly responsible for myself, let alone anything else.

[Stormfeather]

Stormy ham repeaters are typically used on high band VHF(144-148mhz) and UHF(440-446mhz). In some cases they are uded on low band VHF(50-54mhz) and even less frequently on 10M(28mhz.
In all cases I know of they are for shorter range comms. For example our most wide area local repeater cover a large portion of TN from Chattanooga to about Greenville and west to about Crossville. However it has been coordinated not to interfere with other surrounding repeaters on that freq. It is on a mountian top at 4000+ft elevation and is running 50-100 watts using commercial grade antennas. A typical repeater set up would cover maybe 40-50 miles. In your area being somewhat flat unless you could get your antenna up on a cell tower, water tower, or tall building your coverage would probably be. More like 30-50 miles.
I have never used a 10m repeater, so I will not comment on those . If you want i can do a little research on them.
I hope this was somewhat useful.

So, with this knowledge, im assuming that installing a repeater in my AO would not be beneficial in reaching down south to you guys there? Unless possibly its a 100w or better repeater? Ive got access to hilltops that are pretty high in the region, and have always wanted to get more into, but lacking time is always a main factor it seems! Now, I had friends out in Calif that would reach several hundred miles with their setups, but from what I understood, they had multiple repeaters. I only got to look at their setup once before I got stationed out in Wisconsin, so wasnt too familiar with it.

Mad Genius! I like that. The Mad part is accurate, the genius part, not so much. You gotta remember, I ain't hardly responsible for myself, let alone anything else.

This is like me. . . can hardly be responsible for myself, much less others. That being said, anyone want to try out this new thermobaric explosive I cooked up on my George Foreman Grill out in the garage?

[Sniper-T]

... anyone want to try out this new thermobaric explosive I cooked up on my George Foreman Grill out in the garage?

Oooohhhh!!!! Pick me pick me!!!!

[izzyscout21]

This is like me. . . can hardly be responsible for myself, much less others. That being said, anyone want to try out this new thermobaric explosive I cooked up on my George Foreman Grill out in the garage?

I'm so in.............

[bacpacker]

Stormy i don't think a repeater would help you get contact with us. The multiple repeaters you mentioned in Cali sounds like a linked system, which would work to get to us. Down side is you need one about every 40-60 miles between us. There used to be a linked system that went from Kentucky up into Michigan and over 2 Chicago. It was sweet, i could talk to folks all along the route on our way to Mi. It came in handy one year when we drove up in a snow storm. It helped us avoid some of the worst area's. I'm not sure if it's still up or not. I do need to look into that.
Basically each repeater is owned by a different person on radio club an they decide to create a linked system. If someone drops. Out it breaks the link and then you just have 2 short section. It works but takes a lot of folks workin together to keep it up.
BTW what time is the thermo party? Wonder how that would work for an anvil shoot?

[mitunnelrat]

Hey izzy, how big are the Saber batteries? Will they fit in a grenade pouch, or are they too tall for that?