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I've shared on a few occasions that I do volunteer work using amateur radio to help out. The other day I did some volunteer work with the Marines, supporting the Marine Corps Marathon Historic Half Marathon. Part of what I did for the marathon is sweep the course to make sure everyone was clear and safe. I know I have shared pictures of my radio setup before, but I also have emergency lighting. Since I work with DOD as well as law enforcement and other emergency services, I can legally run yellow and white strobes while assisting the served agency. Unfortunately I was way too busy to shoot any pictures or video while I as working, but when I got home I popped a couple photos and a quick video of the Jeep with the lights going. Thanks to the repeater in my Jeep, I was able to run my HT most of the day. It was a really good time. Does anyone else volunteer? Any pics or video you want to share?

wayoverthere, Just now got a dummy load coming for UHF. Will pickup a 1/4 wave to try. FrostyFruits, The feed line is running through the rear cab window which is down far enough to get the PL259 trough. This is a new radio and a new truck. The radio came with a lighter plug so for now that's how it's running. If this radio works for me I will put Anderson Power Poles on it and attach it to the master feed in the cab. The ground system in GM trucks after 1999 is not good to attach directly to the battery, too much alternator interference because the alternator feed goes to the battery. Doors closed engine running. This isn't my first rodeo with antennas, just my first one with UHF.

Happy Monday - I'm not much for drama but you all are somewhat entertaining. ? I just got an MXT575 and can speak to the easy of setting parameters but there is no software I'm aware of - as an example, the REPEATER function is boolean - it's either on or off. I'm in Northern Virginia and have been able to set REPEATER to "on" and can hear repeater tones, and an occasional conversation, but have yet to have anyone answer when I toss out my call sign and ask for a comm check. It would be nice, as someone mentioned, to have the ability to test which I don't think I have at the moment.... All that said, I really didn't want the complication of HAM nor the noise/chatter of CB. I'll keep at it, but am open to suggestions.

Just checking, gotta get all the details when trying to help. It's amazing what a small issue will cause. Do you have anyone close with a radio you can throw the antenna on or use their antenna?

This is probably the best option for a no impact mounting. The no ground plane antennas arent huge, though maybe not as low profile as hoped. Here's a Laird, at 15" https://www.arcantenna.com/products/laird-bb4502n-12-5-inch-uhf-whip-antenna-with-black-nmo-base-450-470-mhz On firewall, it's hard to say without looking (the truck being 90 miles away and all), and I haven't done it with coax, but I've yet to find a firewall I couldn't find a way through for amplifier wiring (similar diameter to rg58 coax) without drilling any holes. Especially with a short piece of something thinner in there, or running the coax in unterminated. I've seen a couple that were terminated with something small like sma to allow easy feed through.

We're using 2 meters on both events but I'll have F/GMRS available as well.

Here’s that thread:

Looks like a decent option. I was hoping to use a low profile. Going thru her firewall ain't happening to her baby. I would be happy with a clamp mount tested, passed thru the firewall, then stowed to be reattached as needed. I'll need to talk to her about this. Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

I use LED Outfitters and have for years. My FD back in NY ordered alot from them. They make quality stuff. We take the JK to UWarrie a couple times a year. Planning JJ2022 in Uwharrie in the fall as well as Greenbrier. Was in TN this weekend with the JT for jeep stuff.

Working at least 2 events this summer. Both are bike events through the mountains of western NC.

So I found the box that the antenna shipped in from Amazon. In the bottom corner stuck to a tail on the shipping tape was a plastic bag with a business card from the vendor AND a trim card! I have marked the freqs I am looking for and all the info for the antenna I have. It looks the same as the one I found on eBay except it has my model #. It doesn't make any difference but it does verify the specs.

I thank you guys for all the help! This is a GREAT forum for help. I will check my Workman meter as soon as my dummy load arrives. I'm still looking for Browning cutting specs for my Model BR-450. Hope this entire convo helps someone else also. Appreciate all your help! 3's from WRQD330!

Hello, Glad to be of entertainment, I guess. Anyway, you mentioned that you enabled the repeater feature of the radio. Did you go to the repeater channel? If the same as the 275 (I've not read the manual for that radio, but the interface at a glance looks very similar): After you set rP to oN you will then find 15rp-22rp channel after channel 22. You must be on one of the repeater channels, displays the "RP" next to the channel number, to get the +5Mhz offset to talk into the repeater. You will likely need to also set the proper input squelch control for that repeater in the tC setting. If you don't know what repeater you are hearing the tones from you can get an app on your phone that can translate the morse code for you, then you can look up the callsign on the map and see if you can determine which of their repeaters, if listed, you hear.

Not all antennas have provisions for tuning, and some ostensibly come pretuned. Mine have all been too close to perfect to mess with, including both the Midland and Laird 1/4 waves. That said, it's still good to double check the swr as installed, to ensure there's no issues that may not be obvious...though uncommon, a coax feed that was crimped badly (shorting the shield and center conductor together) isn't unheard of. On meters, I've had good results with surecom, both the sw-102 (better suited to mobiles) and the sw-33 (better suited to handhelds), though, like most things there are some quality control issues and therefore not everyone is a fan.

