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The lower wattage for handhelds was usually 5 watts at VHF and 4 watts at UHF and 3 watts for 700/800mhz. It is a RF exposure limit. Many public safety officials use a remote speaker/mic where the handheld/portable is still worn on the side of the body while transmitting. Anything more is considered "harmful exposure". You should stay about 3 feet away from a transmitting mobile radio with a mounted antenna, as most mobiles transmit at 15-50 watts, plus the antenna gain, if any.

That's a deal-breaker for me. I ordered one (a Retevis IIRC) a while back that did have the ability to set codes, but it was limited to 5 channels, so I sent it back. I want to have a set of channels "wide open" and at least one other set with tones.

I am not sure why you are linking me there. I don’t see the DM-32 included in that project either.

I set all my radios up with the 5 MURS channels in case I need to use them.

There are a few different things that might be happening. You might have a bad mount, bad (either damaged or just lossy) coax, and bad antennas. The fact that you get the same SWR reading without the antenna might point to the mount and the cable. With no antenna the SWR should be much higher than 2.5:1, but a lossy cable guarantees a lower SWR reading than actually exists. Are there any frequencies where you see a low SWR or does the SWR never change? Does a multimeter indicate problems with either the mount or cable? There should never be continuity between the shield and the center conductor but both the shield and center conductor should be continuous from end to end. Providing model numbers and cable type could help us understand what you have.

Check out: https://openrtx.org/#/

What Midland Antenna are you using? Model? And where are you mounting the Antenna?

Just curious: why is the DM-32 preferable to the $50 DM-1701, which can be flashed to OpenGD77 firmware?

Welcome!

Hello…a newbie here…former Marine Band VHF Channel 16 Commercial Fishing Vessel owner…first responder, scanner tracker for wildfires in SF Bay Area…Early warning, evac orders during 2015 Valley Fire, Tubbs Fire, Kincaid Fire and so on through 2018…pre Watch Duty app…with early HAM reporting and, scanner monitoring, twitter fire group reporting on VLATs from McClellan….etc With wildfires increasing in danger, I work with wildfire mitigation advisors, I am GMRS licensed now…will be taking HAM licensing test soon, assessing equipment buys, will be joining the local GMRS wildfire and emergency network that is already established since the wildfires almost a decade ago. Doing radio as data towers tend to shut down with loss of power…I have solar battery back up. i appreciate the help and info I have already received from others here and from recommended radio stores

Mine was all numbers - 793-8--------

I assumed that kind of setup (microwave or otherwise) was on a dedicated portion of the spectrum, outside GMRS, but I guess that does not have to be the case. Have I ever mentioned that this is a great forum?

The MOU between the FCC and ARRL only support monitoring of amateur radio operators. https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Volunteer Monitor/2019 ARRL MOU - final 3-12.pdf

SCADA, telemetry, dedicated (but not private) communications. And yes, because the 467 main channels are allowed for Fixed Stations, duplex is easily accomplished. One example would be to use radios for a dedicated communication system between a house and a barn. Lift a handset and use it just like a telephone.

Alright antenna gurus, I need some help. I have a wouxun KG-1000G and im using a midland low profile NMO coax with the UHF connector on the other end that comes apart for easy routing. I have a couple different antennae I’m trying out and I noticed both had identical SWR readings. About 2.5 on 467.650 I got a little frustrated messing with it and took the antenna all the way off and keyed up with the NMO mount bare. It gave me THE SAME SWR reading. About 2.5. What the hell is going on here? I checked and made sure my mount is grounded (about 0.5 ohms) and everything else seems to be in order. Any advice??

Ever see fixed microwave stations? Same thing. One place communicating with another on a consistent basis would be my best guess. In lieu of telephone lines.

Well this may be another thread to start but I am curious about the FCC Volunteer Monitor (VM) Program being a formal partnership between the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). hhhmmm HAM enforcers only? I wonder.

Yep, even though not explicitly stated, that would be the only option.

The wording from the FCC doesn't specify radio type, just "any station at a fixed location." So HT or mobile (or base of course) can be set up that way, as in external antenna on pole, chimney/roof, or tree.

And I see it's fixed station to fixed station only -- no HTs, mobiles, base stations or repeaters. Huh. Use case(s)?

Simplex?

Also, Fixed Stations are allowed to transmit on the 467 MHz main channels which are otherwise reserved for transmitting to a repeater.

I'm good. These conversations are giving me some info/questions I didn't even know I might need (even though I have no idea what it's about). Continue on. BTW...I already got what I needed here!