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Alright, if I can figure out how to lengthen it...like loosen a set screw or something...then I'll see if I can improve it. If not, I'll just leave it as it. Appreciate the help.

That is mighty nice of you. I mean it's not like the cost to get a pair is super expensive. But most administrators off the bat would of not offered or put secondary user stipulations even the if pair wasn't used. You know "in case". Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

I totally agree. That way the system users can operate under the system license authority and don't have to worry about getting an individual license. I have several Part 90 Business Radio Service frequency pairs licensed statewide in California and if I need to I will give permission and/or give up a pair for his system.

2.18:1 is acceptable, but not great; I’ve used worse. 1.50:1 is just fine. I probably would not do much. If 470 MHz is even better SWR then the element is slightly too short.

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No one has mentioned if gmrs is used. All the household users or non-related users will need to be licensed. It will probably be better to get an lmr/commercial license. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

According to the mygmrs.com map, all the GMRS channels are not overly used in Sonoma County. I just took a quick look and the "725" channel pair appears to be a good candidate for a county wide GMRS channel. You will need to get a good simulcast system designer so you can start designing and identifying the transmitter sites. You just can't plunk down a simulcast transmitter on any site and have a good working system. It'll take careful planning. I know what it takes to plan a good working simulcast system in Sonoma County. I spent a lot of time and driven many miles in Sonoma County to get a simulcast system to work. To save time and effort you should try to acquire the space and services for the remote sites and mirror the Sheriff's UHF Simulcast system. Acquiring the remote site space and services is going to be your biggest problem if improvements are required. The County should be receptive in providing services for renting mux channels for a fee of course on their Microwave System. You will need to identify where you will be locating your system control equipment.

Thanks! That's the kind of answer I was looking for...rather than "jUsT bUy a nEw aNtEnnA!" I appreciate the explanation.

Your radiation pattern from an omni antenna would look like a beach ball with a weight pushing down at the top making the top and bottom flat. Tilting the antenna lifts one side of the ball but pushes the other side down reducing signal strength to the horizon. The side pointing up will send more signal toward clouds and possibly also reducing signal strength at te horizon. The best result is keep the antenna vertical and increase height.

I think you understand what we are trying to do. It would be a link and simulcast combo. Receives sites for HT's, simulcast to conserve frequency use and linking for big events where we would want to tLk across multiple districts. Thanks for your reply Tony

Well, my disposable budget has been eaten up by other unexpected obligations this month, and with the hobby getting rather expensive, I told my wife that I'd wait to upgrade anything else until later next year...other than the cheap extension I'm adding to the mast. So, a different antenna is out of the question at the point, which is why I'm trying to make the best of what I have available. I'll add the extension and see what I think after that I guess.

Your going to get many more data buy adding to the mast. Tilting the antenna will mess up your radiated pattern. I’d just sell the tram and by a 712efc and fix all your problems but that’s just me.

First off, I'm still learning about radios and such. Basically all the repeaters in my area are south of me. I can hit one kinda reliably at over 30 miles, but I noticed the other day that I was hearing another that about 45 miles away that I can't normally hear...I assume the weather conditions were good that day. Anyway, if I tilt my Tram 1477 antenna slightly south, rather than straight vertical, will that help my reach? I'm adding an extension onto my mast next week, so I could force a tilt then if it makes a difference. If it won't make a difference, than I won't bother trying to tilt it.

Unfortunately, most government radio admins want to play God. I wonder if it was the county council that enforced the requirement or each depth voiced they wanted that requirement added. Either case, it's the people that won. On the next county over I often hit dead spots with their system. It's funny to see in other counties every one running multiple high gain antennas. Where in moco almost all the vehicles are running low gain antennas, minus the few exceptions. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Ok. This sounds like the commorodory I am talking about unfortunately our agencies all are send alone and keep everything close to the chest. One really doesn't want to help the other. This is the first time in a long time to see departments starting to talk and want a better system. It could happen and we are considering such a thing each step we take. We are not a selfish group. We want unity. We have to put egos aside. And achieve the awesomeness you folks have. I would like to hear me about your setup. Tony

Simulcast and Linked are 2 different things. The SLR is made for linking in DMR not analog. Simulcast would be all transmitters and receivers on the same channel basically not destroying the other frequencies so others can use them. Linking in a close are ties up multiple channels. For SAR I use Quantars and MLC8000 convertors. You need GPS timing for both boxes but it works very good. Its not cheap to do simulcast correctly. The other thing you may look at is voting first. You may have enough TX coverage but voting receivers would help HT's get into the repeater. My GMRS sites are setup with this. Your SLR can be used for that again with a MLC or other "voter" box. Much cheaper to drop receivers around vs TX stuff.

Going to 470 MHz, the swr got even better. So I assume I would need to lengthen to make my ch19 better. I'm taking the antenna down on Monday to add a 10ft extension, I'll look and see if lengthening is an option. As it sits, is 2.18 on ch19 and 1.50 on repeater channels acceptable? If so, I may not even bother tuning any further.

Trimming would make the 462 MHz channels higher SWR because it’s already higher SWR than the higher frequencies. Without sweeping it using an antenna analyzer it’s difficult to know which way to go for the repeater channels: is the bottom of the dip left or right of the repeater channel you looked at?.

They are, but some people would try to tune them. I think I would not.

I've got a Nagoya UT-72 dual band antenna on my Jeep. I've just cut it down to tune for GMRS. I've got Ch19 (my main simplex channel) from 1.75 swr down to 1.42. I did get it to 1.19, trimmed a touch more to improve repeater channels, and ch19 went up to 1.42...so I assume I'm done cutting at that point. That leaves the repeater channels around 1.98...it was 3.10 before I started trimming, yikes! First question...are those acceptable ranges, 1.42 simplex, 1.98 repeater? Second question concerns my base antenna. I've got a Tram 1477, pre-tuned dual band. I checked the swr on ch19 and it's at 2.18. and repeater channels are around 1.50. Are those acceptable ranges, or should I try to figure out how to tune it...and if so, do I trim or lengthen? Last question. Other than trimming/lengthening the antenna, is there anything else I can do to improve my swr?

But its legal it there is nothing you can do about it... Other than change your address to a PO Box or use mailing service.

The funny thing is that if you enter this young man's name into the Google search engine, you can come up with a lot more information than just his address. Where he went to school, who his fellow students were, when he graduated, where he works, when he started, what his job title is, his baseball stats, his college activities, other business he's involved with, I mean this guy's life is an open book. And that was with about two minutes of searching. I'm not saying it's cool to put every GMRS license on a publicly accessible map without at least asking them, but let's be real... all someone needs is your name.