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I would put this claim in the same category as "always get gas in the morning while the gas is denser" and "always keep a crayon in your wallet".

I think Randy gets his info from Zenu (sp) so you know that it has to be accurate.

Many radios have the ability to monitor two channels. Those are the two.

Why then would you pose the question in a forum, which by definition is populated by random internet people?

I'm glad you aren't a Sad Ham. It's nice to get strait answers. Did the first one this morning. Now to find a crayon.

Do roger beeps confuse repeaters? My opinion... it's possible. Depends on the controller. Most repeaters have a controller for remote control (required by our overlords at the FCC to be 'in control' of the repeater at all times). Many of the modern controllers use digital signals for remote function, but near all of them still have analog function, typically done with DTMF codes. Depending on what your roger beep sounds like, you could risk partially triggering a remote command, putting the repeater in an unknown state, making it so the owner or admins can't manage it. Then they need to drive to the repeater site and either reboot the controller or the repeater. That said, I think the number one reason is because a good portion of the people listening, including the owners, don't want to hear a stead stream of beeping all day on the repeater. It gets pretty annoying and people clearly have no idea what a roger beep is for... which is to send a quick blip to acknowledge the previously receive transmission without actually saying anything. Especially for conditions when the two stations are on the fringes of their range and voice comms are difficult. It was never intended to be used on every transmission. Though, Sad Hams will tell you a different story.

You may want to reset the combinations on your luggage while you're at it, Mr. 1234

More lies perpetrated by the Sad-H.A.M. cartels.

Welcome. Bring your questions, as there is a lot of good information here and many knowledgeable people. If you have a good sense of humor, you might want to bring that as well.

I don't believe they are saying that you have to join to use the "free airwaves". They're just saying that you can't use/activate their private property, the repeater station equipment, with the "free airwaves" unless you are a Club Member, which is their right. You can use the "free airwaves" to your heart content providing that you do it in compliance with Part 95, subparts A and E.

So the story behind this antenna is that I actually didn’t even want it. I was simply looking to pick up an NMO mag mount base because the antenna that I was interested in was a Melowave Shadow antenna, but don’t currently have an NMO platform for it to be on. After shopping various options everywhere I spotted this Chinese bundle of what appears to be a copy of these Shadow/Ghost style antennas. But it included the mag NMO base that I was after, for less than the price of just only the base everywhere else I looked ($25 to my door from Amazon). I pulled the trigger and figured I could just pitch the antenna part in the trash and still be ahead of the game.. Obviously though, being a radio nerd that I am I had to at least have a look at it. I connected it to my VNA and surprisingly it has a very nice dip across the GMRS portion. 1.3-1. I then took it for a ride checking into some repeaters in my area and got really good reports. Receive copy was great as well. Repeaters ranged from 10-26 miles away. If you read some of the user reviews online for this antenna, it’s not great. But here’s the thing about it. It’s being sold as a “ham radio, 2M/70cm dual bander”. It’s even labeled as such with a sticker right on the antenna itself. There’s no spot on VHF that is even usable for this antenna. SWR is like 6+. Even on 70cm the numbers are on the high side of the usable slope. So if you bought this antenna for those purposes, it is bad. But fortunately and luckily for GMRS users, this antenna lands resonant (by dumb luck?) at the GMRS region. This antenna is sneakily, and possibly entirely by accident, a quite good GMRS mobile antenna! Has anyone else tried one out?

Yes. You have to pay extra but it's worth it.

Ya same here I'm not interested in repeaters. Just my local contacts.

5 minutes Actually, we hams tend to call each other by our call signs more often than our names. We often log those contacts. If we’re having a net we check in and then wait to be called back. We say our call sign every 10 minutes or sooner and at the end of the conversation. When I use GMRS it’s strictly casual on a first name basis. I don’t care what the other person’s call sign is. I use mine at the end of every 15 minutes and when ending a conversation, but otherwise I just don’t say it. GMRS is like talking on the phone to someone except simplex.

Yes I will! Great advise!! I am impressed with all the help. thanks!

