nokones

If you don't know what the band range of your radio is, the 4th character in the model number from the left will designate the band range. "K" for VHF 138-174 MHz, "Q" 380-470 MHz, "S" 450-520 MHz, "U" 700/800 MHz, and "W" for 900 MHz. The channel capacity for the XTL5000 is 1,000 channel. The flashcode will tell you the feature set for that radio such as digital capable or analog only, conventional or Trunking Smartnet or Smartzone, and bunch of more features.

And any tone with a decimal point is a CTCSS/PL tone in Hertz i.e. 82.5, 110.9, and 123.0 and they are an analog tone. The numbers that have three digits with no decimal is a DPL/DCS and a digital code i.e. 047, 311, 445, and 754 and most cases identified with a "D" preceeding three numerical digits, and a suffix "N" or a Alpha character "I" (eye). The "N" for a non-Inverted digital code and the "I" for an Inverted digital code. The "N" and "I" codes are two different codes i.e. D723N or D723I (eye).

And I bet there's a good percentage of the HAM repeater are still not used very much these days.

According to this rule, you can operate Part 90 type-accepted radios such as Motorola and Kenwood radios, on GMRS channels legally. Part 90 type-accepted radios are Land Mobile Radios (LMR). See below: 95.335 Operation of non-certified transmitters prohibited. Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this section, no person shall operate a transmitter in any Personal Radio Service unless it is a certified transmitter; that is, a transmitter of a type which has obtained a grant of equipment certification for that service, pursuant to part 2, subpart J of this chapter. Use of a transmitter that is not FCC-certified voids the user's authority to operate that station. See sections 302(a), (b), and (e) of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 302(a), (b), and (e)). (a) Exceptions. Under certain exceptions, non-certified Personal Radio Service transmitters, or transmitters certified for use in the land mobile radio services may be operated. Any such exceptions applicable to stations in a Personal Radio Service are set forth in the subpart governing that specific service. See e.g., §§ 95.735 and 95.1735.

You definitely want to recheck the VSWRs if it wasn't tuned/check with the spring.

Moral Turpitude was a catch all term used by government employers to dismiss employees back in the dark ages such as the Disco decade. That is essentially non-extent these days but the rule is still on the books. The moral turpitude acts are widely overlooked these days and not considered immoral as they once were.

If you want to keep your family and friends only repeater private, don't list it on mygmrs.com. Also, I would split the tones and use CTCSS on the downlink/repeater output side and an Inverted DPL/DCS code on the uplink/repeater input side.

Also, after a battery has been reconditioned and the resulting capacity is below 80%, I replace the battery and no longer use them. Batteries below 80% capacity just don't provide a long duty cycle between charge cycles.

Lithium batteries have a great self life over NiMH and NiCAD batteries. They will keep their charge capacity nearly at full charge for a long time where as NiCAD batteries have one of the worst self discharge rate with NiMH batteries a little better than NiCAD. Also, NiCAD batteries need to be exercised and conditioned regularly or they will eventually fail with a short service life. NiMH batteries have a little better service than NiCAD but no where near as a Lithium battery. I have a couple Lithium batteries that are approx. 10 years old and they still reconditioned above 90% capacity. Also, if you put NiCAD and/or NiMH batteries on the shelf or they have been sitting on the shelf before their initial use for long periods of time, you may need to "reform" the battery in order for them to relearn their use and charge duty cycles or they will perform with short use duty cycles between charge cycles. In otherwords, you need to take care if them and make them happy or they will just be pissed off and not perform as expected. I learned this from a class that Alexander Battery or was it Multiplier, I don't remember now it was one of them, hosted at an APCO National Convention back in the 90s. Following this practice I feel has given me great longevity for the batteries whereas I have seen people not performing good maintenance were constantly replacing batteries prematurely.

Why would it be a problem if someone use your repeater? Is there some harm to you or your repeater if someone does use the repeater? It's like you setup the entire backyard for a BBQ with all kinds of food and drinks and you only invite yourself to the party. Owning a repeater and not allowing anyone else use it is like having a party for yourself only. So, what is the point of having a repeater and only you uses it. Who are you going to party with?

I just got done with my monthly GMRS repeater updates for California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah for coverage along all the major routes in the aforementioned states. Almost two years ago, I only had somewhere between 200-300 channel personalities in approx 20 zone banks for those mentioned states. Today, I must be approaching 800 channel personalities and 42 zone banks per radio. Just with my XTL radios, I have nine different codeplug files, and with my XTS5000 radios, I have eleven different codeplug files that get updated every month. This is inaddition to various vintage model radios I have which is approximately 16 codeplug files comprising of both CPS and RSS. Also, I noticed the growth of the new GMRS licenses within the last year or so. I am seeing a lot of request for use of my repeater and most the requests are by licensees that just got their GMRS license. I am really amazed at the growth of the GMRS hobby in the last couple of years, especially within the last year or so. I have to wonder if the Amateur Radio Service has seen the same growth within the last couple of years as GMRS has. I'm hearing a lot more traffic on the GMRS repeaters along with simplex traffic in my travels. It's hard to say if the simplex traffic is GMRS or FRS. I suspect that the majority of the traffic on the 462 MHz Interstitial channels (1-7) are FRS users. Anyone have any thoughts on the difference of the growth between the two radio services?

The first GMRS radio I used was a MT2000. I programmed a couple local repeaters in my company radio and this was back in the mid 90s. My company car had a GE S825 so I programmed a couple GMRS channels in that radio. I ended up buying a MT2000 for my first GMRS radio. I carried my portable when I wasn't in my company car but I did have most of the company channels programmed in my personal radio. I ended up retiring in 2006 and I had to give up all my radio toys and the company car. My first mobile GMRS radio was a Motorola MCS2000. I needed a radio that would accommodate other UHF freqs than just GMRS. I also have a Business Radio Service Part 90 license. I don't recall what was on the market for cheap GMRS radios around 2006 or even if Midland was into GMRS or not at that time. I did end up buying a Midland MXT400 several years ago and then a Midland MXT500 a few years ago. I sold the MXT400 and I still have the MXT500 radio. The MXT500 radio is the radio I loan out to my radio-less friends on Driving Tours and Trail runs They are good radios as a simple easy to use radio. I just wanted more radio features so I started buying Motorola XTL5000 both Dash and Remote Mounts and some XTL2500 radios. Currently, I have two high powered XTL5000 remotes, two Mid Power XTL5000 remotes, and two XTL5000 Dash mounts, and three XTL2500 remotes, and I still have the MCS2000 radio. Last year, I won a refurbished Kenwood TK880 as a raffle prize and I use that radio in one of my cars that won't accommodate the installation of a mobile radio. As for portables, I have well over 40 portables of various Motorola types of VISAR, HT1000, MT2000, MTS2000, Astro Sabers, XTS1500, XTS2500, XTS3000, XTS5000, and DTR700. I do not own any CCRs, except for a Wouxun KG1000G +. I had to see what was all the excitement about this radio. I wasn't impressed at all. Maintaining the batteries is a real chore every couple of months. I should be conditioning batteries every 30 days however, I just have too many batteries to keep up with them.

Are the SIM cards accessible on the newer cell phones?

You might want to look into a fake chimney or a mini church steeple made out of materials that won't attenuate the signal much. Or a fake pine tree or whatever tree type you have in the area. I doubt that there are many Palm Trees in your area. Look around and see what are the Cellular Companies are using to disguised antennae and towers. Your electrical plans should include a proper grounding and arrestor systems. Also plan for future electrical needs. And your electrical circuits should be dedicated and not shared with other circuits.

You need to check with the RSO (Regional Security Officer) for each country you are trying to enter with a radio device. GMRS freqs in the USA may not be for civilian use in other countries. I know some countries have cooperative agreements with the USA for some freqs but regardless if they do you will need a permit/license or some station authorization from the other country regardless. The only international agreement that I remember is for some 800 MHz freqs known as ITac channels only to be used by government entities. Oh, by the way, most of those countries business hours are normally when you will be sleeping. As a citizen, good luck in getting in contact with the RSO.

Yah, stay out of the wabbit holes, they're not private either!

Yes, please do put up a repeater and hopefully it will cover the Beeville Area and the old Chase Field when I visit the area. Most of the repeaters in Corpus Christi area are private only repeaters. You might want to look into being a member of the Texas GMRS Club.

There are various entities that provide the subject service for future and existing licensees. Radio Shops, some certified Part 90 Freq Coordinators, and Radio Associations and Organizations, of course for a nominal fee. As a word of caution, and I highly recommend that you be the administrative/control point of contact and not the service provider. If you are not the point of contact you will not get any notification for any FCC matters if your service provider contact information is out of date or no longer provides that service or is out of business and if you let your license expire you more than likely will have to start the whole application process over again.

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.

What does the environmental specs say for your model radio? It may list the low and high temps for operational and storage environments.

Although, I'm not his Spoke Person or Public Information Officer, I think he mentioned in one of his latest videos that there is not any new radio products out there these days that he hasn't already reviewed. I think he did do a review on an air compressor a couple months ago. I would like to see him do reviews on Jeep Off-Road products and equipment like Navigation and Trail Comms. I have enjoyed his trail run videos that he did many years ago and I know there are a couple of reviewers that do an ok job like Wayalife and TrailReconn but I think Randy would add a lot more Pazzazz to the videos. But I have a feeling that may want to keep his work life separate from his passion of wheeling

Well, that might be a save from being called a "Sad HAM".

You're new to the Forum and you may be losing support in being nominated to the "Righteous Dude" list and you will end up only being recogized as one of those "Some People". It appears that you are questioning Marc's expertise in measuring the sensitivity of the two subject radios. Do you think Marc just pulled out the findings of his test out of the air and that he doesn't know what he is doing? Do you actually think anyone without that kind of education/experience could even come close and talk-the-talk? He clearly explained a typical test procedure in measuring the receiver's sensitivity and you responded with a different procedure that you said he should have used in place of his procedure. Was there something wrong with his test procedure? Since, you are new to the list, I think it would have been best for you to lurk for awhile so you have an idea who the players are and how they roll instead showing up and stepping on people's protruding body parts.

And only had your GMRS license for a couple months thus that makes you very new to this forum