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I would like to caveat for those without the experience, I found out in a somewhat painful way that SureCom SWR/Watt Meter and the Erik/ZeenKo TinySA and NanoVNA fall into the "Close Enough" category. Meaning, you are not going to be doing precision measurements. It's not that the TinySA and NanoVNA are inaccurate, per se, but rather they do not have a fine enough resolution for the type of work you would do with tuning a transmitter or a duplexer. However, you will be able to use all 3 devices to see if your SWR is broadly in a safe range, approximately what you power is, and other types of GO/NO-GO results.

And my clean install of my GMRS Radio, CB Radio, Trail Navigation System, and Cellphone in my 23 Wrangler 2 Dr. " IZARUBICON".

Not a question, but a hack I tried that has worked really well. The absolute worst part of my DB20-G is the mic hanger. It's probably 100% user error, but I could never get the mic re-seated without taking my eyes off the road and sometimes using both hands. It's just a cheap, flimsy design. I saw a family member using an inexpensive mag-mount for their cell phone a few months ago, and figured, no harm in trying on an inexpensive radio with an even more inexpensive handset. I took the mic apart (4 small screws) and removed the male 'bobbin' (or whatever it's actually called) part of the mic that slots into the stamped sheet-steel hanger. I was surprised to find a chunk of metal embedded in the back of the mic. It already feels pretty light and flimsy...I imagine it would feel even worse without it. I trimmed and bent the flat metal piece that mounts to the device (super hack job, but hey it works) and stuck it to the back of the mic. The only real issue was that the adhesive they come with is pretty terrible and fell off in the heat of the car, so I slapped it back on with some super glue and it's been stuck on since. The only thing I'd do differently is probably use one of the smaller round plates instead of hacking 1 of the bigger rectangles, but I'm not taking this apart to 'correct' that since I can't see it, and it doesn't affect the thing *at all*. This thing works *great*, holds the mic super securely (it's way lighter than a modern "Plus" sized cell phone), and you just need to get it close for it to snap into place. If you, like me, hate the mic hangers these cheap radios come with, this may work for you.

True. Precision costs money. The trifecta of Surecom/TinySA/NanoVNA costs less than 10% of even cheap used professional instruments, but for someone with only a technician license like me that level of verification is adequate for what I'm going to do with radio at this point. This should hold even more true for GMRS licensees given the power and frequency limitations. The cheap tools are enough to keep me from burning up my radio and to confirm that I'm likely radiating enough to talk regionally, which frankly was all I could really ask for anyway. And to be frank about it on the flipside and back to the stated reason for the thread, if you're a GMRS user and you feel that you need this level of precision, you're probably better off getting your amateur license and leveling-up. That's when the hobby has shifted from using it as a way to assist a larger hobby into itself being a larger hobby. If you're not into radio for the sake of being into radio then you probably don't need to go beyond the cheap commodity tools. You can set up your four wheel drive for decent SWR and signal propagation with those cheap tools. When you're ready to do more only then spend more.

Thing is it's gotten SOOO much cheaper than it used to be. I have a Bird 43 wattmeter with a 400-1000MHz 250W slug and a Bird 200W dummy load that I got when a paging company that I worked at went under. I didn't know what that stuff cost, they basically couldn't pay me for the vacation days I'd accrued and said to raid what was left of the testing lab I was helping take down for whatever I wanted. A slug alone for the wattmeter is something like $200 new, frequently go for $50-$150 used, and you have to select for fairly narrow frequency ranges and power levels. And for that dummy load, Bird wants $2000 for them new. On the used market they go for more like 10% of the new price, but that's still a lot of money. These modern TinySAs and NanoVNCs and Surecoms in their $50-$200 price ranges didn't exist when I initially got licensed, it was a much bigger crapshoot if your install had a good SWR, or you had to know another ham or a radio engineer willing to test with their equipment. Sure, you still might end up with two or three test tools, a motley assortment of cabling and adapters because of course radio manufacturers can't pick a standard and stick to it, and if things weren't working to your satisfaction, more and more stuff to try to sort out why it wasn't working through simple trial and error. Now you can buy the tools to ensure that your mobile or base station is working optimally for the cost of a night out on the town. GAS in inevitable in any hobby, but it's a little easier for a radio hobby now when one can verify instead of having to buy more basic transmission equipment.

No. However, it only indicates that the operator has an amateur radio license, not that they are operating within amateur radio service. If one were to get pulled over the following apply: 1) There isn't any way for them to know what frequency/service you are using. Show them your amateur license from the FCC, that's the end of discussion as written. 2) It's probably going to take some overzealous cop 3 amateur radio licenses submitted during stops before they ignore radio usage all together. 3) It's pretty clear they are targeting cell phone/tablet/computer usages. They very clearly allow cell phones used for GPS navigation only, allow cell phones for calls/texts when integrated through apple play/android auto on the dash, as well as they recognize that e-logs are a thing for CDL drivers and they can't say a thing because the federal DOT is requiring their use. Don't be stupid, it will be fine. It also is a good call to just get your amateur tech license to maintain your exception status.

Your response seems unusually harsh, especially considering you have asked such a novice question. Maybe I'm misreading it. That said, there is an overwhelming amount of new people that come here convinced they need a repeater, when the know nothing about radio and have only had a license for a few weeks to a few months. Given how long some of us have been around and seeing the trend of unnecessary repeater build ideas that never come to light, it's not an unreasonable question to ask why someone new thinks they "need" a repeater. Especially if there are some already in the area or possibly another solution. Also, not everyone can afford putting a repeater up, not realizing putting a quality and reliable repeater on the air cost anywhere between $15,000-$20,000 when you include the mast and antenna system. On the high-end I have a friend who spent over $1.8m to get a 300' tower built to install his repeater system. Even on the low side, if you have access to free tower space, you're going to spend $5,000-$7,000. If there is another option available and someone can help me find a better or alternative solution that doesn't cost me a fortune, I would want the feedback. If someone just wants to understand "why", I wouldn't be mad that they asked.

My wife and I attended a Memorial Day ceremony at the Indian Cemetery at the Wassama Round House in Ahwahnee, CA this morning. There is one WW1 veteran buried there. There was a rifle salute and the playing of Taps. It was a good reminder...

Thems rookie numbers.

I havnt had any issues so far..

No Sound. I could see the RX indicator flashing active traffic on the channel but the radio lacked any audio. I had just tried programming today with software and I (mistakenly) activated feature 34. Once I changed RX Hopping back to "OFF" the RX sound is working again. Just an FYI.

And we’re so glad you grace us with your superiority.

I got the antenna today that was included in the repeater kit I bought. I have no idea what model number it is. It is a fiberglass version. I did pose the question to Retevis about the model number. I did some limited testing with it. I used a squeeze clamp and attached it to one of the boxes on my truck. SWR was nearly perfect at 1.01. I was able to put 6.4 watts into the antenna from my repeater. I took a walk about and got about 5000 ft from the house. Felt like more . I needed to go one more block to get to 1.3 miles which was where my other test with my mobile antenna dropped out. I have all confidence that it would have made it. But the situation was much different. The antenna wasn't 30 feet in the air like the mobile antenna was. It was 6' off the ground and the 1st thing it had to contend with is a house wrapped in aluminum siding and then a small hill. Much better antenna, obviously. So soon I'll put it on the shop and see what happens. If I'm not happy it'll go on the house so I can have the strong signal in my neighborhood.

You may not want to tune or need to tune but it is important to check the entire antenna system VSWR with a reliable meter after the install to make sure that the antenna system is performing without any faults with the antenna, connectors and/or cable.

When I was getting ready to install an antenna on my roof, I carefully read through the Reeves article several times. Then I bought a copy of the 2023 National Electrical Code (it's 900 pages) and proceeded to study it. Lets just say I followed Reeves to "T" because the NEC isn't exactly easily understood. (I suspect 9 out of 10 electricians couldn't understand it--they might know how to do everything to code, but not be able to read it, lol)

It was about mobile antennae in general. But if you like your antenna inside, you could go that way! LOL.

Spammer

I recommend starting out, if new to radio, using a 1/4 wave Motorola style antenna, Whether it's NMO hole mount, bracketed, or mag, it will give you the least amount of trouble, and most performance before you start playing with gain rods. Once you have the mount in place, and have experimented to have it in the right place on the vehicle, you have a baseline. Then you can buy a 3 or 6 db NMO style (quality) rod and base and swap it in easily. Tune it and see if it does any better, but the 1/4 wave was always such a solid piece, in looks, size and performance. I don't mess with gain antennae. in fact, I have a couple of the high dollar Motorola Spectrum 6 dB units still in the tubes new. Just no use for them. Your best match and pattern will be with a 1/4 wave. Years ago working in commercial radio, this solved many a problem for us. Just my opinion, trying to help new people.

