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To my knowledge, they are the only group lobbying on behalf of amateur radio. Without amateur backing, we could loose the only voice we have Washington and could find ourselves without spectrum for our craft. They publish a couple of good magazines that are free to members and publish educational books that are useful to us all. In addition, they keep us informed of legislation that affects us. I have heard opinions that perhaps at times they have not lobbied hard enough and that we have lost spectrum as a result Perhaps that is because there was not enough funding to wage the necessary defense, I do not know. I find membership an appropriate support of their mission to serve and protect amateur radio. Such efforts are not free. Just one man’s opinion. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

Who will be the national voice for our Service, other than the ARRL? Without their efforts, it's likely we'll lose all our spectrum to commercial interests. As Lscott pointed out, business interests have been sharpening their knives for years, waiting to carve it up. The cost of an ARRL Membership is cheap, considering what you get in just the magazine alone. Ads? Most pubs carry ads as the primary way to support their efforts. Ads can cover up to 90% or more of magazine revenue. Would you rather pay nine times more for a magazine with no ads? Suppoting local efforts are vital as well. Do whatever you can from where you are, but recognize the bigger picture. But it's not an either/or choice between supporting local or national efforts that benefit our Service (ask any ARES Member, it's not a "hobby," it's a Service). A group of passengers were stranded in a life boat. The lifeboat sprung a leak. Everyone joined in baling the water except for one guy. When asked why he wasn't helping save the boat, he replied, "Why bother? It's not my boat."

I have a subscription to QEX which is their tech publication. The articles are several levels above what you see in QST. When the ARRL sends out a request for funds to cover their efforts on spectrum issues I try to send them a few bucks. It's worth it. I don't think most people understand how many and how often the Ham bands are being targeted by commercial interests. That's how we lost part of the 1.25M band. As it is Ham are SECONDARY users on the 70cm band in the US. In various countries Hams only have 430 MHz to 440 MHz. From Wikipedia: U.S. reallocation In 1973, the FCC considered Docket Number 19759, which was a proposal to establish a Class E Citizen's band service at 224 MHz. The proposal was opposed by the ARRL and after the explosive growth of 27 MHz Citizen's Band usage, the FCC dropped consideration of the docket in 1977.[9] In the late 1980s, United Parcel Service (UPS) began lobbying the FCC to reallocate part of the 1.25-meter band to the Land Mobile Service. UPS had publicized plans to use the band to develop a narrow-bandwidth wireless voice and data network using a mode called ACSSB (amplitude-companded single sideband). UPS's main argument for the reallocation was that amateur use of the band was very sparse and that the public interest would be better served by reallocating part of the band to a service that would put it to good use.[10] In 1988, over the objections of the amateur radio community, the FCC adopted the 220 MHz Allocation Order, which reallocated 220–222 MHz to private and federal government land-mobile use while leaving 222–225 MHz exclusively for amateur use.[citation needed] The reallocation proceeding took so long, however, that UPS eventually pursued other means of meeting its communications needs. UPS entered into agreements with GTE, McCall, Southwestern Bell, and Pac-Tel to use cellular telephone frequencies to build a wireless data network.[citation needed] With the 220–222 MHz band then left unused, the FCC issued parts of the band to other private commercial interests via a lottery in hopes that it would spark development of super-narrowband technologies, which would help them gain acceptance in the marketplace.[citation needed] In the 1990s and into the 2000s paging companies made use of the 1.25-meter band. Most all such use ended by the mid-2000s, with the paging companies being purchased by others and services moved to newer systems, or having gone out of business.[citation needed] Then there was this garbage recently with the 2M band. http://www.arrl.org/news/restraint-urged-in-response-to-2-meter-reallocation-proposal

I have ARRL membership. To me supporting ARRL is in the same bucket as supporting other causes I find important, even if I do not receive any direct and immediate payouts or benefits. For me they are together with AMA (motorcycle, not medical one) and local art institutions. ARRL has plenty of good printed and online technical materials.With regards to QST vs On The Air, I think On The Air is clearly targeted to youth, judging by the language, style and form of the presentation. Nothing wrong with it, but I find QST better for me.

As a new ham I find the ARRL useful. The amount of information available on multiple topics makes the dues worthwhile.

The XPR7550 was heavily inspired by the Astro radios... that is why I like the XPR7550e so much... I used to like those old Astro radios... On a different note... Seems like PAC owns at least one of every Motorola radio model built to date... Is there a Motorola radio model you don't own? impressive! G.

Those System Saber radios were awesome. I still see some in use in some parts of the country, especially California law enforcement. I myself still use a VHF Astro Saber Model 3 for some uses as well. Had to eventually upgrade to a Lithium Ion battery, which makes it slightly shorter now, and required a newer multi-chemistry charger. But still a very capable and useful radio. If mine were in UHF, they would be used for GMRS for sure. I gave two away to amateur radio type friends and now only have two myself. They were removed from a maritime environment, spares for use on motorized barges used to transport oil products along the West coast. The Saber radios do have excellent specifications for the time they were manufactured.

