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These types of laws are passed due to the lack of common sense among the general public. I have seen too many people staring at their phones, tablets, or laptops while driving down the road. The worst was a guy on his tablet and reading a newspaper while driving in St Louis morning rush hour traffic. And it is ID10T's like those people that came laws like this o be passed. The federal government threatening to take away funding goes back a long time. They did the same thing to get states to reduce the speed limit to 55 MPH.

These laws are getting ridiculous. I get the "no texting" laws but requiring no touching of a cell phone are silly. Not everyone can afford a brand new vehicle with blue tooth sound connection and built-in GPS. GMRS, before they called it GMRS was Class A Citizens Band. One of the Federal Highway agencies is currently blackmailing states into passing these laws, or lose Federal Funding. This is likely un-Constitutional, but has been happening for decades to force states to knuckle under to their will. Years ago, I was listening to Coast To Coast AM one night. I forget who the guest was, but he was talking about this trick they have used to force states to pass seatbelt laws, DUI enhancements, and other unpopular laws in the name of "safety". The guy noted that in his home state (not sure, but possibly Missouri), they were threatened with loss of funds if they did not pass a seat belt law. In an unusual nod to personal choice and freedom, legislators in his state did the math. They figured that if they failed to pass a seat belt law, it would amount to a $5 penalty for every man, woman, and child, who were then residents of that state. They decided that personal choice and freedom were worth more than five dollars and told the Feds to go kick rocks. As it should be! Stuff like this reminds me of a saying my maternal grandfather used to quote a lot. Truer words were never spoken. "More laws, less justice." Marcus Tullius Cicero

I realize this is an eight month old post, but there’s actually a thread just for this question:

Even the best professionals can make mistakes. One that comes to mind was a journeyman electrician who was installing a back of batteries as part of a large UPS system. He somehow became part of the circuit. Lived but never worked again. Sad part about this was though it was through his own failure he sued and won. Bleeding hearts will side with the electrician. But it ended up making the company owner decided to retire. It ended up costing about 30 people their jobs. And destroyed a great company that was pretty well respected.

Did you get to the page where it sends you a six digit number or did you not even get that far?

Sorry, I have no idea and I don’t know if any mygmrs members are near there.

So you are admitting to being an old curmudgeon? Just kidding with you.

That is extremely possible for me at my age.

Here is an excerpt from the Missouri law. While they do not specifically mention GMRS, they do state that amateur radio and CB is exempt. One could argue that if CB and amateur radios are exempt then so is GMRS. Now I sure would not trie to program a radio while driving. Here is the link for the actual state statute: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=304.822

Looks like an alternative to the Midland MXT575 but the same limitations with a better screen.

Pennsylvania also has an exception, unfortunately the way it is written, it applies to licensed Amateur Radio operators, which is by definition, according to the FCC, not GMRS, but HAM. People tried to get them to correct this, but they didn't.

Missouri just enacted a hands free law at the beginning of the year. And they specifically state that amateur radio operators are exempt from the new law. Though no one should be driving distracted. Radios with everything built into the hand mic do have their place and use. A lot of newer vehicles just don't have the room to mount a complete radio or even a good spot for a remote head unit. And there is the factor of wanting to stay discrete with one's radios. These types of radios are not for everyone, but that is okay, variety is the spice of life.

I use a Tera GMRS/MURS radio to monitor the local police radio, so some will appreciate the ability. The main benefit I see is the ability to remote mount the unit in small vehicles like mine. The other is the bluetooth ability since in some states, mone included, the hands free laws apply to GMRS. The way my state wrote the newest regulations exempts licensed amateur radio users, but that related to HAM and not GMRS. It was badly written unfortunately, so GMRS requires hands free.

The same goes for capacitors too. Some of the machines I use to work on had banks of 24 to 36 capacitors that were bigger than a soda can. I forgot the actual farad rating for those but it was in the KF range.

You aren't everyone. In some states you can no longer use a radio without a hands free setup, so this radio addresses that issue. The ability to use a phone app to program the radio via bluetooth is also a nice feature. You no longer have to hook the radio up to a computer to program advanced features. Not a bad thing. I have numerous computers, but hate Windows, so I generally run Linux, one programming application I need doesn't run under Linux...yet, I am still trying. As a result, I run Windows on a Mac under a virtual machine for that application. This radio will fill the need for many people, probably not you, but once again, contrary to unpopular belief, you aren't the only one buying radios.

We are using air dielectric hardline.

Nitrogen Is Used On An Air Dielectric Coaxial Cable To Keep The Cable Slightly Pressurized & Reduce The Chance Of Moisture Infiltration. It Is Never Required For Any Purpose Or Use On Foam Type Dielectric Hardline.

I was just going to mention finding out that just because an old B&W TV was unplugged doesn't mean it can't bite. There are just places you shouldn't put a screwdriver.

The guys that installed our 7/8" and 1 1/4" Heliax purged and filled the coax with nitrogen. That has been years ago so no idea if the nitrogen is still in the coax or not.

You mean pull a vacuum....

Same here. I find I grab my RigExpert Stick Pro most of the time. A good antenna analyzer is definitely more expensive. I do find that the Stick Pro does most of what I need and I hardly use my NanoVNA anymore. There is a bit of learning curve with the NanVNA's but there are plenty of YouTube videos about how to use them.

I was looking on the map today and don't see the above repeater. If I remember correctly it was just south of Eureka. I also had a second repeater listed that had the same name, but a freq. of 462.725. Did this get taken down, storm damage? I showed on listed on Pinkham Mt., the other on Black Butte. Thanks, Dave

Make sure you pressurize and ground it

I picked up one of those mini Spectrum Analyzers. Interesting device, seems to work o.k.

I actually asked that about the Heliax cables because the center conductor was hollow. Turns out it's a weight and flexibility thing.