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First day on the internet?

when I had a mag mount for my 10 meter I used a piece of wax paper between paint and the magnet. Worked good, never had any scratches in the paint.

A decent seat of headphones will definitely work if you plan on using a separate mic. I happen to use a female stereo to male mono adapter with radios that do not have a separate headphone jack so that I get sound in both speakers. The adapter works well with my Icom IC-2730 and my Wouxun KG-1000G +. I like the Heil BM-17 since they are light weight. The same adapter cable works for my IC-2730, Xiegu G90, and my Xiegu X6200. Using the BM-17 with the KG-1000G is a bit more complicated. I have to use the Heil Icom round adapter to a Heil Icom to K1 adapter which is plugged into a Buy Two Way Radios K-1 adapter with gain control. The setup works well with the BM-17 headset. The stereo to mono adapter is needed with the 2730 and KG-1000G to get sound in both headset speakers since they do not have a dedicated headphone jack. No adapter is needed when using the BM-17 with the G90, X6200, or the Icom IC-7300 since they have a headphone jack. I bought a Heil Handi-Talkie headset to use with the KG-1000G. The downside to them is there is no way to easily use a foot switch. I did find a couple of KOSS headsets on Amazon that people use for amateur radios. You just need to make sure to get the correct microphone type for your radio. Koss SB40 Computer Headset with dynamic microphone Koss SB-45 Communication Stereophones with electret condenser microphone @WSKY567 from what I could find, the Radioddity DB-20G and the CB-606 both use electret condenser microphones. You could give the Koss SB-45 headset a try.

Sad to see the thread devolve into this. And by the way, the ignore feature is pretty well useless. You won't see posts made by the person that you are ignoring BUT they will still see your posts and can still quote your posts. On topic I had to look up the specifications for Heil headsets. They use much higher impedance speakers. The impedance can be 200 - 600 ohms, or as high as 1.5k Ohms depending on the model. According to the specs, the BM-17-IC uses 1.5K Ohm speakers. The BM-17-D uses 500 Ohm speakers. The IC version is for Icom and other radios that use an electret condenser mic while the D model is for Yaesu and other radios that use a dynamic mic. From what I could find, the higher the speaker impedance, the less hiss noise you will hear when using headsets with amateur/GMRS radios.

Oh that makes so much sense now! I'm still learning some things. New to the journey into mobile and external antennas. Thank you so much for making that sound a bit more simple than I was reading into it!

Remember that 'ground plane' (a metal surface that will reflect radio waves from your antenna) and electrical 'grounding' (a return path for electric currents) are 2 very different things.

A friend of mine put the clear tape on his new truck’s roof to protect the finish. The tape doesn’t rub against the paint so the finish is protected. The rubber “protective” covers pick up dust and grit and vibrate against the paint like little sanders otherwise. My roof shows the marks but my truck is 28 years old.

Understandable, you had just finished passing the test or tests, you were excited to fill out the form. This is the easiest and perhaps least memorable question on the form for most people.

Gotcha. Zero recollection. Thanks!

Felons are not excluded, but they are required to explain their crimes. Question #28 on form 605 which you filled out after passing the exam:

You're welcome

Same here. I paid $70 for my GMRS license and $0 for my amateur license. Not long after I got my ham license they changed the price for each to $35.

True story!

Good afternoon!!! I just wanted to hop in and say thank you to everyone that has helped me along my journey in learning a thing or two. This community is great. Even though this is my first post, I have probably ready hundreds of posts in the forums. Aside from that, I would like to get a running list of users here in the Beaver State of Oregon. Lets connect!

Yes, that is exactly what I read can happen. So I was hoping to protect the paint at least for some time. My truck is new. One day it will be 28 years old hopefully too. Then I wont care either. But for now I would like to protect things when I can.

Yes, the Radioddity triple mag-mount comes with rubber cups that protect the paint. Perhaps you can glue a rubber strip cut circularly and glued to the bottom I am going to glue my cups as they fall off easily when I move it around.

The clear tape shouldn’t hurt anything. Magnetic NMO mounts don’t require electric conductivity to provide a good ground.

Absolutely! Or even just first names.

I had a DB20-G on that mount and they both got stolen out of my garage! I purchased another DB20-G and built the "plumber's plug" cup mount somewhere here on this forum! UPDATE: Here it is: https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/4329-vehicle-cup-holder-mount/

Sorry no. Many years ago, I signed a software license and that would be a no-no. I don't know what the legality is today for breaching that license insofar as copyrights, etc. What I will do, I will program the radio for you at no cost, just pay the shipping cost both ways.

