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Astron makes really good (but not inexpensive) power supplies and they have a line of different ones with radio enclosures. https://www.astroncorp.com/slim-line-w-housing

Used these at my previous employer with our Kenwood Nexedge radios. Rock solid, as you'd expect from both brands!

It's like the "Do Not Disturb" sign on your hotel room door. It won't keep people from knowing you're in there or hearing you having noisy s*x, but hopefully it will keep them from interrupting you.

I think of it like a private party across the street or a private pool at a hotel, sure you can see and hear what’s happening but if you don’t have an invitation or the code for the gate you’re not part of it.

I've seen a couple of these style 'base station' kits that let you mount your radio into a housing containing the power supply to make for a nice clean setup. This one is for an ICOM radio but I've seen them for other brands too. Any mobile radio should fit as long as the dimensions are the same! https://www.buytwowayradios.com/ict-cs120-20ag-ic04.html Goodluck and happy radioing!

As Steve mentioned, most transceivers require an external dc power source. Even dedicated 100/200 watt amateur base transceivers require a 12v power supply. Part of the reason is that internal power supplies need to be small enough to fit into the case along with everything else which means using a switching power supply. Switching power supplies can cause electromagnetic interference - EMI and radio frequency interference - RFI. Having the AC to DC power supply separate and in an all metal enclosure will help shield the radios from EMI and RFI. Though that is not a guarantee. Take a standard ATX computer power supply out of the computer case and it can/will cause EMI/RFI issues with nearby transceivers and other electronics. The EMI/RFI gets even worse if you remove the case.

I'm sorry, but you're wrong... and that's okay. You can either accept that some words have more than one meaning depending on context and in this context the word is used correctly, or you don't. That doesn't mean the rest of us are illiterate.

I just ordered an Astron 50 amp linear power supply. From Gigaparts or DX Engineering it’s $200 more than from Ham Radio Outlet.

At one time, Motorola had a Base Station Consolettevwhich was a radio, speaker and power supply in a box with a desk top microphone or a boom mic that were 4 or so channels. I doubt that they still have those, but I sure there are some still out there. I think the last series radios they used may have been the Astro Spectra, not sure if they used the XTL series radios.

One additional kit is Anytone GJ-0854. The PS and mount hold a radio that's 1 1/2" high (40mm) and a 5/8" wide (119mm) from here: Base station power supply

If at first you don't succeed, try try again...

I like the look of the Icom one. Retevis has one that you can get with the RA87 as well. https://www.retevis.com/products/rmb87-40w-desktop-base-station-radio-kit

I’ve never seen one. Even most ham radios designed to be used as base stations require an external power supply.

No. Absolutely not. The inventor (Motorola) named the technology Private Line, aka privacy codes. It was done to provide the operators privacy, meaning a lack of interruption from unwanted signals. Its the same concept as a privacy sign at a home or a hotel... privacy and it's literal term means to be left alone. A lot of people misunderstand the definition of privacy, confusing it with secrecy.

I stand by my last statement: It doesn't matter/the FCC, based on their enforcement record, does not care. I know.. Everyone does.. The ones that claim they don't are the ones love them the most.

That Terry dude has really made me reflect on my behavior in a life-changing way.

I'm not taking anything personally. I'm just trying to help you understand the actual context the word is being used in and what its definition is. Also, the fact that you don't understand the word literacy in the context it's being used just supports my point. Edit: I forgot to mention, if you use the term "Filter codes", you are going to be adding to the confusion because literally no one else uses that expression. No one is going to know what you are talking about. No one will be able to reference anything by that name in the industry, manuals, etc.

You are not to nice. You are just maintaining great restraint.

We are talking about GMRS, and there are only 8 Repeater Channels but they can have whatever number/name you want to call them. They are generally referred to as Repeater Channels 1-8 or, or starting after channel 22 - Channels 23-30, or labeled as their shared simplex channel names "Repeater 15 - 22".. ..and in the GMRS world we never need to use the term "offset".. On a GMRS radio one does not have to think or care about the "offset".. This term is usually only used by "some people", for unknown reasons .... actually we know the reasons, but I am far too nice to repeat them here.

GMRS. You are correct that there are only 8 designated repeater channels. GMRS channels 15 thru 22 exist as simplex channels and in most GMRS radios there are also 8 pre-programmed "Repeater Channels" 15 thru 22 where the RX is the same but the TX on all the repeater channels is offset by +5Mhz

Whaooo.. Let's not get carried away!

BTech GMRS 50 Pro.. I would give you mine but I literally just gave it away on Saturday.... ..But if adding tones is all you care about, that's really overkill - any low-cost mobile GMRS radio lets you easily add tones in just a few button-clicks for half the price or less..

HRO for the win!

New duplexer from Btech. Same one that's in my repeater with the same tuning. Marc said he's going to try it out as is and get a base level to compare to. I haven't put this one in my repeater at all. Had it in my possession for about an hour before it was on it's way to Marc. The 1st trial was from the repeater that was replaced by Btech and it exhibited the same reception problem I had with it originally that the one they sent me to replace it solved. Marc said on his system it worked nearly as well as what he was running for a duplexer currently. All just experiments to see if I/We can improve on my system. The only thing that should improve is less desense in the system letting weaker signals in without interference. Just how much.... That's why we experiment.

The Astron power supplies are worth the extra cost when compared to some of the cheap power supplies on Amazon. I just replaced a 50 amp TekPower switching power supply from Amazon with a 50 amp Astron switching power supply. The TekPower was only a year old and it started making noises whenever I transmitted with my 100 watt HF radios and also put noise in my transmissions. Now for a truly clean power supply, you are going to want a linear power supply, but those cost more than switching power supplies.

It's not hitting out here in the West Coast of Califailure. .. But I'll keep my ears posted.

Exactly!

Travel postponed, so I will be there on the 13th. Regards ☆ Peter

I think the term "private line" was coined at the same time that US telephone customers were switching from "party lines" (line shared by many households) to "private line" phones. So, at the time, "private line" was a term understood by most people. As time has pasted the general definition of "private" has evolved. I don't think anyone was trying fool anyone with the term "private". Old labels for new times are hard to change. I prefer to use the term "PL filter" to make it more accurate AND to avoid using longer terms like CTCSS/DCS.

Warning the following was composed pre morning coffee!!! Kristonapony! I’m sure glad there’s people keeping up the fight on whether or not a 15” antenna will fit in a box and if said box is standard or not. I was up all night worrying about it (was too). We need a slogan. Antenna Gate 2025? Free the whip? Feel free to post your ideas and be sure to pick a side. For the record if I order something and it doesn’t come, I take the novel approach of contacting who I got it from and say excuse me, can I get that thing I bought. Amazon is pretty good about returns in my experience. Speaking of Amazon lol, I found this. I can’t say if it ships in a standard box or not. Who knew there was so much dislike for the eggplant that they have shirts?. Affiliate link below? I now return you to the forum already in progress. Where my coffee?

The main issue with commercial radios is the usual lack of front panel programming. There are some, but it's usually a paid-for option. I have one of current manufacture that the option is included for free. However after reading the procedure in the service manual I concluded it was fare easier to use the programming software. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/290-nx-1300duk5/?context=new These are very nice radios, but sort of expensive. The cost could be anywhere from $200 to $300 plus for used to new condition. If you get one stick to the display models. Don't get anything with "ProTalk" in the description or a "P" somewhere in the model code! Those have a fixed list of frequencies you have to choose from and are not "freely" programmable. Verify the model by looking at the rear side of the radio for the FCC ID and model tags before bidding or buying a used radio. Sellers of used radios frequently get the descriptions wrong! I haven't found the lack of front panel programming to be a deal breaker for me. I have the local repeaters all programmed in so all I need is to recall them from memory. I prefer Kenwood since I've had a far easier time finding the software. Also most, a few won't, of the programming software allows one to "push" the radio outside of it's official band split. A favorite Kenwood HT, TK-3170, has an official band split of 450 to 490 MHz. I have a bunch of Ham 70cm repeaters programmed into it in the 440 to 450 MHz range along with the GMRS stuff. The software generates a warning about the out of band frequency but accepts it anyway after clicking OK. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/263-tk-3170jpg/?context=new You can usually find these used for under $100 in good condition.

The band used to include 220-222 MHz. That portion was lost to ham radio so UPS could have it. They never did.

Well stated.

Even with an InReach, you need to evaluate the situation and decide if it's the best solution in any given situation. [Trigger warning - really graphic gory stuff follows.] In 2019 I fell while hiking on a mountain in the Mojave Desert in California. To be specific, I was standing on a rock that decided to disintegrate. I lost my balance, windmilled wildly for a few seconds, realized the situation wasn't salvageable and that I was falling into a jumble of large boulders. I instinctively put my right hand (I'm nominally right-handed) on my neck to guard my spine. After I landed, I took stock of where I was and the condition I was in. I had fully broken both bones (radius and ulna) in my right forearm, with the bones sticking out. My knuckles were pretty scraped up and I wasn't sure if I'd broken anything there, either. I was not losing blood (although there was a lot of bleeding) and I could both feel my fingers and move them, so there was no risk of bleeding out and no apparent nerve / muscle damage. If you remember the Harry Potter movie where Harry breaks his arm and the crackpot wizard 'fixes' it by removing all the bones in his arm, that's about it, but with more blood and protruding bones. I got some of my army surplus emergency clotting powder (the yellowish stuff) out of my pack and dumped it on the spots where I was leaking blood. I snapped one of my hiking poles (I wasn't going to be able to use both of them, anyway) to create a makeshift splint and used one of those giant Target plastic bags (that they used to give out when shopping, and which I carried to port out any trash I made or found), poked a hole across the bottom to put my arm in, and put the handles over my head. FWIW, in the late 1970's I was on the volunteer first aid squad in the town I grew up in, and have also had more recent survival training). With the immediate emergency taken care of, I drank some water and took a pain pill from my pack and sat down on a less defective rock to take stock of the situation. I was WAY up on the side of a mountain, hours from the nearest hospital (as part of my pre-hike planning, I always take note of where the nearest urgent care / hospital / regional trauma center is). I had an InReach (and the SAR 50 plan that covers up to $50K in rescue costs) with me. However, I was in the middle of nowhere (Inyo County is twice the size of the state of Connecticut and has 18,500 people living it, none near me). I figured if I pushed the button, LifeFlight would send a helicopter from Pahrump, NV (the closest medical facility), land down on the flatlands near where the Jeep was parked, look up the mountain and go "NFW" and call out mutual aid from San Bernardino Mountain Rescue. Which, aside from being in another county and several hours away, I know those guys well and it would have been pretty embarrassing. They would have to carry a litter from the helicopter up the mountain to me, strap me into it, and have the helicopter fly up over me and drop a line down to hook onto the litter. So I decided to self-rescue. An hour and an half to get down the mountain to the Jeep, an hour across open desert and dirt roads, and another hour on paved roads to get to Pahrump. So, 3.5 hours total. I decided I could do that in less time than being rescued via the InReach, so that's what I did. With a fair amount of screaming in pain as I drove over bumpy areas. I was proven right about 6 months later when someone had a similar accident nearby, but closer to the nearest place where people lived (calling it a town would be vastly overstating things) and it took over 9 hours for LifeFlight and SB mutual aid to get that person to the same hospital I drove to. The moral of the story is that you need to be self-sufficient in the wilderness, and also be able to evaluate your situation and make the best decision possible based on the information you have and your training. If you're alone and unconscious or pinned and unable to move, nothing will save you. If you enlarge the attached picture, you can see red captions for "Where I Fell" and "Jeep" to get a feel for the situation I was in.

its funny how starter radios turn into gold mines, for the manufactures.. How many of us can say, 'been there done that' and ened up with Kenwoods, Motorlols, Harris, or Hytera..

India and Vietnam soon to be..

Are you aware that the CTCSS and DCS tones for the Radioddity radios are programmed using the actual tone/codes i.e. 192.8 Hz & 445; and Midland radio uses a programming code such as CTCSS 31 for 192.8 Hz and DCS 57 for 445 as depicted in the Midland User Manual? When programming the Midland you need to make sure that you are programming in the appropriate CTCSS or DCS mode.

Geesh. All we ever did was play punch bug, and Outta State to see who could see the most out of state plates. No radios needed. All we did was holler from the back of the '57 Chevy station wagon to the front. Then again radios would have made communication easier at those long distances.

You may want to google what gear we used to use on these...

Fair question. It must be okay because the FCC specifically mentions it. “GMRS and the Family Radio Service (FRS), which share many of the GMRS channels, are intended for individuals such as family members and friends, scouting troops, emergency response groups, and hobbyists to communicate with each other over short distances, directly or through a repeater station. Linking repeaters, via the internet or other networks, undermines the purpose and usefulness of the GMRS and FRS.”