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Maybe some folks donated to a fund for the repeater and think of themselves as "part owner" of sorts. No excuse for being rude...I'm just puzzling out loud the reason. Unless the repeater owner says get lost, I would ignore them.

I was quite thrilled yesterday. I replaced the rubber duck antenna with a whip for my 4-watt HT and heard someone on a repeater I can receive. That repeater is a little over 22 miles away according to google maps. On a whim I went outside and gave it a shot. The fellow on the other end (the repeater owner) heard me! We had a quick conversation (I had family duties with dinner), but long enough to know it works, he heard me "well" and gave me a tip to talk with the mic close to my mouth since the distance/signal was weak enough there wouldn't be any over-deviation. HIs repeater has a preamp which helped I'm sure. I'm one happy camper.

Would those of you that are moderators or admins of this site please private message me so I know who you are? When you message me, could you also please let me know your role, how long you have been doing it, and how much time you generally have to spend per week doing it? If I don’t hear directly from the forum administrator, and you moderators know who it is, could you please let me know who it is ask them to PM me as well? This request is made in connection with the thread concerning getting a master list of part 95 products documented on the site. Looking to start the discussion. Thanks in advance. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Metal detecting is my other geeky-dad hobby, and the longstanding advice especially for beginners is to buy the best equipment you can afford at the time. I'm a Motorola/Kenwood fan, but right now, I was interested in a U/V unit (both handheld and mobile), and the XPR6550 is certainly affordable, but it's UHF-only. This is great if you're in an area with a lot of GMRS users, but if you're not, you're going to be listening to a lot of radio silence. Hence, I think, the popularity of U/V CCRs both handheld and mobile. Yes, CCRs probably deserve the derision they get, but if even tossing a CCR in the dumpster because you find out amateur radio isn't your thing and nobody wantsto buy your CCR, you won't take a massive hit inasfar as what big boy toys can cost. But if your starting point furthers your interest, you can then invest in better stuff and gain some respect among your peers But if a CCR is all you're willing to afford for now that gets the job done, at least get a well-built one with really good customer support.

I am so sorry you had that rude experience. Don’t give up. I hope you find an alternate repeater to use or a more friendly group of folks to converse with. I just don’t get the negative attitude some people push on others. Whenever you do find yourself on the air practice courtesy and friendliness yourself and hopefully others will follow your lead. Giving up is easy. Leading is hard work. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Jerry, I too would like to see the FCC officially clarify explicitly that part 90 certified equipment is usable for GMRS. At a minimum, it needs to be done to allow commercial grade repeaters to be used, provided of course they are configure per the GMRS rules. The market is not likely enough to justify the overhead for a manufacture to obtain a less stringent technical certification. That repeater is not going to passed around daily to family members that are going to play with front panel controls and screw it up like a BF UV5R. I am conformable they can easily amend part 95 with appropriate language to make it legal without adding loads of bureaucracy. I do not currently see myself ever purchasing and installing one, but I would like to see this legal clarification for all those with the will and means to do so. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Understood My mistake assuming any courtesy would exist. Guess its very different from ham/ amateur radio. one of the things some new users may experience. Thank-You for weighing in

This is spec’ed for the Ham Bands only. https://mfjenterprises.com/products/bd-35 For wide band use you will likely be stuck using a mono-band amplifier. Some cheap ones are found here. https://baofengtech.com/product-category/amplifier/ You can use a couple of VHF/UHF diplexers, one on the inputs and one on the outputs, to build effectively a dual band amplifier. https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-916b If you’re worried about drawing too much current from an accessory plug just turn the HT’s power output down to limit the amplifier’s output power and thus the current draw. Oh, the amplifiers are not “linear” since most Ham communications on VHF and UHF along with GMRS/FRS uses FM modulation so the amplifiers are designed for “class - C” operation, which is nothing close to linear. This is done to get higher efficiency. https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/amplifier/amplifier-classes.html

I have one and have had it up and running for several weeks. It is posted up on a mountain near me putting it around 1800 feet up. It is powered by a 14 amp hour SLA battery that is solar recharged. I have a simple N9TAX roll up SlimJim for an antenna. It's all just strapped to a tree right now; exposed to the weather. The solar controller draws .01 amps. The RT97 draws .08 amps during standby. The RT97 draws 2.05 amps during 10 watt transmission. It reaches out 20-25 miles easy but again, it is at 1800 feet so my line of sight is great. I have been super impressed with it. It is a great option for off-grid repeater operations. I would include a few images but I don't know where to host the images anymore.