It’s amazing how the costs for ChiCom communications gear have dropped so low. It looks well constructed and easy enough to deploy. Surprisingly, it costs a fraction of what a good quality UHF BpBr duplexer costs and includes everything needed to get the repeater on the air. My brother recently bought a farm as a weekend “getaway” spot and wanted radio comms for the property as cell coverage in the area is spotty at best. I thought of building out a small semi-portable repeater but bought a Hytera deployable DMR/Analog unit with integrated duplexer. While it looks gorgeous and performs like a champ, it was well over $3100 by the time I included their power supply and battery unit. I wish I’d seen this video first. IMSAI Guy never fails me when it comes to reviews and recommendations. I’m going to order one to keep as a backup unit for the handful of GMRS repeaters I have out in the field. Thank you.
I would be very curious how narrow or wide the duplexer filters are considering the wide frequency options available in the channel list from xx.550 kHz to xx.725 kHz on TX and RX. I suppose when you have a 5 mHz split between TX and RX you can afford to be a bit wide on your duplexer filtering. No so true on the US amateur 2meter band. Great video. Looking forward to a bit more on this product.
Haven't seen a DB-9 in years :-). Wonder if they had some old stock to use up ? Nothing wrong with them of course, pretty much bullet proof and easy for people so solder, etc. Nice looking product, they should build a version for 70 cm hams - though I guess there isn't as much of a need as many mobiles already have crossband repeater functionality.
thanks for the comprehensive review! Question - On our farm we have a call-up channel "channel 01" and then 3 other channels for various departments. Will this repeater be able to automatically pick up all 4 channels and boost the signal, or will it only pick up and retransmit the channel that is showing on the LCD display? hope this makes sense. thank you
We don't have GMRS in Australia, what is this units "best use case" ? I know what a repeater is for, but why this portable unit? Is it for use with some kind of net or something? It's not going to extend range very far (like a repeater on UHF CB or 2M ham bands is designed to do) at only 5w output, but I assume this isn't the intended use anyway. Can someone give a brief explanation of how you use this to it's best advantage? It looks like a nicely built unit, whatever it's intended use might be.
I ordered the RT97S Full Duplex Portable GMRS Repeater Bundle from your affiliate link and after paying and selecting the free shipping, then I started getting emails from "Laura" in China telling me shipping was going to be $50 and I needed to pay up before they would process the order. So it appears they want to recover their discount one way or another.
Shame the display and buttons do not have a wx tight cover. Hard to believe a 460MHz TX and RX chip replaces a large box of discrete components not so long ago.
So does this clarify the ongoing discussion about a (Repeater having to ID) on GMRS?. Especially if these companies Selling GMRS Legal Repeaters seems like this answers the Question 🤔 Great Video . Hope to hear an update on the Range...
There's no clarification from manufacturers needed and functionality included or not has no bearing on the regulations. Just go read the rules, it's not even a big bit of reading.
So you could put a tranceiver on Imsai Dog's collar and when he runs off down the road and into the neighbour's flower bed, you can send him a message "Home Boy. Home."
I just looked it up and I guess the next few days you can get the whole bundle for sub 400 which is amazing for what you get. And I'm not a shill just throwing it out there someone doesn't know.
Have you found out what you can do with the Embedded Message input. I am getting one of these but there is no info on this. I wrote Retevis and they seem not to be aware of it.
I'm confused. It seems to come in or golden years. A duplexer has one cavity set for a transmit frequency the other cavity for the receive frequency. How is it that we can operate under a broad range of frequencies? I know I'm missing something. Ted, N7NSL
it is not much of broad band. the receive frequencies are tight and the transmit are tight. anyways, multiple cavities allow for broader band: czcams.com/video/3Z3hbTUgB9A/video.html
I've been reading the FCC rules on GMRS... I can't find anywhere in the written rules that limits HT's to under 5 watts. If anyone here can cite that in the actual rules I would love to be corrected on this. And it could be that the FCC won't approve an HT with higher than 5 watts power but I don't see a rule prohibiting it.
