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It was amazing how much it helped. Using a mag mount and 16 feet of RG58 coax, I mounted a 5db gain antenna on the roof. I can reach 3 repeaters in my area from my front deck. There is a 4th repeater 30 miles away that I cannot reach. Well, last night I was able to reach it, and had a nice conversation with a fellow. My HT was only pushing 2 watts, so it was amazing how much range I was able to gain just from antenna choice and placement.

I don't make any assumptions about license class or region anymore based on the call sign. At one time if you moved to a different region you had to update your call, not anymore. You hear a region 6 call in Michigan, for example, and you might think you got some DX coming from California but its just a guy that lives across town testing out his new QRP rig. 8<(

Repeaters are not permitted to transmit on 467.xxxx frequencies per 95.1763 © 467 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, control and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. Mobile, hand-held portable and control stations may transmit on these channels only when communicating through a repeater station or making brief test transmissions in accordance with § 95.319©. The channel center frequencies are: 467.5500, 467.5750, 467.6000, 467.6250, 467.6500, 467.6750, 467.7000, and 467.7250 MHz. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

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This is a fixed station. It's similar to a base or repeater station in that it's in a fixed location. But key distinctions are that it's normally unmanned (like a repeater but mainly different than a base). Fixed stations also usually talk only to other fixed stations (e.g. a remote sensing site talks back to a central site collecting data), which means they usually have Yagis and don't have wide, general coverage. They also may operate on a predictable schedule on predetermined frequencies. BTW, this isn't a GMRS fixed station, but rather a weather station in Rocky Mountain National Park that sends data from the Loch Vale watershed for the USGS and NOAA.

Good Day Michael, I think you are hung up on the bending the term “Fixed Station” to our lay definition of it. I get it. I wrestled it as well for a long time also. We are playing with a term that has a steep legal meaning and tradition. While you may have a station at your home that never moves (i.e. is fixed), and you intend to use it communicate always and forever with only one other person that has a station at their home that too intends to use it to always and forever talk only to you, I do not believe it is likely to happen and do believe this meets the FCC’s legal definition and intent of an FCC fixed station. Of course, I am not a lawyer. Given how much manufacturers like to push legal limits, I think it is fair to say if any manufacturer could even remotely conclude that simplex communication on the 467 main channels was legal they would certainly have them already programmed into hardware so they could sell them as 38 channel radios instead of 22 or 30 that they do now. No matter how you slice and dice it, what makes GMRS special is the fact that it allows and supports repeaters. If people start operating simplex using repeater input frequencies the repeaters will loose their effectiveness do to all the interference. Once that happens you are back to bubble wrap radio performance in the service. Respectfully, Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Nearly anything you do to get the antenna higher in elevation is going to have a positive impact on your range. An HT hooked up to antenna at 20, 40, 60 feet and more is going to result in noticeable increase in range over an HT at 5 feet. Even in a mobile situation, putting an external antenna on the vehicle may add 4 feet of elevation increase. Here you win twice because the antenna is higher, plus the antenna is outside of the box that serves as a signal obstruction. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Hence, why I said (with Novice in quotes): A throwback to another era: 60 years since I was a Novice! FWIW: While in Chicago, "KN9" were Novices; in California, Novices were WN6!

Can vouch they're now issuing KN* as sequential for Techs...got mine march of this year, kn6, but shortened it to k6 with a vanity request.

I'm assuming that you are looking for somthing to put on a tower. If you have the room for a 17-foot antenna, I suggest a Tram 1481. I have one on my garage and I can hit a 2m HAM repeater that is 70 miles away. When the conditions are JUST RIGHT, I can hit a GMRS repeater that is 40 miles away with a good bit of obstructing terrain in the middle. 8.3dbd of gain on VHF, 11.7dbd of gain on UHF. NOTE: That's dbd, not dbi like just about everyone else specs their antennas. From dbi, subtract 2.1 to get to dbd. So an antenna that boasts 2.1dbi = 0dbd, which is unity gain. I have mine tuned so that my HAM bands are close to 1:1 in the middle of each band. GMRS is up around 1.7:1, which is not great, but still usable. At 2:1 SWR, about 10% of the power is being sent back to the radio, so my 50W is really somewhere between 40-45W (coax losses not withstanding). The ground plane is adjustable and there is a good bit of adjustment remaining in the proper direction, so I'm sure that I could get the SWR lower in the GMRS band if I tried. If you do get one, get it from Staples. Yes, the office supply store. They have the best price around. Finally, don't go cheap on the coax.

It's situation dependant, but it's very likely it would help considerably.

But KN* and WN* used to belong to Novice

Not all of the 2x3 call signs belong to Novice or Tech Class licensees.

I still get thrown at all of the "Novice" Ham callsigns I hear in California these days: KN6xxx [former Novice: KN9FKA]

It's not clear to me (as it might be to you) that this is a "modification" that invalidates its type acceptance, since the change can be accomplished with the programming software or by keyboard, as it was supplied to the FCC for Type Acceptance. In any event, I get much more sleep at night than I use to, when I used my Baofeng UV-5Rx3 for GMRS!

