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50W is good, especially when you have a long-run of that leaky coax, to get more juice squirting from the antenna. 50W is also good to step on the other guy that is irritating everyone but only has 20W.. all else being equal.

For a db or two that's true for most people. With a modest gain antenna the coax loses can be compensated for. For people on the very fringe of a coverage zone every db counts.

i have more experience and none of that makes any sense.

Yes. Use your existing FRN. Also be aware that the FCC will begin to enforce the use of multi-factor authentication beginning on March 29, 2024. Users will be prompted to request a six-digit secondary verification code, which will be sent to the email address(es) associated with each username. More info here -> FCC to Require Two Factor Authentication for CORES Users.

You can still register and use the site. It just doesn't say 100% until you add a ham callsign.

Despite the government's denials, a cell phone kill switch, I'm sure in the case of some "domestic disturbance" cell phone use would be restricted or disabled completely by their order. After J6 if it didn't exist then I'll bet it does now. That's when you're likely to need your radio the most to coordinate with others to get out of an area to a safe place.

I've tried to give radios out to my family for this purpose. They come back with the cell phone argument. @OffRoaderX just made a vid about it too. My wife and kids all have one, but my extended family just plans to use their phones, despite life experience telling me that's a bad idea.

You can use the same one.

I got a new repeater a few days ago and started pricing hardline for the new setup... it's going to cost me about $1,300 for 250 feet and a couple of connectors. I only paid $350 for the repeater. It's wild... but if you want it to work...

With my K40 on my Pickup I think I am seeing between 3.4 and 3.7 with my Cobra 29 LTD Nightwatch depending on the selected channel, and my Firestik II antenna on my Jeep with my Cobra 19 DX III is seeing about 2.8 to 3.1 depending on the selected channel. The power levels were checked with the engine running. I'm still waiting to come across someone with a FM CB Radio so I can see how FM 29 LTD performs.

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I’ve spent a fair bit of time modeling my own location with software, and also doing a lot of empirical testing out and about. Home to car, car to car,.. Changing variables, Height, antenna gain, and power. GMRS is UHF,.. The properties of UHF are the following,.. Lossy as heck on coax, is line of sight, can punch through manmade structures better than VHF can, but ultimately crashes into terrain and dies.. Doesn’t matter if it’s 5 watts or 500. Nothing defeats the mound of dirt. You really have only one remedy. Height….. On both the transmitting and receiving side. Power just really hasn’t ever been a substantial factor as far as variables go in anything I test or model from 15 watts to 50. Even 5 watts gets into the same places, just at a lower volume. But on UHF, the things that kill it seem to come into play well before the wattage difference between 15 watts and 50 does. Is running your GMRS at 50 watts just a waste of electricity? Tell me about why you might want to run a 50 watt radio over a 20 watt radio and not have to have such an amp draw…

Can you tell us what kind of range you need? Your choices for non-licensed radios are limited to just a couple of watts, so you may have issues with range due to terrain and foliage. GMRS may give you more range because you would be allowed higher power, but each user would need a license. FRS is the Family Radio Service, limited to 2 watts, mostly handheld radios. No license required. MURS is the Multi Use Radio Service, limited also to 2 watts, mostly handheld radios. No license required. GMRS is the General Mobile Radio Service, which allows up to 50 watts, and uses both handhelds (5 watts) and mobile radios. Individual license is required.

Oops! Thanks for reminding me. @WSBT251 welcome to GMRS!

Welcome to myGMRS. We’re not all cranky all the time.

Thank you I found the pahrump repeaters after I posted the question. Learning my way around the site.

What are the improvements/corrections that the newest firmware offer that the older one does not provide. Have there been so many problems with the radio that it needs to be updated every few months? The radio will continue to work even with old firmware so unless there is a major flaw in the way it is working now, then I agree with gearjunkie; if it aint broke dont fix it!

https://mygmrs.com/repeaters There are two in the Pahrump area:

You need to submit your request to the repeater owner through mygmrs.com by clicking on the details button for that repeater on the map. The Tones for Pinal did not change. SWCRS activated the PT-T ID feature and issued every member their personal PT-T ID number in order to access the repeater. Your radio has to have the ability to send the ID using MDC1200 system feature for it to work.

you used to be able to use Excel (the newest version) to pull the data from the web site.. But that is no longer working. I agree with you that the site owner should use the KMZ option to the his paid service.. He would easily increase his paid service subscriptions by doing so. I did offer to help him do this for no fees. Even offered to give him the template i built to get the data into KMZ/KML format, he never answered my message. The template i built would allow him to make KML/KMZ for all states. I hope the sample of data i sent will entice him to get this going. In the mean time another web site has reached out to me asking to help them build KMZ files for GMRS. I would rather help this site get it going but we'll see what happens.

I think we've all learned a very valuable lesson here today.

The best part of DMR in my opinion is using a MMDVM Hotspot. Easy to use around the house and chat with anyone anywhere. PI-star software easy to configure. Reasonable to build or buy. I understand there is something similar being used on GMRS but not sure how easy it is and at what price.

Recently, a local Phoenix family drove up to the mountains northeast of Phoenix several days ago and got caught in a snow storm and they were stranded for several days. The family did survive and made it out unharm. They were lucky to be found by local Payson Area residents during the snow storm. While they were stranded, they attempted to call for help using their cell phone but unfortunately, they were in an area of no cell service, which is not unusual in the remote mountain areas of Arizona. However, the area they were in was well covered by the Diamond Point GMRS Repeater which is linked to other repeaters of the Southwest Community Radio System (SWCRS) that serve the Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson, and the eastern mountain communities in Arizona; and throughout the state of New Mexico. If they had a GMRS radio and if they were licensed and knowledgeable about the GMRS repeater system they could have use their GMRS radio to summon for help. The point is, you can’t always rely on a Cellular Telephone for help, especially in remote areas. So, don’t leave home without your GMRS radio even in the metro areas. You can never plan when a GMRS radio will be the most valuable tool in the time of need.

Yeah soldering connectors on is not for everyone. One won't go wrong with a quality prebuilt coax cable. And it never hurts to coil the excess cable right below the antenna.

I've tried installing my own connectors, wasn't easy, didn't turn out that well. Unless you've done a lot of it, and have the right tools, it's money well spent to just buy a cable with the connectors already installed. One less question mark if things don't work as planed.

Thats one reason I'm afraid to update my firmware. I have 230317 ! Works fine no matter how I program it. Bluetooth or chirp. Hits all repeaters.

If you are on the repeater listing on the main site, just click "Request Access", and it will let you type a whole message to send to them.

I found their mailing address and information , but no email. I was just wondering if their was a way to message them on this site. Thanks.

It is important to use the correct type and good quality coax. The cheap Amazon coax will have more loss than TM LMR400 or the Messi and Pailoni equivalent. The cheap coax won't have as much braided shielding and/or use lower quality materials which leads to more loss. Using a good antenna with at least 6dBi of gain will overcome the 1-2 dB loss from the coax. Again use quality coax and quality connectors (if making your own cables).

As I was referring to the "R" and "Q" model radio, those radios are Motorola radios. The Kenwood TK880 model (25 watt) band splits are: the TK880-1 is 450-490 MHz; TK880-2 is 485-512 MHz; TK880-3 is 400-430 MHz and the TK880H is the 40 watt radio with the same respective band splits. As Lscott said, you may be able to push the 70cm freq programming in the Kenwood. Since, I am not an Amateur, as in HAM radio operator, I never had a need to try that with my Kenwood.

I just installed a Cobra 75 All Road in my SUV. I like it! I bought the BlueParrott B450-XT headset to go with it. I set the BlueParrott button to be the PTT for the Cobra and it works great. Audio from the Cobra using the BlueParrott mic sounds almost exactly the same as using the Cobra mic. Now I can use the Cobra without having to pick up the mic, and a big bonus is that there is no need for an external speaker. It works great.

I think LMR600 has lower loses, a bit larger than LMR400, and I think it's not much more expensive either. The loss at 450MHz for LMR400 is 2.7db/100 feet. The loss at 450MHz for LMR600 is 1.7db/100 feet. For somebody who needs to run between 50 to 100 feed of coax stepping up to LMR600 would makes sense. The chart frequency of 450MHz is close enough to GMRS at 462/467 MHz the extra loss at the slightly higher frequency isn't that significant. For 50 feet of LMR400 at 450 MHz the power loss would be about 27%. For 50 feet of LMR600 at 450 MHz the power loss would be about 18%.

At a reasonable cost. There is better cable, various types of "hard line", but gets expensive real fast.

Just drill a hole and dont worry about that mag mount.

Thank you @Sshannon That is exactly the info I need.

