The
ARK
Portable Repeater was designed to be dependable and rapidly
deployed. Initially
used in the seismic industry and deployed by helicopter for crew
communications, it has proven reliable on mountaintops and
buildings. It is
available in both VHF and UHF configurations.
The
ARK
houses all the circuitry required for a high performance
communications system.
The internal gelled electrolyte battery has enough capacity
to power the system for 24 hours at a 10% duty cycle. Circuitry is included to
charge the battery from an external 12-volt power source, or from
solar panels.
The
internal battery charge circuitry produces usable charge current
from as little as 8 volts input allowing solar panels to begin to
charge the battery as soon as they are exposed to light.
The
repeater controller circuit ties the receiver and transmitter
together. It allows for
adjustment of the audio level, squelch point, CTCSS tone selection,
and optional voice identifier.
The
duplexer connects the transmitter and receiver, isolating each other
from a common antenna.
Because of the small battery capacity, low power radios are
used. This allows
physically small duplexers to be used on VHF. The greater the altitude at
which the ARK
repeaters
are commonly placed allows for wide
area coverage. Reliable
coverage in excess of 40 miles is common.
