msf5000/narrowbanding opinion

[ccip4911]

I need some advice. Im in the process of getting a commercial uhf 450-470 repeater pair. We currently have an msf5000 repeater, which i know is not narrow band capable. I cannot afford to purchase a Quantar or an mtr2000 (especially @ ebay prices). Is it worth it, to purchase 2 cdm's, either a 1250s or a 750s (one for recieve, one to excite the msf5000 amp), a decent controller and construct my own repeater that is narrow band compliant? Ive read up alot on using the msf5000 amp as a standalone unit, i just have no clue if it would hold up to being used fairly heavy a few nights a week.

Would there be a big difference in using a cdm on the recive end, versus using an actual repeater for the recive?

Any ideas/opinions would be helpful.

Brian.

[com501]

If you are putting it on a mountain at a commercial site, you can forget about the mobiles option.

A) Mobiles don't work very well in the high RF environments of a commercial site.
B) MOST site managers require commercial grade equipment as well as RF protection methods, like circulators and filtering.
C) Although the individual components are type accepted, its probably not going to be a happy camper unless you do some serious design work.

[ccip4911]

Well, the tower is actually in my backyard, so I would be the only repeater here.

[wm4t]

C F - M S F - 5 0 0 0 Narrow-Band Kit for Motorola MSF-5000

I have several msf5000s and thought about this when narrowband issue came out. Yes it's possible. The ones I have I use for Ham radio use so this is not an issue, I do have two gr1225s that work great on commercial bands and do narrowband, just program them.

[firetech792]

Don't know what your duty cycle will be but if its high, the PA will crap out on the transmitter radio eventually. I ran 2 CDMs on a temporary DPW repeater with 100 mobiles and it lasted a few months. Its since been changed to an MTR.