Leaderboard

This one time, at band camp, I found myself in a hell that only Xenu could punish me with: a gathering of licensed sad-H.A.M.s. I thought I was in for a fun-filled weeknd filled with music, but no, instead, I got stuck with a bunch of overgrown man-children playing with their glorified walkie-talkies. From the moment I arrived, I knew I was in trouble. These guys, who were clearly incapable of any meaningful social interaction, swarmed the place like a plague of dorks. They had all the charm of a root canal and twice the ego. Imagine an army of Sheldons from The Big Bang Theory, but without any of the redeeming qualities or comedic timing. That’s what I was up against. It all started innocently enough. I was trying to enjoy the campfire when a group of them descended on me. They were babbling in a language that was a mix of Klingon and technobabble, discussing radio frequencies and antenna designs as if they were secrets to eternal life. Their leader, a guy I’ll call Bob because he looked like every Bob you’ve ever met, decided he needed to “educate” me on the wonders of ham radio. I swear, if he had a ham-radio-shaped soapbox, he would have stood on it. “Yo! Bob,” I said, “what’s the frequency for tuning into some good music?” It was a joke, a simple, harmless joke. But Bob, with all the wit and humor of a malfunctioning robot, started giving me a lecture on frequency bands and how important it is to get a license - he must have said "i've been a licensed ham-radio operator for over 25 years" over 20 times. Every time I tried to engage in normal human-conversation, it was like talking to a brick wall. A brick wall that talked back, but only to explain in excruciating detail why you were wrong about everything. These guys couldn’t recognize sarcasm if it slapped them in the face and called them stupid. I tried to make a joke about their radios being a way to compensate for something, but they just nodded seriously and started discussing the size of their antennas. I kid you not. The other operators were no better. They were like drones, each waiting for their turn to speak about their precious radios, completely unaware that no one else cared. Conversations were like passing around a hot potato, except the potato was a steaming pile of boredom, and no one wanted to let go of it. It was mind-numbing. One night, after enduring yet another lecture from Bob about the superiority of Morse code, I lost it. I stood up and said, “Look, I get that you guys are into this stuff, but I came here to relax, not to join your cult. Can we, for the love of Xenu, talk about something else for five minutes?” They stared at me like I had just spoken in tongues. Then, Bob, with his usual cluelessness, said, “But amateur radio is the best way to relax! You just haven’t experienced it properly yet. You should get your ham ticket!” At that moment, I fantasized about using Bob’s radio as a blunt instrument. Instead, I walked away, muttering curses under my breath. I retreated to my tent, trying to block out the sound of their droning voices and the endless beeping of Morse code. I couldn’t believe I had paid to be in this dork-fest. As the days dragged on, I learned to tune them out. I found solace in the woods, away from the incessant chatter and the constant hum of their radios. I survived band camp, but just barely. I walked away with a story that would make for great campfire tales, but also a newfound appreciation for the blissful silence of solitude. In the end, I was not assimilated, and thank Xenu for that. I escaped with my sanity mostly intact, but I knew one thing for sure: never again would I underestimate the sheer, unrelenting boredom that comes with a bunch of licensed sad-hams.

Nope, there are a lot of us here who feel exactly the same way. You just got to your keyboard first and you said it very well.

I always hate when someone is completely incapable of grasping the concept that different people have different wants, needs, and priorities than themselves. The only thing more perplexing than that, is how willing 'some people' are to demonstrate to everyone how they are totally devoid of these basic mental abilities. But.. that's just me...

The cats chewed the tips off a couple of ducks.......I just put a little shrink tubing on it to seal it at the top. It does nothing for xmit & rcv if it is gone.....standing waves don't come pouring out the top.

You don’t. But get ready for a raft of shit.

I got my GMRS license a few weeks ago and received my handheld radios a few days ago & started setting them up (still learning & trying to set them up lol). Well, I reached a local repeater and made my first contact. It was exciting to me so I just thought I’d share that. Thanks everyone for helping me with my newbie questions.

I look forward to reading reviews of the Midland GXT67 PRO. https://midlandusa.com/products/gxt-gmrs-5-watt-two-way-radio-gxt67-pro

Sorry to ruin the surprise for you, but the GXT3000 does not have a removable antenna

My radio, my choice.

That’s awesome. I don’t live close enough to any published repeaters to hit them with my ht radio. I can talk to my boys on there bf-888s radios when I’m close to home

Under Map Options you can check the box to include all Stale Repeaters on the Map but you have to recheck the box every time you refresh the map.

so.... you were in the wrong group?

or a left group??

I believe it means they found one of your posts or comments and then signed up for the site. Because your post or comment may have been instrumental in motivating them to join you have been notified. It’s sort of a pat on the back. It’s much better than discovering that someone read something you wrote and blocked the site. Good job helping the site grow!

The Arizona GMRS Repeater Club developed its own online NET logging system. It's called "AIMS" (Arizona GMRS Incident Management System)

Much better job of explaining than I could do last night.

You presume that there is a right group

Your "rubberized shoe" will block DC current. . . . but radio waves are not DC, they are AC, and the higher the AC frequency, the more that signal will see that close by metal car body as a short to the antenna base 460+mhz is really really fast wiggling AC, it sees the base of the antenna and the car body as connected. Fear not

I know the feeling, tackled CHIRP software programming radios and also have open communications with local repeaters

Uh huh.. Are these older repeaters here in the room with us now?

Outside of an eye poking risk, well poking risk. No You can buy universal cap you glue on. Better yet try the vendor to see if they can get you a replacement. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

A good pouch is a much better solution. This what I use. Best ones on the market as far as I know. https://www.spectergear.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=238

I’ve been pretty disappointed with Midland’s customer service, but this looks good. I wish they did a MTX575 with the ability to program 200-300 channels and give them names.

If you are inferring that the radio cannot be programmed via the keypad, you would be wrong. You are also wrong about it not being much different from any other radio.. But other than that, you're 100% right.

I heard a rumor that the self-inflicted Queen Of All That Is GMRS has had one for a few months and really likes it, and will be making a video about it on the same day that Midland officially makes it available for purchase. But you know, thats just a rumor.

Car batteries have more than enough "juju" to run your radio at max power.