DRC-200

[k6sjh]

Has anyone had experience moving a DRC-200 (450-470) to the 440 Ham Band? It looks like the VCO won't lock at 441 MHz.

[Two way repair man]

I do not know if you ever got a reply or if you are still interested, but it is quite extensive. Capacitors on RX and TX VCOs, and RX and TX tuning circuits have to be changed. The VCO volts drop quickly below 450MHz on a stock unit.

I used to work at RELM (25 years of my life), and was able to convert one unit.

Please check out my web site if you are interested.

Bill
http://www.billscommsol.com
email: bill@billscommsol.com

[k6sjh]

Hi Bill,
You are the first to respond. THANKS !! I guess the repeater will be a good candidate for GMRS service.

[Two way repair man]

Provided it has never been retuned, the repeaters (RELM DRU4501, BK Radio ERU4010, and the early GE/Ericsson DRC200) were tuned at 462.675MHz transmit and 467.675 Receive. Later Ericsson units were tuned at 454 and 459MHz. Since they were not "track-tuned" some realignement may have to be performed if you program yours more than +/- 1MHz from its tuned frequency range. When tuning the transmitter be sure to tune the excitor for max power while disconnected from the PA. Otherwise it may become very spurious, causing noisy transmit, drop outs, and eventually damage to the excitor final, and potentially the PA RF module. All DRC200s were sold with an internal duplexer so it may have to be tuned.

Regards,

Bill