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WSIA433 joined the community
- Today
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WRUU653 reacted to a post in a topic: Using The Correct Tools For The Job Are Always Essential!!
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@WRXB215 yes, I tried swapping the "tx" and "rx" even, all combinations. I returned them and am looking for a higher wattage HT.
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lots of reading and coordinating so your repeater doesn't bleed onto another frequency or step on someone else's toes. I think it would be cool to get a few repeaters up and down the 24 corridor. obviously not linked but just to be able to turn a dial and hop onto the next repeater.
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WSHY583 joined the community
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Are you that guy that’s always hollering out “Breaker Breaker, Can You Give me a radio check” all the time? You need to lighten up and say something different, You sound like a broken record.
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WSGW977 joined the community
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Ill leave that version to the guy/gal who calls himself a queen.
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I need my radios to actually work.
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motten1978 reacted to a post in a topic: Popular Zello Channels
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Socalgmrs reacted to a post in a topic: BTech GMRS-50PRO 50W Mobile
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motten1978 reacted to a post in a topic: Popular Zello Channels
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Does this model last longer than the 50V2 before crapping out?
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1/2" Heliax if you can afford it. Otherwise LMR400 will work even though it is not optimal for repeater use. Here are the losses for LMR400 and 1/2" Heliax for a 50 foot run on 462.600 using 50 watts out and antenna with 6 dBd of gain: Power loss per 100 feet LMR400 - 48% 1/2" Heliax - 30% ERP -effective radiating power LMR400 - 143 watts 1/2" Heliax - 166 watts You will not see 50 watts out of the repeater due to the duplexer. Most will output 25 to 35 watts. Here is the numbers for 35 watts out. EPR LMR400 - 86 watts 1/2" Heliax - 99 watts Those numbers are from using the kv5r.com coax loss calculator. @WSFF627 is correct when he talks about receive signal strength. You have to keep that in mind too. You will be okay with either LMR400 or 1/2" Heliax. Go with what fits your budget. Don't skimp on any of the components such as coax fittings, etc.
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SteveShannon reacted to an answer to a question: Two TDH3’s no output wattage !
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What is going on with the FCC ULS and CORES?
73blazer replied to 73blazer's topic in General Discussion
I was able to log to both. It's always in and out. You can login on minute and the next page times out , refresh and it comes up. Click something else and it times out. -
SteveShannon reacted to a post in a topic: Using The Correct Tools For The Job Are Always Essential!!
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WRYZ926 reacted to an answer to a question: What coax cable for repeater.
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He will only get a Midland if they make a pink Barbie or purple Barney version. Otherwise he will give use 1009+ reasons why one should just throw any Midland or Wouxun radio into the trash.
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LMR600 is more expensive ($2.69/ft) than 1/2" Heliax ($1.99/ft) and has greater loss. It has the advantage of being more flexible. (antenna farm prices) https://theantennafarm.com/images/specs/34/lmr-600-coax-cables-datasheet.pdf https://theantennafarm.com/images/specs/36/ldf4-50a-product-specifications.pdf The fittings for both run about the same although the LMR has a wider variation.
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WRYZ926 reacted to a post in a topic: BTech GMRS-50PRO 50W Mobile
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Using The Correct Tools For The Job Are Always Essential!!
WRYZ926 replied to tcp2525's topic in General Discussion
I never messed with voltage above 480 three phase and I did not want to mess with higher voltages. KV is nothing to mess with. I won't get near a high power AM/FM radio station tower either. I also would refuse to use any type of welder outside in the rain for the same reasons. I had a 1st Lieutenant that wanted one my soldiers to stand inside a M113 engine bay and well the engine mount in the rain. The 1st Lt tried pulling rank but he forgot that the lead maintenance soldier was always in charge while working on vehicles. I politely and tactfully told hime that he was an ID10T and my soldiers would not weld in the rain. -
WRYZ926 reacted to a post in a topic: Using The Correct Tools For The Job Are Always Essential!!
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WSGK762 joined the community
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My KGXS20 will set off my neighbors motion detector light on a certain repeater channel. My H3 can activate my headlamp, my Fein Vacuum with the tool activation. It has turned on my stove when I am very close to it, but you need to push the 2nd button to make it turn on. RF energy can do strange things to unshielded equipment. I've never had my set off a GFCI though.
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LMR 400-600 will work just fine for distance less than 150', of course if you have some decent height on your antenna. We used Helix on super long runs for our UHF radios at work on antennas at the upper portion of a 300' tower. From 150' down we used 600 and so did everyone else leasing space on the tower from mid point down.
