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Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/21/22 in all areas

  1. How do you activate this function where you can monitor up to 4 channels at the same time? I'm missing it somehow in the manual. (I am not a fan of their manual, btw.) I just installed this radio in my old Jeep and am trying to figure out how to configure it in different ways that I might like to use it. Thanks!
    1 point
  2. I decided to go on the cheap end of things with my antenna only. I tried ordering a Comet antenna for GMRS and of course, the company must have jumped on the "Shortage" bandwagon. I checked high and low and could not find a Comet antenna anywhere. So I settled for a Harvest BC200-U which claims to be tuned for the GMRS band, absolutely no tuning needed. Well, after having the issues and reading more reviews, that is a lie. My antenna wasn't even close to being ok on the GMRS band, at least for the repeater input. The 462MHz portion was around a 1.6:1 SWR. 467MHz was around a 2.5:1 SWR or higher. So I took it apart and found a very poor design. The spots where the pieces connected together were pinched together with these little brass pieces. About 2/3 of the way up was a split in the radiator where 2 ceramic capacitors were soldered, bridging the gap to the upper part. They use pieces of foam to keep the radiator from smacking around inside and one of the pieces was loosely wrapped around the capacitors and glued in place causing it to rip the capacitors apart with even a slight touch wiggling the foam. The capacitor on the lower coil was not even glued in place. So, I did a bunch of experimenting to get the antenna to resonate on the GMRS band. I had another antenna that was specifically set on 466MHz and I decided to copy that design which was very similar to the harvest antenna design. The difference was that the other antenna didn't use capacitors and it didn't have a loading coil at the bottom. I removed all of the capacitors off of the harvest antennas and just put pieces of copper wire to connect straight through. I soldered all the joints on the radiator to make them more electrically secure. At the bottom of the antenna where the main radiator connects in it has a set screw evidently for tuning. I trimmed the whole radiator down until it came into an acceptable range (sorry, I cannot tell you how much I cut off because I was pretty flustered at this point after having to do so much soldering and unsoldering) and I put the antenna back together. I made a coax choke out of RG8U coax (wound 4 times in a 2.5" diameter) and placed that below the antenna and connected my coax into it. I now have an antenna with less than a 1.4:1 SWR across the band from 462.55-467.725MHz. The performance of this antenna didn't really change. The only thing that was noticed is that coverage is slightly better in spots where it was dead or static. So, UNLESS you happen to own an antenna analyzer or know someone who does, and you are smart with antennas, I would not purchase this antenna. It DOES work pretty decent once modified, but for the plug and play person who just wants to set up GMRS and talk, I would NOT recommend it. It is cheaply made compared to other commercial antennas. BUT if you are on a budget and have the knowledge and equipment, you can make it work. I have included a picture of my antenna analyzer for proof on the reading AFTER I made modifications. I get on average 2.5-5 miles on simplex (not using a repeater) at 45 watts. I have to include in here that I live in Maine in a low spot directly at the base of a hill that immediately goes up 100 more feet. I am at around 310 feet above sea level with hills spreading out from me going up as high as 1,000 feet but also including valleys in with that, so what happens is that my signal will travel down these valleys pretty far but once a tall hill is hit, my signal is not reaching over the other side at all.
    1 point
  3. MichaelLAX

    Repeaters on GMRS

    The Radioddity RD-5R DMR HT is open to transmit on 2 meters, 70 cm, MURS and GMRS. I only use DMR on 2 meters and 70 cms.
    1 point
  4. KAF6045

    Repeaters on GMRS

    You won't find DMR on GMRS units. DMR started life as a commercial / business radio mode. The type of thing used on construction sites, for example. It supports things like "private calls" (each radio has an ID number assigned, and one can specify the ID number as the target when hitting PTT) and "talk groups" (which, in my example, might be "delivery trucks", "carpenters") which can be used to isolate communications to specific groups of people while using the SAME frequency (granted, the radios will not transmit if the frequency is busy with a group one is not listening to). Most also support two "time slots" -- mixing the two via careful timing so a conversation on TS1 can be going on at the same time as one on TS2. It is only recently that some manufacturers are making DMR radios targeted at the Amateur market. FCC rules for Part 90 (Land Mobile) is that the radios can not be programmed from the front panel; they are supposed to be set up by a shop using computer software to configure the IDs, talk groups, frequencies. That is one of the disappointments with my best DMR unit -- it focused so much on incorporating an Amateur front panel programming option, which is locked to just Amateur frequency bands, that even setting it (via software) to the "business" mode (disable front panel programming) won't unlock the frequency range. Otherwise I'd add GMRS and MURS channels for emergency use (FCC rules allow one to use any radio for emergency traffic). I have an older DMR unit that I did add GMRS, MURS, and some of the Marine band frequencies (just in case I'm ever near the big lakes). myGMRS appears to have borrowed a system created for Amateur hotspots, modified/limited it to GMRS users via some central registry, AND passing FM traffic (Amateur hotspots normally only handle the digital modes -- D-STAR, DMR, System Fusion -- as that is already a digitized stream; FM needs to be sampled into some form [PCM/WAV, MP3, ?] in order to be passed between nodes). The intent of such linked systems is to provide wider coverage (Amateur hotspots are useful when one can not reach a repeater, most repeaters are often linked to a network of reflectors [D-STAR], talk-groups [DMR], rooms [Fusion], so one can effectively get the equivalent of dozens of repeaters covering different "subjects". GMRS linking doesn't support that feature.
    1 point
  5. WRTP691

    Call sign plaque

    I just added it to the screen text on my Radio. In the programming software you can modify just about everything displayed on the screen. Radio: Wouxun KG-935G
    1 point
  6. I dont usually like to post videos here, but I have been so inspired by several of the "experts" in this forum complaining that we should not be using radios made in China that I put together a list of all the American Made radios AND I vow to purchase each one of these American made radios and do a full review of them in the next 30 days.. Thank you to "some people" that opened my eyes about not purchasing radios that are not made in America.
    1 point
  7. wrci350

    Dual watch with HAM?

    (I'm cutting out all the subpoints that are not relevant.) § 95.1733 Prohibited GMRS uses. (a) In addition to the prohibited uses outlined in § 95.333 of this chapter, GMRS stations must not communicate: ... (9) Messages (except emergency messages) to any station in the Amateur Radio Service, to any unauthorized station, or to any foreign station; So I think the answer is, 'No, you cannot do that'.
    1 point
  8. 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.
    1 point
  9. Looks like it's listed as option 0 in the menu, on pg 21 (reading it in pdf from radioddity's site). The menu item is called "TMR", and you tell it which ones you want to monitor (a, b, c, and/or d), and then used the abcd button to cycle through the 4 lines and set each one to the channels/frequencies you want to monitor. If I understand it right, it treats whichever one you have selected as the "Main". I tend to set a channel I might want to transmit on on main. The setup and functionality seem similar to my btech 50x1, which makes sense because it the db25g looks to be based on the btech 25x2 and 25x4.
    1 point
  10. mitzvah

    GMRS chart

    I ordered one of those GMRS charts from BTWR (no affiliate link) and found it in my mail box today. The nice mailperson had folded it in thirds. The shipper had not put a "DO NOT FOLD" stamp or label on the folder or even put a bit of cardboard to protect the chart. I'm now going to step outside an SCREAM.
    0 points
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