That is the same reason I do not have a ham plate and do not put the active member FOP stickers on my vehicles

Isn't the collector's answer "buy both" ???? Just sayin'

As a radio user you will more than likely never know what the actual difference is in performance will be between the two subject antennae.

Did your GM-15 come with a USB programming cable? If so, do you have a computer with Windows XP or later? Which repeater only 3 miles away are you trying to reach: The Evanston 725 or the Lincolnwood 575? Using my Baofeng UV-13Pro, which is the Ham Radio version of their GM-15, I would program Evanston 725 from the keyboard, this way: Go to Channel 30, which is the preprogrammed channel for the 725 repeater; Then push the MENU button and press the UP arrow key until you get to Menu #13 - Tx CTCSS and then press Menu Again and either "OFF" or a tone number, such as "67.0" will appear and use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to get to "100.0" and then press MENU again to confirm and store 100.0 into channel 30. Now press EXIT. Now try to transmit to the repeater again and see if you hear the "tail" of the repeater after you "kerchunk" the Push-To-Talk button. Try it outside and even take a ride to the location of the repeater and try again. Identify yourself with your callsign and ask if anyone can hear you. Good luck and report back! Now to go back to sleep! Be sure to stop at SuperDawg on the way home!

Public Safety personnel in the performance of their duties are always exempted in such legislation.

The proposed legislation in Pennsylvania does not target two-way mobile and handheld radio users. If you think it does, you need to reread the proposed bill and point out where it prohibits the use of two-way mobile radios. The proposed legislation is pretty clear with the definitions of what is prohibited/ restricted.

I did. As I explained it doesn’t require that the radio be an amateur radio, only that the user have an amateur radio license issued by the FCC. So, a licensed amateur radio operator could operate any kind of two way radio. Of course FCC regulations would require that a person also have a license for the service being used.

You are entering an invalid callsign. This is not an issue with the website. WSC1776 is not in the right format. It must be 4 letters and 3 digits for recent callsigns. Please double check your callsign. A good truck is to try and find your license on the FCC website. If you can't find it there, you have it wrong.

That is okay I get out of bed the wrong way some days LOL. I may get the Tidradio you like on your YouTube page thanks for all the hard work you put into your videos.

Coming back to this, and a little off topic, but... I recently picked up a NIB Bear Tracker 885 CB/Scanner combo for a steal (half off suggested retail price) off of marketplace. Yes, it's a CB and it doesn't have NRC, SSB or FM, but i don't care. I wanted it for the p25 scanner capability, weather alerts, and bear tracker. Anyway, i removed the ashtray and made a custom mount. The radio just fit width-wise. Sadly i couldn't get it flush as there wasn't a lot of room behind the dash. At any rate, i like it. It's clean, and all wires are hidden.

it is impossible for anyone to answer that question with the scant details you have provided, but here are some things to consider: You might just be too far away to hit the repeater or there may be something (mountain, forrest, etc) blocking the signal The repeater might be offline You might have the wrong tone You might have the wrong frequency You might have the right tone and/or frequency but may have programmed them wrong Probably 1,000,000 other things i'm not thinking of

I get that. Around here marijuana is legal. Although, it was never legalized federally. Which happens to have a seat in a city that legalized it...lol Same crap happens with guns here in Montgomery County, MD. Things that were straight up deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in NY are put into law in the county i live in. But then again I am use to the people here calling in because there was an assault rifle on the hood of a jeep. No amount of explaining that it was a jack was going to make it pass the air around her head. Felt bad for the guy as had to pull the jack off his hood to defuse the situation. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Same here. Ours was down here in Fullerton.