@gortex2 that's awesome that you have so much time in. There are not many people I have met that stay that dedicated for that long. Stinks to hear SAR in your area is lacking. That is such an important role. Honestly, the last SAR/USAR training I have done was over a decade ago and the actual use was almost 21 years ago. About 3 days of rescue and about 3 weeks of recovery. I hope I never have to use those skills again, but with the weather we get, we should still be training. The JT and JK sound like they are decked out very well. If you ever do any offloading and want to make a weekend trip to Rausch, AOAA, Uwharrie, etc.. drop me a note. I am a member of a few clubs and we do a group trip at least monthly. I use a Z Automotive Tazer to control my factory lights, auto park, and some other features. All of the commercial lights came from LED Outfitters in NY. I have been using their hardware for about 5 years and I am very happy with them.

@marcspaz - Cool - validation would be nice - at least I won't wonder if I'm bright enough to follow @OffRoaderX very simple instructions. Sigh. Thank you

Been doing Fire/EMS and Search and Rescue for over 25 years. To be honest I enjoy fire/ems, but I really like Search and Rescue (Wildland). I use radios much more with SAR as well as ICS and other tasks. Been involved in some large scale incidents and at one point was looking to be more involved but work moved me to VA and the area I am in SAR is a joke. Its sad as alot of training in NY came from VA and they were in high regard. Anyway I'm still a life member in NY and go up quarterly for SAR training. Dont have picks right now of my JT, but run the APX 8500, FTM400 and have both a 275 and CMX760 I can swap in when needed. Been meaning to get some lights on it but time has not permitted. Our JK does have dash lights, APX8500 and Kenwood 700 with both the 275 and CMX also. Work truck has multiple APX8500's, 7500's and a CMX and has lighting. PS - Like your setup in the JT on lights. I need to find a decent package for mine.

Spend the money on a good NMO mount. The Larsen HF mount is ideal for a fender bracket. Just slide a piece of heat shrink over the cable to the mount. I have run them on multiple vehicles and they will outlast any basic cheap mount. https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/shop-all/mobile-antenna-mounts/nmo-mobile-antenna-mounts/266-permanent-hole-mounts/289-nmo-3-4-hole-mount-no-connector/larsen-nmokhfcx-detail

I am just south of you in Woodbridge. A friend of mine has 5 unlisted repeaters in Seven Corners, Gaithersburg, DC and Haymarket/Gainsville. They are all pretty quiet. One is used by a local CERT team and even that one is pretty quiet. The one my friends and I use is the one in the Haymarket/Gainsville area. If you PM me, we can put some time aside and test on one we can both reach. Also, I can give you the details on the Haymarket/Gainsville machine and you can see if you can reach it. He just doesn't what the info on any websites.

That's pretty much true actually. Getting an antenna designed for 430 to 450 to work as efficiently and with a proper SWR on 467 Mhz is gonna be difficult if there is much gain to the antenna. And HAM antenna's are pretty much all designed as gain antenna's. I am not saying it will not radiate power at all. Hell I ran a VHF radio on a DB-404 (UHF antenna) and was talking 90 miles with it. Now I was talking to repeaters on tall towers and it was mounted at 110 feet on a tower that sits on the highest point in the whole county and is within 200 feet of the highest point in the entire state (1549 feet, Ohio) but it would have worked BETTER if I was on a proper antenna for the band I was talking on.

The TK-370G will do both wide and narrow band FM. There is a hardware mod, removing a small surface mount resistor/diode along with checking the option in the CPS to enable front panel programming. The mod and programming from the front panel are covered in the service manual. Warning the programming isn’t exactly easy.

I think you hang around here long enough you will find OffRoaderX, in regards to the radio airwave spectrum, to be almost Hebraic in his view of HAM.?

Should the unthinkable happen, when only radios stored in faraday cages will keep working, good luck (lol!) with simplex mesh network. Look, I for one, if happen to be alive and with radios working, will not be bothered by relaying somebody's messages across the land. Big fat NO. I will have other matters on hand, more pressing. From Central Florida to Alabama, is it like 500 miles? Get ham ticket, press your other party to get a ham ticket, 80m NVIS will likely cover your needs. Buy equipment, train for the event. And if 80m won't do it (but why not?) then, 20/40m will do it for sure. Have a plan, have a schedule, have batteries. Ham exam is much easier than organizing mesh network.

I have one right here on my desk.. It's a nice upgrade the the UV9G.. The release has been delayed due to supply chain/shipping issues, but it should be available soon (my GUESS is 30-60 days, but this is only a guess).. Some new stuff on the UV9Gx: theme able color schemes much brighter LED flashlight stiffer knobs can receive down to 219Mhz more power control settings for better battery life a priority channel button, pre-set to the official highway channel, CH19 more pre-programmed frequenicies and most important a ROGER BEEP .................affiliate link below.. Oops.. sorry.. bad habit.