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So kicking back at the lake tonight and i catch a conversion with two guys on Ch 16, one pointing out where he off roads in the Kern Canyon.. I can tell they are in Helicopters and I'm assuming two different aircraft. Via the conversations they are returning to Bakersfield after doing aerial surveys somewhere in the Kern Valley.. Not that i really care about these two guys yapping but it got my curiosity going. GMRS is a ground-base communications service, does this mean you or not allowed to use GMRS radios on Aircraft. I guess i'm being lazy, i couid read the rules again,, , but last i did, i certaainly don't recall anything in the rules specifying aircract use..

W.A.G. for the win.

Apparently the Ocala repeater is "down for maintenance" these days.

It is. And they call it a "tactical unit number." I have no idea what is "tactical" about it.

The Tac Number is what they give you when you're a paid member. I'm not longer a Member but I had one for Ocala because that was the repeater in Florida nearest my Home. Ocala 818 I think it was. The trouble is I never used it. When I go to my other home in Gatlinburg I use the other Repeaters that are free and not linked

Maybe the tac number is something they give you when you are a paid club member.

So, I've done some research and I can't figure out what a "tac number" is. There's another metro area repeater that is not part of their network that has also asked me for a "tac number." I assumed it was something GMRS related that I was too green to understand. It is unique to them? As to Zello, I don't think so. I heard some guy the other day saying that he missed it. I guess I'm a little late to the game as I didn't even know what Zello was until a few weeks ago. I downloaded it and put it on my phone for about 10 minutes before I deleted it. Couldn't figure out what I would use it for.

Tac Number. Do they still have it broadcasting on Zello?

Indeedily doodily. What gave it away?

Tac Number? I'm guessing it's the North Georgia GMRS Network?

Really, the only thing you'd have to be careful about is that one of the HTs would have "reversed" offset and you'd have to have a "repeater A" set and a "repeater B" set. Depending upon your use case, it might not matter that "A" radios can't talk to other "A" radios and "B" radios can't talk to other "B" radios via the repeater.

Glad I could help. POTA is fun. Even when band conditions are bad, it's still fun just to get outside and enjoy yourself. another nice thing about POTA is that it is not a contest and you can work at your on pace. Some want to make as many contacts as possible while others take the time to talk to each person that answers their CQ.

Ok, cool. So it is a game. You've been very helpful, Midwest. I appreciate it!

Yes that is correct. The reason for that is you need at least 10 contacts to activate a park. Plus there is a bonus point for each park to park contact. Here is the official POTA website and rules for POTA activations. https://docs.pota.app

Being old and liking to talk face to face I solved the problem. First a bit of background. Neighbor and her kids survived a home invasion while on 911 waiting for police. The police showed up a couple of hours "after" the invaders left. I helped her and he husband with the use and purchase of that which can't be mentioned here and had an idea. What about a neighborhood "network" where we could check in on those who are elderly or infirm and also allow a call for help from neighbors during emergencies. I went out and talked to my neighbors and some were receptive. So I supplied a few radios to older neighbors, and some bought their own. Nothing official, but it works. No fancy interweb lists or maps, just good old talking with neighbors.

As far as I know, there are two possible but time is needed in getting material and testing completed. People seem to be kinda harsh in these parts from with I have seen as of late. Got to remember, these people are forking out their time and money. I agree with UncleYoda, "I suggest you change the title to "Charleston SC repeater?""

SWR is somewhat important, but tells you nothing about gain or pattern. A dummy load will test nearly perfectly.

I know that none of you will care, but I'm listening to the paid-for repeater tonight and this guy just keyed up, ID'ed himself as new to group, gave his tac number and callsign, and then asked for a radio check and then roger beep. I should mention that the club has a "no roger beep" rule on the repeater. A couple of seconds go by and this other guy keys up and gives him the appropriate feedback and signs off. Original guy keys back up and thanks other dude and then signs off. Roger beep. About ten seconds go by and this third guy comes on, completely unsolicited, and tells the guy to turn of his roger beep, there's no roger beeps allowed. You should know that if you're a member. Turn it off. A few seconds go by and new guy kerchunks the repeater and roger beeps again. I spit water all over my desk laughing. Carry on...

As it turns out, yes, there is a way to do this. Retevis has a solution. I'm truly surprised.

I lived there for awhile. Married a local girl and still have family in the area. It is kind of amazing to me that there isn't one. There's a large HAM community and when Hugo and Matthew hit, they were instrumental in getting help where it was needed. GMRS just has never taken off in the area. My father in law's best friend is a HAM and has a whole outbuilding dedicated to it. He thinks GMRS is a "toy" so, there's that.

I also have a Gen 3 Tacoma. I should take photos. I mounted the mxta26 on an nmo mount attached to a bracket that mounts to the rear of the bed. I ran the coax under the lip of the bed and then through the drivers side pressure vent on the rear of the cab. Then down and under the panels on the door frame to the front of the cab, across under the drivers seat and to the radio. No holes were drilled, and the SWR is 1.01. My bed cover is a multiple section accordion folding type made of aluminum. I've seen a few other installations, but all required drilling holes. While I've done that with my Jeep I'm avoiding it on my other vehicles.

Just for grins I got my power/swr meter out(same one I used to test power output in my videos)and checked the swr(unscientifically)and got anywhere from really good on some frequencies with some antennas to absolutely awful on some frequencies. Some antennas did great on MURS and 2M but totally sucked at 70cm. Many didn't do well at all on 1.25M but were passable on 2M and 70cm. Surprisingly the factory 8" and Abbree 771 were both accaptably on ALL tested frequencies. 2M, MURS, 1.25M, 70cm and GMRS. I guess the factory provided antennas aren't as bad as the old rubber duck antennas they use to provide. I'll probably give the 320a a test to see how it looks before I make up my mind one way or the other.

I'm certainly and self-admittedly new to all of this, but I wasn't even aware that one could test the SWR of a handheld antenna. I'm running a Nagoya NA-771 on my 5 watt HT. I don't have any scientific data, but from a bit of practical testing, I have found that range is much improved over the OEM rubber ducky. I am roughly 40 miles - as the crow flies - from a local repeater and I hear it clear as a bell and have, on two occasions, hit it and gotten a response on that HT with the Nagoya NA-771. I suppose the stars were aligned just right because I have tried several times since and not had success. I was never able to hit it with the rubber ducky on.

I watched an HRCC video last night and he talked about HAMRS. Thanks for the info. You mentioned "park to park." I've overheard Mike on Ham Tube Radio use that language to. The idea being that you aren't talking to a base station in someone's home? Helping activate from another park is preferable than getting a contact from someone at home? Is that the gist?