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Most Ace Hardwares & True Values carrie an assortment of unusually small screws.

im on a 1 Gig fiber service with RACE and a Starlink back up. My 1 GIG is free, part of my retirement agreement with another company. I've noticed this a couple times today. Tried clearing the cache etc. I think its some HTML issues with whoever he uses to host the site..

Absolutely - Here in St Paul, we hear sirens, we rush outside to look for them!. But the guys I know are researchers not tour guides, so they like to keep other ears from getting their info and clogging up their spots!

My two favorite HF radios for newer operators and for people who aren't DX contest junkies are the Yaesu FT-991A and the iCom IC-7300. The Yaesu includes 160m through 70cm (all bands, all modes) and the IC-7300 covers 160m to 6m (all bands, all modes). My personal opinion, the IC-7300 has much better receive sensitivity, but it is more prone to interference because of it. It is almost impossible to use in a group for things like contests or Field Day, but its great if you typically use it at home or with no other operators around. The FT-991A is truly a "Shack in a Box". Good at everything, not great at anything. If you have any interest in 2m or 70cm SSB, its a good choice and one of the few "new" radios that support it. Otherwise you are paying original retail or more for used radios that have been discontinued a decade or more. For example, I have an IC-7000 that was discontinued in 2014. Last known retail price when on sale was $900 from HRO. They are for sale today for between $900 and $1,100 depending on if they have the head separation kit or not.

Alright, I passed my general, so now I can talk to anonymous men across the country instead of just anonymous men in my area. Since I don't have an HF rig yet, I hopped on someone's public KiwiSDR and started poking through the 40m/80m bands and heard... old dudes talking about soup. I can't get away from it. Apparently radios are meant for soup chat.

That's the way I do it these days.

Try Ace Hardware for the screw. Lowe's has them as well, but in blister packs.4

Might be faster, cheaper and easier to just buy a new radio.

I have a pair of B-Tech GM-15 handhelds, and one of the screws fastening the belt-clip has been lost. Can anyone tell me what size and thread-count is that tiny little screw, and where I could purchase one? It's far smaller than the smallest thing I can find at Lowes Home Improvement! Or better yet, does anyone sell compatible replacement belt clips--with a stronger spring that doesn't allow the radio to come loose at the slightest jostling? Thanks for any help!

Thank you Rich for sending me the link, I'm on and Ill try to be an active member. 73 Greg

Well I'm not putting a 1/4 wave antenna up on an 80' tower. That would look silly. LOL

Also, they are going by what is at the antenna connector of the chassis. "Output Power listed is conducted power." Conducted Power: This refers to the RF (Radio Frequency) power that is supplied by the transmitter to its antenna, measured at the point where the cable connects to the antenna. This is different from radiated power, which is the power emitted into the air from the antenna. Based on what I read from Cornell, the FCC's definition of "conducted power" primarily refers to the total transmit power delivered to all antennas and antenna elements when the transmitter is operating at its maximum power control level. This is also referred to as "maximum conducted output power."

As long as it doesn't say "shall be". Should and must can be gotten around legally.

I found the authorization... it took a few minutes between meetings. LOL What is wild is, the FCC authorization only seems to be valid if the user is operating with a maximum of ZERO dBi gain antenna, unless I am reading this incorrectly. I mean, it says "should" not "must"... so I don't know the correct answer. There is nothing in the rules about antenna gain. Where is my FCC enforcement guy? We know you read this stuff... LOL. Can the FCC legally put a limit on one-off stuff like that without going through a PRM process and an update to the rules? Seems odd. https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/tcb/reports/Tcb731GrantForm.cfm?mode=COPY&RequestTimeout=500&tcb_code=&application_id=MjZkkijyA8IfBeMCZsYVMw%3D%3D&fcc_id=2AGNDGMRSRPT50 TCB GRANT OF EQUIPMENT AUTHORIZATION TCB Certification Issued Under the Authority of the Federal Communications Commission By: MiCOM Labs 575 Boulder Court Pleasanton, CA 94566 Date of Grant: 12/15/2023 Application Dated: 12/15/2023 BTECH (BaoFeng Tech) 702 N Industrial Ave Arlington, SD 57212 Attention: Greg Wilson , NOT TRANSFERABLE EQUIPMENT AUTHORIZATION is hereby issued to the named GRANTEE, and is VALID ONLY for the equipment identified hereon for use under the Commission's Rules and Regulations listed below. FCC IDENTIFIER: 2AGNDGMRSRPT50 Name of Grantee: BTECH (BaoFeng Tech) Equipment Class: Licensed Non-Broadcast Station Transmitter Notes: GMRS Repeater Grant Notes FCC Rule Parts Frequency Range (MHZ) Output Watts Frequency Tolerance Emission Designator 95E 462.55 - 462.725 46.7735 1.097 PM 16K0F3E Output Power listed is conducted power. The transmitter has maximum duty factor of 50 %. This device is authorized to operate in the following radio services: GMRS (Part 95E). There must be an informational insert inside the box (product package) or the Users Manual must include information that clearly informs the consumer (buyer/owner) when the radio is transmitting on GMRS frequencies, that operation on GMRS frequencies requires an FCC license and such operation is subject to additional rules specified in 47 C.F.R. Part 95. The ant gain used should be 0dBi as max,The device with it's antenna must be installed to provide a separation distance of at least 114cm from all persons. End users and installers must be provided with antenna installation instructions and transmitter operating conditions for satisfying RF exposure compliance.

Nothing says you have to throw BTech or yourself under the bus to make a suggestion for a rule change. Frankly, I don’t think the FCC knows when there are violations. They have neither the people nor an interest in challenging the certification atteststions submitted by manufacturers unless the problems are so egregious that someone reports them.

Also if you do a ctrl F5 it will clear your browser on that website and reload it. Maybe something wonky happened with some data. Not sure if that's universal, I know it works with Firefox

From time to time my browser displays something like you posted, but a quick refresh almost always results in the correct look. It usually happens when I have limited service and slow speeds. What does speedtest tell you? https://www.speedtest.net/

Works on Chrome for me also.

Ya, that's not happening. That's just causing trouble for myself. I'm sure if there were regulation violations Btech would be the first to know about it. I'll keep the box output under 50w and it's not going to bother anyone.

And it would make sense. You can have a 50 watt radio and put all kinds of doodads internally but as long as it all complies with part 95 and is 50 watts or less out the connector they probably don't care. Btech made a big deal out of it being an all in one unit along with being able to output close to 50 watts. You know people are always miffed when it says 50 and you only get 40 even though it likely won't even make a difference. But it's the thought that you paid for that output and it comes up short. As long as I can make it to my house I'm pretty alright with it. And I know that 25 watts from my house couldn't punch through the leaves and 50 watts does it in spades. So power can matter.

That would be a good thing to send to the fcc in response to their request for regulation simplification suggestions. I agree that it absolutely makes sense to look at the output of the box, but that’s not how the regulations are currently written.

yea, i just tried both and they are working.. I don't think it's my end. Two browsers dong the same??

I think you are correct, in that what the FCC care about is everything is in one chassis, and what transmit power is coming out of the chassis. Not necessarily the PA output power.

Manufacturer says the whole setup is Part 95 compliant. Pretty sure as long as it's designed and built as an all in one unit the output at the connector is what is limited to 50 watts.

I think that’s a problem on your end. Here’s how it looks in Chrome (and Safari) on my iPad: