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Thanks for confirming the problem on a third 779uv. I know Wayne and I'll reach out to him (we're both members of SBARC). Dave

You can have all the "Op Sec" you want but if a hostile party DF's your location because they figure you got radios, and so might have other valuable goodies, then show up. Getting found on the air is an invitation to come and check you out. Heck, they might just want your radios!

AntennaFarm lists the 1480 at 8'4", which seems about right. If you are working with 3' right now, you could use the Larsen 2/70 (not SH) https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_192_200_450_453&products_id=1712 and put it on a mobile to base adapter (https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1289_1243&products_id=1649). On the plus, it would be a small black whip and very difficult to see.

For what its worth, this 447.20 MHz Ham repeater is listed as Daniel Peak with coverage in Hemet Valley/Banning Pass

Mine is the Tram 1480, it is 8' tall. The 1481 is a 3 piece at 17' tall. I'm, not sure what you have for your current setup, but if you are looking for attic placement, you could likely find a dual band antenna in the 6' tall area, or utilize a mobile antenna on a NMO mount.

Are you looking for base station antenna or mobile? Mobile: Larsen 2/70SH works well in both ham 2m&70cm as well as GMRS, of course being slightly out of band for GMRS, but quite workable. Larsen 150/450/758 works well in ham 2m&70cm as well as GMRS, but is better for GMRS, and a bit out of band for the ham stuff. I have both, but use the 2/70SH since I talk more on ham than GMRS. Base: I have a Tram two piece on my roof designed for ham. Once again, you will have to choose a compromise of one service over the other. It works well for GMRS, though it's not listed for GMRS. Typically, when you go HF or VHF low band (6m), you use an entirely separate antenna than your UHF/VHF antenna.

I have a RF birdie from the dash in my wife's car. Not a problem with the mobiles, but a HT in the front seats is useless. Take the antenna off, and take the open SMA connector of the radio (with it on) and track around in your car, over the dash, etc......

Sure no argument on VHF beating the pants off UHF in most outdoor cases, or the poor performance of cheap radios. I can beat you on 1 watt VHF distance, though. 155.16 mhz, on a cliff at night (elevation maybe 7,000 feet), I had no problem sending vitals to the helicopter PJ as he and the pilot waited for authorization to take off (they were at about 2,800 feet). Distance 30 miles, Motorola brick in my hand and I have no clue what the Air Force had in that old UH1 Huey at the time, but it was obviously amazing. Straight line of sight, unimpeded, but crystal clear enough I that I breathed a sigh of relief when I could hear the blades whir to life. I was young and dumb enough to take that kind of performance for granted, sigh.

Wow. Did this thread get colorful fast. I spent ten years with search and rescue, carrying a one-watt Motorola VHF brick so I think my assumption the SAR folks in Wyoming will come at this pretty practically is a good one. Send hasty teams with HTs to high peaks, usually predesignated as communications points discovered/used during practices in the area (it's a practice to mark those spots on the map whenever you find a really good one). They stay put, lighting fires as a "trap team" to attract the lost person or p/u a signal of any sort (not just radio). Somewhere relatively close is a mobile unit with higher powered radio and solid communications back to town (our porcupine on four wheels was Rescue 3). If a team on a peak picks up a signal, it radios the truck, it's relayed back to town if a helivac is needed and all is good. If a team on the move finds something they can radio a nearby peak that's manned. And there are lots of people caring enough to volunteer who cannot handle the cliffs/long hikes, but jump at the chance to babysit those peaks and trucks during operations. In fact, our in-town radio guy was handicapped, and his calm, soothing and never-flustered voice on the radio probably saved more lives than us grunts in the field ever did. I apologize for the long response. I think Wyoming's approach could be better, but a solid foundation to build on....sucks adding even a few ounces to a searcher's backpack, though.

From the quoted message it would seem like those radios are mine. They’re not. These are below. And this isn’t everything either. I have some base and mobile radios not in the photo. There are a few more HT’s I keep sitting around the home office too. The HT’s are mostly Kenwood, a few different Chinese and a few Motorola’s. Since a mention was made about digital I have radios for D-Star, DMR, P25 and NXDN so far. No System Fusion yet. What I can say about radios is you get what you pay for, and in the cheaper models maybe not even that. If you’re going to bet your safety or life on a radio don’t go cheap.

Thanks for tracking down and posting the requested link. I did not get around to it this morning but observed you had already done so. While the linked report out did focus on HT testing, mobile/base units have been measured during my play since then. Of the sensitivity numbers I mentioned earlier, the radio with the least basic sensitivity is a 50w mobile. Thanks again. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

The basic sensitivity of all radios I own open squelch between -124dBm and -119dBm and provide full quieting around 12dBm higher. These are numbers as measured in a closed circuit connected directly to test equipment. All radios are affected by the presence of off-channel signals. The the better the front end filtering the less the radio is affected. The effective sensitivity therefore is the net usable sensitivity of the radio within a given RF environment. Measured effective sensitivity will almost always be worse than basic sensitivity except when the radio is used in a low noise environment. For example. If I measure the basic sensitivity of a radio in a closed circuit it might be -122dBm. If I perform an effective sensitivity of the same radio operating in my shack it might drop to -100dBm. If I then hook that same radio up to the outdoor antenna 40’ in the air, the effective value might change to -110dBm. If I then perform the same tests using a higher end radio under the exact same conditions the basic sensitivity might be exactly the same, but the effective sensitivity number might be -109dBm and -118dBm respectively. So, despite equal base sensitivity, the radios with better front-end filtering will effectively receive better in noisy environments, but will not receive any better in low-noise environments. As a point of reference, a year ago a generous friend of this forum loaned me (7) commercial radios so i could conduct field experiments against less costly products in my low-noise environment. Results were enlightening. Findings were reported on this forum. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

I find zero correlation between measured sensitivity of any of my radios and their output power capability. All radios (HT, mobile and base alike) have basic sensitivity within a few dBm of one another. I have not measured any of the radios with non-removable antenna. The degree to which radios are desensed by other RF signals in the area is a separate topic. I would expect the higher-end radios with good front-end filtering to appear substantially more sensitive and usable in noisy environments. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

The ones I have came with the old firmware and I updated them when the new firmware update was provided. When I turn them on as described, I also see P51UV01 on the display. I don't know what it showed originally.

If they come without any Tones preprogramed into the Channels and you can program tones from the keypad, you have the latest firmware

IMO, do not let the radio snobs discourage you. As a long time Ham, from a family of Hams, the hobby is about learning and having fun. You can setup a simple repeater on your kitchen table with parts you probably already have, or easily and cheaply acquired from ebay. Go for it, just be considerate and don't cross over established repeaters. Some people way overvalue their role in the hobby. They even have a pre-made HT to HT relay box just plug and play for like $15. Sure it is not even close to a commercial repeater, but fun to experiment with, and if in a prime location it might get you to a location you could not reach before. If the FCC does not have a problem with it than neither should the rest of us. The antenna saying is a bit dated, get a VNA and tune the fudge out of a reasonably priced antenna. Again IMO. 73s have fun out there.