I wonder what felony would preclude someone from getting their license? This is what Gemini says: No single felony automatically disqualifies you from a ham radio license; the FCC reviews felony convictions case-by-case, focusing on serious crimes like those against children, sexual assault, or egregious offenses, but grants licenses if applicants show rehabilitation and that granting the license serves the public interest. You must disclose any felony on your application, and a "Yes" answer triggers a review where you provide an explanation, potentially leading to denial if the crime indicates a lack of character, but often resulting in approval if you've demonstrated rehabilitation and good conduct.

That's a good point. GMRS can seem complex to the newcomer who finds themselves sucked into the vortex of offsets, interstitial narrow-band @ 0.5W on 8-14, repeater duty cycles, etc. While all that can be interesting, and valuable, to those who want to go that far, it means nothing if you just want to talk to someone. Treat it as a simple blister-pack radio you can purchase at Walmart. Push the button and talk to the other guy. If you want to get fancy with a larger antenna, great. If you want to get really fancy with a repeater, even greater. Take one step at a time until your needs are met. One need not eat the whole whale in one bite.

You're welcome. We are here to serve.

Bought this cup mount for my radio: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YBKWYMM?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2. Works well.

I thought this was a pretty good video for those of us Hunting POTA.

Genuine question here...felons are excluded from having a Ham license? I don't remember that being a question anywhere on anything. I took a test and got a license? Is it part of signing up for an FRN? Where along the way did I have to check the "I'm not a felon" box? I have zero recollection of that. Also, totally not a felon.

There are call signs that are assigned to certain government roles, rather than the person. While he is in office, he could use any call sign that is assigned to POTUS. As far as DJT is concerned, he can apply for a license, and depending on any convictions existing at the time of application, and the nature of the crime(s), and the FCC would evaluate if any conviction would be exclusionary. Since he has no felony convictions related to abuse of radio/technology, it's extremely likely his application would be approved.

The best advice I have heard in here is not to get frustrated and give up. I have really enjoyed playing around with my GMRS radio's and talking to people on them. Sometimes I just put the radio away because I didn't understand something but went back to it, glad I did. Talk to some friends and see if you can get them interested .

Thanks for this!!! Looking into them right now.

Those external speakers are designed to try to get louder than the internal speaker, so they will likely be "too loud", what about using a KES5 external speaker, the clarity improvement would be huge.

You asked if my headphones included a microphone, which by its very nature makes it a headset. Then asked what made me think you asked you about a headset. Now you are upset because Steve is teasing you a bit because of it. Just my opinion, but I think you may be overreacting a bit. We're genuinely contributing to the conversation... After all these years, I expect nothing less. It's almost every thread. Same in most forums... plus, if someone quotes a person you are ignoring, you can see their post in the quotes. I just got a cheap set of Stereo/Mono headphone from Avantree with 32 ohm impedance. They work really well for my mono out radios, like my GMRS and VHF/UHF radios, as well as my mobile HF radios. I just use the mic that goes with the radio, for all of those uses. However, I got a Heil Pro Headset for my IC-7300. The headphones have fantastic audio and the mic is the same element that is in my PR-781G boom mic. It's a fantastic set. It does have the 1.5 k ohms impedance for the output. I will also use my Avantree headphone with my IC-7300 when I am using my boom mic and monitor.

We need a forum named Parking Lot so conversations like this one can be taken there.

I paid $70 in 2022 and dropped to $35 a few months later. Even at $70, I considered it cheap for a 10 year license.

The bigger question for me is why the FCC dropped your $70 fee to $35 so they could raise the Ham Radio fee from $0 to $35!!!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NJ2M33I?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 I use these in my POTA kit. Activated today in 10+mph winds and heard everything just fine. Kept my ears warm too! Obviously there are nicer ones out there but I'm not trying to throw $100 headphones in the bottom of my POTA bag.

Some days you come across as schizophrenic.

Can confirm.

