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None of us should question why someone else has the budgetary limits they do.

In my short GMRS life time I chose to understand Line A rules that pertain to GMRS (in the absence of CLEAR FCC policy) to just stay off channel 19 and 21 and I'm good. A couple weeks ago, a local self reliance net I began to engage with, hosts peeps like me (that have no other radio friends) through some of the repeaters in my area for practice and to learn your radios capabilities. They ended the session with the reminder of Line A and to stay away from channel 19 and 21. The big mistake I made was I just read through some old threads here to learn more about it. Sorry for the click bait but now I'm confused. The latest replies on those threads seem to indicate the GMRS (UHF) frequencies are no longer a problem to use north of Line A? I scrolled through some of them gov't codes you all talk of and the only thing I seemed to find was the Line A definition and contract with Canada. I bypassed the contract link because that has to be way out my GMRS scope of practice and I saw nothing about Line A and frequencies.

Does the wife have a $100 limit too?

But at least you could say you bought it.

That's cool that you had a fun experience on that net. I love that radio can bring people together for fun - people who would otherwise never meet. And just for the record I do not (yet?) have a "HAM" license... before I say this... I understand the meaning of the term "Appliance Operator" - someone who knows how to use their radio but does not know how to build, fix or explain the inner workings of radio... fine but I wonder if you can really say that someone licensed with an Amateur Radio License is either an Appliance Operator or a HAM. it sounds like "yeah you have an Amateur Radio License but ... you are not really a HAM. which also feels very "Sad ham" to me. But that is just me maybe.

I used this stuff on top of the self sealing tape https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZMZV4K1?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

Just noticed as well, in my original post i did have a photo showing the setup.

Ah i see now. No it is a LED ditch light which is on the truck. can't see the entire light in this photo, but you can see how the bracket shares the mount.

Make sure they do a good job of waterproofing the connections.

Thanks again guys for all of your help! I got it from Buy Two Way Radios.com. Messi & Paoloni Hyperflex 10 Premium .400" Pre-assembled Coax - UHF Male (PL259) Connectors Cable Length 50 ft. for $113.00 with shipping. Now I just got to find some one to go back up my tower..

I was looking through the ad listings on eBay and found one for a very sophisticated microphone. It has a DSP chip builtin for background noise, wind noise, siren etc. elimination. Some of my radios also have some basic DSP builtin. For example my TK-D74A has a basic 5 band audio equalizer for TX and RX. Other commercial grade radios have selections for audio filtering, high/normal/low pass, and audio leveling, on TX and RX for digital modes. This is something I haven't seen on the cheap CCR's. So any cheap CCR's out there that has user configurable DSP features?

Examples? Many Amateur Operators are what can be called "Appliance Operators" They know how things work, especially radios, but not why they work. Enjoy the world of Amateur Radio, it's been a fun ride for me since '92 although my work with two way radios goes back into the mid 70's. Every contact you make can bring you new things!

In my mind I was thinking of those rolls of LEDs that you lay out. In reality he probably meant a shop light style fixture with LED lights in it which would mean the driver is surrounded by metal already. The cheap power supplies that drive LEDs are usually noisy and get pretty hot when driven to max. Whenever I build with them I like to make sure there's a few amps in reserve basically to keep the driver from putting out max current keeping it cool and it's life longer. Putting it in a metal container might make the heating worse.

Thanks so much! Ordering it now.

I believe Leo was recommending enclosing the driver/power supply for the LED lights, not replacing the wooden mount for the radio that you made.

I was in our electronics lab once working on a project. Some mention was made about drunks on the street. I referred to them as "Stumble Bums." Well I got one of those "WTF is that" looks. Makes you feel old.

Yes

So the Messi and Paoloni UltraFlex 10 Coax Cable Should work great for me?

In my home system I run the M&P Hyperflex13 out to the lightning arrester and then 1/2" Heliax up to the antenna. At the shop I run my repeater and that has TMW LMR400. I'm getting a nearly perfect SWR with the M&P/Heliax with a CA712ECF antenna while at the shop with the LMR400 and a Retevis MA09 antenna I'm getting a 1.76 SWR. I think that has been going up since I put it in. I pretty much have zero water protection on that system, just the aluminum tube that surrounds the fitting of the antenna for protection. Water infiltration is a possibility.

Gig dose not have 50' available but buytwoway has Messi & Paoloni Ultraflex 10 Premium .400" Pre-assembled Coax - UHF Male (PL259) Connectors. Is this what I should get? I want it to work well. Thanks so much for your help. Sig

Connecticut.

I suppose I could fabricate a metal enclosure vs the thrown together wood mount i did. The wood mount was made with just left of materials i had which was part of the fun, and fits surprisingly perfect.

Yeah I will do that next. I very rarely use these ditch lights anymore, so I am not concerned with running them at the same time. Considered even taking them off, but since they are already wired up, i left them on.

I swapped the Stainless steel washer from the bottom to the top of the mount. Tightened it down as tight as it will go. Teeth are closer, but not digging in to the bracket. Looks like the teeth are not pointed up, they are more pointed out. Perhaps without the stainless steel washer i can get closer, but I am needing to use a stainless steel washer because the mount i received has a .7" hole vs a 3/8" required for the NMO mount. Ran test again with this setup and no visible changes in swr. I can explore getting a bracket designed specifically wiith a 3/8" (midland sells one but its like $25 vs the $8 i spent), but i am not sure if i will see any changes in swr.

I've been messaging with Eddie for the last couple of days on this site. I had no idea a repeater was being planned. A buddy of mine called me up and let me know about it. I haven't really used it yet, but it sounds pretty good. At 1.5 miles away, you could work it with 1/4 watt. LOL