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Back in the very first back in the day of CB Radios, Channel 11 was the designated CB channel for commercial businesses to use. At least, it was in Southern California in the 60s. Remember the 102" or was it a 108" (can't remember now) steel whip, with the ball and spring mount? Try and find one of those today.

That's what I see, but FCC database does not have a clue about it. Maybe in a month or two...

Give it a day or two. From what I've heard it's not an immediate process. This site will eventually update.

Sent an e-mail to MFJ about the Ameritron 8v. I asked if they had any documentation on specs post 250MHz up to 500 MHz. I did find this information in the manual VSWR at all frequencies up to 250 MHz. Only a slight compromise in VSWR occurs at 450 MHz. Power rating is four kilo...

Kinda a big worry. I contacted an Ebay seller of ip addressed wifi remote switches. I asked to see if he had anything spec'ed for DC- 800Mhz or so. Keeping fingers crossed. I guess I was hoping for a diy kit I could modify with different relays so the losses and the cost wouldn't be obnoxious. Either case starting to lean to surplus 12vdc radial (nominal 10vdc-14vdc) coaxial switches. Then i can simply it power it from the power supply of the radio. Should be an costly learning affair.

I would. But drilling through 3 floors (2 being hardwood flooring) might make the xyl more upset then the coax. Lol Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

If all you want to do is tune antennas, an antenna analyzer is better than an SWR meter. An SWR meter will only show you the SWR of the antenna for the frequency you're transmitting on and it can be completely wrong if you're looking at a system with lossy cable. An antenna analyzer connected directly to the antenna can show you the actual response of the antenna. An antenna analyzer connected to a piece of cable can help you determine problems with the cable, including losses through the cable and velocity factor. In addition, having a cable cut to the right length can help the antenna system. An SWR/wattmeter cannot distinguish between those kinds of things. Also, a good analyzer can reveal where the antenna is resonant, which is not necessarily the same frequency where it has the lowest SWR. An SWR meter cannot. However, if you just want to make sure you don't damage your radio by having it connected to high SWR, an SWR meter is ideal because it can be left inline. Also, if you want to test the output of your radio, an antenna analyzer won't do you a bit of good. For that you need a wattmeter. They're different tools for different purposes.

I was doing a job a few years ago and picked up 6 "Ozark Trail" FRS HT's from Walmart in two packs. Just found one of them in a box yesterday and it does have a default ctcss tone of 67.0 across 22 channels. Range sucks on them - we installed truck parking detectors at the interstate rest areas and had to validate and time stamp every truck that came in and out of the parking lot to make sure the system was working. They had a hard time trying to make it across the parking lot, had to sit outdoors in the middle of the lot to coordinate things. Battery life is excellent on them, one of the guys forgot to turn the radio off when he threw it in the back of my car. Every now and then for the better part of a month I'd hear a muffled voice when driving for a second and couldn't figure out where it was coming from before I found it (low battery chirps). At least it didn't interfere with the voices in my head.

I just saw that Retevis now has a 40W GMRS mobile radio. The website is pretty thin on details: Retevis RA87 40W GMRS Mobile Radio and Heavy Duty Radome Antenna Kit | retevis.com

I agree that the primary user of a designated FRS/GMRS Emergency frequency would be the person in distress, more than a properly equipped SAR Organization.

I seem to recall it taking two weeks for me. The FCC was having issues with their data uploads even though I had my license they had stalled out putting it in the data bank that this site uses for updating it's info. be patient, they'll get there. You can check here to see if it's been added Daily & Weekly Transaction Files | Federal Communications Commission.webloc

Not silly at all. After all, it's on sale!

Just a note that as a SAR guy like someone else above, we have our own trunked system or use a VHF ~150MHz frequency. I think it's a fine idea to say that we should listen to a given GMRS/FRS though and to popularize that. Often times, even with a Spot/InReach we get within a few hundred yards but a few hundred yards on a mountain side is a HUGE amount of terrain that can take an hour or more to close in on. Being able to get in touch with folks on radio would be extremely helpful.

It says 2A3OORA87

IIRC, this site downloads an extract from the FCC database once a week so it may be a few days before the site recognizes your license.

One other thing I forgot to mention. That's the cycle life of the switch. There is usually a max number of switch cycles the device is rated for. After that you can get mechanical failures. Some of those used switches might be near the end of their cycle life and were pulled out of active service and replace with new ones. It might work for a while then fail later. Hopefully the switch wasn't abused by switching under power. That would likely burn the contacts. You don't want to buy somebody's else's problem.

Thanks I guess. lol... If the Ameritron 8v was rated to more the 250 Mhz. This thread would not exist. Might contact Ameritron to see what the VSWR is like 250 MHZ up from the rated 250 and 1.2. Might be the turn key reasonable priced option I was looking for.

I think a transfer switch is just another name for a coax switch. There are also some that are manual but which have power for indication. It would be a bitch to buy one of them only to find out it isn’t remotely controlled.

Biggest problem with some of the used gear is finding diagrams to help with pin outs.

