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write your own review of the Motorola GR-300 Desktop Repeater.
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N1RIK
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 28, 2009 07:36
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Great Simple Repeater
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I've had a GR300 repeater now for about 6 months, mostly in test phase. I just finally got the repeater up a week ago. Works great!! Mine is made up of (2) GM300 16ch mobiles, Celwave 6 cavity notch duplexer, Duracom power supply, and Zetron 37 Controller.
Now, I will contradict what N2FDU said about adding a preamp will create intermod. The GM300's sensitivity is about 0.35uV. I added a Hamtronics LNK-450 18 db preamp which supposedly has a 0.8 db noise figure. With the preamp, the repeater is VERY sensitive with NO desense, and I'm not using any bandpass filter either. The preamp really made a noticeable improvement!
My repeater is putting out 30-watts into the duplexer, and 24 is coming back out. I'm pleasently pleased with it's performance and would highly recommend using the GM300s or M120s for your future repeater.
The GR300 only cost me $320 on ebay, and tuned to my frequency. And the preamp, only $100.
If your in the Sandhills region or Fayetteville area of North Carolina, feel free to say hi.
444.200 +/offset -- PL 179.9 hz
Johnsonville, NC
73 ~ Bill, N1RIK
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N2CSA
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 6, 2007 05:45
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Versatility Plus
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Our RACES/ARES group uses three Motorola GR-300s. Two are UHF and one is VHF. The VHF and one UHF are configured for field deployment. The 40 watts output is more than adequate for this purpose over the flat terrain of our area. Admittedly the VHF requires an external duplexer which is cumbersome but the UHF is very compact with its internal duplexer.
Our second UHF GR-300 is used as the receiver and exciter for a fixed site repeater at the EOC. The 40 watt transmitter output is reduced to 25 watts to increase duty cycle. It drives a TE Systems continuous duty power amp. to 120 watts.
One could consider the GR-300 modular as it is composed of two transceivers. This increases versatility as Motorola's GR-300, M-120, certain versions of Maxtrac and other transceivers may be used which makes servicing a snap. Two of our GR300s use the Motorola RICK controller which necessitates a third party ID board. We use the Communications Specialists ID-8 which fits nicely inside the GR-300 case. The other GR300 has a Zetron ZR-340 advanced interconnect controller which includes built in ID and telephone interconnect.
I agree with the reviewer who warns about using a receiver pre-amp. Sensitivity is such that this is not needed and you run the risk of intermod.
All in all the GR-300 is a very versatile piece of equipment. The current going price on ebay for one complete with case, transcievers, controller, mobile duplexer and power supply is around $600.00
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N2FDU
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 26, 2005 12:25
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Works Like A Lucky Charm!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Our club uses GM300 radios in connection with CAT-1000 controllers at both of our operational repeater sites.
The best thing about our setup is that when we have a transmitter or receiver failure (not often), we just replace the malfunctioning unit with a spare - we're up and running in minutes. The bad radio gets sent out for repair at a national depot. Somewhat expensive, but downtime is kept very low.
GM300 receivers are hot and virtually intermod free. Don't use a preamp or you will get intermod. Transmitters are excellent too; we operate on reduced power (just enough to drive an amp) and have experienced only one transmitter failure in 12 years.
Our main repeater is on 448.875 MHz, CTCSS 151.4 in Verona, NJ.
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W5GSR
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 9, 2004 11:46
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A good repeater
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have a motorola GR300 repeater up and running on GMRS at the house it been on the air 24-7 for two years with no problems.However it is not used as much as a ham repeater would be,But it works great for me.
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