I have been trying to figure out a way to increase some usage on our local repeaters. I have a 2 meter and a 70cm repeater fairly close by. I have no problem hitting them from my shack on low power. But my antennas are 50-plus feet in the air. When I switch to a handheld transceiver, my ability to hit them is spotty.
I began looking at ways to put additional radios around the QTH to hear if someone calls out on one of the repeaters. I began looking at used radios, additional antennas and the like. I have an awesome setup in the shack and can hit repeaters for many counties in all directions. But how could I expand that capability around the house and property?
Then it hit me: Every dual-band transceiver in my shack will do cross-band repeat. I could set up each of the transceivers in the shack to cross-band to the two, three or even four area repeaters I talk on the most. I had never used cross-band repeat before, so this was going to take some research.
Through the magic of YouTube, I found reliable videos on putting my Yaesu FTM-400s into cross-band repeat mode. It’s as simple as programming the repeater into the A side, programming an opposite band simplex channel in the B side, and restarting the radio in cross-band repeat mode.
It should be noted that I had to turn off the automatic repeater shift for the simplex channel on both my HT and mobile radio. Additionally, Yaesu mobile radios have a hot mic when in cross-band repeat mode, so I had to unplug the microphone. I now have four mobile radios with four unique simplex frequencies programmed in the B side.
When I leave the shack, I dial up the repeater I intend to use on each mobile radio in the A side and the pre-programmed simplex frequency in the B side, unplug the microphones and restart them in cross-band repeat. All I have to do is dial up the simplex frequency that is associated with each repeater to talk on the appropriate repeater via my HT. For ease of memory, I tagged the four simplex frequencies with the name of the associated repeater and an /X.
This not only allows me to roam the house keeping an HT nearby, but I can take an HT out in the yard, down to the lake, and even to the corner grocery store. This is possible because of the profile of my home antennas. When I venture out of my yard, I do have to increase the transmit power on the HT, but everything still works.
This worked so well that I set my vehicle up as a fifth simplex channel in my HT. When I get out of the Jeep, I simply set the proper repeater and simplex channels in the mobile and restart it in cross-band repeat mode, unplugging the microphone. Now I can travel inside most buildings I am parked by or around the vicinity of my vehicle and maintain comms via HT.
This is just another example of why our hobby is so awesome. I have heard about and even discussed cross-band repeat many times. All it took was to try it one time and now it is an invaluable tool.
Until next time, 73 de AC8OW
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