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I use an MXTA26 mounted on the rear tailgate of my Jeep, which gives me a very poor groundplane, and all the of the experts tell me it wont work.. I've hit over 30miles with it on simplex and can hit a repeater 92 miles away, so it works good enough for me.

I use the Midland MXTA26 on an NMO magnetic base mount. Nothing fancy but it works well.

Not without a lot of money on combiners and filtering. It is done in the commercial world but its definitely not cheap. You would be better off adding a second antenna with hardline for the GMRS repeater.

Carry-on and use of radios are 100% allowed in terminals and on commercial aircraft (with the PICs permission), by federal rule. However, you should check with whom you are traveling with, as some airlines may have a company prohibition.

Perfect is the enemy of good enough.

Its true, the groundplane is much not optimal in that location.. But "some people" really seem to confuse "will not work" with "may not work 100% perfectly as it possibly can"

Turns out it's called SC-ADD. Go to the channel you want to block change SC-ADD from ON to OFF and you're good to go.

You know - for once - I'm actually going to be in TOWN! See you all there. What time are you looking at? Best, Eric

I will second the idea of getting on the roof of your house for a test. That will likely significantly reduce the amount of obstructions that absorb/block the signal. Including surrounding buildings. Also make sure to hold the antenna vertically not side ways. Good luck.

You cannot change the frequency of any of the channels (1 through 30), BUT for the repeater channels, which might be labelled RPT-1 thrugh RPT-8, you CAN change the CTCSS (Continuous Tone Code Signal System) to match the repeater's required CTCSS (sometimes called PL). Doesn't matter what mode you're in, Memory or VFR (Variable Frequency mode). Press the green button with the horizontal lines on it (hereafter called the Menu Key), and then 1 and then 2 (the number 12). This will take you to the CTCSS setting, Press the Menu key to go down to the number or whatever is there, and then press the up or down keys to get to the CTCSS setting you want. AT THIS POINT YOU MUST PRESS THE MENU KEY AGAIN, NOT ANYTHING ELSE. The voice prompt should say "Confirm." That's the way it works for all the Menu settings. If the voice prompt doesn't say "Confirm" then you can't do whatever you're trying to do. Chirp doesn't work, and I couldn't get the app for the Radioddity GM-30 to work either, though there are some on the internet that say it does work. I've requested the Chirp people to do a program for it, but I don't have any hopes that they will. But it's a nice radio, and certainly a lot of radio for the $. Good luck. --Bill, K6BLL

I carry multiple APX radios when I fly and never had an issue. They are normally in my backpack.

I carry them with the batteries removed and stored in ziplock bags. I just put them in my notebook computer bag.

I'm not an expert on anything TSA, but I would think the use of Li-Ion batteries would require them to be carry on. I use an e-cigarette, since I gave up the normal cigarettes, and they told me the 18650 batteries for it had to be in one of my pockets, and couldn't even be kept in my carry on bag.

I took my Ham HT’s all the time through airport security. The only issue I had was the time I had the Fanny Pack with the 5 amp-hour gell cell and cigarette lighter plug on it in the briefcase. Of course it shows up as a big solid black box with some round cylinder thingy connected to it on the X-ray machine. Poor TSA guy was holding it at arms length with one hand while SLOWLY pulling the zipper open with the other. The cigarette lighter plug jumped out like a jack-in-a-box. The guy tried to throw it but forgot to let go of it. Everyone saw what happen. He was very nice about it when he gave it back and suggested I put it in my checked baggage next time. Nothing further happened at the check point and I was cleared to proceed to the gate. I’m sure the guy felt really stupid.

A Plantronics headset with a coiled cord in a carry-on definitely brought the guy's with the guns over before they asked me if that was my bag jany years ago. I was wondering why they were taking so long to get my bag through the scanner.

I have carried HTs in my carry-on bag several times. I do remove the antenna so they fit in my backpack better, but I have never had an issue with security.

Seems to pretty much spell it out.

I haven't carried either of my Handhelds on lately. However, I did check my handhelds in and I didn't have any issues.

So me in the part 95 regulations where it says you can't place an antenna above X height. It's NOT there... anywhere. What you can build for a tower is going to be limited by your location with regard to airports, flight paths and other factors. And yes, getting the proper permitting for a 1000 foot tower may not may not be possible in a specific location. You may be limited to 20 feet and be required to have obstruction lighting on it even at that height if you are right off the end of a runway. But that is still not a GMRS SPECIFIC height restriction. It's a general restriction that would apply to any tower including one for a TV antenna.

This is a very bad choice for many people because the programming software/CPS has a very steep learning curve, is often difficult if not impossible to find, often (depending on the radio/software) does not run well on newer computers, things like batteries, cables, etc, are also often difficult to find or expensive, and it will almost certainly cost a lot more. And most important: Those commercial radios are not Part 95 approved so it is illegal to use them and they will go to jail!!!!!1 I know this because I've seen this posted on this forum 100 times or more. Sometimes "cheap junk Chinese radios" are plenty good enough for normal people, despite the poor QC, but "some people" just cannot seem to grasp this simple fact and will live the rest of their lives proselytizing against inexpensive radios completely oblivious to other people's needs/desires.

Yes, this is correct. But if you either have the structure already, permission to install on a tower owned by others, or have deep enough pockets to stand up a tower there is no limit to the height of a GMRS antenna. On LMR, the coordination body / FCC limits ERP, power out and height to maintain coverage only extends to your licensed operating area. Yes, we are limited to 50 watts out on power. But we have no ERP restriction outside the 467Mhz channels that are limited to .5 watt ERP. And while the FCC has the requirements in place for obstruction marking (tower lights) in their regulations, it's the FAA that sets these standards.

No.

It is a short circuit for DC, but this is ultra high frequency AC where you have waveforms and reactive impedance. Here’s a pretty good explanation:

First, you must select a repeater channel. Repeater channels and simplex channels will both receive the repeater transmissions, but only repeater channels transmit on the correct frequencies for the repeater. Second, you must transmit on the repeater channel using either the CTCSS or DCS tone that the repeater requires as its “Input” tone. Transmissions received by the repeater that don’t include the correct tone are ignored. For instructions on how to set your CTCSS or DCS tones, your instruction manual is your best reference. I don’t have an MXT400. Maybe someone who has one can answer more specific questions.

Well I looked at the manual for your radio and oddly you are correct that it doesn’t mention having this feature. What you are describing is Tone Scan, here is a description from my KG-935 plus. It works for CTCSS and DCS as well, you have to select one first and someone must be transmitting to receive the tones. 21: TONE-SCAN] CTCSS/DCS Scanning Function: Scans the incoming signal for CTCSS or DCS tones to identify or confirm the correct tone. This function must be activated while receiving a signal. Options: 1. CTCSS/2. DCS Default: None. Choose the function and press [MENU] to activate the scan. Note: The scan will stop when the signal ends and resume from where it left off the next time the signal is received, until it identifies the correct tone. Use the [UP]/[DOWN] arrow keys to scan in a different direction.

The FCC also has a zoomable map here: https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/maps/frequency-coordination-canada/