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I usually set A to whatever I want to monitor and B to some frequency that's unlikely to be used. If you have dual watch turned off, at most you'll have an extraneous channel displayed in the B window, but the radio will ignore it.

Yep, they stop just short of saying it doesn't require a ground plane. As @73blazer commented, DX has a good reputation which is why I didn't question their statement. And as 73blazer also observed, it probably does better with a ground plane, but even NGP antennas do that. I might get more farz with a ground plane, but TBH, I doubt it. I think the topography is such that a more efficient antenna wouldn't give me more than I already have. I'm happy with the antenna; I just feel a bit silly recommending it as a NGP when it isn't. I added an edit in my original post.

Yep, point proven. Had he been polite when you urinated in his territory everyone would have been cordial and respected each other before moving on. I have time for idiots like that.

Yes, that rule seems pretty clear, although its existence is kind of a mystery to me. The nearest repeater to me (about 10 miles) is a "private" repeater. A few years ago, I came up on that repeater and asked for a radio check, I just wanted to see if my new HT could make that 10 miles. The owner of that repeater immediately responded and tore me a new one for accessing his repeater. I apologized and stated I was just requesting a radio check and hadn't intended to ruin his day. I haven't accessed that repeater since, due to courtesy; but here is the thing...I have that repeater in my normal scan and that repeater literally has LESS THAN 5 MINUTES OF TRAFFIC on it per year. No recurring repeater ID. Yet this guy is sitting on that public frequency and tone, claiming that he "owns" it. It boggles my mind and makes no sense.

Although Diamond doesn’t specifically say no ground plane, they do declare that the antenna will work nearly anywhere on a vehicle:

Except for the Jeep trails, I thought he was talking about The Villages, FL.

I made an argument on this matter a while back and this is what I got back "It doesn't mean that it is an open repeater you still need permission by the owner of the repeater to use it" I think that remark was kind of strange for the owner to list the repeater as open if that's the case the owner should either post the repeater private or permission use only so it won't confuse other users thinking that they can use the repeater without asking permission for use

There is one eham.net article where one commenter mentions it functions well without a counterpoise/ground plane. DX is a very reputable place, mabey they got their info from somewhere, mabey it's just a plain 'ole mistake? Who knows, But it's working for your setup and that's great! I found this worked great on my RAM 2500 CC roof (with a tri-mag mount) and SWR's with same radio are 1.1-1.3:1 depending on freq in that setup. So it does seem to me it functions much better with a ground plane.

It's working just fine for me. Evidently, I have enough ground plane despite being mounted on the bed rail. DX Engineering described it as a non-ground plane antenna, and I took them at their word. I guess I won't be so trusting of them in the future. A couple of ground plane antennas have worked pretty well in that location. The Comet 2x4 was great on 70cm and GMRS, but had an SWR of 2.0-2.25:1 on 2 meters. The Comet SBB224 has stratospheric SWRs on 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and GMRS on the passenger side and all below 1.5 on the driver side. Same mount, same coax, same distance. IDK. RF energy does funny stuff. If it hadn't worked, I would have been pretty chapped at DXE for describing it as NGP.

Some more info, someone in shreveport is putting one up soon.

And go ahead and enforce it.

Rules Seem Pretty Clear To Me. 95.1705 Individual licenses required; eligibility; who may operate; cooperative use. (d) Individual licensee duties. The holder of an individual license: (1) Shall determine specifically which individuals, including family members, are allowed to operate (i.e., exercise operational control over) its GMRS station(s) (see paragraph (c) of this section); (2) May allow any person to use (i.e., benefit from the operation of) its GMRS repeater, or alternatively, may limit the use of its GMRS repeater to specific persons; (3) May disallow the use of its GMRS repeater by specific persons as may be necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section.

Yes, one of the reasons I left So Cal nearly 40 years ago. Too many people in general and a high percentage of those with an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Rural Nor Cal was an enlightening experience for me back then. Friendly people, much less sense of rush. Many neighbors helped us out when we were trying to get established and basically starving. Since then, I have tried to pay it forward. If that means setting up an open repeater on the travel tone, so be it.

Yea that’s a ground plane antenna. Not going to RX or t nearly as good as it could if it had a ground plane.

Interesting. It worked great for me. As you say, maybe there is a little ground plane effect from the bed of the truck. I assumed DX knew what they were talking about. You know what they say about assuming. In any case, it works great for me.

Using HTs, there will be no discernable difference in range for GMRS or amateur frequencies. "

My parents still use a 49MHz cordless phone system in their house. I never looked at what type is was before until just a couple months ago when we switched them from AT&T's rape job $110/mo landline to a $6/mo VOIP service. My dad just got some new batteries for the handsets last year!

Tough crowd, no. Just a lot of selfish and self centered mindsets.

I am seriously considering it. As I stated previously, my location is really not ideal for what I am trying to accomplish but it is worth a go. Tough crowd in this room. I am simply trying to help out my neighbors.

Let me see if I am understanding this correctly. You deploy a repeater on a frequency that is open to anyone that paid for a valid FCC license and you act like you own the frequency? Really? How are you going to stop licensed squatters using your repeater? It's people with your mindset that put up a repeater and never use it, or very rarely, and the first to complain about interference when someone puts up a repeater on the same frequency and uses it. Totally mind boggling. Oh, and if I were local to you I would use your repeater for free until you accepted me or shut it down every time I got on it.

I'm not sure about the milk & honey, but we do have a lot of pucker bushes and giggly weeds and plenty of means to get dirty. I left the same State you're speaking of that is to my left 6 years ago and I haven't looked back nor will I go back and visit. I'm glad I made the move and should have done it sooner.

This sounds like a beautiful and glorious land of milk and honey! Literally where we have been house-shopping & planning for when we make our escape from my current State.

I live approx. 25 miles northwest of Phoenix in "Old People Country" a.k.a. "Limber Dick Acres" where every time your hear a siren there is going to be a future Golf Car For Sale on the near corner and an Estate Sale, which is near a gazillion Jeep trails, and I am able to hit an analog wideband GMRS repeater approx. 80 air miles away that is southeast of Phoenix with a 40 watt XPR5550e on an analog narrowband channel using a Laird Phantom on my 23 Wrangler "IZARUBICON" 2 Dr. that is mounted on the hood just in front of the A Pillar/windshield. The radio does not have the wideband entitlement so I am regulated to just narrowband emissions for that radio which is not my primary GMRS and UHF radio. The radio is my primary DMR and Digital Channel radio. My primary GMRS and UHF radio is my XTL5000 Remote Mount. Also, I have a XTL2500 VHF remote mount with the base load 2 db omni antenna on a bracket on the side of the hood near the cowl/A Pillar and I am able to hit a low-level repeater on a four-story building approx 40 air miles away looking around the side of South Mountain. It appears that I fail way short for qualifying for the 200 mile club. I guess, I have more work cut out for me to make that happen and so I can hang with and shoot UHF skip for 200 miles away to anonymous "some people". Umm, maybe I don't.

If you’re gonna be purchasing radios or anything in life, it’s a good idea to learn how to do your own research into things. I quick internet search would have answered the question and you would have felt good doing something for your self. Instead you had to be spoon fed by mother goose. In the time it took to post your post you could have had the answer all my your self.