Why does every new license holder want to setup a repeater? I would like to shed a little light on some of the important things to consider if you recently got your GMRS license and now want your own repeater. First thing to consider, are there any open well placed repeaters in your area that you are able to use? I can assure you most repeater owners want people to use there repeater. Owning several repeaters I can assure you all are welcome and encouraged to use my machines. Do you have access to a location to host your repeater? If your answer is your garage roof you should reconsider. Your garage roof will give you about the same coverage as simplex. Unless you’re on top of a mountain and all your users are at the bottom you will never be happy with this setup. GMRS is not as popular as one would like to think, unless your repeater covers 20 miles or more you may find you only have 1 or 2 users in the area. Unless you already have a group of friends together you may want to consider this before spending money on a decent well positioned site to install your repeater. So you found a nice high site and the price is right, all you need to do is get the repeater installed, sounds simple right? Some thigs to consider first and foremost are the costs because they can add up quickly. Are you on a commercial tower that requires a license and bonded climber? If so this could be by far your largest expense depending on your area. I have spent $600 to $1200 on a climber; I have had quotes as high as $2500 depending on the amount of work and heights involved. Keep in mind commercial sites require certified mounts, hard line cable, cable clamps, engineered grounding solutions and commercial grade antennas. No tower owner is going to let you install a comet antenna and 200’ of braided shield coax. This brings me to my next point, the antenna. Because of the costs involved with climbers you will want to expend your budget on the antenna. Remember a $2000 repeater on a $200 antenna is going to work about as good as a $200 repeater. Whereas a $200 repeater on a $2000 antenna is going to work like a $2000 repeater. On my first repeater I was gifted use of a 150’ tower, I installed a DB-420 on the top and 160’ of 7/8 hardline. Total cost of equipment for the antenna install was $2500, with the climbers labor coming in at an additional $800. This left me with enough to purchase an old Motorola R100 repeater running at 25W. To my surprise it had 30 miles of coverage, all due to the cash spent on the antenna and waiting for a decent spot. Things happen, more so if you have an antenna 200’ in the air with a conductive cable connected to sensitive electronics. Antenna issues, feedline issues, repeater issues all cost money and I promise at some point you will have issues that need repair and require your money! It is my opinion that the GMRS community does not need another 2 to 5 miles repeater as it just becomes background noise. What use is a public listed repeater if somebody in a mobile can’t use it 5 miles away while moving or the portable coverage is only a mile? If after reading this you are still going to build a repeater for your garage more power to you, just don’t expect 20 people to show up if it only reaches a mile. As the owner of several GMRS and Commercial repeaters I can attest to the amount of money and effort go into my repeaters. I have only touched on the basics, if you add in any kind of testing services, duplexer tuning, addition of a combiner channel to an existing tower system, RF engineering, rent and insurance your costs can sky rocket. The best advice I can give any new licensee is to try and use the available systems in the area. Take the time to learn a little about what you’re doing and to assess the usability of the service before investing in a repeater for the sole reason of saying you own one.

HI all, Just a quick note that a group of us recently started an informal FB group of users in the NOVA and upper Shenandoah Valley area. If you are interested, we are on FB at NOVA GMRS. Eric - WQZV248

I hear what you’re saying. Thank you for taking the time to explain it for me. It's kind of like when I order a burrito with an extra portion of chicken (which I pay extra for) and then wonder if they really added the extra chicken! ? Now I order the extra portion of chicken on the side and insert it into the burrito myself! ?

Good to know!

I guess "content" is in the eye of the beholder. I found these articles from QST (page one of each is posted below) to be extraordinarily helpful:

The reseting of the codes is typically related to user action. TX CTCSS and DCS codes are mutually exclusive as are RX CTCSS and DCS codes. So, for example, if you set a TX CTCSS code and store it and then go to the TX DCS menu to view its value you will see it is Off already, even if it had previously assigned a value to it. If you hit ‘Menu’ again while viewing the current DCS code you will actually clear the CTCSS code, and vice versa. This is a nuance of every Wouxun radio I have ever used. Setting a TX code on one, automatically disables the other. RX codes work the same. Get in the habit of never hitting the menu button again while viewing any CTCSS or DCS code if you do no intend to change the value. Hit the Exit button instead. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

I am just curious... I am not a customer of BTWR, as I have never purchased anything from them. Did the returned radio have any written explanation with it? But other than you sending the radio back to them and them sending it back to you, what did you expect?

Sshannon, Thanks for the advice. I looked at the samples issues and I see what you mean. I would much rather read paper than online, so I can see why you ordered QST. It makes sense to have a paper copy of the larger magazine and read the smaller one online.

I just joined ARRL and faced the same choice. It kind of depends on how you like to read magazines and whether you’re someone who keeps them and goes back through them. Look at the sample issues online before you choose. I looked at On the Air online and thought it had less content, so I ordered QST. I tend to keep magazines after I read them. 73 de AI7KS

Did you donate your subscription to QST to a local library?

@gman1971 Please see Attached Motorola Systems Saber catalog, specs and FCC Grant for part 95. Cant wait to see how it compares. Sorry for the delay. Under the weather here! 593125590_SYSSABERCATALOGSHEETR3_4_136A.pdf SYS SABER SPECIFICATIONS.pdf SYS SABER FCC GRANT AZ489FT4767.pdf

You were not dreaming because i saw the same repeater. I got to program it on my HT but once i was in the area i could not key up the repeater so i deleted it from my HT. After that i have never seen it again on the map.

@JLeikhimsure thing, catalog sheet, please. I just updated the main comparison with a couple of additional radios

Dude... I didn't test on 2m. I used two distinctly different watt meters to confirm the numbers are correct. See? I tested on two meters, not 2m.