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Take the $500 you're going to flush on that crap and add $400 and get a real radio such as the Yaesu FT-710 and have a transmitter just in case you get your ham license. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-018470

The big issue I see with it is that hams are an unhappy bunch when something changes in their orbit. So the issue becomes when some other company buys it and only takes on part of what the company was. If they do Ameritron and Cushcraft but leave MFJ and others to fall, the backlash will be huge. And the truth is that this couldn't have come at a worse time overall. Ham radio as a hobby is waning right now. GMRS is on the upswing and I see that trend continuing. There are NEW manufactures for GMRS radios. Companies that never bothered with GMRS before are getting into the mix because the see profit in it. When was the last time, outside or the CCR's that a new player came the table making ham radios or even accessories that wasn't a small mom and pop place? The ham community is to blame here for the lack of any significant interest in someone buying the business. If there was a profit to be made, some investor would be all over it. But that's not been the case. And I would have to question the statements about affordable gear. Look at the MFJ 259 antenna analyzer, then look at the import nano VNA. How many VNA's can you buy for the price of one 259 or 269. And most of the rest of the MFJ products have counterparts available on Amazon for much less than MFJ's product that performs the same task. Sure there are a few items that will be missed, at least until the rights expire and they start being made under some hard to pronounce named Chinese banner. And the stuff will end up being sold on Amazon and Temu for a third of what MFJ wanted for it. I am not blaming MFJ here. They supported the ham community way past it being profitable. But as I said before, the ham community didn't support them the same way.

i can hit the maga 500 good what about the maga 725 what are the tones

i can hit the maga 500 good what is the maga 725 and tones

Does anybody know where I can find a pre configured file for chip to program my baofeng 5rm with all basic ham, emergency and gmrs frequencies the radio is capable of?

Pretty sure the repeater is down.

Is this thing on?

Have not been able to key up McHenry co repeater? Channel has been silent. Anyone know what’s going on?

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.

Test failed

Test accepted

Test

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