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You’re wrong, Leo. Air, and what’s in it, is the conductor for lightning, not an insulator. There are better conductors and better insulators. But who’s arguing about a couple feet?

I tried the Comet CA-2x4SR and the Diamond NR240CA on my roof rack mount. Both antennas are 5/8 wave designs and need a ground plane. When I tested them, just for fun, on the rack mount I didn't expect them to work for crap. Big surprise both worked rather well. Apparently there is enough coupling, likely capacitive, from the mount to the rack rail and car body to work. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/613-nr240ca-roof-rack-mount-swr-and-photojpg/?context=new The steel band holding the mount to the rail has a sheet of rubber under it so there is no direct metal to metal contact. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/473-close-up-of-mobile-mount/?context=new The SWR sweep for the Comet was very similar but with a bit higher values.

Yes, but you asked how to stop those notices that appear at the upper level and the only way to do that is to change your password at the MyGMRS level.

Lest you forget that a lightning strike starts on average about 20,000 feet in the air and travels to the ground with air as an insulator. Arguing about a couple feet is moot.

Wow,,,,, Checking the new report today... WRZC921 added 16 repeaters this week.. That's being very busy.. Hell that would take me a week just to add them into the database.. Is this for real??

My station as of 6-30-2025.

I am able to log into the forum with my current password. Thanks for the quick response

Yes, change your password.

Just remember the corner caps are plastic. You should have the mount forward on the hood about 6 or 7 inches for a good ground plane.

I just received this today it's getting very annoying I was tempted to change my password but thought otherwise lucky I didn't because I tried again to log in with my current password and was able to use my current password to login. Do anyone know how to stop these notices from popping up?

Please disregard the post I sent on this issue I was able to sign into my account without changing my password

The rule of thumb is that the distance between ground rods should be twice the length of the ground rod. Anything less results in minimal additional protection. The wire is used for bonding, equalizing the potentials of the different ground rods, not carrying the full current of a surge. The nearby ground system takes the brunt of the current surge. A water jet might be able to do it, but maybe cutting the asphalt is easiest.

Okay. For some reason, I was thinking 8'. That's still a lot of ground rods for a 200' run. The code is a minimum. My thought was that for such a long run, a heavier wire might be preferable. If so, I'm okay with absorbing the extra cost. I can't think of any way to go under 30' of asphalt without cutting it.

Exactly. Best is to disconnect it before it enters the house.

If you use 8’ ground rods they should be driven every 16’. There’s no benefit from placing them every 8 feet. Code doesn’t require 4 gauge. It requires 8 awg. I wouldn’t cut the asphalt, but I would go under it. Burying the ground wire is fine, even preferable. Look at this document: https://reeve.com/Documents/Articles Papers/Reeve_AntennaSystemGroundingRequirements.pdf

My question really is whether it's safer to leave the antenna connected to the radio or to disconnect it. I assume a direct strike may fry the coax even if it's properly grounded. I can replace an antenna and coax; it's my house and myself I'm concerned about.

200' of 4 awg copper wire is about $300 which isn't prohibitive, but if you have to add another ground rod every 8', that's going to get into some serious cash, aside from the work of driving 25 ground rods. In my case, I have to cross about 30' of asphalt. Is there any reason I can't cut a groove in the asphalt, lay the bare wire in it, and fill it with asphalt patch material? Is there any disadvantage to burying the wire where it crosses grass?

Less risk, but not no risk. The coax might still be at risk. What’s the breakdown voltage for the insulation of the coax? A long piece of coax exposed to a high voltage pulse at one end but disconnected at the other end can still be damaged. And what about the center conductor? It isn’t grounded unless you have done something to ground it. Depending on the design the antenna radiator elements are not usually connected to ground.

So, what happens if the antenna is adequately grounded and you disconnect it from the radio? I have assumed the electricity would follow the path of least resistance to the ground and the coax would be at minimal risk. Is that incorrect?

I got myself an H3 Plus to add to my stable of H3s and my Wouxun KG-935G Plus. Looks like a nice unit but I'm having trouble upgrading to the newest FW. I get a "Initializing device zone: app_dir_head" message on the Odmaster web GUI, and the upgrade never gets past that spot. I'm using the official Tidradio cable, I've tried all of the available USB com ports on my laptop, and even tried using the manual upgrade tool Tidradio provided via their FB group. Anyone know of a solution?

The hood is aluminum IIRC. Hopefully that will be adequate if we mount it on a fender or hood lip mount. A lot of people seem to get good results that way. Since I already have the SG7900, it will cost nothing to find out.

I would expect strict U.S. export controls on anything electronic that is to be sent to Iran…

Anyone looking for help with Programing with Fresno, California Areas please feel free tonreach to me and il see what I can do. You cam also reach out to me Via My Facebook Page GMRS Programing

By "two lined version" are y'all both referring to plain UV-5G? Holding down "8" while turning on does nothing on my plain UV-5G. Holding 3 still works though to give the firmware number (and it isn't what Chirp shows).

Welcome! Feel free to ask whatever questions you might have. That’s how everyone starts. We don’t do much one on one consulting because whatever questions you have, someone else is likely to have, or perhaps has been asked before and we can point you towards the answer.