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I once received a complimentary compliment that I wrote down and filed in a compliment file as a complement to my collection of complementary compliments.

The problem was the plastic bushing was installed under the mounting bracket instead on top of the mounting bracket and the cable was not grounding to the mounting bracket. The cable mounts to the bottom of the mounting bracket. Now, maybe I didn't need to order that 2-30 MHz Bird slug now, OH well, at least I have one now.

Ah Hah - Just shy of 3 watts with just about 1.12 or so:1 on Ch. 1, 1.15 or so:1 on Ch. 20, and almost but less than 1.2:1 on Ch. 40. I think my problem is solved now and I am a happy Jeeper. Both my Telewave and my DOSY are pretty close and good enough for hobby work. And this check was with the engine idling with 13.21 VDC at the battery.

Good discussions…. For myself, I got started in radio with CB. I had to talk to truckers at my job and the best way to do it was with CB, so I asked one of my CB-using coworkers to set up a “base station” for me. He walked me through some of the basics of radio and it sparked my interest. It wasn’t long before I started researching CB, and, in the process, I discovered a fascinating, powerful alternative called GMRS. I realized that GMRS could help me communicate with my family in several cellular dead zones we travel through (though not perfectly, cf. line-of-sight), and after I started talking on repeaters to extend my communication range (and also to chat with like-minded old-schoolers that use my local repeaters), I was permanently hooked. Now, I’m studying for my Technician license for ham radio and will be taking the test in a week and a half. But even so, I’ll probably use GMRS more than anything else.

My suggestions besides getting a quality duplexer like a Celwave or EMR Corp. duplexer, is scrap the idea of using two mobile radios that were not designed for a continuous duty cycle and a multi-radio environment and get a real repeater and save your money, time, and energy.

Unfortunately, based on the wattage mentioned, I don't think the duplexer is doing much, if anything. A typical 'notch only' 6 cavity duplexer (3 transmit and 3 receive) will experience 3dB or more signal attenuation, cutting your signal in half. However, when properly tuned, even losing half the signal is still a significant improvement over the desense of using two close proximity antennas with no duplexer at all. Do you have a VNA available to you? Or a friend with one?

That would be "compliments" compliments of the spelling police. Sorry, I couldn't resist....

You said first time with this radio so my first thought is a mistake I have made before. I usually keep all my program cables plugged into the computer and I have forgotten to select the correct cable in the drop down menu.

When I am the only Jeep (usually with a shotgunner) out on an easy Fire Road where it's flat and wide not likely to get into trouble, I do the same, scan all main and interstitial 462 MHz channels with the radio set to Tx on Ch.16 and I have my CB also on Ch. 16. Most of the Jeep Club's I run with use Ch. 16 with a specific DPL code for Trail Comm. However, when I wheel with them I run my radio in the monitor mode for CSQ on the receive side.

Nice

It is becoming the norm for off-roading, but when I'm out I scan/listen to all channels.

Wow, I didn't realize that my comment sparks a grammar war now too (lol)

Ah, I found my plastic bushing doo-hickey was reinstalled wrong by the Dealer that installed my Heavy-Duty Mopar Spare Tire carrier Mount for the Rear Tail Gate. I reinstalled it properly and after I get done with my morning Traffic and Weather Reporting Duties for my GMRS Repeater Club, I'll recheck my VSWR. I wish I had a 27 MHz slug for my Bird. Maybe I'll buy one just to compare.

So I can hang out with the Kool People!

They actually included their license in the header, so great deduction there. People aren’t required to join to ask questions. After such a warm welcome maybe they are less inclined to join. What a load of crap given for someone seeking help, why would they even come back. Gee isn’t that why Randy decided not to get a ham license. Not everyone is operating at the same level, understanding or perhaps even ability. Randy once said there is no such thing as a Sad GMRS but clearly he is wrong. We agree.

