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You’ll get lots of replies with ideas and advice, but do yourself a favor and spend some time watching YouTube videos and reviews. This will give you far more “pros & cons” and you’ll actually see the items. Our own Randy has a great channel, with great reviews, and he’s entertaining as a bonus. (Randy, I’ll be watching my Venmo [emoji6]) Affiliate link: https://youtube.com/@TheNotaRubicon?si=eguV0C9AX-2SL0Fa Start with the most recent vids, as that’s typically the latest stuff. Welcome & enjoy!

You definitely want to recheck the VSWRs if it wasn't tuned/check with the spring.

I was wondering that about the Midland handhelds. I didn't see anything on their website about them being repeater capable so it had me wondering. In that case I'll have to nix Midland. I definitely want something that is repeater capable for when and if I ever need it. Thanks for the recommendation! I'm going to check out that channel and do more research now.

Moral Turpitude was a catch all term used by government employers to dismiss employees back in the dark ages such as the Disco decade. That is essentially non-extent these days but the rule is still on the books. The moral turpitude acts are widely overlooked these days and not considered immoral as they once were.

Been there. Spent a lot of time on the Old Mojave Road in years past.

Congrats on the homestead. As far as handhelds, I am sure you will get plenty of great recommendations here. BaoFeng, Wouxon, Retevis, all make plenty of good GMRS handhelds at prices which will fit into your budget. Starting around $30 up to about $150. Just keep in mind Midland GMRS handhelds you can buy today are not repeater capable, so that will limit their effectiveness in your plan. They serve us great for "around the neighborhood communications." But if I had to do it again I would go with repeater capable handhelds, which I ended up buying anyway. More costly options includes include commercial radios, Kenwood, Icom, Motorola. Its a steeper learning curve and plenty of folks here will remind you that most of the commercial radios aren't "legal" for GMRS according the the FCC. Just search up these forums for commercial radios, grab some popcorn, and read the heated debates about the legality of commercial radios. In the end no one seems to care, well maybe a few. Repeaters, depends on what you want to use it for. The one you are looking at is a portable repeater that gets good reviews for what its designed to do. If you want a repeater at a base station with more coverage you are probably talking more in the $900 to $1200 range, unless you want to hold out for a deal on a pre-owned one. Lastly, Don't take my word for it. Recommend you check out the "Not a Rubicon" channel on you tube for more info before you spend your cash.

Not to mention lame.

You may find that you have very good communications with GMRS on 20 acres over simplex, no repeater. In that case you can put your 2k into the jeep instead. At least test things out as is. See how it goes.

You won't unless they have the same tone. Locally we suggest all people enable/program a monitor button if out radio has that feature... Then monitor for about 30sec to a minute before transmitting. On repeater pairs a lot of have no receive ton on the receive side. I don't do this because I don't want to hear all the kids and lawn mor companies stopping my repeater scan. So generally, before transmitting on a repeater pair I hit the monitor button on my xtl5k or xg100m and I removes the tones for the receive side. It's helpful for some one whom might be close on simplex but can be heard by the repeater for one reason or another (usually wrong tone or dont even have one set) but can hear our conversation on the repeater output. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Sounds like a great trip. My wife and I have taken similar trips out that way. Found the guardian lions of the desert just by chance out on Route 66 Near Amboy, west of Needles.

Heres a dumb question. If I transmit on channel X with CTCSS turned on , How will I know if I someone else is or is not talking on that channel that is not using a CTCSS tone ?

My family and I are moving to Gillette, Wyoming on May 22nd. While we will only be living on 20 acres, we will be running it as a homestead type of situation with some livestock, a greenhouse, and some other crops. Anyways, I'd like to run a GMRS setup on the property so that my family can communicate with one another with ease. I've been using GMRS a lot for off-roading in my Jeep and our SxS and I like it quite a bit. My thought is I'd like some nice handhelds for all of us as well as a repeater. The reason for the repeater being that I'd like extended range capability and I'd like to share it with others who might like to use it as well. That being said, I'm a buy once, cry once type of guy. I don't mind spending more money if it's going to get me something higher quality that will last longer. I've been looking at Midland, Rugged Radios, BaoFeng, and others. I'm interested in hearing what you guys would run in my situation and if there are any supporting sponsors of this forum I'd be happy to send my business your way. As far as budget goes, I'm thinking $2000 or less. This is the setup I was looking at: https://www.retevissolutions.com/waterproof-gmrs-radio-solution-bundles I don't know as much about GMRS as I do about guns and Jeeps, but I'm learning! Thank you in advance and God bless!

Hello, have you had any luck programing your radio?

If you are going to do a Base setup, and I encourage that you do, the most effective setup for what you seem to need is to have the Middle residence have the Base. Now granted... all of you should have a base! But that may or may not be practical in the short term. IF the Middle location has a decent base with a good antenna, and good feed line, at or above the roof, you'll be amazed how much range 'they' will have with lesser powered HTs and mobiles. 40-50w mobiles and base stations should have no problem getting 10miles out. Granted, terrain always dictates, so this isn't exact in every application. An attic antenna isn't a terrible way to start with the base station either. Even a mobile antenna on a mag mount on a pie pan or piece of sheet steel (old computer tower) up in the attic will get you increased range with the height. The roof will inhibit the signal somewhat, but the height will gain more than the hindrance. Be sure to get an SWR meter for this frequency range. It's a must have for new stations and something you'll use many times down the road. Surecom's are popular, among others. Have fun and good luck with your setups!

I have to admit, I had to look that one up because I had no idea what moral turpitude was, but now that I know I don't want anyone saying I had it when they do my obituary.

Not for me. Running Win10 and the CPS will not load whether the programming cable is plugged in or not, lacking a dll, the name of which escapes me. Not mention of this issue on the Retevis site and nowhere to d/l the needed dll

It’s much easier and less embarrassing to act cryptic rather than having the moral turpitude to admit his mistake and take his lumps.

It's just another excuse. If he gets called out and pushed for more details, he'll make up some lie to justify acting like a dickhead.

The best advice is to read a lot of threads in this forum and start learning what works and what doesn't. Ask a lot of questions as well. There are a lot of topics on improving range and getting the most from your installation on the net. There's so much to learn, just take it slow so you don't get overwhelmed. Again, it's all about research and not thinking any question is not worth asking. Most of all, have fun.

Yes elevation above obstructions is your friend. If you and your contact can safely climb onto the roof of your houses with the radios as a test to see if that helps then you will know that it is possible and that a roof top or high window location for a remote antenna should work. Don't forget to hold the radios/antennas vertical for best performance.

My wife and I took a driving trip last week to Utah and Arizona. We spent most of our time in Southern Utah. Ahead of the voyage I looked up all of the listed repeaters in the areas we would be travelling. I requested access to three repeaters and received a response from one repeater owner (thanks WRVI568). I loaded everything onto my 935G+ and used it with a mag mount mobile antenna. I also loaded 2m repeaters into a VX-6R with a stock antenna. I eventually just used the stock antenna on the 935G+ as well. I scanned GMRS channels and repeaters most of the time. We drove through multiple National Parks where I heard the only GMRS traffic for the whole trip and that was on FRS. I was scanning on 2m and heard a short communication out in the middle of nowhere on simplex. I did test a couple of the repeaters to make sure I was getting out. We stayed out of the larger towns and mainly stuck to the scenic routes. We carried radios when we did some hiking but stayed together so we never used them. When we got back to Northern Arizona I scanned railroad frequencies with the 935G+. I'm a nerd and enjoyed hearing the EOT signals and occasional yard conversations. In AZ we drove old Route 66 from Williams to Needles. Really enjoyed the Burma Shave signage. It was a great trip. That is how I enjoy using radios when travelling.

Well that’s a bit cryptic…..

It can help and hurt. Most springs are calculate into the length of the radiating (active) length of the antenna. For instance, the comet 2x4sr (think this post is the one you are referring to) is about the same length as the section that is removed to install it. It would not affect anything. You can actually tune the antenna by unlocking the allen grub screws and increase or decrease the length of the antenna smidgen. But because of it being a collimeter design it can be a bit tricky to do right. Which is unlike cb antenna steel whips. Which are technically too short, most commercial whips are about 102". By adding the 6" spring to the base it brings it closer to the natural resonance length. Give or take with spring it's 108". Resonance is about 108-112" (true 1/4 length) for 11mhz/cb. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk