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I am interested in trying NVIS, but much of what I read about it says it is DIFFICULT. That won't stop me from trying

Could it be that you have Radio ID on? See page 71 and 79 in your manual.

The question was, how to get younger people interested in amateur radio. I read four pages of what seemed like everything but, and no one has mentioned the obvious. Hold a field day and advertise that you will be bouncing signals off the moon and let people have a chance to hear their own voice being reflected off the moon. Talk about bouncing signals off of the auroras. Talk about meteor scatter. Talk about satellite work. This is what will excite young people. Young kids these days are stuck in their apps. They know all about the online world and they were born in a digitally interconnected world where everything is and was always already connected. What is going to interest them is the older tech, things with transistors and weird antennas. Tropospheric ducting and yes, moon bounce.

I am glad I was able to catch this whiten 24 hours of it being listed by that individual. He did respond to the Cease-and-Desist email we sent him. I believe he has unlisted everyone's repeaters he listed as his own. Again, just wanted to share light to those unaware of this happening.

I'm sorry I don't remember the model of the Diamond antenna on my vehicle. It is a fold over, but it has a locking collar that has to turn 3 full turns to release. Basically impossible to be folded by road wind. I did have some trouble with the cheap coax end on the coax that came with it, it was slightly undersized and if I hit a tree branch the whole antenna fell off the truck. Until I replaced it with a proper end, I kept a safety string attached to the antenna so when it decoupled, it was still where I could find it.

I concur. There is a lot to unpack in that filing, and it will likely go nowhere with the FCC. As a ham, I find this desire to by many of our fellow amateurs to "change" GMRS a bit disturbing. I've run into this "attitude" with several hams local to me. All license classes of amateurs have full privileges from 420MHz - 450MHz (70cm). Most everything outlined in that filing we already have available to us in the 70cm band. And for you non-hams out there, guess what? The 70cm band goes largely unused! The only thing that filing does is further annoy the FCC when it comes to amateur radio operators. My eyes were rolling reading it, and if I were the FCC it would be targeted for the circular file. Allowing digital voice modes (DMR, etc..) is a very bad idea. This would be very confusing and annoying to existing GMRS users. To another point, most hams can't figure out how to program their DMR radios. As for the random joe-ham or the VM (Volunteer Monitors) performing band police duties? Seriously?!?

A friend and I both had Tech plus, and when the 13wpm code requirement was dropped for general, we spent the night with a 12pack of beer and the general book. we both passed the next day.

I read the document. Wow, there is a lot going on there and I'm not talking about the technical aspects. I am not sure I understand why anyone with an amateur license would need or want to make all these changes to GMRS. Everything the document proposes is available in the amateur bands and is not relegated to the small number of frequencies given to GMRS even with going narrow band to add channels. The most disturbing paragraph to me was proposing people holding an amateur radio license could volunteer to be the radio police for both GMRS and the proposed GMRS+ services. I guess having an amateur license makes one superior to the folks on GMRS. I have a "HAM" license and a GMRS license and I am not better than anyone. I'm sure there would be plenty of volunteers for that gig.

...Thats why they're called Sad Hams.. Killing their own hobby, one potential new member at a time...

I have a GMRS license and I decided I wanted my amateur radio license as well. So I studied for the Technician test for the last few weeks off and on, and I took the test this morning. (Side note: I live in California, but currently visiting Wyoming, so I took my test in Wyoming. The VE's were happy to have me.) I passed the Technician test 100%. Then the VE's asked if I wanted to try the General test, which I was completely unprepared for. Turns out I am pretty good at guessing, I almost passed (I scored 25 out of the required 27 to pass). My favorite part was when the VE was grading my general exam, he was shocked that I actually got as many correct as I did. "Unbelievable" was his exact word. Just thought I would share. I guess my point is that for the folks that complain about the testing, it really isn't that hard.

Just want to inform people I guess it's a new trend or something. For those of you that have repeaters listed on myGMRS double check that some else hasn't relisted your repeater as their own. Come to find out just now one individual has done just that. Not just mine but a couple other repeaters as well. Images included.

While living up north in Sacramento, my neighbors teen age kids would spend hours and actually made some contacts with the ISS... I remember one time while they were attempting a contact, watching the ISS reflection buzzing by... these kids had a computer set up for tracking and information where to point their makeshift antenna... Pretty Interesting

NVIS looks fascinating but I'm unsure if I'll ever go that deep into ham radio. At this juncture I'm just barely getting started with GMRS. Though I do appreciate this thread! It's an example of how important it is to figure out your use cases and learn how to mitigate shortfalls with the service, and/or issues with your terrain.

I dont think that 1db is going to make the difference, but it could be one of multiple weak links like cable length/quality, connectors, radio sensitivity, and any of 2-gazillion other variables.

PS: it does not HAVE TO BE the internet. You could also use your own private leased-line type connection, but that is much costly.

Hi all, I'm new to the site (and the forum) but am impressed by the wealth of information I have seen so far! I picked up my GMRS license last year when my family and I took a vacation in the eastern edge of TN by the Appalachian range. While we never got stuck/lost and "needed" it, I was happy to have it as a backup. Now I'm getting interested in learning a bit more about GMRS, and figured this was a good place to start!