I am on my second unit. I am only on my second unit because the first one went up in smoke. As it turns out, I had a mismatched frequency antenna and according to the techs at BTech, high SWR made my radio go boom. How exactly they knew that, I don't know. In fact, I have my doubts that they did...but alas. Having said that, if it did kilo bravo due to my error, BTech was kind enough to send me a replacement radio for free just the same. So there is that. I generally like the radio. I use it as a base station in my home and routinely use it to talk to my family while I am out and about. I also use it to talk to a repeater some 40 miles away and it makes the trip just fine. I get glowing reports on how the radio sounds. I monitor two different repeaters in addition to our family channel, so the quad watch feature is nice. I understand that some may think the display is a little crowded. It is...and if I was running this in my Jeep, that would be a different case altogether. But sitting stationary on my desk, just a few feet from my face and next to my laptop, I like being able to see all the info. If I'm completely transparent, I do have a little bit of buyer's remorse. I think I could have bought a Radioddity DB20 for less than half of what I paid for the GMRS 50V2 and had access to 2m and been well happy. But I bought this as a new guy in GMRS and that 50 watts sure seemed sexy. Knowing what I know now - primarily that I can hit that same repeater 40 miles away with a 5 watt HT - I'm not so sure I'd have bought it. As always, your mileage may vary.

I didn't buy a headset, I got headphones. I move them between all of my radios, so having a mic built-in was not an option. I do have a dedicated headset for my HF radio, but they were over $500. If you want details on either, let me know.

After two test runs and then completely failing in my first attempt at an activation on the third trip where I only got one QSO, I returned for a fourth time and was successful! 12 QSO's in 45 degree weather in the wind. 3 Park to Parks, one in Bermuda! It took the better part of two and a half hours, but I did it! I hunted a few people but largely called CQ and people responded! I was flabbergasted. I was operating in the same spot I had the first two times where I had such difficulty. Even had a wee pile up while I worked through four different stations calling at the same time. I know it's a minor victory but, man, am I proud of myself. Xiegu G90 @ 20 watts, running a 1/4 wave vertical JCP12 antenna. 8 ground radials at 10' each, 18g wire. Thank you to all of the folks that answered questions and helped me out. There's a few other parks near me but for now, I'm going to go make some tea and put my feet up by the fire! 73!

Congratulations. It is nice when you get your first POTA activation under your belt. Band conditions will change from day to day and can change from one minute to another. Try doubling your ground radials if you can. You should see an improvement with 24 radials. The G90 is in the sweet spot when it comes to portable HF radios. About the only downside I have with the G90 is it doesn't work on 6m. But you don't hardly ever hear anyone calling CQ POTA on 6m anyway.

So I watched the solar power station watts output and the max I saw was 118w. That's close to but not over the 126w max for the 12v output. I'm pretty sure they build in a bit of "fudge factor" because all the power stations I've seen tests on went over the rated wattage. I did cancel the order for the 12v to 15a converter. The power station seems to be working well enough so I'm just going yo use it for now. No reason to spend money on something I may not need.

Well I gave it a shot and with an old pair of Sony 7506's it worked fine. Evidently the tip and sleeve span the connector inside the radio as I get both ears. Just need to be real careful with the volume know as it is real easy to over drive them. Not an eloquent solution, but a solution nonetheless.

Wake me when one is released…

But i'll bet they have decent 'memories'

I wonder if it's the programming method? Using CHIRP, I've been able to write anything I like to mine. I have all the stock GMRS channels, a good handful of specific repeaters, and a few Ham channels that I occasionally monitor used by local clubs. In all, I have about 35 entries, spanning a channel range of over 100 slots. I also have a UV-5G, which is my daily driver for home use, and I copy/paste memories back and forth between the two models freely.

Everyone should take off 42 day worth of taxes on the IRS form. They were closed, why should we pay? Like that will fly

Honestly? I straight up skipped mine and did my own thing, and that's pretty much still my MO almost 30 years later. Still don't use my ham gear on GMRS though.

I think there are some settings you can change

You have three problems that team up to cause you problems. Length, resistive losses, and mismatched impedance. First, RG6 is the wrong impedance. It’s 75 ohm, which matches television equipment but not two way radio equipment. For very low loss cable that would not automatically be a problem but as WRYZ926 pointed out you’re working with UHF here which leads to: Second, it has high resistive losses. The losses for 100 feet of RG6 are a little more than 6 dB. That’s 75% of your signal that would be converted into heat by your cable. So if you’re using a 50 watt radio the antenna would only ever see 12.5 watts. That’s on transmit. The same thing happens on receive. Your antenna is acted upon by a certain number of micro volts of RF but only 25% of that reaches your receiver. A mismatched impedance alone isn’t a kiss of death but combined with a lossy cable it is. I absolutely agree with LScott that you should use at least LM400 or a high quality similar cable like M&P 10 mm Ultraflex. Either of those will “only” cost you 2.7 dB of the signal, or just under half. And I agree with LScott that LMR600 (or its 13 mm equivalent from M&P) would be much better.