§ 95.1767 GMRS transmitting power limits. This section contains transmitting power limits for GMRS stations. The maximum transmitting power depends on which channels are being used and the type of station. (a) 462/467 MHz main channels. The limits in this paragraph apply to stations transmitting on any of the 462 MHz main channels or any of the 467 MHz main channels. Each GMRS transmitter type must be capable of operating within the allowable power range. GMRS licensees are responsible for ensuring that their GMRS stations operate in compliance with these limits. (1) The transmitter output power of mobile, repeater and base stations must not exceed 50 Watts. (2) The transmitter output power of fixed stations must not exceed 15 Watts. (b) 462 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of mobile, hand-held portable and base stations transmitting on the 462 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 5 Watts. (c) 467 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of hand-held portable units transmitting on the 467 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 0.5 Watt. Each GMRS transmitter type capable of transmitting on these channels must be designed such that the ERP does not exceed 0.5 Watt.
Mine hardly lasted the winter, and they only offer warranty for the first seller; even if you purchased it from an authorized reseller; they only offer the warranty to the reseller and not to the person who purchased it; Chinese logic.
good lord man ! I heard U the first time!! companies can charge moola 4 repeating service, service !! this sounds more like a booster repeater! for civilian use! looks real nice though! enjoy, enjoy! if our sad inept government would change the law. & turn this into a right away utility service, service technicians could earn a little extra cookie dough! good luck mad hacker!
@@RobertLeeAtYT I wasn’t complaining .. people look to these videos for guidance and may not know a license is required. Never assume that everyone knows what you and I may know.
All moisture resistant apart from the leather carrying handle :). Nice build quality, thanks for the teardown. It's indeed simple to use.
It’s amazing how the costs for ChiCom communications gear have dropped so low.
It looks well constructed and easy enough to deploy.
Surprisingly, it costs a fraction of what a good quality UHF BpBr duplexer costs and includes everything needed to get the repeater on the air.
My brother recently bought a farm as a weekend “getaway” spot and wanted radio comms for the property as cell coverage in the area is spotty at best. I thought of building out a small semi-portable repeater but bought a Hytera deployable DMR/Analog unit with integrated duplexer. While it looks gorgeous and performs like a champ, it was well over $3100 by the time I included their power supply and battery unit.
I wish I’d seen this video first.
IMSAI Guy never fails me when it comes to reviews and recommendations.
I’m going to order one to keep as a backup unit for the handful of GMRS repeaters I have out in the field.
Thank you.
I would be very curious how narrow or wide the duplexer filters are considering the wide frequency options available in the channel list from xx.550 kHz to xx.725 kHz on TX and RX. I suppose when you have a 5 mHz split between TX and RX you can afford to be a bit wide on your duplexer filtering. No so true on the US amateur 2meter band. Great video. Looking forward to a bit more on this product.
Could you put a Btech antenna amplifier on this to increase range or will it interfere with RX ?
Haven't seen a DB-9 in years :-). Wonder if they had some old stock to use up ? Nothing wrong with them of course, pretty much bullet proof and easy for people so solder, etc.
Nice looking product, they should build a version for 70 cm hams - though I guess there isn't as much of a need as many mobiles already have crossband repeater functionality.
Hey small world, that little JRC opamp I was just repairing on an JL Audio car amplifier.
The first is NJM2904 and the second is LM358P. They're quiet similar.
Mine won't program from the power port. I had to customize a programming cable that plugs into the DB9 connector.
thanks for the comprehensive review! Question - On our farm we have a call-up channel "channel 01" and then 3 other channels for various departments. Will this repeater be able to automatically pick up all 4 channels and boost the signal, or will it only pick up and retransmit the channel that is showing on the LCD display? hope this makes sense. thank you
one at a time
We don't have GMRS in Australia, what is this units "best use case" ? I know what a repeater is for, but why this portable unit? Is it for use with some kind of net or something? It's not going to extend range very far (like a repeater on UHF CB or 2M ham bands is designed to do) at only 5w output, but I assume this isn't the intended use anyway. Can someone give a brief explanation of how you use this to it's best advantage? It looks like a nicely built unit, whatever it's intended use might be.
I ordered the RT97S Full Duplex Portable GMRS Repeater Bundle from your affiliate link and after paying and selecting the free shipping, then I started getting emails from "Laura" in China telling me shipping was going to be $50 and I needed to pay up before they would process the order. So it appears they want to recover their discount one way or another.
Nice job. Boy that is built like a tank. Great for the preppers. Screw the license " thay" don't need to know, if the shit hits the fan.
Shame the display and buttons do not have a wx tight cover. Hard to believe a 460MHz TX and RX chip replaces a large box of discrete components not so long ago.
Pretty cool!
So does this clarify the ongoing discussion about a (Repeater having to ID) on GMRS?. Especially if these companies Selling GMRS Legal Repeaters seems like this answers the Question 🤔 Great Video . Hope to hear an update on the Range...
A GMRS repeater does not need to identify. This has been established. Now I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice to do it every hour or so.
Exactly 💯 I agree 👍
There's no clarification from manufacturers needed and functionality included or not has no bearing on the regulations. Just go read the rules, it's not even a big bit of reading.
So you could put a tranceiver on Imsai Dog's collar and when he runs off down the road and into the neighbour's flower bed, you can send him a message "Home Boy. Home."
Home boy is a peculiar name for a dog but if it's a Rottweiler he'll understand.
Hi,
How far can i transmit and the clarity?
I just looked it up and I guess the next few days you can get the whole bundle for sub 400 which is amazing for what you get. And I'm not a shill just throwing it out there someone doesn't know.
Have you found out what you can do with the Embedded Message input. I am getting one of these but there is no info on this. I wrote Retevis and they seem not to be aware of it.
czcams.com/video/sAtnZ3JQFiQ/video.htmlsi=_UYLX22ljTbnT0TX
Oh wow the upper Channles use to be only 25W they bumped it to 50w nice..
So this being used as a base station can xmit 50 watts on those channels?
Can you advise which repeater we can use if we want encrypted traffic. Will this one do it?
That is illegal
I'm confused. It seems to come in or golden years. A duplexer has one cavity set for a transmit frequency the other cavity for the receive frequency. How is it that we can operate under a broad range of frequencies? I know I'm missing something. Ted, N7NSL
it is not much of broad band. the receive frequencies are tight and the transmit are tight. anyways, multiple cavities allow for broader band: czcams.com/video/3Z3hbTUgB9A/video.html
Could this hook up to a amplifier that runs on 4-6 watt ht ?...if si id get 30 to 45 watts.
If you change the duplexer
Looking into one…is it narrow band by default ?
I think gmrs is wide band
programmable for either one
I've been reading the FCC rules on GMRS... I can't find anywhere in the written rules that limits HT's to under 5 watts. If anyone here can cite that in the actual rules I would love to be corrected on this. And it could be that the FCC won't approve an HT with higher than 5 watts power but I don't see a rule prohibiting it.
§ 95.1767 GMRS transmitting power limits.
This section contains transmitting power limits for GMRS stations. The maximum transmitting power depends on which channels are being used and the type of station.
(a) 462/467 MHz main channels. The limits in this paragraph apply to stations transmitting on any of the 462 MHz main channels or any of the 467 MHz main channels. Each GMRS transmitter type must be capable of operating within the allowable power range. GMRS licensees are responsible for ensuring that their GMRS stations operate in compliance with these limits.
(1) The transmitter output power of mobile, repeater and base stations must not exceed 50 Watts.
(2) The transmitter output power of fixed stations must not exceed 15 Watts.
(b) 462 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of mobile, hand-held portable and base stations transmitting on the 462 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 5 Watts.
(c) 467 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of hand-held portable units transmitting on the 467 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 0.5 Watt. Each GMRS transmitter type capable of transmitting on these channels must be designed such that the ERP does not exceed 0.5 Watt.
5W for Ch 1 - 7
50W for Ch 15 - 22
Where is the video of the 9pin that you want going to make???
czcams.com/video/sAtnZ3JQFiQ/video.htmlsi=uZmu9NhKzpvj-FiJ
Mine hardly lasted the winter, and they only offer warranty for the first seller; even if you purchased it from an authorized reseller; they only offer the warranty to the reseller and not to the person who purchased it; Chinese logic.
👍
Dude you have a HP8921A. Dude.
czcams.com/video/j4mLM1l5M7A/video.htmlsi=khdGewBvK6Tz6CLx
good lord man ! I heard U the first time!! companies can charge moola 4 repeating service, service !! this sounds more
like a booster repeater! for civilian use! looks real nice though! enjoy, enjoy! if our sad inept government would
change the law. & turn this into a right away utility service, service technicians could earn a little extra cookie dough! good luck mad hacker!
Licensing, which is required, does not seem to be mentioned.
So what.. GMRS is the new CB 1% of people get the Licensing. Day after Xmas just turn on your scanner and scan all 22 CH it will be lit up.
Do you mean FCC license or a use license from Retevis?
Why don't you ask one of your wife's boyfriends about it?
Also, watch the video at 9:48
@@RobertLeeAtYT I wasn’t complaining .. people look to these videos for guidance and may not know a license is required. Never assume that everyone knows what you and I may know.