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So, your CERT Net was going on and while it was going on when someone checked in you could occasionally hear someone else on the receive frequency. In other words, when your receiver broke squelch because the repeater transmitted a tone, you could hear the folks in the background who were trying to talk on the simplex receive frequency, is that right? Could anyone else on the CERT Net hear them, or were they local to you only? Before you started the Net, did anyone listen with squelch off to hear if the channel was in use? When you did hear them, did you transmit on 462.675 MHz and announce, politely, that the frequency was in use? They could have been on GMRS or FRS. Except during an emergency, they have as much right to be on the channel as your CERT Net. We share the repeater receive frequencies with simplex users of both GMRS and FRS radios and while it would be ideal for each of us to listen with squelch turned off to hear if a frequency is in use before transmitting, there is no GMRS training that covers that. It sounds like folks were just using their radios and it happened at the same time as the Net. If they were using a different tone from you they might not have even heard you. As far as it being “a violation”, no, it wasn’t, at least in my opinion. No more than the Net operators were in violation for transmitting on a channel that was in use already by a couple of folks with their radios. And since you liked seeing the actual regulation regarding emergency use, here’s the one that requires shared use: § 95.359 Sharing of channels. Unless otherwise provided in the subparts governing the individual services, all channels designated for use in the Personal Radio Services are available for use on a shared basis, and are not assigned by the FCC for the exclusive use of any person or station. Operators of Personal Radio Service stations must cooperate in the selection and use of channels in order to avoid interference and make efficient use of these shared channels.

UPDATE: One new coax later, with the excess coiled by the air cleaner, I'm getting 1:1.02, mounted on the roof rack.

This was funny,,, i had to share it as i'm still chucking. Last night getting ready to call it a night i picked up my scanning handheld to put her to sleep for the night.. Right as i pick her up,, CH 7 blips and i hear "Brad finally passed out, coming over" reply "I'm waiting for you baby" LMAO.. We have a big Motorcycle desert race event in town and a few thousand people here for the event so assuming someone is getting a little more action..

I use the Tram 1486 because it is not very expensive, it's relatively high-gain, and it does not look like an alien spaceship on the roof. It was also easy to trim/tune - I got 1.01:1 SWR on the first try. You should use good/decent coax, but do not listen to "some people" that will try to convince you that you MUST USE hardline or Heliax, or some other $45/ft coax. I am using LMR400, which is plenty "good enough". You should ground both the mast and the coax (using a lighting suppressor type inline ground block), but i wont get into the details about how/what to ground them to as no doubt "some people" will be starting ongoing arguments over proper grounding techniques any minute now.

It's already round filed.

If you haven't done so already, and if you haven't already thrown it away, cut the old coax into a bunch of useless pieces so you will never be tempted to "save it for some other project down the line" and five years later forget why you replaced it in the first place.

It's difficult to say how much help a GMRS repeater would be in the situations that you state. The most common radios in any neighborhood will be FRS and they cannot access a repeater as they lack the input frequencies. GMRS requires an FCC license (well, you are supposed to have one) but those radios aren't in the bubble packs you see at the retailers. GMRS licenses can only be shared among family members and each team or group would have to have their own license or licenses. If you are going to put up a repeater, then one of the little 5W units connected to a Tram 1486 or Diamond X50 would cover the area your 40-foot tower has to its radio horizon. Using that small repeater also means the cost of providing battery backup is a lot lower as a $60 15AH battery could keep it running for a couple of days with moderate use.

I mounted a Midland MXTA26 to a Third Brake Light bracket i got on Ebay on my Ram.. Very clean install, no drilling and coax easily routes within the headliner through the back side of the third brake light. .. The bracket mounts between the brake light and the roof chassis and looks like a factory install.. I was going to drill the 5/8" hole in the roof but i ran into this bracket a guy was selling, he never used.. I can easily hit repeaters 75-80 miles out, The bracket i got was unpackaged and has no manufacture name tags, otherwise i would share that info.. But i'm sure you can find with a google search. Edited.. I found the info on the bracket.. It's made by Bullet Proof, here is a video... These things are a bit pricey... I got mine for $75, not sure if i would pay the $300 new price.. It is a high quality item....

You will lose range. The antenna will also transmit more directionally. Be slightly more deaf and often have much higher swr, due to the weird shaped/smaller ground plane (compared to the roof). If range is a concern. Then center of the roof with a high gain antenna, is the optimal answer, almost always. The cab (windshield and a pillar) will partially shield the signal. Not to mention the 2-3 foot difference in height. The ground plane differences lead to 2db or greater loss compared to a center roof mount. Remember, to get 3db gain (roughly one signal bar) you have to double the power with everything else equal roughly speaking. Comparably, although it is not as bad as you think. My hood mount antenna hears about 60-75 percent of what it did on center of the roof. Transmits about 75-80 of the center roof mount. Hence why we always recommend grabbing the drill and mount a nmo. When you do no ground plane antennas, stealth antennas, mag mounts, sub optimal locations. You take a comprimse and add more comprimises. Really comes down to what you can live with. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

...just please.. for the love of Xenu, do not do it in the middle of a conversation - wait for them to finish.

Newly licensed. Still learning. Still green. I’m in East Tennessee, listening to what I believe is the North Georgia net? (Forgive me if my terms are off) My question is…when I hear folks giving their call sign, some follow it with another call sign of some sorts with a state or city, followed by a number. Or they use that last part to identify only. What are those for? Example: “This is WRQN123-Alabama129” or just “Chattanooga133 clear and monitoring”