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I have a MA09 High Gain 462~467MHz GMRS Omni-Directional Base Antenna 4.5/7.2 dBi High Gain Fiberglass Antenna 5.75’ height. On a 30' tower do I need to put a ground wire on this antenna?

Nice free standing but that wouldn't last a minute here in the High Desert today.. We are seeing 50 mile an hour gust today..

But stealing a car is a crime whereas using somones repeater without permission is not.

Why is L-O-L-A Lola going through my head right now?

For those of you remotely interested in why a cell phone may not be enough when on the water: https://www.bostonwhaler.com/navigator-blog/fishing/vhf-cell-phone.html?utm_content=&emid=$emid&mkt_tok=MTYyLUtVRi01MjkAAAGafbxL2QyGoJPbJBjrLcJ-lbHanNwDmjZT6SoK0grQSvstFrCTqPzXllh_ap9aNedhZReMJcOrEMsdI4P_voDV8RNoOJSC3lpPcxIkS3oKBJHUcA

A Rohn 25G makes an excellent light duty mast, just pick your height and get the amount of 10' sections and a top section to get off to a great start.

https://www.everythingrf.com/rf-calculators/line-of-sight-calculator

Q: Which band are you working today? A: Yes. It's been interesting following the FTX-1 pre-order drama online, I guess. People walking into Hamvention and walking out with one, while pre-orders have not been shipped yet. Seems like HRO is shipping out orders now though.

And that, in a nutshell, is the entire point of this thread.

Yep, this is why "you share the road" on GMRS. You only have eight lanes and should you want to deploy a repeater, just pick a lane. This means that ALL users are on that lane and they learn to coexist as nobody would intentionally interfere with the other repeater. Of course you will always get that ONE person that will try to get you to move because they bought their equipment and think they own the frequency. Hey, it's all about community spirit and working together.

It is just a out the nicest day here.

Sounds like a great time t get a new act. This one is getting old.

Buying some antenna stuff. Got the Diamond NR240CA wide band antenna just to screw around with. Picked up the optional spring lower section for the Comet CA-2x4SR wide band antenna. Finally got the super flex dual band antenna with the BNC connector to use with the HT SMA/BNC adapters.

I don't have to worry about that too much around here. The GMRS airwaves are mostly silent and sometimes you can hear the FRS HTs when you are driving around in the mobile. None of them follow any etiquette. Likely unlicensed. We have 2 major repeaters and a minor repeater in the area. One major is much more active than the other and the minor and less active major are on the same frequency but different tones. My repeater is on the same frequency as another inactive repeater. I accidentally found their tone because it was one above mine and sometimes when I keyed up my base that repeater would activate. I chose that frequency because of it's inactivity and noise level. Lots of DMR crap in the area on all the frequenies. It's a plague to analog.

This is just part of the flea market area. Sitting in the grand stand area taking a break.

Okay that is all good, you sound like a good person. Picking the same tone would be like picking the same lane space on a road. Sometimes there is traffic but we all should make room for each other (even when others may not). Not if you check to make sure the frequency is clear first, then merge.

The issue is that all of the pairs around here are jammed up with "private" repeaters (most of which are mostly silent). Simplex is full of farm worker traffic in Spanish or Punjabi. Of course, they never use call signs or follow any rules in any way. I suppose I could poke around and find a pair and tone that isn't already "claimed". But if you are close enough, you can hear traffic regardless of tone. Would I then be "interfering"?

I guess my car metaphor really resonated with ya'all.

Of course not. I have been driving for nearly 50 years and am about the most courteous driver you will ever meet. I have never been involved in a collision, although I have avoided many because I was paying attention when others weren't. (I don't refer to collisions as "accidents", because 99% of the time, they aren't "accidents") I received my most recent traffic citation in 1981. And I always use my turn signal because it literally requires zero effort and is the courteous thing to do. I extend courtesy to all others on the road, and I expect the same in return. If I am transmitting on a public frequency and tone, being courteous and following the FCC rules, I am doing the right thing and being courteous. And I expect the same in return. Hell, I even hold doors open for people.

I'm running a 30ft flag pole from Home Depot for a mast with a GP-6NC. For a bit more stability it's also anchored to the house. I ordered a telescoping flag pole but they sent me a sleeved sectional (6 5ft 2-1/4" sections) by mistake. Didn't send it back, figured it would be more solid than the telescoping version and by loosening the clamps on the house I can remove or add sections by myself so it wasn't a big deal. I thought I could get away with no guy wires but it seemed to sway a bit more than I would like at 30ft so added some. Dropped it to 10ft or so with the antenna attached and it made it through a direct hit from hurricane Milton.

But why not just setup a repeater on one of the other pairs? Nothing is gained by intentionally running interference (and yes I appreciate that you said you wouldn’t.)

My dad just took one of the paks into a Batteries Plus and they disassembled it, matched the three main cells with new equivalents, and re-soldered up the connectors on the new cells and re-shrinked wrapped them together and made 3 more for all their handsets on that system. I think they charged him like $11/pak.

And if you did that you would be interfering with other transmissions. Along with just not being a good human. Do you go out of your way to cut off other people in traffic just because they do?

No one can do that. You can still use the frequency like you use the road. That’s why the FCC says to make sure you are not interfering with other transmissions.