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I think I have a new understanding of why commercial companies get a lot of attention with enforcement, while license holders like us are pretty much ignored. This isn't meant to bash the FCC or their employees, but it definitely explains a lot. The most recent information I can find indicates that there are less than 60 field agents that deal with rule enforcement, down from a bit over 100 agents in 2016. Keep that in mind. About a year ago, I started a new business professional Day Trading in U.S. equities; specifically stocks. This one company grabbed my attention today, Beasley Broadcasting Group, Inc. ($BBGI). I got an alert around 0900 that their stock trade volume exceeded the 50 day daily average in just 60 seconds, and the price went up 50% in that same 60 second time frame. The stock was incredibly volatile, officially surging 312% with the price going from about $4 to over $26 per share. The daily volume ended up going from about 5,000 shares (50 day daily average) to over 45,800,000 shares for today. I did some research to see if the move is sustainable, and if I should buy and hold some stock for bigger profits over a couple of days/weeks, instead of scalping for just a few minutes. Turns out, its movement is classified as a meme stock, which is a publicly traded company whose share price surges primarily because of online hype, rather than fundamentals like revenue or earnings. While I was reviewing the fundamentals, I found out the value of their FCC licenses were over $392,000,000 last year and over $379,000,000 this year. So, long story short, compared to our measly $3.50 per year, with potentially only 50 or 60 field agents, commercial licensees are 100% going to be the priority. Considering this one company has paid the Commission's entire annual operating budget for the year, I can understand why, too.

Except with money.

That's not exactly true. They pay attention to the people they can fine the biggest and expect to be paid.

Yes, it looks like a bug to me. Or I’m doing something wrong . I reported it to Rich. To recreate: In a map view: Then turn on “Stale Repeaters” And all except those in the center of the screen vanish.

Nice find and good info, but it's always been this way and always will be. Only thing that will really get the FCC moving is if one of us lowly individual upsets the apple cart of one of the big license holders the FCC might get involved.

I finally found one of these nifty adapters.. If you can get your hands on one, I highly recommend them.

It's a well known fact that you get 6-10 dB gain when you install antennae during snowstorms or below zero weather!

I just passed my exam. I took it remotely with VE from Ham Radio Crash Course. I don't mean to boast. I'm just really happy that I accomplished a goal, and wanted to share it. Thank you @SteveShannon for your support.

That’s excellent!!! Good job putting in the effort. You have every reason to be happy.

I saw it on Youtube so it must be true!

Thanks. I did know that part. I was just using the nominal 10 watts because it's obviously less than 30. My RT97L puts out 21-22 watts from a nominal 25 watts, so that degree of loss checks out.

No.. Even a CCR like the UV-5R can transmit for a 5+ minutes with 20:1 SWR (no antenna) with no damage.

Here's how bad it is for VHF: In my area it won't even pick up NOAA weather radio. NOAA is a little higher in the VHF band than 2m, but it's not going to be much different in terms of performance. And transmitting will be way out of its sweet spot.

I tried a "home brew" one a few times and couldn't tell that it made any difference. Of course, It's possible I didn't make/install it correctly.

welcome @WSKI606 i think you may have answered me earlier today.

I did, thanks. Also, your link to: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-99-139A1.pdf was very interesting.

No soup for you: One Year!

He’s just trolling.

Only a theory here... But I feel that a tiger tail would be more beneficial for when the HT is being used with a speaker mic and not in hand. I have read somewhere that your hand and body acts as a counterpoise when held correctly. I have noticed at times, a better transmission if my hand is touching a beltclip screw. But, I have never done any purposeful experiments on this. Just my thoughts.

Hot garbage on VHF and 2m in general. Which is to be expected, because it's a GMRS specific antenna. Absolutely 100% would not recommend for VHF.

Yes I have the same bug/issue. Untill it gets fixed I found a work around by opening a repeater then going back to the map page and selecting the stale and offline repeaters while the repeater I looked up is still highlighted on the map. It's temporary and kind of sucks but hopefully Rich will fix this because it's far from user friendly.

"This is Billy Bob out at White Trash Estates, my house is on fire" "We'll dispatch a unit as soon as one is free. okay?" "This Is William Smyth-Jones at Posh Acres, my cat might be up our apple tree" "We'll be over right away sir!!!"

I didn't realize the disparity was that big, but I've always understood that FCC (or any government agency, AFAIK) is going to give the most attention to the clients paying the bills.

You're right. After checking over this thread, I mistook it for a completely different one where I did offer advice. It was another new person that had similar issues. This was my mistake. That person was given advice right off the bat that SWR should be checked when that person was brand new, and using an HT. I thought this was that thread. I apologize. I should pay better attention.

Oh, I'm sorry. Welcome to the Forum by the way.

Just make sure that the channel(s) you intend to transmit on is/are programmed correctly not only with the frequencies, but with the appropriate tones/codes, if required.

Just that it may not be type approved for GMRS. Meaning, it's against FCC Regs to use a radio for GMRS and HAM. Not that anyone will notice, and most will not care. Even if you march into an FCC office and transmit in front of them, they'll probably just say, "Stop that" Like the Cricket says, "Always let your conscience be your guide."

It's one of those "KISS" things that's not simple. USB-C chargers that support either "Power Delivery" or "Qualcomm Quick Charge" or other brand-specific fast charging, and the cables that work with them, will not charge GMRS (or ham) radio batteries unless they have a non-fast charge port that is 5 volts at 12 watts or less. That USB port will be a USB-A port. You can also use a cable with a USB-C connector on both ends if it is specifically a 480mbps cable, such as the USB-C to USB-C cable that ships with some Anytone D168UV HTs. *I THINK* that is USB 3.0. I have a USB-C to USB-C cable of an unknown brand that will charge radio batteries from a USB-C port on my computer, but a USB-C cable that supports 10,000mbps will not charge radio batteries. Rechargeable flashlights have the same "problem". (I am not a college educated radio tech or battery engineer. I have not slept in a hotel with the word "express" in it's name. But I do have 9 HTs - ham and GMRS - that have batteries that support USB-C charging.)

Think of it more like there is only one EMT in a town, and two people call 911 at the same time. One caller said there is a bad car accident with several bad injuries and the other caller said they 'think' their cat is stuck in a tree. Obviously the one EMT is going to respond to the car crash, and likely never respond to the call about the cat because it's an extremely low priority.

You need to put in at least the tx tone. I recommend you do NOT have multiple HT radios on at the same time while testing. Especially if they're in close proximity of each other.

Welcome @WSKI606! So glad to have ya and glad you were able to make it into the net this evening!

Finally: an actual "quote" that I can use to support my comments and DB20-G recommendations to other DB25-G owners or prospective purchasers! Thank you!

Hi Everyone !! David here. WSKI606. I live in Brentwood and I am in Spring Hill quite often at my farm. Currently listening to Brentwood, Grassland, and Thompson Station repeaters. Studying for my Technician. Had my novice back in 1975.

Or just raise the antenna height. But cutting down some trees and moving some buildings might be easier.

Hate to break things up but yesterday I was making a road trip out of town talking to a buddy through Ed's repeater and saw this.. I had to do a double take, a turn and snap a picture to share.

The mxta26 is terrible for 2 meters in my personal experience. High SWR and deaf for reception. I ended up keeping them (I have 2) for GMRS, but got an SBB5 for 2m and 70 cm.

When it comes to antennas and SWR everything affects everything: the height above ground, the quality of the coax, the angle of the antenna, how you hold it, your bodily fat content, etc. Not only that but changing frequencies can have a huge effect on SWR especially on some kinds of antennas. My recommendation is to place the antenna on some kind of fixed mount as high as you can get it and leave it alone while you do your tests. Second 2.0:1 SWR isn’t really terrible and perfect 1.0:1 is unusual. Don’t get too wrapped up in SWR readings.Far more important is the performance and SWR is just one aspect of that.

Anyone capable of navigating the site to receive a GMRS license should automatically qualify for a HAM ticket.

Try a different cable. Some cables are designed more for data transfer and others for power transfer.

I have a 200 watt, 8 port usb charging block. The lowest wattage port is 20 W. Highest is 65 W. And I've never had an issue charging my HT's with it. Granted, I do prefer to use the charging cradles. This issue seems strange to me. Even my vehicle charge ports work fine with my radios.

I have literally never experienced this, and I've had quite a few radios.

