A common overlooked part of putting together a repeater system is the selection
of proper feedline. "But, coax is coax, isn't it?" "I use LMR-400 for all my stations at home. That should be good enough for a repeater, right?" Well, not necessarily.
Members of the Dominica Amateur Radio Club Incorporated (DARCI) held a second field-day-style emergency preparedness, awareness, and recruiting exercise on April 21...
Amateur radio operators are much more than hobbyists; they provide extremely important communications, especially during and after emergencies.
We received a call today from Franz, J69DS, in Dominica today. He was happy to report the BCR Repeater at J62DX is working great and is a major hub for communications during and after hurricane Maria. Here is an excerpt from...
Reviewed by Rick Palm, K1CE
QST Contributing Editor
k1ce@arrl.org
Using BridgeCom Systems’ new 222 MHz (1.25 meter band) mobile radio was a walk down memory lane for me. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, I was part of a small, quirky but devoted group who ragchewed on two 220 MHz repeaters in northern Connecticut and western Massachusetts. One machine was on Talcott Mountain overlooking Hartford, and was run by the son of a major city developer. The other was owned/ controlled by my longtime friend, Paul Koplow, WA1VEI, on Mt Lincoln in the Berkshires. Our radios back then were quirky, too: mine was a Midland (crystalcontrolled, no PLL) that looked like a battered, old CB radio from a trucker’s cab — the kind you might find today in a pawn shop. Later I had a Yaesu Memorizer for the band, which was a great radio. We rolled our eyes and suffered one user who used the autopatch to talk with his wife on his commute home every evening with over-the-top kissing and cooing sounds. Off-air and even on-the-air counseling sailed over his head.
Nowadays, the 222 – 225 MHz band is still a great spot for repeaters and their disciples. I had a lot of fun getting back on this band thanks to the BridgeCom BCM-220. Continuing with the nostalgic theme here, the company, which is based in Smithville, Missouri, evokes the feel and quality of those old radios in their new products, especially this one. The BCM-220 is built like a tank, with commercial-grade construction, and a high-quality, heavy-duty mic that eschews the numerous functions/ buttons that populate some mics. The BCM-220’s mic has a simple DTMF keypad and only three function buttons below it: the first to switch between memory and VFO modes, and the second and third buttons for frequency or channel up and down. That’s it — and I love it! It’s heavy and feels good in my mic hand. Indeed, all of the radio’s functionality seems to be focused on the essentials, and that’s a plus in my book.
Reviewed by Rick Palm, K1CE k1ce@arrl.net
The BCH-220 handheld 222 MHz (1.25 centimeters) FM transceiver is a product of BridgeCom Systems, a company many readers may not have heard of. Based in Smithville, Missouri, the company was established in 2004, and according to its website, develops and sells communications equipment for the land mobile radio, Amateur Radio, commercial radio, and remote monitoring markets. Its first product was a VHF/UHF FM repeater.