I don't have good luck with GMRS repeaters north of Tampa for the most part due to the terrain between me (in Brandon area) and to the north. I can hit the Spring Hill 625 machine (37 miles north) but it hits me noisy around S-2. The Cortez (Bradenton, around 39 miles south) on the same frequency but different tone hits me around S-5 and I've never heard interference between the two and can operate both since they are on different tones. The 725 machines not so much since they are on the same tone. It seems like folks around here really like using 141.3 tone if its a open public repeater and I get that - it's just kinda overused and prone to interference of other repeaters. That's the main reason I'd suggest something other than 141.3 or DCS 546. Bartow has a really strong machine and covers most of Polk county. It doesn't make it much past Brandon unless your on a rooftop in downtown Tampa (I've heard it!). You are far enough away that I don't think it would be a issue. Funny story on 725 - A few months ago there was a decent band opening, nobody was using the Seminole or Bartow repeaters and I was getting Perry full scale 165 miles away and checked into their net. Of course I heard at least 3 repeaters on the same frequency and tone I was keying up at the same time so I kept it short.

Yes, you should be able to. First, select one of the eight preprogrammed repeater channels. They’ll be labeled something like RP15 through RP22 or numbered 23-30. They already have the necessary offset built in for transmitting to and receiving from a receiver. So then all you have to do is set the transmit tone (or digital code). It’s part of the repeater information and will usually be called something like “input tone.” Don’t let the various manufacturers confuse you with the different names they give tones. CTCSS, CTS, and PL are all exactly the same. Same thing with digital: DCS, DTCSS, and DPL are all the same, but they are sometimes given an N (Normal) or I (Inverted) suffix. If neither letter appears it’s the same as N. Let us know how it goes.

Welcome, Leo. Nice review. I suspect you’ll find that you seldom use it as a base station and instead just use your handheld radios to talk through it to other radios. That’s an ideal use for a personal repeater. Let us know which location you decide on and how it works. And feel free to disregard wrxp381’s negative comments. Most of us do.

On GMRS or ham?

Waffled between this radio and the Radioddity CS47. Ended up with the Radioddity to save money. It is...ok. Hindsight would have preferred the Cobra. That said, I've taken my CB out of the car anyway. Some of these illegal overpowered radio guys left channel 6 that they normally populate, and have taken over channel 19. There's almost zero local chatter anymore because few people have the ability to break in over those guys.

Just remember who these manufacturers are marketing to. There's a huge market for people who just want to buy a radio and use it out of the box with as little drama as possible. There's a much smaller market that wants to buy a radio and immediately connect it to their favorite software and change everything. The money is in the huge market.

If it only happens when it has been turned off, then moved some distance before being turned back on, it's acquiring a new almanac, data which shows it where to look for satellites.

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!

Marc and Sven, great comments! I ran out of upvotes but will get to you guys, tomorrow! I am convinced that the average citizens/voters in our country are little more than literal sheep, easily led and easily pushed; by politicians, media, and others, with cliche's, sound bites, and zero critical thinking. When I was a cop, back in the mid and late 2000's, there was a big push to get South Carolina a "cell phone law" similar to the abomination that Georgia now suffers under. I believe it has to be hands-free and if you touch it more than once, they can cite you, or similar lunacy. Everywhere I went, convenience store clerks, customers, and others would say "we need a cell phone law" (said in a smarmy, whiney voice). I always replied, "no we don't". I mentioned that for every discourteous or dangerous maneuver that one might do on the roadway, there was an existing statute in the SC Code of Laws which could be brought to bear on the driver who committed that act. All it takes, I noted, is cops familiarizing themselves with the statutes already available to them and utilizing them. Move over into someone's lane and hit or almost hit them; there's a statute for that. Run a red light; there's a statute for that. Sit in the middle of the road yakking on the phone or texting after the light turns green; there's a statute for that. When I saw someone doing something stupid like the above, I stopped them and ticketed them. I also let them know, when applicable, that it appeared that the reason for the violation, and therefore the ticket, seemed to be that they were engrossed in their cell phone. I advised them to pay better attention to the road. Some people can multi-task well. Some cannot. I never got the point of creating another law, penalizing people for what they "might" do wrong instead of just going after the ones who are doing wrong. Who is the greater danger to the public, the guy or gal driving, with a phone to their ear, obeying all traffic laws and operating their vehicle in a competent manner, or the one who veers into an adjacent lane for whatever reason, including adjusting the climate control, adjusting their AM-FM radio, adjusting their underwear, or whatever? Target the ones actually creating the hazard, not the ones who "might" do something wrong. This is about as ludicrous as most gun laws. They operate under the perception that because you are wearing a gun, you somehow will not be able to constrain yourself from committing a crime with it. Gun laws only impede the law abiding, the very people who are not the problem. Criminals, being criminals, are mostly unimpeded by gun laws. A year or two ago, I read an article where some honcho in the SC Highway Patrol was whining that our current texting law was too difficult for his Troopers to enforce and that we needed something closer to what Georgia has. I remember thinking that he either needed better Troopers or needed to re-train the ones he had. Instead of creating a new class of violator (to enhance revenue collection, perhaps?) go after the ones who are making dangerous maneuvers on the road. I mean, if talking on a cell phone is THAT dangerous, you won't have to follow them far before they commit a ticket able violation, right? Finally, I will leave you with a quote my late maternal grandfather used to regularly repeat. He was right. Marcus Tullius Cicero

