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Reviews For: Motorola GR-1225 Desktop Repeater

Category: Ham Repeaters

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Review Summary For : Motorola GR-1225 Desktop Repeater
Reviews: 7MSRP: 1649
Description:
VHF/UHF FM Desktop repeater
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.2wayradios.com/gr1225.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0074.1
N8MRC Rating: 2018-04-10
Great little repeater Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Our club has had one in service for over 10 years, only time it's been in the shop is for a call sign change. We are running it at 25w in to a 4-bay exposed dipole at 120'
W4MAA Rating: 2012-04-22
Awesome Performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
We have had one on the air for over 2 years now and the PA failed only once do to an swr problem with a broken antenna. We have had great luck with it and have it controlled with an ARCOM RC-210 controller. The UHF model provided long haul mobile communications here in Atlanta and also connects to our 900mhz MSF-5000 repeater. Lots of ways to control the GR-1225. Good workhorse. Our old controller locked up and the GR-1225 was keyed for over 16 hours and the PA did not fail!
WA6ABZ Rating: 2006-08-18
Problems Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
In installed one of the 10 watt uhf ones only after much grief. Ordered by the step by step instructions and it came with the wrong controller. That was replaced at increased cost to me (I-20 is not longer availabe). Found the duplexer was not passing any power. Sent it back and it was returned with a note saying "No longer a supported product". Finally obtained a working one. Overall it took almost 3 months to get a working unit.
Yes, it seems Motorola is no longer the great it once was.
AG4UW Rating: 2006-05-16
Great Little Repeater Time Owned: more than 12 months.

I have 4 of these little repeaters on the air right now and 2 of them have been on the air for about 3 years and I have not had to touch them. One thing you need to remember is they were not made for full blown repeaters, just portable ones
so people that are giving them a bad name need to check what they are buying. Set the repeater on about 10 watts and use them for an exciter and they will last a very long time.(your going to put a pa on them anyway)you can pick just the r1225 (not the power supply are the rack) for around $600.00 to $700.00 and the Kenwood TKR750 is around $1500.00 and it to is not 100% duty cycle (but is a good repeater just a lot more money)I am just sick of people putting the r1225 repeater down when they are trying to run it a full power. The vertex and Kenwood wont take 100% duty cycle for ham use very long. What ever repeater you pick cut the power back. But if your looking for a great little repeater for a great price the r1225 is the one. They make two models one is 45 watt at 50% cycle time and one is 10 watts at 100% cycle time. I have 3 of the VHF and one UHF high power ones cut back to 10 watts. They also have great sound and a lot simpler to program then the Kenwoods.
hope this helps 73
N3IVK Rating: 2006-04-08
good lil repeater Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I now have 3 of these online, and work very well. Dispite what other sour hams say, if you take apart just about any Kenwood or Vertex repeater you will find they are also made out of mobile radios and/or HT parts.

I had a Kenwood TKR series in, and the receiver got pounded by intermod. The 1225 was quiet. Nuff said.



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Earlier 5-star review posted by N3IVK on 2003-11-26

Good repeater.

Just some things to remember...
The GR1225 is NOT %100 duty cycle rated. For ham use, knock it back to 20 or 25 watts or you WILL be replacing caps and finals in the pa. This repeater is best suited for use as an exciter in a ham setup to drive an external PA.

We have one in service for our security dept, we use it for a total of 5 mins every hour. So far, been one trip back for new finals. Personally, I do like the units. I'd buy one for myself if I had the money. Sure beats any Kenwood or Vertex out there. The 16 pin ACC connector is awesome, interface just about anything you want to it.
WA2AR Rating: 2005-05-03
Motorola isn't what it used to be Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Some folks are just mesmerized by the Motorola name. I'm not one of them. The GR-1225 is basically an M1225 radio with a duplexer controller and power supply built in. And let me tell you the power supply sucks big time. They fail on a regular basis in a commercial environment. Get a Vertex or Kenwood. Much better made and 100% duty cycle speaks for itself. Motorola makes some great products but generally the Radius line is skimped on. If you want a good/great Motorola repeater get the branded model.IMHO anyone who puts a limited duty cycle repeater in a commercial environment is foolish.
W7YC Rating: 2003-11-07
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A commercial quality FM repeater in a compact desktop package at an affordable price. I have two UHF 45-Watt units in service - both perform great with outstanding RF and audio quality. The UHF units come with an internal power supply and duplexer, making installation a snap.

Other features include 12.5/25 kHz channel spacing, PL/DPL encode and decode, 45W UHF, CWID, courtesy tone, TOT, etc.

Purchased through TCS Wireless (see link above), which provided outstanding service.