I actually have a full sized CB radio in my car, and a 3' fiberglass antenna popping out of my roof. I've daily driven my car like that for the past 8 months actually haha

I'm jumping up and down giggling right now after opening your Pcalifornia.kmz file in google earth. My god this is better than I expected, and color coded for open repeaters. How did you compile this data? Do you work for mygmrs? I like the idea of having a kmz file for each individual state, also having a kmz file is better too. I use a offline maps platform called osmand which is ridiculously powerful and incredibly feature and rich, and nearly every single option, map display, etc is customizable. And it's all offline. With this KMZ I can import it into that so while I am navigating I'll be able to see the repeaters nearby visually, something you cannot do in something like google maps or waze. I'm just awestruck because this has absolutely exceeded what I thought of being able to do. If there was a (free) or "pro" paid feature in the mygmrs app or website where you can download the kmz file database by state, and it's updated and recompiled the same way the app and map feature is, it's something I'd pay for, and maybe a few others as well. Very interesting. Thank you for your insight! Wow this thread has blown up a little, I'm glad this is getting some attention and stirring up some ideas among all of us Thank you everyone!

You could save some money and use a lower powered radio. Wont need as big of a battery or a higher wattage solar panel. For instance my recent simplex repeater build has been running for a few weeks now on a measly 6ah battery and 10 watt solar panel. However my radio only draws 1.5 amps at 10 watts while transmitting, and .3 amps when idle. Here is the link if you want to see what i used and how it turned out. Might help give you some ideas.

Use a 3m Double sided tape on the entire base, then clean the roof and stick it down with good amount of pressure. This is the same stuff they use to affix badging from the factory and most trim on cars. Might affect your range however but it would keep it from moving. Otherwise look into getting a bracket to mount with. Search Amazon for this: 3M Exterior Attachment Tape

Could try a piece of vinyl wrap. Apply to the area on the car. Then place mag mount on it. Damn I wish I had tried it on the burb. The mag mount left a rust spot on the roof. It attracted iron from the debris on the road and that started to rust. Remeber dirt has iron in it. Don't believe me go grab a magnet and rub it on some dirt. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

The antenna that comes on the Q10G is a GMRS antenna, so it does not perform optimally on the CB channels.. .To "fix" it, you may want to try an antenna better tuned for CB.

I keep 2m/70cm, CB, MURS, and GMRS in my vehicle. I have it mainly to have the ability to communicate with almost anyone, but in the case of emergency, I am pretty well covered.

Something to keep in mind with that model, is that even when Repeater mode is enabled, and you are using the RP channels, it will be set to NFM (Narrow FM). You have to send it to Midland to ask them to change it to WFM (Wide FM) for the repeater channels. They don't charge you for it, but still kind of a pain. Will it prevent you from using a repeater? No, but the audio won't sound as good. The repeater will sound quiet to you, since you're hearing only 1/2 of the bandwidth. When you are transmitting to the repeater, others will hear you fine, but your voice won't sound as full, since you're transmitting using only half the bandwidth. If you do send it in to be updated, the WFM is only for the RP (repeater) channels. So if you're on CH 16 simplex, it's going to be NFM. One of the shortcomings of the radio. Other than a goofy menu system (including their listings of CTCSS/DCS tones), the radio itself is just fine for simplex communications, and actually sounds decent.

I can't believe I'm defending this guy, but his questions are fair questions, and certainly not dumb. Why no UHF NOAA channels? For a variety of reasons, such as the reduced range of UHF over VHF, meaning more transmitters might be needed, costly infrastructure for new UHF transmitting equipment, no demand, and a variety of other reasons already put forth in this thread. Can we get the FCC and NOAA to add UHF weather channels? Probably not, because of the cost, complexity, bandwidth, and equipment required, among probably many other reasons, but if you feel strongly enough about it, contact them. What can they say? Yes, no, or maybe. Or maybe they won't respond at all. Like a boss of mine once said, if you don't ask, it's an automatic no.

You must use the repeater input tone as your TX tone. Otherwise the repeater will disregard your transmission. You may use the output tone as your RX tone. If you do, your radio will disregard (refuse to reproduce) any transmissions that do not include the same tone. But you don’t have to. If you leave the RX tone out your radio will reproduce all of the signals it hears on 462.675 MHz. The same frequencies are used to receive both simplex and repeater signals.

WOW! I never gat anywhere near these kinds of distance. Perhaps it's all the buildings, chemical plants, trees, and houses full of fffff...FURNITURE!

That’s definitely true.. But here’s another enecdote. I once received an SSTV image from a cube-sat that transmitted at 1 watt. The point being that if you’re in the clear,.. You’re in the clear.. 1 watt or a factor of 10 doesn’t matter..

So I tried just about all of the radios. I would pick the Wouxun KG-XS20G over everything else including Midland. It's built better. It also puts out more power. Just my two cents.

Commercial air band runs from around 118 to 136MHz. (Military is around 380MHz) And yes, it is AM. There is reason for that. Unlike FM -- which has a "capture effect", where the strongest signal becomes the only signal that is "tracked" by the receiver; AM will let all signals on the frequency through. This is desirable because it means a distress call can be heard even while there is a communication going on between ground control and an aircraft.