The only way to do this and not break any of the GMRS rules would be to link them over the internet. Not sure of the overall cost, but not a trivial task. I'm sure others can chime in with more details.

Cheap, low quality cable - too many of the RF electricities fall out and dont make it to the antenna.

There’s nothing wrong with 1.9:1. Check it on different channels and you might see the SWR change. Also, a perfect SWR does not mean it is a good or bad antenna. A dummy load will get you 1.0:1. A very lossy cable will improve your SWR at the expense of signal strength.

@Sshannon ; Thanks! I think sometimes I get too excited with the new toys, that we forget the obvious...Like the missing ground plane because I was just setting this stuff up in my den, and thought a file cabinet would work well enough... probably not! I will test this out on the minivan when I get the chance, and have also ordered an antenna analyzer this afternoon. Will try to remember post my findings later. Also just received my base antenna (Harvest BC200 460-470Mhz 6.5dBi 200W Tunable GMRS UHF Base Antenna) earlier than expected! Will set that up in a more professional manner. @WRQC527 ; Yeah... It's all brand new cable and connectors. I did not ohm out every piece, but I did visually inspect all of the solder connections (Being employed in the electrical field, I know it sometimes happens!). Looking over the specs of the Binfu antenna, it is listed as "Bingfu Ham Radio Vehicle Car Mobile Radio Antenna Dual Band VHF UHF 136-174MHz 400-520MHz Magnetic Base PL259 Male Antenna for BTECH ICOM Kenwood Midland Yaesu TYT AnyTone Amateur Radio Two Way Radio" I think I may have been thinking of the specs of my purchased "Base" antenna as opposed to what the specs were for the mobile antenna. I'm inclined to think now it may have been a problem with the lack of ground plane / counterpoise and overall quality of the Surecom SWR meter. Thanks for your input on the matter, as I'm certainly going to reinspect the cables and connectors.

Sure, glad to help. Welcome to the forum.

I have reported it,which is the most reliable and quickest way to reach Rich. The function labeled “My Repeaters” makes it far too easy to accidentally or intentionally allow any person to list a repeater as their own and appears right next to the Favorite Repeaters tab. I suspect at least some people add repeaters to their “My Repeaters” list accidentally while attempting to populate their favorites. To populate your favorites list, just click on the Star next to the repeater name. I suggested to Rich (in my report) that the My Repeaters feature be disabled.

I found out this is being done to aquire real names, addresses, email accounts, etc. to start the process of targeting people for identity theft.

WOW! CHIRP is soooooo much easier to use than the Wouxun software! But... I spent the time and retyped my complete program from CHIRP to the Wouxun software for the 935G+. The result was the same as with CHIRP. For now I'm going to remove the tones for the 'scanner' channels and try to contact Wouxun or BuyTwoWayRadios for tech support or a bug report. Thanks for all the input folks! Have a Happy New Year!! -James

That is interesting. I never realized it was based on MURS. I have a Garmin Xumo XT for my bike, it's been great. I looked at the group ride radio but honestly, I just never ride in groups. Now that I know it is based on MURS, it opens up the ability to talk with others using that system. Good to know it isn't some closed "Garmin" system, but based on a free to use, unlicensed public frequency. It sure is expensive, though. But, I would feel awfully cool if I had a MURS and a GMRS mobile rig on my motorcycle. I bet all the pretty girls would think I was all right at that point.

Can you tell us exactly what Bingfu antenna? (Link to it if possible.) SWR readings of 5.6 and 2.59 are way too high, even for a somewhat inaccurate meter. (Although it is possible your meter is defective.) Normally you get those kind of high readings with damaged coax, loose connections, defective antennas, the wrong antenna, bad or non-existent grounding, that kind of thing.

First, don't necessarily trust the SWR reading from the Surecom. It might be rights, but there are reports of them being incorrect. An antenna analyzer will tell you whether your antenna has a reasonable SWR in the 462-467 MHz. Once you know about the antenna, then test the combination of the cable and antenna. Second, are you testing with the antenna connected to the car the way it's designed to be? The simple act of raising an antenna, or placing it on a ground plane, or standing beside it, can drastically affect the SWR. Third, What is the SWR on the higher repeater channels (23-30?) Finally, welcome to the forums! Steve

I seriously doubt it. It's written by a ham. Hams are notorious for having zero sense of humor. In fact, "Hams have a sense of humor" is one of the true or false questions I answered on my Technician exam.

Not a modeler, but I've found this useful: https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/

When I suffer the wining noise. These are the things I did to make it go away. Clean the battery post/ cables, clean and tighten ground wires, and clean the alternator stator/ replace the brushs. It seem to work on my late 80's through 90's vechicles. Just a thought Good luck WRJA397

As I read what you have tried I couldn’t think of anything else either. Just out of curiosity do you have any issues talking simplex between your two radios?

What you learn quickly the real circuit is not what the schematic shows. When you include all the parasitic elements it’s gets a lot more interesting. The higher the frequency or when transient events are important you can’t neglect them.

