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Sorry... I have to.

I think, worse case, you don't get the performance you are looking for and the radio runs a little hotter than normal. I had a customer who installed their own mobile UHF radios and hired me to troubleshoot why some of them weren't working. Go to find out their installer pinched the antenna cable in the exact same spot on several vehicles, putting a dead short in the antenna cable. Not only between the leads of the cable, but crushed the cable causing it to short against the body of the vehicle. I ran new cables through a different part of the vehicle and the radios worked fine. It's been 2 years and they are still going strong. The video @OffRoaderX shared is a great real-world example of the types of margins you have with protective circuits. Even some of the most inexpensive transmitters have automatic power limiters which help prevent you from breaking your transmitter if there is a bad, broken or no antenna. These are called Automatic Limiter Control or ALC. Manufacturers do this to reduce warranty claims and unhappy customers, even if its the customers mistake. Coincidentally, it also helps prevent fires. They also install them on radios used in a service where things like power limits and spurious emissions need to be controlled.

Watch this video to see how much damage will occur when transmitting at high-power with a high SWR:

A couple years ago, we all know when, I was realizing that my family was not getting any information that was not being filtered by big tech one way or another. I looked into HAM right then but I knew that would take time and I didnt know how much time that was. Then came across GMRS and between a small group of dedicated radio folks we started pushing GMRS to its limits to see what we had at our disposal. In many ways it was much better than expected. A few months ago I was discussing gmrs with a ham in my area and he saw the benefit of that type of service and by the end of that day he had put in for his GMRS license. In and around our location we are putting in repeaters in an orderly fashion creating a larger area of coverage and realizing this will be our rally point in a grid down situation. The best part is anyone can get in for a small $$. Our gmrs group was invited to speak at upcoming HAM club meeting to introduce it to the rest of the group. Since this meeting we regularly talk with several of them on gmrs keeping it alive and well and participate in state wide net meeting. So they created a RADIO CLUB that evening including our form of communication in the club with out discrimination. Just as some of original Hams joined GMRS, some original GMRS got their ham licenses. I for one am studying for my general :). I hope you find in your area, radio folks with open minded thinking. A couple of these guys have been in radio longer than most have been alive. The technology is the same in both HAM AND GMRS. UHF is UHF after all. I would encourage groups in this format to reach out to their local ham clubs and simply explain to them what you are doing and what its about and let it go from there. But please do gmrs a favor and get a little organized before reaching out if possible . Heck we had a power point the evening we spoke at their meeting so we got 30 points just for that alone! WRMK691/KI5UCM

Boy, are you in the wrong lane! And thanks for pumping up an 11 month old thread just to do it, too!

The rules state otherwise.

Now that I as well as three original gmrs guys are hams we still talk on gmrs daily and monitor it as much as possible to keep it alive and well. Just because it indeed is our families last line of coms. It helps to have a good quality repeater in a thoughtful spot that has good coverage to benefit more people. I never think about the cost to get equipment. I think about value if the grid was indeed down. Every day it looks more and more that it could happen.

Well the uv9g arrived late yesterday. It’s going to be a learning curve for me. It has much more on it then the 905g. I’m not sure I like the belt buckle thingeee. But I guess time will tell. Anything you all owners of this radio think I should know please feel free to let me know. Help for a 80 year older will be grateful. thanks, bob WRPL668

Sorry WRPL668. I could not tell that your question was directed at me until Sshannon responded. I'm still getting used to using forums. Thanks again Sshannon.

I actually go offroad with a small group of Hams... there is usually much less conflict over what frequency we use. The conflict with GMRS is some radios don't cover all FRS channels or there is a lot of congestion. Especially at big events like the Boy Scout Jamboree, Mustang Week, Beach Week, etc. In Ham radio, if we adhere to commonly accepted spacing, there is an equivalent of 267 channels, plus digital voice, analog voice in AM, FM and SSB. On top of that, we still have hundreds of squelching combinations. Plus all amateur VHF radios cover all the same frequencies. It's pretty easy to just agree to use a quiet frequency. Me and my group usually use 147.525 MHz, C4FM modulation, group code 16. The chances of us hearing anyone else while noodling around the mountains or downtown Daytona are almost zero. That said, FRS and GMRS makes life a while lot easier for a family. Again, why I use it... mainly to talk to my family and a few very close friends and their families. The ease of use is what's so attractive for many families.

Your u tube must be broken... But basically, find the "repeater channel" for the repeater, tune to that channel on the radio, hit the menu button, go to the CTCS or DCS setting to add whatever the TX/Transmit code is for the repeater (dont worry about the RX/receive code for now), save it, and you're done. I highly recommend investing a few minutes in the manual that came with the radio (and is available online if you already put the manual in the trash) and get familiar with how to use the radio and menu options.

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."