Tim Wescott wrote:
$80 per hour isn't a bad price if the work is good. UHF requires more
expensive instruments than CB, they amortize that in the labor costs --
in other words that $80 per hour is for the guy _plus_ the equipment.

Thanks, Tim. I am familiar with such issues, although I've had no
reference points for this type of work. If that is the prevailing rate
for UHF work then I'll accept that.


Assuming the radios in the busses are in good shape (you could send them
out for servicing and alighnment/checking for much less than you could
have the guy come out and do it) you are left with antennas and cabling.
I wouldn't expect that it's _just_ the antennas - coax can be pretty
lossy at those frequencies, if it's been beaten up it'll show.

That's where I was headed with this. I have no desire to replace
qualified service companies or personel, rather, it seems worthwhile to
look into the feasibility of moving some of the more routine service
requirements in-house. If it's not practical for us to tackle the
antenna tuning/coax/connections ourselves, then we'll just have to deal
with that.


So get an SWR meter that'll work reliably at 470MHz, and try adjusting
some antennas. Try replacing coax as well, and if either fix seems to
work then keep it up.

Thanks. I was concerned about there being some differences in the
process that I was unaware of between CB and UHF. My limited
understanding of antennas leads me to think that the principals remain
the same and therefore the process should as well. Nevertheless, it
seemed appropriate to ask.

Mike