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WRUE951 reacted to a post in a topic: BTech GMRS-50PRO 50W Mobile
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As lots have mentioned here Heliax is the ideal choice. However you need to decide how much you want to spend. LMR400 is cheapest, LMR600 is more expensive but loss wise more comparable to 1/2 Heliax. For your length the dB loss doesn't justify the cost of 7/8 Heliax in my opinion. Yes the LRM types risk noise in full duplex operation, however that's more prevalent in wattages much higher than 50 watts and when there is a bunch of cable flex. I ran a test on a 100 watt 70cm HAM repeater for a while on 65 feet of LMR600 and didn't see a noise issue. Yes 400 will work but is not the best choice due to higher loss. Everyone thinks about TX and power out loss, but not many talk about RX loss, and a pre-amp cant do something for what never makes it to it. In high RF environments or with poor filtering, or a combination of both, they can do more harm than good. If your going to try one, get if from AdvancedReceiver.com I have several of them, they work great, and if you have a service monitor and the knowledge, can adjust them. Large Heliax is the best performing choice, and the most expensive, the connectors alone are $35 each. LMR600 is a good economical and good performing choice. Its actually in service in a lot of commercial setups on short runs, so is LMR400. But you wont find either going up a commercial tower due to loss and the noise issue at high wattage. Andrews and Times Microwave also offer grounding kits for LMR600. I recommend grounding the cable shield as well as a good quality (not a cheap amazon) lightning arrestor. A good one will run you $100 or so. Check repeaterbuilder.com It has lots of good info and a copy of the Motorola site standards, which you may find very helpful. I own and operate a GMRS repeater with a 60 mile radius as well as a 70cm DMR HAM repeater that can go farther (both have site elevation to their advantage, they are high). I've also put together other large footprint repeaters at commercial sites.
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Dgilmorr762 joined the community
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Do they, Are they?? going to do a HAM ver of this radio?
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A Midland will fit your bill just fine.. No Bells and whistles, ho hype, just radio. They just work. You better get you a Midland
- Yesterday
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gmrs Audio Player to Radio for morse code CW station identifier.
WSAD744 replied to WSAD744's topic in Miscellaneous Topics
I used the WX_PLAYER and put it into a BF-888 via a headphone jack and it worked fairly well. -
GMRS repeaters northwest Louisiana
WSAD744 replied to WSGH650's topic in National and Regional GMRS Nets
Ive got one in Sarepta on a 20ft tower. You'd have to be in Sarepta to hit it and receive it tho. only 5w output. The Springhill Louisiana Amatuer Radio Club is putting one up soon. -
WSHZ451 joined the community
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You are very correct. It’s literally done in purpose. That why all I want in a radio is to RX and tx on the 22+ 8 gmrs “channels”, have a +5 off set and have dcs and cts tones. And do that very well. I Don’t need or want all the other hype. Don’t need Bluetooth or gps in a radio. Just need a radio to be a radio. I’ve got other stuff tech for all the other stuff.
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Using The Correct Tools For The Job Are Always Essential!!
WRUU653 replied to tcp2525's topic in General Discussion
Wow... Sorry to hear that. Electricity definitely jumps. Good on the two that said no. Working High voltage wasn't my favorite thing to do but when I did we always had a tailgate meeting to go over the task step by step and I always asked if anything seemed wrong or missing, I wanted input. If two people are saying no it sure would be cause to reevaluate the situation. Always more impotant to go home at the end of the day. -
WSIA283 joined the community
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Using The Correct Tools For The Job Are Always Essential!!
WRHS218 replied to tcp2525's topic in General Discussion
I have a 35 year old Fluke 27 that has never let me down. I had a supervisor that wanted some measurements taken inside of a 72 KV switchyard. The two operators on duty refused to perform the task and reminded the supervisor (who had been an operator and went through the high voltage training) that measuring tapes were not allowed inside of a live switchyard. He got mad and went in the switchyard to get the measurements anyway. He lived but will never fully recover from what it did to his body. That was in a very specific professional setting, but the lessons apply to anyone working with any voltages. -
Of course they will "improve" this radio. Their business model demands it. Not saying this won't turn out to be a very nice radio at an affordable price, but.... In 12 months an updated version will be available with some of the features you want, but not all. In another 18 months a newer version with even more features and capability will be released. That hamster wheel of "improvement" and release of "updated" radios will continue to spin indefinitely. But manufacturers will always stop short of giving us exactly what we want. I may be wrong. But I suspect it would not be too hard for BTech to build new radios with all the capability, bells, whistles and unicorn features we all crave right now. But then how would they get us to repeatedly spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year on new radios when we could just get we wanted in the first place and use it for a decade. LOL I'm sure it goes the same for all our other friends in China who manufacture radios. And, would probably hold true if an American company started manufacturing budget style GMRS radios. Kind of joking....But kind of not.
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I thought you hated Midland..
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What is going on with the FCC ULS and CORES?
SteveShannon replied to 73blazer's topic in General Discussion
I just logged in without any issues.