Roger beeps interfere with operation, no, typically not. DTMF ID, possibly. Might put a repeater controller in some odd state and lock it up. Again, possible but not probable. MDC CAUSING issues? No, I can't see any way that would happen. However, there is something called ANI or RAC that uses an MDC sounding code to access a repeater. And there are controllers that will look for specific MDC codes that are in a database to allow access to a repeater. So if you are on a system like that, the MDC is a requirement to access the repeater in question. Mind you these are not common at all. But I have seen it both commercially and here on GMRS. All that being said. The repeater OWNER is going to have the final say on any of the three being used on their repeater. A lot of owners don't care for roger beeps. I am personally one. If I wanted a courtesy tone on the repeater (roger beep) I can add that myself. I do support the use of MDC on my repeaters, but don't require it and I don't run RAC / ANI access on my repeater since it's an open repeater.

Thank you thank You!!! This is my first time on and learning how to reply properly.

While the practice of running an omni directional antenna and a beam antenna is not very common with GMRS, it is more common with the 2m and 70cm amateur bands. The omni works well for general omni directional use while the Yagi allows for getting longer distance contacts since the design is directional and usually higher gain. @WRPT980, as long as you can keep both antennas at least a full wave length apart then you should be fine. A full wavelength at 467.600 is 2.1 feet.

On the Midland mxt400, DCS 411 is code #51:

That means there is about a .0000002% chance that it could affect a repeater.

Back in the day (many decades ago) with the use of Single (Burst) Tones (there were five tones to select from 1800-2552 Hz), I use to tone out Mary Had A Little Lamp on the air.

According to page 26, number 51 should be 411.

You can use dielectric grease on the threads only. Don't let it get on the outside of the connector and the center conductor at the same time. Or you can use vaseline on the threads only too. Best is to wrap it with self sealing rubber tape.

99.9999998% of the time, NO...

Someone actually turned my transmitter off on one of my repeaters last year. They were using DTMF 1111 as a quick burst preamble and that was the default combination for the disable command on the repeater. I also had someone have a DTMF code setup as a roger beep and coincidentally happened to be the same combination I made up to stun the repeater. I had to drive to the repeater site to reset it on the panel.

Unless your roger beep is the dtmf tones to 'mary had a littte lamb', its not likely going to cause problems. As a radio user (ham, gmrs, frs, muuuuuuuurs, cb), I don't like the actual tones of the boofwang radio roger beep, but I do prefer a roger beep when talking to someone, especially on simplex. On weak signals if I don't hear a beep I assume they dropped out and will come right back. If I hear the beep, I know they released the ptt. Otherwise, you just talk over them, which happens frequently on 2m simplex or repeaters. Sad hams just don't like the roger beep.

Just a Thank You for letting me become a member !!

Interesting, thanks. Have you ever heard of such an incident ever actually occurring? It sounds like what you're saying is that a roger beep will impact a repeater about as often as the planets align, right?

Just got my license WSCE937 in southern Arizona. I have a lot to learn so please bear with me.

Been thinking about putting another radio in the truck, maybe just one of my HTs but I keep putting it off thinking there is not a good solution. Those Lido mounts have changed my mind.

It is my understanding that the "Roger Beep" tone(s) will and have interfered with the control of some Linked Repeater Links.

Roger beeps will not confuse a repeater, or at least they don't with my club's repeater. People are probably saying that just to get others to turn off the Roger beep.

I ran into the same issue with my 2023 Ford Escape. I ended up going with a Lido seat bolt mount.

The headliner will not hold screws. They are usually made of heavy cardboard foam and fabric. Every car is different and most modern cars are very hard to find a place to mount radios. Here is Lido's site. I found a cup holder mount that works for my truck. You may have to get creative to find a solution. https://www.lidoradio.com/

Cup holder or vent mount from Lido or Ram.

Aloha from Hawaii @WSCE937

Welcome!!!

Welcome!

Another vote for the Surecom SW-102. It works just fine. I do have more expensive analyzers but I mostly use those when I build my own antennas.

Warning: Do NOT listen to the "experts" that love to spend your money - for occasional tuning/testing of your antenna you do NOT NEED a $500+ SWR meter. Normal people use inexpensive meters like the Surecom SW-33 or SW-102, and they work just fine. If you plan on testing/tuning antennas professionally or as some kind of a hobby, then by all means get one that costs much more and is *slightly* more accurate.

Rumor has it that Anytone is buying Motorola's land mobile radio division too.

The final days of our "Delta" repeater were pretty pathetic.. After we shut it down a couple of the jammers and troublemakers moved over to the other high-level repeaters in the area. These people are absolute losers at life. i'm not just saying that - I know who they are, and they truly are pathetic nothings.

Radios seems to attract a certain type of person, often with similar personalty defects...