The only issue I had with this is that they declined to enforce a Busy Channel Lockout for automatic data/location bursts. You could set up your radio to transmit every 30 seconds, for example, and it'll beacon regardless of whether the channel is busy with voice traffic. Add in multiple radios in the same range, and I fear the GMRS channels will start to sound like APRS with data bursts all over the place. I had proposed the busy channel lockout feature but they specifically rejected it, claiming it was up to the licensee to ensure their radio is not causing interference. But once you enable an automatic location report, the licensee is relinquishing control to the radio for some period of time. It only seems like common sense for the radio to hold off the transmission until the channel is clear again. I'd also think the manufacturers would voluntarily add this feature as it would increase the reliability of their messages in the presence of co-channel interference. As far as FM on CB, I think it's great. It throws a lifeline to the CB radio manufacturers who can now introduce new FM-capable radios and revitalize the service a little bit. Seems GMRS has been taking over for quite a while, which is why some companies like Midland have all but given up on CB and moved onto making mobile GMRS products. For me, the interesting thing is that the reasons the FCC rejected digital voice on GMRS are the same reasons they initially denied Cobra's request to allow FM on CB. It fundamentally changes the nature of the service, it creates a compatibility issue between existing users and FM users, etc. They chose to mandate that AM is required on any FM-capable radios to ensure backwards compatibility. Using the same workaround, we could petition for digital voice on GMRS as long as digital radios are backwards compatible with analog on these channels so you can always talk to the analog people and hear the traffic on the channel. So for that, I'm very excited for the next round of interest in digital voice on GMRS. Seems a no-brainer now, we just need to file a well-organized petition for it with support from users and manufacturers.

The MX115 firmware was recently updated to do split tones, and why the radio is currently on back order. Midland relayed to me that a 50 watt version will be released in Sept. 2021.

Absolutely. Eight of the main GMRS frequencies (462.550, .575, .600, .625, .650, .675, .700, .725) are all allowed 50watts when used simplex or with a repeater. These are often called channels 15-22. Their 467MHZ companions (i.e. the other eight main GMRS frequencies) are not permitted for simplex use. If you were to illegally use the 467MHz Main frequencies for simplex, you are likely to negatively affect local repeaters that use them as their input frequencies, so do not ever do that. You are on the right track. Always use as little power as necessary to get the job done. Finally, you are also on the right track too to pick a simplex frequency that is not being used so as to avoid interference with others. That is always a wise decision. Hope this helps. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Okay, I’ll bite here. I own a repeater (Rugged 575) in Naperville, IL at 300' receive / 250’ transmit. It’s on a commercial site with other UHF and VHF radio systems as well. Not only have I spent nearly 5 figures setting this up correctly but I monitor it as if it was my baby, cuz, you know, it *IS* my baby. I built it with no financial help from anyone else. Of course there was other help I received by LOTS of other commercial repeater owners (Those of you that are reading know who you are) as I’ve come a long way in the last year and some change here. I have my repeater system set up for several different private family usage cases and I also have a tone for public which I closely monitor as well and others that are out there do use it. As a repeater owner I’m super happy to turn my radio on and hear other people using it. As a matter of fact just yesterday some other licensed GMRS users were using my repeater and I needed to use it with my wife as I was at the grocery store and I broke in and said, “hang tight guys, I need to talk to my wife for a minute. I’ll let you know when I’m done”. Anyways, I flipped to our tone, talked with her about the particulars, then went back to the public side and said “Carry on guys! Glad to hear you out there using the machine”. That being said, mine is set to “Ask permission” as well because as others have mentioned, I want to know who is using it to verify their license and location because it’s my system and it’s my responsibility to make sure it’s up to par on the commercial shared site. I have sent an email back to EVERY! SINGLE! PERSON! As well welcoming them with the tones to use it! I haven’t had the need (yet) to ever reject anyone from using my repeater but I still keep a tab on who has access to it as in my opinion, it’s my responsibility to do so. Not only that, but I have my custom verbiage I send back with every request as well stating that this is a family repeater as well and to aid to traffic on the other PL tone. Heck, I’ll paste what I send you can see where we are coming from with this: “The tone for my repeater is XXXX (left blank) (N – normal, not inverted). When you key up for the first time please identify yourself using your call sign and call for ROB. I am regulating who is using my repeater as it is being used for my family as well. I have received an exceeding amount of requests to use my repeater. Originally this was set up for family only use but seeing as the range is far better than expected, I have opened it up on an as-requested basis to any licensed GMRS operator. PLEASE NOTE: ALL TRAFFIC MUST YIELD TO MY FAMILY. The tone for public use is different than family so if you see your radio lighting up receiving on 462.575 but no audio is coming through on your radio it's because my family is talking so please do not key up until that traffic has cleared. Thanks and I hope to hear you on the air!” That being said, sometimes users don’t understand what a multi-table is either so I will say this too: When you first use a new repeater you should ALWAYS call out for a radio check IMO because you don’t know how that repeater is set up and should NEVER assume anything! I was in Iowa once and I made contact to the owner on the traveler tone (I was travelling) and he told me that it’s linked to another repeater in California! NONE of this information was posted on mygmrs.com and upon googling I couldn’t even find it either!!! It was good to know that I was keying multiple machines too and me and the owner had a nice long 30 minute conversation and he was glad I keyed up and shouted out! To sum up further as a repeater owner: *MOST*, but not *ALL* repeater owners don’t mind you using their machine I’ve found. Now I’m in the Midwest mind you, so again, no assumptions would be made for other machines that I’ve never used, but around here most repeater owners are very happy to have you on their machine and it brings a great smile to their face to know that they are serving the public with a reliable communication system and growing the hobby as well! Remember that GMRS isn’t HAM and HAM isn’t GMRS. A *LOT* of people out there want GMRS for family use under one license and that’s what I’m doing but I’ve decided to open it up to the public as well as the coverage is fairly decent. I looked at getting a business license and could have easily done it too but I like the idea of being able to chat with my family *AND* other GMRS users so here we are! Thanks!