Hi Bob,
Yes the ExcII will make a great ham radio repeater. I have not finished
working up a written procedure for that unit as I am busy modifying the
Master II's.
If you can find a book for the radio, you can figure it out.
If not, I do GE modifications on Master II and Exec II's.
If you have more than one radio I will do a 2 for 1 deal if you want.
I have added some details regarding this.
de Ric KK5RIC
At 03:23 26-02-99 -0000, you wrote:
From: bshanks@...
I have found several mods for GE radios to convert them to repeaters.
Most, if not all, descibe GE Mastr II. I have a GE Mastr Executive II.
What is the difference? And, it is a UHF currently at 451.575. Will it
operate within the Ham bands, or is the conversion too complex? Any help
would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob
AB5UD
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Prices:
GE Master II radios can be purchased from many sources, at this time I have
a some VHF units with the UHS (pre-amp) receiver, I have some already
pre-tuned on 146.62 Tx and 146.02 Rx and already modified for repeater
operation with the internal controller. New crystals can be cut in
3 weeks or special ordered in 15 days at an extra cost.
GE Master II VHF, or 6 Meter, unit above on any standard amateur repeater
pair tuned and ready to install controller:
$360.00
Controller with Voice $200.00
Controller for linking $250.00
For the same repeater set up, but with the radio's being furnished by you,
GE Master II on any ham repeater band:
Your GE Master II radio modified, crystaled and re-tuned on any amateur
standard ARRL repeater pair tuned and ready to install built in controller:
$150.00
Controller with Voice $200.00
Controller for linking $250.00
Your GE Master II or Exec II, radio modified, crystaled and re-tuned on any
amateur standard ARRL repeater pair tuned and a DB-9 interface cable
installed for external controller:
$180.00
Many controllers available $150 to $2000.00
Many features available.
The GE units are crystal controlled. This are repeater grade units with
very clean transmitters and the receivers have helical front ends. They
are 8 channel capable, so you could install more than one frequency pair,
at about $60 each channel. Because of the quality these units are only
good for about 1 to 1.5 MHz without re-tuning.
The controller we normally use is designed for repeater with voice Id and
messages or with CW ID and linking.
To add phone patch and or linking requires a more expensive unit and the
external DB-9 interface.
These range from $150 to $2,000.
Or use yours, I can set up radio with DB-9 connector and cable to connect
to your controller. No additional charge to set up your controller with the
repeater, but you will need to send the controller to me for that. If you
do not send your controller, you will need to provide me the Make Model and
details of RX input and TX output levels. I have this information on ACC,
CAT-1000, NHRC-2/M2, Link Com units and a few others.
Complete documentation provided of repeater modifications, and any
interface to controller. Any controllers sold will have factory
documentation provided as well. Controllers sold by us will be
pre-programmed for your system, if desired.
Repeater Band Information:
10 Meter repeaters normally will be set up as a slit site, about 1 mile
apart. This will require a 10 Meter radio and a UHF radio for a link. The
10 Meter can be a GE Master II or a Exec II and the UHF can be either of
those or an MVP. Duplexers are ava ilable from commercial vendors for 10
meter 100 Khz spacing but are very expensive.
6 Meter repeaters normally will be set up as a slit site, about 1/2 0mile
apart or single site with duplexers. Split site will require a 6 Meter
radio and a UHF radio for a link. The 6 Meter can be a GE Master II or a
Exec II and the UHF can be either of those or an MVP. Duplexers are
available from commercial vendors for 6 meter .5 or 1 MHz spacing but are
very expensive. A group in Dallas builds some great 6 meter duplexers for
a super price.
2 Meter repeaters normally will be single site and will use split antennas
or duplexers. Duplexers are readily available for 600 Khz VHF repeaters
both used and new.
If you can consider UHF, you have many more options for portable emergency
systems. But UHF GE radios are hard to find. If you have some UHF GE
Master II or Master Exec II radios I will do a 2 for 1 exchange. You send
me two working radios, and I send you a working repeater for your
controller, or you can purchase a controller from us.
UHF duplexers are very small compared to 2 meter 600 kHz duplexers. UHF
used duplexers are available used and also new. Mobile duplexers are rated
at 50 watts and many are found used at hamfests. With these mobile
duplexers on UHF you can cover close to 1 MHz of repeater band without
re-tuning the duplexers. At 25 Khz per channel that is 40 channels per MHz.
The transmitter power adjustment is available in these GE units, but you
must open the case and then remove the covers for the PA deck. Most of the
GE units in the Master II and Exec II series are in the 50 to 110 watt
versions. Unless the repeater is located in a building with air
conditioning or extra fans added for cooling, I run the 100 watt units at
50 to 60 watts and the 65 watt units at 45 watts unless extra fans are added.
In general I do not have any controls on these units. The controls are
inside the unit or the unit control head I furnish and not accessible to
the operator, except for through a small hole in the control head. An
external speaker jack is accessible.
I can build the units with the original GE control head, but you have to be
careful because the operator can change the repeater levels and squelch
settings. If you use the internal controller or some of the newer
controllers that use discriminator audio, these can be utilized with a
local control and not have any effect on the audio level. The squelch
control will effect the repeaters operation. The units may be set up for
CTCSS (PL, CG) tone operation. This will require a tone board from CES.
I can send you some pictures, by E-mail attachment in JPEG format, of some
of our recent repeaters built. Or a color brochure we have by mail.
I also have some of my 50 watt UHF mobile repeater including duplexers with
the built in controller, if you want.
I built this for RACES/ARES use and originally had a controller with phone
patch, linking, and four function relays for external control.
I ran this unit for five years and never used any of those extra bells and
whistles, so I replaced the controller with the current KISS one, but this
one has voice messages that you can record by remote control, great for
Emergency/Disaster needs. And it will also allow you to run it as a
simplex repeater if needed as well.
I also built a similar unit for 2 Meters for the Big Bend ARC in Alpine TX
for mobile/portable use. We purchased Wacom 600 kHz duplexers for this
unit and it was installed in a large Van type truck. It was used in
Saragosa Tornado about 10 years ago. It is now installed in a large Pick
Up truck metal box, weatherproof and has solar panels, batteries and
portable 2m gain antenna installed and can be loaded into a 4 wheel drive
and set up on a mountain top. This unit only has a KISS controller.
I hope that this answers your questions.
de Ric kk5ric
6 Cedar Crest Road
HC 67 Box 157
Nogal NM 88341-9709
Do not ship anything to me without first makeing sure I will be here to
receive shipment.
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