Leaderboard

Nice observation. Don’t let the SWR power reading mislead you. I have that same meter. The readings I get when using that meter with an antenna will at times appear as though less power is being put out and at times more power is being put out. However, when I replace the antenna with a purely resistive dummy load, that same meter has shown consistently that power of all my radios to be within a 1-5% of what the manufacturer’s rating is. One time I was using the meter with a 5-watt HT. Radio measured 4.9+ watts into the dummy load but about 8.9 watts into an antenna. Wow, big difference. Bottom line, don’t trust the power readings you get with that meter while using an antenna. Give the readings you obtain while using a dummy load more weight. After all, that is how the factory determines power too. Just a little nugget of experience for you. Hope it helps. Regards, Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Tip: When mounting under the seat (or other hard to access locations), invest in another programming cable and leave it plugged in and coiled up so you can plug it in to a laptop whenever needing to re-program the radio's functions/memories.

My nanonva says my Comet triband base antenna is better for 1.25m and 70 and 65cm than 2m. Still around 1.8:1 on 2m, so its good everywhere.

I wonder if there is a setting somewhere for adjusting the power. I did see something where you can adjust the "medium" power to be a couple of different settings, but nothing specific to the repeater channels. To Michael's point, this isn't really a true test of power (it will read low with the cable & antenna versus a dummy load). But based on the other readings, it seems like a big drop. I'm just too cheap to spend $40 on a dummy load.

I just noticed today while doing some SWR testing that the unit powers down to 40w for repeater channels, but appears to be putting out darned close to its rated 50w on the GMRS channels (and about 5.5 on the FRS channels)

The fridge only draws about 45 watts for 2-3 minutes every 30 minutes in "normal" conditions (75º daytime temps/40's at night). That equates to about 200 to 250 watt hours per 24 hour day, so I can go about 2 days without a charge before its flat dead. That gives me some cushion if the weather isn't ideal. but under normal operating conditions, the panel will produce 65-75 watts, even in mid winter and not angled at the sun properly, which tops it off from the night before within a couple of hours. Usually by the time I break camp.

You could use a multi-axis adjustable NMO mount similar to this:

I'm happy GMRS overlaps with FRS. It opens things up to a lot of people that would otherwise never consider it, myself included. If I want to sit by a radio and anxiously await for somebody to talk to using only correct phraseology and not hear any kids, I'll get in to ham. I think some of you might be trying to think GMRS is something it isn't. It's test free, cheap, and overlaps with FRS for a reason.