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Doesn't hurt to be on the safe side but my radio has a feature to turn on when that surge happens. I have that feature off because I don't want it coming on every time I start the truck. Point is, I don't think that starting the vehicle is dangerous to the radio unless it is wired wrong.

That's the one. I don't have it installed at the moment, but I do have it. I have a different guy for my ghost antenna

Welcome, Pedro! That radio is my go-to favorite when talking with new users. Good choice.

We had a great test and tune session on August 29, 2025 to find out more about test and tune dates attend a net on Thursdays at 7:30 pm. We logged locations where you can reach the repeater. We started around 9 am and it lasted till late afternoon. Thank you to WRMA779 and WRCY622 for your attendance in helping out. We where able to get some great information on the repeaters strengths. We reached downtown ST Charles from the top of the parking garage at St Josephs Hospital. Busch wildlife at lake 2, all along Hwy 94 and a lot of Hwy k. We used multiple radios from HT's to mobile setup and base units, antenna types as well. We had a good time doing it and look forward to the next. Until next time 73's WSHD977 clear.

Originally my Btech RPT50 didn't have a squelch function other than tones. It was added in when they did the 2nd update V1.008R

This one? https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/antenna-rack-mount.html

Thankfully I won't have to worry about a spring loaded part for the fold over. I have looked into my options and will be using a antenna mount by FrontRunner on my roof rack to simply fold the antenna over. How does it work? It has its own locking pin with multiple holes to lock I to for having the antenna stand strait up and folded over for clearance and not being in use. This will not affect the spring on the antenna

Try Chirp. I always had weird issues with some of the radio settings not being transferred properly from the Radioddity software. Like, it works, but sometimes I'd have to push the settings to the radio a couple times for them to stick. I haven't seen that same behavior w/ Chirp.

Lol, Try doing that where I live. You "might" catch a local depending on where you are, but more often than not, you will hear crickets. I know there is a lot you can do with Ham, thats why I like it, but some things take a lot of time to learn and many areas of this country do not have anyone on the receiving end. Band conditions aren't always good. This is much of the reason I rarely use the radio. Believe me, it pains me but I can't force people to like what I like, or to actually get on the radio and do something useful and I especially cannot control the sun. If you happen to be in an area where you get activity, then kudo's to you. I am glad it works. All I am saying is that radio is not uniform in all areas of this country. There are many dead zones in Ham Radio and GMRS where radio works, the operators don't.

I wasn't talking about the spring on the antenna. You said you were considering a fold-over mount to lay the antenna down when no in use. I was discussing that, because most of them are spring loaded to control the hinge function. I should have been more clear about what part I was talking about. This whole comment tells me that you don't understand antenna design, what a the wavelength of the frequency is, proper antenna size base on the wavelength and antenna design..... and you shouldn't have to, to buy a radio and antenna to use the radio.... my fault for mentioning it. I should probably just wait for people to ask for an explanation instead of mudding the response.

Yup, that’s what I referred to as Carrier Squelch. I doubt any repeater doesn’t have it. It’s based on signal strength and might do exactly what the OP needs. I should have explained it better.

So dose my RT97L.

Things to keep in mind for why I said what I said. For starters the spring base that the Midland Antennas(specifically the Highland 3dB for this discussion) is pretty heavy duty compared others like the 6dB antenna Midland offers(the super skinny whip). To specify that spring is more than capable of holding the antenna in a folded position just fine. If it wasn't, it would have problems holding the antenna upright while driving down the HWY. Next is to understand that particular antenna I'm looking at. Both the Highland and Canyon Edge that I mentioned above are still 3dB antenna's like the Ghost antenna. Of the 3 one actually requires a ground plane(something I wasn't aware of at the time) vs the other two that don't require a Ground Plane(though it would not hurt to have one). In reality the antenna wasn't stacked to get the signal. If it was stacked, it would be a different signal with frequency or gain. i will also add that the Highland antenna has a set screw to lock down the antenna down to the spring base. This will make it nice as the set screw will not let the antenna just vibrate and rotate off. It will also help keep others hands off if they don't have the tools. Last but not least and I this is more of a poke to the comments of wanting to talk to the Moon. I am choosing a 3dB antenna due to the use I have. I understand that the beam pattern is more of a ball pattern vs a stretched oval that a higher dB antenna has. With a quality antenna in combination of the 50 Watt Radio I have, I should still be able to get an excellent range in general. I also understand that the 3dB will be great for mountain type terrain that I usually travel on. If I was traveling more on open desert type terrain, then a 6dB or higher would be better, but I'm not on that type of terrain regularly. Let's also keep in mind that if my goal was to talk to the other side of the world, I would have a base station HAM radio with more power than anyone would ever need.

From what I can tell here, you have a little bit better setup than me with that antenna. To specify it comes down to having a ground plane of sorts. I myself do not have that with my antenna. It doesn't help either that I have a few other items nearby the antenna causing some interference as well. In reality it all depends on the setup. For myself I find that I will need a different antenna that isn't as dependant on a ground plane. That will be the advantage of the Highland antenna since it is more ground independent.

I installed a relay to kill power to the radio when I turn off the key, but I try to remember to turn the radio off before the ignition, so it doesn't get that surge at startup. I don't know if it's really anything to worry about, but it's easy and seems like a reasonable precaution.

I mounted mine with a Midland – MXTA27 MicroMobile Universal Lip Mount. It seems to use the ground plane of the hood well enough. I'm able to hit a repeater 40+ miles away from me with ease. It's not as clear as on my home base station using an Ed Fong J pole, but it does well enough and for jeep to jeep comms under 3 miles, it's like the person is sitting in the Jeep next to me.

Im curious... what made you draw that opinion? Nothing I wrote is factually incorrect and is related to you inquiry. Which is part of my confusion about your statement of me. I want to know why you wrote that, so i can correct my replies in the future, that way they can be more well understood. Not only have I seen them, I have also installed several of both models for friends. I also described some drawbacks of spring-loaded fold down mounts (both separate or if built into the antenna). Additionally, due to both antennas having a vertical radome significantly larger than 1 full wavelength on GMRS frequencies, I tried to explain how stacked element antennas are designed (leading to their extreme size for the frequency) and how they work, but in a way to understand the concept without a lot of fundamental knowledge of electronics and antenna propagation and design.

My Btech repeater has a squelch along with the tones.

Randy (@OffRoaderX) did a video that might help:

yes it is running dtcss and i am setup to tone in and out. I think you answered my question traffic that I am hearing since the move are very low signal strength that makes them un readable. was just wondering if repeater could filter out broken and or weak signals. thanks

It certainly doesn't surprise me that there are differences. That is why I'm looking to get information now instead of later. Now I have done some reading, but haven't been able to get clear answers. I can also state that I understand that radios that are going to be used in Canada need to be IC approved. Then again this is something that each country will probably have a rule for.

that did it, thank you

Mine does that too. Have not looked for a fix.

hi all! i recently picked up at db20g and was able to program it using the radioddity cps software. one issue it's having is that every time i turn on (power up) the radio, B channel is always starts up in vfo mode, even though its programed to start up on channel/memory mode. just wondering if anyone else noticed this or has this issue? will another programing software fix this issue? Thanks!