You are correct - and this specific problem is probably worse with GMRS than 'coordinated' Part 90 systems. However, the Linking issue can make the problem much worse over a much larger area. This exact issue would be part of the reason why people should read the "You just got your license, now you want to put up a repeater?" sticky - and then understand why overlapping coverage is usually less than ideal, and should be avoided. Still, there's a difference between me putting up a machine that I know might be lacking in coverage and still making best attempts to monitor before transmitting (up to and including monitoring the output freq. at my repeater site, in order to disable my repeater when a co-channel user is on the air), and me putting up a linked machine that by default says I don't care about your conversation, mine is somehow more important. If there are linked networks that are monitoring somehow, I'd still be interested to hear about it.

Yeah, that's just wasteful... especially since we are limited on frequencies. Now I have said before that we (and hams for that matter) don't have huge budgets to select our tower sites of construct a site where we need it to minimize overlap. But there is little sense in putting several wide area coverage repeaters on the air when the overlap completely. When I was still in the game for linking, I was looking at fill sites. Low power, low profile sites that would fill in specific area's where coverage wasn't as good as I liked. But that was starting to get into heavy RF coverage calculations, high power (20 watt) attenuator's for both TX and RX so that I could limit the coverage. The one site I was looking at had antenna's at 400 feet. That created a problem because I needed them much lower but that wasn't an option. Now that I have got off the linking boat, it doesn't matter so much. But I was looking at actually building two additional sites that would have been true simulcast on 462.600 for a total of 3 sites.

I believe there are two repeaters near Bishop now, a 600 and a 625. If my memory serves me right, the 600 uses the travel tone in/out and the 625 uses 114.8 Hz in with CSQ out.

Hereabouts on group runs we've been using both CH. 7 and 16. But also, as you do, scan all the channels plus the repeaters within range.

I didn't realize the bushing was incorrectly installed until I was poking around and checking grounds. The bushing in between the cable grounding point the bracket was an obvious clue.

The TYT TH-8600 and Anytone AT-788UV are both amateur band radios which are not Part 95 certified for use with GMRS. That being said, yes they work quite well on GMRS when opened up. If you are wanting to stay with a Part 95 certified radio then I will suggest the DB20G or Wouxun KG-XS20G. If you aren't worried about Part 95 then the TH-8600 and AT-778UV are good choices once they are unlocked. PS: No need to argue about using Part 95 certified radios versus using unlocked amateur band radios. That horse has been beaten until pulverized into ground meat.

The 25H Slug ordered from Bird and now onto checking to see if I have any improvement with my VSWR using a cheapo CB VSWR meter that wasn't really all hat cheap. Oh, I just remembered, I have a Telewave 44 I can compare with.

I use a Radioddity DB20-G. As others have noted, it’s the same radio as the AnyTone 779UV; and Retevis makes a virtual clone. I’ve never tested its power output but I’ve heard some say it’s slightly over 20W and others that it lingers at around 12W. All I know is that, for my own purposes (family travel communication and repeater conversations), it gets the job done very well. Unfortunately, due to its Chinese origins, quality is hit and miss. I have bought three of these units…one works like a charm and has never given me any problems; the other two both had the same issue of sporadic received audio muting: when listening to the NOAA channels, even with a strong signal, the audio mutes itself sporadically for no reason, causing the listener to miss parts of the transmission. I am still in communication with the Radioddity Customer Service team to resolve this issue. The programming software for the DB20-G is cumbersome and no where near as intuitive as CHIRP; but it’s not unbearable. The strengths of my working DB20-G make it my favorite GMRS radio (though I’ll note you can also make it a dual band ham radio through a simple unlocking process, as I have done). However, the jury is still out on the model itself…if Radioddity can resolve my audio issue, I can recommend it even more highly.

I am going to suggest a Bridgecom repeater if buying brand new. Or look for a used Motorola repeater that can be programed/setup for GMRS. For the best results, you are also going to want to use a separate/external duplexer versus the small duplexers that are built into repeaters. Our club is using Motorola repeaters for 2m and 70cm and a Bridgecom for our GMRS repeater. We use external duplexers on all of our repeaters. I know there are the portable repeaters from Retevis and Midland, those are fine for temporary use or only covering a small area since they are low power. I would also stay away from the BTech GMRS repeaters until they work all of the bugs out. Bridgecom has sales all of the time and their sales prices are lower than what the BTech repeater costs. A few of us tested the Bridgecom repeater out for about 2 months before opening it up to the public. We put it through its paces and tested the duty cycle. The Bridgecom passed and is working well for us.