We are discussing GMRS, which has different rules, but for the sake of discussion... First, why would I be on those GMRS frequencies. Well, to use the repeater that the owner may otherwise want you to ask for permission, or any other repeater on the same frequency. There is a lot of overlap in the DC metro area. I can be heard on 3 different repeaters on .600 in my area when I am only using 20w. Also, fixed stations may transmit on those 8 channels without going through a repeater. I disagree about the interference and trespass concerns based on the FCC rules for Amateur Radio and trespass laws. If I am using a repeater without the owners consent, I am not causing interference nor trespassing. Use of the repeater itself is not causing interference. Intentionally talking over people and making it so others can't use it (or the frequency) falls under the harmful interference rules, which would be different than needing permission. Again, there are no laws that I have been able to find implying trespass on non-real property. I have two points to debate on this comment. Again, you are referencing Amateur Radio, not GMRS. There are different rules. Additionally, there are only 3 letters I could find that were issued to amateurs in the last 10 years for using a single repeater. All 3 letters were sent in 2017, went to 3 different people, and the complainants were the same person/trustee complaining about 3 people causing problems at or around the same time, preventing the trustee and club members from using their own repeater. So, there was a lot more to it than just not having prior authorization to use the repeater. With regard to GMRS, I cannot find a single direct warning letter for GMRS repeater use refusal. Not one. Meaning, there are no publicly available FCC warning letters or Notices of Apparent Liability that mirror the amateur radio pattern above, i.e., issued to a GMRS operator for continuing to use a repeater after being told not to. FCC rules clearly grant GMRS repeater owners control, but enforcement is murky at best. According to Part 95 rules noted in an earlier post, a GMRS licensee “may disallow the use of its GMRS repeater by specific persons as may be necessary” to carry out responsibilities under the rules. This implies the owner can refuse access. However, there’s no record of the FCC stepping in if a GMRS user ignored a private owner’s request to stop using a repeater, unlike the amateur (Part 97) precedent. Also, in 1999 the FCC issued a formal opinion in WT Docket 98-20, 96-188, RM-8677 and RM-9107 (https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-99-139A1.pdf) about implementing a rule to require users to get permission to use a repeater 'prior' to repeater use. It has not been brought up since. Here is the text... "...repeater operators ask that we require users to have permission before using others' repeaters. We decline to adopt such a rule because it would interject the Commission into a GMRS licensee's private management of its GMRS system, including its repeaters. Such a rule also would be inconsistent with our efforts to eliminate unnecessary regulations and burdens for GMRS licensees and applicants. We emphasize that users are free to take steps to prevent unauthorized use of their facilities, including turning the repeater off as necessary, limiting or disabling receiver sites, and using tone-operated squelch or digital access codes. Moreover, the rule suggested by petitioners would do nothing to change access to repeater; even with the rule, an unauthorized user could cause a repeater to transmit, absent some engineering solution to limit access to the repeater input." Short of a new opinion from the FCC or a rule change, this very clearly states that GMRS repeater owners are on their own if they want an operator to stop using their repeater.

By the grace of mine own self-worth and sarcasm and by the bounteous authority vested in me, THE QUEEN OF ALL THAT IS GMRS, I doth hereby decree, with much pomp and stupidity, that one @SteveShannon, a stout fellow of questionable repute but unquestionable GMRS knowledge, be forthwith and forevermore dubbed a member of the Most Esteemed Order of the HERD (which, perchance, standeth for “Higher End Radio Dork,) Let it be known across the static-ee airwaves of the peasantry to the lofty frequencies of the saddest of H.A.M.s that Sir StevenShannon, clad in naught but his wits and an FCCs permission slip, hath stumbled bravely and fortuitously into the fray of tomfoolery and emerged victorious—or at least not entirely trampled. With this proclamation, he is granted the sacred right to put the title "HERD" after his name, to wield a UV-5R on GMRS channels, and to confuse all who inquire as to what a “HERD” truly be. So sayeth I, THE QUEEN OF ALL THAT IS GMRS on this fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord XENU two thousand and five-and-twenty. Let the roger-beeps blare, and may the Sad H.A.M.s tremble in his presence ! So it is written, so shall it be done. Arise good Sir @SteveShannon, member of the HERD!