Here’s a schematic for one of the Transco transfer switches. I like the fact that when it’s unpowered the common defaults to port one. I would hook that to either a dummy load or ground. https://www.hamanuals.com/MMans/Transco Switch - Schematic.pdf

Here’s another that has an attractive price. https://www.rfparts.com/switches/switches-coax/82152-146c70100-8.html If you don’t get this one I might. Although I just picked up a Bird manual 718 coax switch that’s just really cool. ? Based on the label of another switch you apply voltage to the common terminal and the terminal labeled to match the coax output. Seems straightforward, plus you should be able to find documentation

For the antennas in the attic just run all the wires internally. You don’t need lightning protection for them and the HOA should never know or care. Only run the coax for the HF outside. What about one of these surplus coax switches. Several use SMA or N switches. Here’s one in particular that only requires 24 vDC to actuate and it latches. https://www.rfparts.com/switches/switches-coax/062-b37-a1c-4a2-loral-p.html

Here’s the antenna separately: https://www.retevis.com/mr300-1200mm-heavy-duty-fiberglass-radome-gmrs-antenna-us

102" and your right. I used to grab them at RS for $20 now they want $75-100 on ebay for them. I kick myself as when I left one of my old shops we put piles of them in the dumpster along with the 54" ones for lowband. You think the whip is hard to find try to find a Motorola Ball and Spring. They are gold when found.

When I got my call sign about 3 weeks ago, I submitted the payment at around 11PM and had the call sign around 5PM the next day. That was submitting the application on a Sunday night. I think it took about 2-3 days for me to be able to set up my account on the myGMRS app on my phone, and subsequently here when I had some questions.

Compare the specs: Tram 6.5 dBd, which is ≈8.6 dBi Fong 2.2 dBi - it has about the same gain as a dipole Tram is fiberglass encased Fong is contained within PVC On paper the Tram looks better.

Congratulations... you wrote the dumbest thing I've read on the internet today! You should be proud. You beat out a lot of competitors.

Other than training none of our teams use FRS/GMRS. We have one GMRS repeater in a county park and if we know someone is on it we will monitor but 99% of the time we are on TLMR or VSAR16 per policy. Our team actually has a policy that they can only carry one radio and must monitor operations channels.

I believe that some of the Midland MicroMobile radios have a ‘slide-in’ mounting bracket. Thus, if each vehicle has its own bracket and antenna, a single radio could easily be transferred among them. A radio such as the MXT-275 has a power plug that can be used with a standard cigarette lighter/‘power point’.

This might help illustrate the problem in the Michigan-Ohio area:

Add Syracuse NY to that list. I said in the past I don't know what the desire is to have a "road channel" I use GMRS for GMRS not as a chat channel like ham or CB. If I'm on a channel and someone calls and its not my group I don't listen nor reply. GMRS and FRS was for in group use case. Over the years its turned into the ham lite of sorts. I travel about 1000 miles a week. I scan all 8 GMRS channels (none of the FRS crap, just main channels) and rarely hear a conversation. When I do it sounds like a ham repeater of 2 old guys babbling about nothing. Never do I hear "hey honey I'm running late" or what not. When in our MH I would scan on my midland. 99% of the traffic was channel 1 or 2 and was car to car, move lanes etc stuff. I've been doing alot more with JJUSA and the events I've attended all have designated channels per trail. Rarely does someone move from that channel even at night when going to grab food or what not. Last point is this thread was started in the GMRS NET heading. Not sure it should be here but its better than ham nets.

Seattle, WA Everett, WA Sandpoint, ID Kalispell, MT Minot, ND Duluth, MN Detroit, MI Lansing, MI Cleveland, OH Buffalo, NY Rochester, NY Syracuse, NY Montpelier, VT are all North of Line A. Detroit and Seattle are the largest of course, but significant metro areas representing millions of people are above Line A as well as vast swaths of outdoor recreational areas, such as Glacier National Park. I understand the desire to nominate 19 for nostalgic reasons, but people are smart enough to learn another number. Most young people have no recognition of “Channel 19.” Here’s the FCC’s guide to Line A with a zoomable map. It affects far more than just GMRS. https://www.fcc.gov/engineering-technology/electromagnetic-compatibility-division/frequency-coordination-canada-below

I think you're misreading the post. ? This is how I'd paraprase it: "If you are lost and have FRS/GMRS radios, call for help on channel 3.0. SAR teams can use that channel to talk to you if there is no other means. Others are encouraged to monitor 3.0 (and NOT use it for routine communications) and call 911 if they hear the lost party." I see no indication that SAR teams use FRS/GMRS to communicate internally.

I don't know if I'm misreading the post or everyone else is, but that reads that the SAR team is using FRS/GMRS to talk amongst themselves while conducting a SAR operation. They aren't telling civilians to carry radios and use them on 3 for emergencies, which wouldn't make sense. The SAR team isn't using the FRS radios until AFTER a mission has started. This says it all... "Backcountry SAR teams in Colorado do not actively monitor FRS/GMRS channels but most will be able to utilize FRS radios once they have been alerted by a 911 dispatch center and have arrived in the area of the incident" The write-up is not saying it's a tool for the victim to use in an emergency. The write-up says the responders are using them. Now, this may be news for this Colorado area... but U/SAR teams in my area have been using FRS radios for decades. And it's mostly because so many volunteers shows up that there is no other practical way to help everyone stay in touch during the mission, due to the licensing and equipment restrictions. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but the whole thing seems Business As Usual.

I think you've just learned a valuable lesson about "some people" and online "Experts" ...

We hear the same thing on the roads.. A lot of nothing and people that dont respond (probably using privacy codes).. When offroading, the official GMRS channel is 16.. This a scientific fact because is "offroading" = "4 X 4" and 4 x 4 = 16 .. so this is the scientific answer to the question - it is explained in more detail in this video made by some Youtube clown: