Chat about SDR or radios in general.I admit I am a cheapskate.
One of my current endeavors is to setup a low power UHF repeater on the cheap. What functionality is missing from current SDR options that make this impossible?
Cheers,
BS
SDR Repeater
Re: SDR Repeater
How about a controller that limits TX time (TOT aka Time Out Timer), RXed PL Tone status line, PTT line, CW (or voice ID), ID timer and remote control for starters.
You will need duplexers… they need to be purchased and tuned to your frequency pair. You need to obtain a frequency pair from your local spectrum management folks.
A quality antenna with quality heliax due to high losses in long lengths.
Tower to get the antenna high off the ground (UHF is VERY line of sight).
Lastly a high location to build said tower.
There is no such thing as a cheap and legal repeater system.
You will need duplexers… they need to be purchased and tuned to your frequency pair. You need to obtain a frequency pair from your local spectrum management folks.
A quality antenna with quality heliax due to high losses in long lengths.
Tower to get the antenna high off the ground (UHF is VERY line of sight).
Lastly a high location to build said tower.
There is no such thing as a cheap and legal repeater system.
73 Kriss KA1GJU Home of the KA1GJU Super Station SDRC Servers in NH, USA (FN42mw, FN43na, and FN42lt)
Re: SDR Repeater
The show stopper is filters to assure the transmitted output does not appear in places it should not. Although a comprehensive set of diplexer filters should fix that. Both the Pluto and LimeSDR transmitters are basically unfiltered. With one of them you might manage to have the SDR analog RX/TX hardware small enough to place at the base of your antenna. Antenna height is your range limiter. Spectrum congestion is your enemy for putting up a repeater in most interesting places like Los Angeles. Site rental prices can be quite high. But, then, you can have somebody in a random location in Los Angeles talking to another person on Rosarito Beach South of TJ through a repeater up on Mt. Wilson.
I second KA1GJU, "There is no such thing as a cheap and legal repeater system." One exception to this might be building something ultra low power just to prove you can do it and then pulling it apart immediately to avoid the repercussions that will come anyway from your playing. People will complain if they can hear it. And this could compromise your relationship with your local spectrum management folks. If you keep output at maybe as much as 0.1 mW you might get away without the diplexers as a proof of concept.
You will still need software to mimic many of the station ID, timeout, and signal monitoring functions. That would likely mean an additional front end apparatus or telephone line for the required repeater remote control link.
{^_^}
I second KA1GJU, "There is no such thing as a cheap and legal repeater system." One exception to this might be building something ultra low power just to prove you can do it and then pulling it apart immediately to avoid the repercussions that will come anyway from your playing. People will complain if they can hear it. And this could compromise your relationship with your local spectrum management folks. If you keep output at maybe as much as 0.1 mW you might get away without the diplexers as a proof of concept.
You will still need software to mimic many of the station ID, timeout, and signal monitoring functions. That would likely mean an additional front end apparatus or telephone line for the required repeater remote control link.
{^_^}