the GO-BOX
GO-BOX #1
Ham & Biz Band Event Box
For easy transport and easy setup the “Go-Box” comes to play. For me it is a 6m to UHF setup. I have not had the need to use HF for any event, only 6m on up. The current Go-Box has 5 radios (1 dual band) for 6 simultaneous frequencies on 10m, 6m, VHF and UHF analog and DMR. The box is a shallow 6U with 2 shelves. The upper shelf has radios mounted on both top and bottom:
- 2 DMR/ANALOG UHF Hytera Mobiles (commercial & ham)
- 1 UHF Motorola CDM1250 Part 90 and Amateur Radio
- 1 swappable position:
- VHF Motorola CDM1250 Part 90 and Amateur Radio, and/or
- 40Mhz Motorola CDM750 Part 90 and Amateur Radio (6m)
- X-Band Part 90 and Amateur Radio Capability
- 1 Yaesu FT-8900 6m,10m,2m,70cm (Amateur Radio)
- 35amp Power Supply
- Ham X-Band VHF/UHF capability
- Additionally:
- 2 Drive-over antenna mast plates
- 2 antenna masts (12′ and 24′)
- Outrigger for 2 NMO mount antennas on one mast.
- misc multiband base and mobile antennas
GO-BOX #2
The Mobile Travel Kit – My Car
My car currently has
- CSI800D FM/DMR dual band radio in it. It works OK, but does not have DMR Roaming.
- MotoTrbo XPR4550 with remote mounted radio for UHF DMR Roaming. The remote head is placed behind the cellphone, but in front of the factory GPS Map.
- APRS Mobile I-Gate with WX3in1 Smart Tracker from Microsat with a tailored beta firmware.
- Older Alinco VHF Mobile Radio for APRS receive (primary). Transmit can also be enabled to become a 20w+ digipeater.
- Peplink Pepmax LTE Modem and professional level router with 3 Ethernet ports and WiFi.
- OpenSpot for Brandmeister DMR.
The entire route between our houses has DMR coverage, but over two separate systems; CT ARES and NYC Metro. The car also has a DMR OpenSpot HotSpot via cell-internet, but that’s kind of cheating. Thus, RF Ham Radio is the goal – internet as backup!
The goal is a Roaming DMR setup so that as the car moves, the best DMR repeater is always automatically selected much like cell towers as.
GO-BOX #3
GO-BOX 3 is designed based on a shallow 4U SKB Gig-Box I had laying around. At this time (it may change) it has 4 radio slots:
| CB for when traffic is backed up | Moto XPR4550 UHF for DMR Roam |
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| Icom IC-2820 D-Star Dual Band Ham | Moto XPR4550 VHF for DMR Roam |
| Experience from using the Go-Box – the installation has been flip-flopped so that the Mototrbo radios are on the left to be easier to work while the Go-Box is on the passenger seat in the car to my right. | |
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GO-BOX #4 Repeater DMR / Analog
A 4U molded rack box has a HYTERA RD982U with DMR IP Connect and ANALOG FM capabilities.
The primary Preselector and Duplexer is tuned for Ham Radio.
The box is equipped with internal power source.
GO-BOX #5 Repeater DMR / Analog
A 4U molded rack box has a HYTERA RD982U with DMR IP Connect and ANALOG FM capabilities.
The primary Preselector and Duplexer is tuned for Ham Radio. The secondary is for licensed biz-frequency.
The box will rely on an external power source.
GO-BOX #6 Analog Repeater with AllStarLink
A 4U molded rack box has a Motorola Analog 40w repeater with 3 sets of duplexer:
- Licensed Biz Frequency
- 2 Ham Repeater Frequency Options
This repeater will become linkable through AllStarLink. The AllStarLink node (cloud based) makes this analog repeater linkable to the DMR repeaters.
The box has a power supply and external battery connection.
GO-REPEATER (ROW)
On the list of future builds is a small low-cost ROW (Repeater on Wheels) for events. The objective is the smallest trailer with a shelter and antenna mounts for 
repeaters, Nodes and APRS to be powered from a marine-battery and dropped in a convenient location for an event. A collapsable 20′ antenna mast will be available.
Goals for the ROW:
- House a repeater as needed.
- AllStarLink Node
- APRS Digi and I-Gate
- What else?