Cross-band more or less dodgy than I-gating?

[NiCdeth]

PMR446 gateways have been around for a while. Would a 446/11m talkthrough be any worse? Assuming safeguards were in place, like:

- A timeout, maybe 2mins;
- CTCSS/DCS on UHF-side;
- Decent squelch threshold on 11m;
- Low power: 0.2W UHF, 2W 11m.

I'm not worried about the technical implimentation, just the concept.

[Mitch]

I have actually tried this, FM CB to 446, using a Wouxun quad bander. There is a bit of a delay through it though so practice needed for users to adjust and if one band is particularly busy it's a job to break in. I had it working a mile away using a 446 handy (in our town centre) and it rebroadcast onto CB from my house. I used CTCSS + low power and even Cubwolf was able to get into it from a couple of miles away on 446.

I only really wanted a remote speaker mic and it was only a test but it worked well enough I 'spose as experiments go. I wouldn't want to set up a permanent repeater myself but I could see it being some use if it's a mobile setup and you wanted to use CB while walking around some event or other and just use a Walkie T, much more convenient imho.

[NiCdeth]

I only really wanted a remote speaker mic...

That's the idea I was wondering about. I wouldn't be doing idents or anything, that would be annoying to the point of being noticed. The system I'm working on would let me use the CB around the house. It uses two separate radios, with a DIY control circuit in-between. It would only be on when I'm around, so I can turn it off if it messes up.