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That's my understanding. There's a lot of weather between a sunny day and a full-on direct lightning strike, so we want to protect against as much of it as we can.

Ah, okay. The wire isn't really carrying a current in the usual sense. Good. 8 gauge wire is a lot cheaper than 4 gauge.

Is there any advantage of a ground plane antenna over a non ground plane antenna. Does either one perform better in an urban or rural area?

Do we allow commercial ads for services? Considering the Facebook page mistakes and image it's either an offshore scam or AI generated (pretty much a scam either way you look at it. Anyone needing program help only needs to ask for it here. We have a pretty deep experience pool to draw from.

On the bed rail of my truck, I got good SWRs with the Comet except on the 2m band. I use the 2m band a lot, so that was a no-go. However, on the roof of my car, I get SWRs < 1.5:1 on 2m, 70cm, GMRS, MURS, and -- to my surprise -- even 1.25m. I haven't had an opportunity to find out whether it actually performs on 1.25 meters, but at least it won't blow up my radio. So, yes, it's a ground plane antenna, but it was better than I expected without one. As I said earlier, I thought the SG7900 was an NGP antenna when I bought it, and since it performs just fine where it is, I'm going to leave it. Excellent SWRs and farz on GMRS, 70cm, and 2m. I guess it is a no ground plane antenna -- at least on the bed rail of my truck. I'm currently running a Comet SBB-224 on the car, and boy is it a good performer! It didn't like the bed rail either, but it really likes the roof of the car. It's officially a tri-band (2m, 1.25m, 70cm) but it really reaches out on GMRS as well. It has a 1.2:1 SWR on MURS, but I've never actually tried it, and likely never will. Still, it's there if I need it. The 2x4 actually has a little better farz on 70cm and GMRS, but not by a lot. That's why I'd like to know how it performs on 1.25m. Likely the 224 will go on the truck if I ever get around to having an NMO put on the roof.

I'm an avid offroader / outdoorsman. I got into GMRS / radios in general as a result of the offroad sport. - 2006 Hummer H3 with an LS swap on 37s, custom locking front differential, manual shift NP241, sliders, armor, sleeping platform and cold seltzers. KG-1000G Plus remote mounted with an EM-Wave GPS/NMO combo mount and a Laird antenna. The mount replaced the old 2G sharkfin antenna. - GMRS 20/22/REPT-19/REPT-20 depending on the location, other group channels and which mobile repeater has been deployed. - I am a member / trainer / guide over at ExploringNH.com. We frequent local Class 6 Roads throughout the state of NH and Class 4 Roads throughout the state of VT. These 'trails' are simply un-maintained town-owned right-of-ways offering various levels of difficulty. Numerous private properties, including some NEA properties, as well as Jericho State Park in Berlin, NH.

I see that.. He did register 16 different coordinates for each site, probably 5-10 feet apart. If you filter out the last name you find overall they have 35 repeaters. Hella set up and no doubt range. And investment GMRS Repeaters ver 7_30_25.pdf

Not for real. On map view it shows he has 15 repeaters at one location. Most of them do exist but are not his, are 85+ miles (Okeechobee 550 and Fort Drum 650 at least that I've been known to use) away from the location he lists and already exist on the MyGMRS map with proper locations and the real owner names.

What linked NXDN systems exist out there? Here is Michigan it sucks. We have just ONE repeater. https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/feature_search.php?type=NXDN&state_id=26&band=4

I have bulkheads through the wall to bring the coax in. I also have a metal plate on each side of the wall with a piece of 1/4" 20 all thread through the wall that I use for my ground point. I have a ground rod right below the bulkheads and the all thread, plates, and lightning arrestors are all connected to that ground. That ground rod along with my masts and roof mounted antennas are all bonded to my service ground. I disconnect the coax from the bulkheads inside the house and put caps on them. I know the caps won't be much protection but hopefully they keep any charge coming down the coax and just shooting into the room. Nothing will protect from a direct lightning strike. All we can do is minimize the damage from near strikes.

I think California is gonna win that one

Nice!

I found what I needed, Thanks again.

Thanks for all the assistance. I now need to get a cable to program. Is the cable a standard that I can just order from Amazon?

Here is my Audiovox FRS-1000 base light grey, and my Audiovox GMRS-2000 Base dark grey radios.

I'll get right on that...

Here’s a video that describes programming the rt22:

Welcome to the group and as a note, there are literally hundreds of YouTube videos on getting started with GMRS -- and no, you don't need a repeater!

The Retevis CPS will display the default tones shipped on the radio. I don't remember how you disable the tone or if it was even possible on those radios.

I googled the manual. They’re called QT and DQT on page 05 of the manual. QT will be the tones. DQT will be the codes. I would provide more information if I had one in my hand to try the different buttons and see what does what, but I guess you will have to do that.

How do I find out the tone set on a RT22? To my knowledge there is no way to get that. The owner manual does not have anything on codes.

Florida also has the largest linked NXDN UHF Ham repeaters in the country I believe. https://ni4ce.org/nxdn-digital-communications/

This ^

You most likely have a CTCSS tone or DTCSS code set on receive on the Midland that differs from the RT22 transmit.

Hey folks, we are hosting a get-together on Sunday, July 13th starting at 02:00 PM at Carrabba's Italian Grill in Centreville, VA. We will meet in the main lot and spend some time socializing and working with anyone who may need some guidance on their gear. When everyone is hungry, we can head inside for some ice cold beverages and some food. As always, this will be a family-friendly event. Feel free to bring family and friends. Any questions, just post them below! https://www.facebook.com/events/744340581470568/?active_tab=discussion https://locations.carrabbas.com › Virginia › Centreville 5805 Trinity Pkwy Centreville, VA 20120