I wouldn't bother. I heard on the 40 meter net he has a small jeep.

I'm Jewish. We don't get ham licenses. That's a sin.

It's an older ’06 F150 Lariat SuperCrew 4x4 with 237,000 miles on it. The rims are from a 2018 F150. Still runs like new.

My clean install in my Chevrolet Silverado with nothing being ripped apart.

My clean install in my Jeep Wrangler Rubi with nothing being ripped apart.

Good. I know a few who don't, and they are Extra's too. Sad.

The vast majority of people might not, but it doesn’t matter. It only takes one to ruin your life.

There is no way I would have mine on my plate, theres tons of reports and reasons why having personal info or ways to identify your family/hobbies/political sides/ military status etc is a bad idea.

I didn't touch the West books either -- but also didn't touch the skinny ARRL Q&A books. I preferred the thicker versions that had explanatory text and theory while stuffing the question pool in the back of the book. Spent two weeks reading the General book when the code requirement was officially dropped... Found an online practice test site -- verified that I could pass every General test I took on the site. On a whim, I then tried the Extra class license tests, and passed 75% of those I tried. Two days later, I attended a VE session and passed both (granted, the Extra was by just one question) -- spent the following week actually reading the Extra class manual I found in my book backlog. ADDENDUM: Something to consider regarding GMRS license plates... Original GMRS was basically designed for family (eg: large farm) and small business usage. Talking to someone with a different license was extremely rare, mostly limited to Emergency&Traveller Assistance. Hence, no purpose existed to label a GMRS license holder on vehicles. In contrast, Amateur has long been focused on making contacts using minimal power at long distances, radio experimentation and circuit development, and backup service in the event of emergencies. As for vanity plates... Well, consider the following: KRO3607 KAF6045 AF6VN and (please forgive me for grabbing yours S.Shannon, but it was staring me in the face during this edit) WROM258 WHICH of the above are GMRS licenses? Okay, AF6VN sticks out like an amputated thumb -- but can you, just on sight, tell the difference between KRO3607 and KAF6045? Answer: KRO3607 is the class D CB call sign I held from 1976 to whenever the FCC dropped licensing CB radios. KAF6045 is an OLD GMRS license, from back in the day when one was authorized for only two of the eight main frequencies (and when they came out, the seven interstitials). With only two main frequencies, the odds were good that any other GMRS user wouldn't have any frequencies in common -- so again, "advertising" a call sign would have been relatively meaningless. Here in Michigan, license plates are commonly a 3x4 (Alpha x Digit) -- so a regular license of KAF6045 could easily have been issued already. Amateur licenses have a easily recognized feature -- they only have ONE digit surrounded by a TWO [very rare, mostly special events] to FIVE alphas; such a pattern doesn't really appear in any state's regular license scheme (CA was something like 9AAA999[9] [they may be squeezing 8 letters onto plates by now]). It is unlikely that, even if a state could be persuaded to issue a GMRS-marked (as Amateur plates are marked) plate, that they could issue one with letter/numbers matching an existing plate. They'd have had to reserve all Kxx9999/Wxx9999 and Kxxx999/Wxxx999 numbers for use as call signs. (And maybe sequences starting with A...)

Bullshit. That’s a cheap shot that paints all of us with the same brush. Yes, there are those that simply memorize enough to pass the Technicians test, but they don’t hang around long. There are still many who work within clubs to help provide backup long distance communications. There are hams helping out during every tornado, flood, and hurricane.