I’ve known GMRS users who have no interest in ham radio and (unfortunately) I’ve known ham radio operators who have a derisive attitude towards GMRS users who reject ham radio and then attempt to make GMRS into a no-test substitute for ham radio. But here in Montana I have not personally encountered any hams that look down on the licensed use of GMRS for group communications.

Maybe in CA. I know many Hams outside of CA who despise GMRS and when it comes to a Ham having their GMRS license in addition their Ham license, oh boy, what colorful words and attitudes I have observed, and yes, many have come my way just for possessing both, like I am not being 100% loyal to Ham Radio. I am not throwing Hams under the bus. The stuff I have heard come out of Hams is disgusting to say the least and I am not a person who will just sit here and turn a blind eye to it. I have been on the wrong end of digital kicking analog users out. It isn't nice, and the attitudes I have heard from some Hams when it concerns digital is real smug to say the least. There is no need for that behavior. My main issue is throwing something onto a service with extremely limited frequency space and no regulation that has already shown itself to be a recipe for disaster.

You must be new here. 50% of the new posters in these forums cannot even figure out how to program an analog repeater into their new GMRS radio. Do you seriously think that DMR will work for "every man"? And before you ask, I am *very* familiar with programming a DMR repeater and DMR radios, both Motorola and other brands. It's orders of magnitude more difficult than programming an offset and a tone or two for an analog repeater.

Thank you.. This was much confuckulating. All along I thought this was a Crest Communications repeater.

You know, for someone that proclaims that NO ONE cares what I say, you sure do seem to care a lot.

I’m sorry (sad even) that happened to you. If I ever do it (or have done it) please call me on it.

99.99% of hams i have met in person were very pleasant and are not sad-hams. It's when you go online that the sad-hams thrive, and thats where the young people go to learn, and often the first thing they run into is a sad-ham. That is what happened to me - I went online and had the audacity to ask questions about the test or electrical theory or something that I didnt understand, and it was quickly made clear to me that people asking such questions were not welcome in this exclusive club. Not just once, but multiple times, in multiple places. I see it here every day, and have even seen it a few times already in this thread. HUNDREDS of my viewers have also commented on my videos that the exact same thing happened to them, so the impact of sad-hams cannot be denied.. I am actually thankful because when the sad-hams turned me off from ham I found GMRS and realized that I dont want/need a "hobby", I just needed a better way to communicate on the trail - and GMRS does that perfectly for me. The sad part is that most sad-hams dont realize that they are the ones giving a bad name to their hobby, and also giving me more material to make fun of.

162,000 people disagree with you, but I'm sure you're probably right because you seem to be a real "expert".

Now try actually reading what I wrote: The amateur hobby is killing off POTENTIAL NEW members - if you don't believe this to be true then either your head is buried in the sand or you are part of the problem. I dont give a sh!t one way or another, they already killed me off as a potential member long ago, i just think it's humorous when sad-hams try to pretend this is not an issue.

Two big ones Eliminate the elitist attitude too many of the old hams have regarding those with a Tech Class License. There are Hams out there that won't even respond to a call that is a Tech Class. WTF? Same goes for Morse Code. There are those out there that remark, often, you're not a "Real Ham" unless you can pound out CW at 50 WPM. Sad.

Do away with the written test for the Technician Class license. Memorizing answers to test serves no real purpose for an entry level license. No one is going to remember what the answers were and cares. So, why have a test. It's a waste of time.

If this has been asked often, I apologize. I did try the search function. I'm trying to connect to a local repeater; my first time ever. I've got the channel, and I'm pretty sure I've got the right input and output tone. The info on the repeater doesn't list offset. If that's the case, do I not need to worry about it? I'm transmitting, and getting a...beep?...at the end, but I'm not hearing any replies...if there are any. Don't have my second radio yet to test with.

It does sound like you're getting into the repeater; that brief bit of silence follow by the beep is one form of response (courtesy tone) letting you know the repeater heard you. Not receiving a response isn't super surprising, as some repeaters are quieter than others, and some people stick to their group, and may not respond to "strangers". One thing to watch when testing with a second radio is to get some distance between the listening and transmitting radios. The strong transmit signal can temporarily "deafen" the receiving radio; it adjusts to a strong signal close by, and may not hear the repeater's signal from further away.

I may not be understanding what you are asking but, GMRS uses +5 MHZ offset for repeaters. Transmit on 467.xxxx (into the repeater) and receive (monitor) on 462.xxxx. Most GMRS only radios have the offset baked in. On other radios you would need to put the offset in manually. Sean

Cost is TBD, but a notch duplexer is included with the RT97. It'll be everything you need to get a 5W repeater on the myGMRS network with the audio levels already set.

Hello from the suburban wild of western Nevada! And thank you for the site and forums. Licensed Friday, joined Saturday (today), and I've already learned a lot. Now if the radios would just get here.

Joined a couple of days ago to learn more about GMRS and the radio hobby in general. Got my GMRS license about a year ago. John ];')

Just joined and am learning more about GMRS. There is not a pleathora of information available on this and hope to learn more from this group.