What Band For Repeater?

[ahh]

--Hello, everybody. We are wanting to put up a repeater, but were wanting some opinions on what band would be better. The bands we are thinking about using are either 2 meters or 10 meters. 2 meters would be probably be better because all amateurs could use it. I was also giving 10 meters some thought because most people around here have some sort of HF rig with 10 meters w/CTCSS in it.

--The repeater would serve the area of Southeast OK, Southwest AR, and Northeast TX, so terrain is fairly flat with a few small hills, and a lot of pine trees, and smallish "mountains" up north.

--It seems that 10 meters seems to bend around terrain a bit better than 2 meters, but that's just what "I" have observed in my experience...YMMV.

--So, what's everyone's opinion regarding 10 meters vs. 2 meters? One of my concerns with using 10 meters is that the antennas I see usually have no gain, whereas most 2 meter antennas I see are from 0 to 9dBd of gain, depending on brand, model, etc. Decibel and Sinclair are some good repeater antennas. Thanks for any help/info.

 

[RatsoW8]

I guess it depends on what you want. I would check to see how many 2m repeaters are active in your area first. I suppose there is always room for another 10m machine. Regardless what you decide the repeater pair you use must be coordinated with the area coordinator. You don't want to interfere with an existing repeater. Then you have to keep it up and operating and be responsible for it's usage.

I was a repeater custodian for a while and I can tell you that it isn't easy. It can take a lot of time and effort to keep things running smoothly.

 

[ahh]

--Thanks for the reply. I was originally thinking of putting up a 220 machine, partly because it's a "use it or lose it" band. The more 220 repeaters that are on the air, the better. Unfortunately, there are just not many people with 220 Mhz equipment, and I certainly would not expect everyone around to purchase 220 radios just so they will use our repeater.

--There is already a 6 meter and a 2 meter in the area (20 miles north of me), but this repeater will be about 15 or so miles south of me, so it would be around 35 miles away from the above repeaters. 70cM was a thought, but in my experience, when driving in the woods, and hilly/mountainous areas, it "cuts out" more than the lower frequency stuff.

 

[Moleculo]

Since techs can't use FM on 10 meters, I would vote for the 2 meter machine if you want it to be used. If you can do two repeaters, do the 220 also

Regardless what you decide the repeater pair you use must be coordinated with the area coordinator.

Well, the rules are that an uncoordinated repeater cannot cause interference to a coordinated one. There's no rule that says a repeater MUST be coordinated.

 

[IMD262]

If you go the 10M repeater route, I'd consider a separate TX and RX site, duplexers for 10M would be big and I'm sure they would be expensive.

 

[Mudfoot]

If you go the 10M repeater route, I'd consider a separate TX and RX site, duplexers for 10M would be big and I'm sure they would be expensive.

Yep, very expensive.

 

[W5LZ]

ahh,
I think you'll find that the area you're talking about is pretty well saturated with repeaters, I honestly don't know where you could put another one. It wouldn't be impossible, but finding an available repeater pair of frequencies would be a real job.
One of the coordinators for Oklahoma lives here, and I'm -slightly- familiar with what's required for putting in a new repeater. Good luck, you'll need it!
That 35 miles is a sort of "drop in the bucket" for range here. It's not uncommon for repeaters 200 miles apart to be heard on the same frequency. If you could talk an owner in to relinquishing a freq.pair you'd be much better off (good luck with that too!).
- 'Doc