General class has these additional features. Operate digital modes. Generals can operate all digital modes on HF, including FT8, which has become the most popular mode--not just the most popular digital mode--on the HF bands. Operate SSB phone on HF bands below 28 MHz. Operate on the 20-meter band. The 20-meter band is arguably the best band for “working DX,” that is to say making contacts with stations in foreign countries. Operate in more contests. Because Generals have more operating privileges, they are able to more fully participate in amateur radio contests than are Technicians, Administer amateur radio examinations. Generals can become Volunteer Examiners (VEs), although they are only allowed to administer Technician Class exams. There are other frequencies available to General class that Technician class can't use: 2200m, 630m, 160m, 80m (Tech can use CW in some portions of 80m), 60m (5 channels), 40m (Tech can use CW in some portions), 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m (CW available to Tech in 15m), 12m, and 5x more space in 10m. If you only want 2m and above, there's not as much difference.

Nothing special, I was going to make a comment about the local DC area GMRS, but since I hadn't been on much after Roland passed, i just decided not to comment.

Also, check the plastic inserts in the duplexer ports to see if they are burned out. This is a common problem with the cheap duplexers.

The ham world has been linking for decades, first with RF and now internet just like GMRS. They can't get a decent handle on their stuff with "experts" that tell us what frequencies we can put our repeaters on and so forth. Its worse in the DMR side with hams. I dont see GMRS being any better if linking continues to happen. The simulcast systems that are out there and were out there where built by good techs and folks who know what thye are doing. Not everyone has access to Quantars, TRAK units and MLC 8000 simulcast stuff but some do and know how to setup a system. 99% of the GMRS community does not. We can't even get folks that do link repeaters to set levels right. As much as I think a true voted/simulcast system should be acceptable on GMRS (and was common before the ham lite crowd hit the service) I think all linking should be dropped from the service. For decades GMRS users used the service to do what they intended it for. Its only been the last 4-5 years its turned into this.

Sorry 38 vs 45 wont see any noticable difference. Folks get wound up over a 50 watt radio but dont account for losses in the duplexer and other factors. In the LMR world test gear and equipment is a 10% variable. Yes our gear is really good and normally wont be that far off but I have seen many 110 watt base radios only show 95 on a power meter and still pass all operational tests for the unit.

There's an easy fix for that, the FCC should mandate that all GMRS channels be narrowband and allow the interstitial channels become main GMRS channels and regulate all FRS channels to .5 watt operation. By rule, the FRS channels are already regulated for narrowband operation. If all the FRS channels are regulated to a .5 watt operation, the channels can be shared between the GMRS and FRS services with minimal impact between the two services. This would give seven additional channel pairs for GMRS without reallocation any Part 90 freqs to GMRS.

I run the midland mobiles in my parents vehicles as they are KISS and plug into the lighter jack.

You would need a minimum of 2 pairs to pull it off. Using two would allow for some overlap and not run the cost of equipment to the moon by requiring the system to be true simulcast where the frequency and audio launch times were GPS controlled. The other part of the problem with simulcast beyond cost is knowledge. GMRS is a 'by rule' service. You agree to follow the rules and that's the ONLY requirement. Non demonstration of any knowledge required. Designing and building a simulcast system requires specific knowledge that is not common even in commercial radio tech's.

@WSAH786 I know you said you didn't want ham license but if you miss the conversations from days of CB I am going to recommend it. I am not going to say "The test is easy or whatever" but i think you may enjoy the end result of a General Ham License more than you are currently getting out of GMRS and there is no longer a morse code requirement for the ham test. You can use ham radio however you want within the law and a lot of people have little impromptu group chats like you are describing. I say all of this as someone who uses GMRS much more than my Ham license mainly due to my family being covered under my GMRS license.

