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As a matter of practice I don't program in RX tones unless there is something else on frequency that is interfering with the repeater's output.

I seem to recall one of the manufacturer reps saying somewhere (can't remember where) that they couldn't do much more than 5 watts and meet SAR limits.

@Lscott at this point in my life, I have come to distrust anything electronic. There is a good chance that if electricity can flow through it, someone can use it improperly against you, without your knowledge.

The 935 is a great radio and a lot people say that. It's my belief the uv9gx is a much better radio. Or the uv9g pro.

Back in the days when Motorola's trademark for "Private Line" was still active, I used PL to mean: "Please Leave" instead! ?

Cut the beginning off and replace it! ?

What if the water entered the coax at the beginning? ?

Around here when I'm in town there is activity near the Walmart stores and something that is transmitting an electronic chiming doorbell like noise on one of the channels. I'm guessing that's either a wireless doorbell or driveway alarm. When I was out away from town all of the channels were completely quiet.

It could be because of that but it could also be because moisture has entered your coax cables at the connectors. Unfortunately once that happens the best thing to do is cut the end off and replace it.

UHF-1 403-470 Mhz 1-25 watts 1 line display, standard keypad Conventional & PassPort capable 128 conventional channels

So 13.8 volts is in range of what your trucks alternator is putting out… why do you need a PSU in the truck plugged into an inverter? I could see it if your using the radio as a base station but the radio is designed for automotive power. Granted you will want the power going back to the battery for that radio do to the load.

Please cite those other sections -- I didn't see anything other than 15.247 covering communication devices, and the section heading explicitly states that it applies to the 902-923 band. Other parts of the regulations do cover the band, but NOT for communication devices (CAT scans, for example). I interpret it as: heading - (communication) devices in 902-923, (a) then restricts those devices to frequency hopping (or digital). It does not leave an opening (in my view) for non-frequency hopping (/digital) operations. Amateurs have access on a secondary basis and must accept any interference from ISM devices, and must not cause interference. They appear to be the only ones not required to use spread spectrum.

I strongly suspect the limit is imposed by the RF Exposure calculations: HTs are either body worn (with speaker/mic) or held within a few inches of the head -- SAR measurements are done to ensure the RF energy is below the limit for the frequency in use... In the most sensitive frequency bands, that necessitates a lower power.

Saw this in an article just now: "The SKA-Mid array in Karoo (will) scan the sky for sources of radio waves in the middle frequency range from 350 MHz to 15.4 GHz using 197 dishes, each 50 feet (15 meters) in diameter." How soon do you think it will be before Midland starts advertising FRS radios capable of reaching Africa? ?

You quoted the Africa part of the system. The Australian portion, SKA-Low, will revolve around 131,072 antenna "trees" in the country's western Wajarri country. As the name implies, the array will focus on low-frequency signals. The Guardian notes it's expected to be eight times more sensitive than existing telescopes, and map the cosmos about 135 times faster. My dad was head of R&D for the DSN (Deep Space Network). I spent a lot of time as a kid as a willing slave loading, labeling and swapping computer tapes recording VLBI experiments at the Goldstone and Owens Valley radio telescopes. I then helped load them into the mainframe in the basement of Cal Tech. Fun times as a kid. I moved out of state when I was 18 and every 5 years or so when visiting the old man over the next 20 years I would still go with him to work for a day at Goldstone to satisfy the nerd in me. I was amazing to see the development of the DSN for the 32 years he spent at NASA/JPL.

I've been happy with the Wouxuns that I have. I got some of the KG-805M MURS radios and used them for family comms during a Scout camping event back in the fall. I figured the VHF might cover better with all the trees around. We had no coverage issues and the audio was very good on those radios. I did also catch the KG-935G's on sale around the same time frame and picked up a pair. I've been using them for scanning mostly. I did get a couple Kenwood TK-3180 radios recently and like those as well. I might use them at the next Scout event since the limited keypad ones are simple and the LCD's are easier to read in the sun than the 935G screen. Also the wife might get lost with all those buttons on the 935G. I've gotten pretty familiar with the Kenwood programming software but need to work out configuring scan groups on those radios.

I sense a video from Notarubicon … I look forward to seeing it.

I've had 3 different repeaters over the last two years: DIY 2 KG-1000Gs Retevis RT97 Vertex VXR-7000 All using the same ~$120 Tram 1486 base antenna and 75 feet of LMR400 coax The two KG-1000Gs was the most expensive (~$875) and had the most power - but it was also the most unwieldy and issue-prone The RT97 was a much more compact package, and was the least expensive (~$400), but only output about 4-5watts after the duplexer and has a limited duty-cycle The Vertex VXR-7000 (what I currently use) is by far the best solution. I paid $500 for mine (used), it puts out ~25 watts after the duplexer and it can be used 24/7 (100% duty cycle) - But because of its age its a bit of a pain to program/get set up. My recommendation, based on my experience, would be to try and get a good used commercial repeater (like the VXR-7000) OR an RT97. Next month another company will be releasing a new GMRS repeater very similar to the RT97 but easier to configure - but i'm not allowed to talk about that yet.. So you might want to wait and see if that one works better for your needs.

We hear people using the MURS Frequencies all the time at ski areas that I work at. Families, groups, etc., use that radio service quite a bit. We have a scanner at several ski patrol offices (base), which has those frequencies programmed into it a long with; FRS, GMRS, Amateur radio 146.520 and 446.000 calling frequencies, plus the 146.580 North America Adventure Frequency. Comes in handy at times.

You can put me in the Midland camp, too. I have used a lot of different radios over the years and they seem to hit the mark with reliability, advertised v. actual power, and ease of use. If you only want a few watts, the MXT115 is good, but I recommend the MXT500 and MXT575. They were natively designed to be wideband, they have a lot more power (enough to actually make a difference in range), and the audio quality is much better on both transmit and receive. The down side is, they can be a bit pricey. While the newer MXT275 can be programed to run wideband, the circuits were not originally designed for it. This means you are working on the edge of the capability, which leads to weak performance in wideband.

That is not a solution, nor an answer to my question. Quick update for anyone following along: I've got most of the different manufacturer's software to run and after finding an installing the Si CP-210X ARM(64) driver for my (red Wouxun) cable(s) I am able to read and write all radios EXCEPT for my Motorola XTS2500, XTS5000, & XTL5000 - they need an FTDI ARM(64) driver that I have not yet been able to find/get working.

So today I accompanied the young man who maintains our amateur radio repeater. Our repeater is at about 9700 feet MSL, which is about 4,000 above where I live. Our repeater has an amazing coverage on 2 meter, reaching nearly a hundred miles in some directions, despite being situated in a mountain range. Our repeater uses a collinear array of four folded dipoles. Because they are a phased array the coverage pattern can be electronically modified wider coverage or to tilt the pattern by adjusting the phasing harness, but of course wider coverage comes at the cost of lower gain; which is why the Comet has higher gain. Here is a picture of the tower with our antenna being the highest 4x folded dipole array and a picture of the view towards Butte from the lookout.