If you're running it in GMRS mode, all you need to do is select the correct repeater channel and set the Transmit tone for the repeater and hit the PTT button. Where are you getting hung up?

All of this helps, thanks.

I worked for the company that owned the ship that an episode of Colombo was going to shoot, he was in that episode. I was on board the ship in port in San Francisco

I think they were defunded back in 2020 after the GMRS Matters rallies.

Like all of you back in the 70's I started with a cb, then got caught up with illegal stuff like a Siltronic running the frequencies. Started building my antennas, got interested in Ham but could never get a handle on that Code. I like the idea of GMRS and repeaters, have been making a few new friends and learning as I go. And already wanting to upgrade my equipment. So I enjoy this new hobby in my retirement years..

Well you got me there. Meanwhile the poor guy that made the initial post has as all of this to wade through which I felt was unfortunate when reading this thread. For whatever reason I do. Anyway I hope OP isn’t discouraged and gives us more info so we can actually help. Cheers.

Yeah mine does it too. It's the first half of the "C" in CT (for when you have a CTCSS tone enabled on that channel) when you're in single-frequency (IE: Non dual watch) mode. If you scroll back and forth through the channels you can see it flash very very briefly the full thing before blanking out that square. They're aware of it, they just haven't fixed it yet. I posted about it on the "TIDRADIO Users Support Group" on FB a little while back. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1421913055342893/posts/1499783944222470/

In my case, originally, strictly and only to provide mobile and marine mobile (not maritime) to base communications in far northern MN where we had no cellphone service. Wife has never had any interest in amateur radio , so figured GMRS was the way to go. Thought about FRS, but then figured it wouldn't give us the range we'd need out on the lake. While Cell service has improved, it's still not 100% all over the lake. Later on, got to using it more back in town as have a few friends who, also being hams, are involved in one of the better GMRS repeaters in my area. As well as using it around our slightly larger than most city lots to talk to my wife and son when there or out mobile. Although I don't seek them out, if I hear a callsign being thrown out on one of the repeaters or GMRS simplex channels, I will reply and engage in conversation, even if it's just a short "radio check" type contact.

The OP did register an account. He just didn't use it to ask the question. Nevertheless, just asking for more information to add clarity to the question is a reasonable response. No need to make it rude. "Help us to help you" is not an attempt to be rude, it's trying to draw the OP into understanding why we're asking for more information.

He's a Ham, and was likely programming it in Amateur or Normal (IE: unlocked) mode. That's fair. You can see my post above about how I have mine set up and why. But if you're new to GMRS and not comfortable manually programming in all the rules, you can leave it be and run it the way the GMRS 'programming' wants it to be and not run into any issues. Then once you've got a better grasp for it, if you want to expand its capabilities some, you always have that option. Just know that changing modes WILL blow away your entire configuration, so be prepared for that.

No it doesn’t, unless you’re one of those who feels better about himself when ridiculing others.

I should probably add that you cannot do this in the Wouxun software. I use RT Systems, but you can use CHIRP if looking for a free option.

Good for you, I won't bother you anyway - the $$ argument goes nowhere with me. (and that's you're, complements of the grammar police)

For anyone advocating for the use of AllStar or similar Linked repeaters, I've got just one question that sidesteps all the issues regarding networking and "wireline" definitions: How are you monitoring all those remote links for local non-linked traffic prior to keying up all repeaters in your network? What are you doing to avoid stepping on active local conversations that are not happening on your linked network, but are already taking place on non-linked repeaters? Monitoring for traffic prior to transmitting is one of those bedrock assumptions in the shared service frequencies - at least in any conversation I've had with FCC types. If your linked network routinely tramples on someone else's active conversation, I don't think the FCC would care if you're using microwave, Internet, or the Public Switched Telephone Network for wireline links.

Poppycock! I for one think that more threads with links to those videos are what society and the world needs! Think of the children!

The NotARubicon Institute Research Staff is digging deeper and there IS something to this story - and the results may shock you... Stay tooned for the upcoming video.