nokones

You don't need a Commercial license to operate and/or repair stations operating under Part 90 rules. You only need a Radio Station Authorization (License) for operating on a specific Part 90 Frequency(ies). This means you can operate your Motorola Any Series/Model radio that is "type accepted" for Part 90 operation on GMRS without possessing a Commercial Radio License providing you have a GMRS Radio Station Authorization (Class ZA) (license) A Commercial Radio Operators License is only required for the operation and/or repair of specified Aircraft and/or Marine stations within the United States. And a radio station operating under the authority of Part 90 rules, regardless who the licensee is, by FCC definition, does not require the radio user to possess a Commercial Radio Operator's License. If the Radio Station is used for a commercial operation as defined by Part 90.35(a)(1-4), the licensee must meet the eligibility, and operate only on the frequency(ies) granted and per the stated restrictions and limitations, per the Radio Station Authotization (License).

A Sticky is a good idea for people to add their experiences. I have a few odd balls that I could that I have learned over the years such as pouring oil down a tower guy-wire once a month and oil and torque tower joint bolts to eliminate intermod interference. I don't have a clue on how to start a Sticky. I think a Forum God would have to do that.

I forgot to mention that the GFI would only pop on the 462 Meg freqs and not the 467 Meg freqs. To be on the safe side for the future, I'm going to either replace it with a GFI dialed-in on a HAM band freq since, I'm not a HAM, or a non-GFI outlet.

Well, I had to know if the GFI would pop and yes, it popped with the shelf in the up position so, its back down and no more popped GFI.

More gremlins came and visited this morning. My repeater decided that it didn't want to unkey when a transmitting radio unkeyed. The repeater stayed key because there was a signal present to the receiver. This problem cropped up this morning. It appeared like a distant open carrier with a little intermod signal mixing in. When I removed the receiver cable from the duplexer, of course the signal quit and the repeater unkeyed. My big stick antenna that I use for the repeater will see very far. I can even communicate with a 4 watt portable little over 10 miles to the repeater. That is why at first I thought it was a distant signal. I connected the repeater to my secondary antenna, you know, the one that was popping my GFI, and put my base radio on the big stick. The GFIs are fine and after the swap, the repeater operated as designed, no problem at all. I put the repeater back on the big stick and the problem was still present. Just for giggles, I checked the RF out and reflected between the duplexer antenna output port and the big stick antenna and the needle on my Bird barely moved on the reflected so I put the 10W slug in and checked the reflected again and I saw a tad over a watt reflected. The RF power from the duplexer was about 26-27 watts on 462.625 MHz. So, in case that someone decided to communicate through my repeater I decided it was best to put the repeater on my secondary antenna, for the interim, so it will function properly and not stay keyed up forever. Anyways, I already had another project to occupy my time for the day. Today, my plans were to install my additional grounds to the repeater station and the secondary antenna system that I use for the base radio. I completed the job and I decided to reconnect the big stick antenna system to the repeater and the secondary antenna system to the base radio. The repeater unkeys as designed and the problem appears to be eliminated. I elected to leave the metal grid shelf lowered up in the attic that was causing the GFI to pop because I didn't want to push my luck but, my curiosity will no doubt get the best of me and I more than likely put the shelf back in place to see if the grounds eliminated the popping GFI. Anyways, I don't use the shelf and it just gets in my way. I think the newly installed "Green" wires scared and chased the gremlins away. At the moment, everything is just peachy. I must have been creating my own intermod problem without the secondary antenna system and the repeater station not being grounded. Grounding the Repeater station. Grounding the Secondary Antenna System for my base radio. Connecting to the ground system at the Lightning Arrestor that is used on the LMR400 Cable run from the Big Stick to the Repeater Station.

With the Wouxun KG1000G Plus radios paired as a Repeater, I wasn't able to communicate more than 3/4 of a mile from the repeater site with a Motorola portable radio. I also tested with the Maxon radios and I was able to communicate about 3-4 air miles. With my current repeater, Vertex Standard EVX R70 G7 40 repeater which is essentially a Motorola repeater, so far, I am able to communicate at least 10 air miles with my Motorola XTS5000 portable radio to my repeater. The tip of the antenna is approx. 30 feet above the ground and the terrain is essentially flat with mostly single story homes and commercial buildings between the two points. I'm pretty sure that the station's great selectivity and sensitivity has a lot to do with the performance I'm getting with my repeater. I'll be conducting a coverage check soon with a 50 watt mobile.

The Motorola CPS Astro 25 programming software with the USB radio to computer programming cable will program the XTS1500, XTS2500, and XTS5000 radios and the software is Windows 11 compatible. The XTS3000 radios require the ASTRO Spectra software and only compatible with a Windows XP 32 bit operating system. The charger and audio accessories are compatible among all the XTS series and the Jedi HT1000, MT2000, and MTS2000 series radios. The XTS3000 and XTS5000 batteries are the same; but the XTS1500 and XTS2500 batteries will take a different battery than the XTS3000 and the XTS5000 radios. The XTS1500 is a 48 channel radio; the Type 2 and 3 XTS2500 is a 255 channel; and the Type 2 and 3 XTS5000 is a 999 channel radio. These radios are great and my opinion are the best to have as far as quality and reliability. I paid $275 for a XTS5000 radio that was never used and essentially a brand new radio and $175-250 for a few refurbished radios. $400 is a tad on the high side to start out with and obtaining the software will be challenging. The programming cable appears to be somewhat available. Be careful with after-market cables. Also, there is the learning curve in using the programming application insofar as the feature and other parameter settings especially when undoing the encryption and trunking settings along with knowing the difference between ASTRO and non-Astro in order to program the radio for analog conventional use. Once you get the hang of it, you'll enjoy it. You'll be glad you did without any regrets

The antenna and radio are only connected by the coax at this time. I do have a ground that is connected to the service ground up in the attic and nearby the radio. The ground up in the attic is for the lightning arrestor that I have on the big stick for the repeater. I intend to tap into that ground with this newly installed antenna. I kinda figured that the cause of my problem could have been contributed to the lack of a grounding system on this antenna run.

I'm getting a Windows 8 from eBay for programming my Vertex Standard EVX R70-G7-40 Repeater. I have a very old Sony that was a originally a Windows ME machine that I had a computer Geek reformat it with DOS 6. something that I use for my HT1000, MT2000, and older version MTS2000 radios. I use a HP Pavillion Laptop with XP for my newer version MTS2000, and my Astro XTS3000. I use a Windows 11 laptop for my Astro 25 XTS 1500, XTS2500, and XTS5000 series, Midland MXT500, and my Wouxun KG1000G Plus radios.

Like with the WA-WAs and Worbles and all that heterodyning stuff.

Since, I finally got my repeater online and I am using my big stick antenna, I needed to come up with a better solution than using a mag-mount with a Phantom Stubby antenna sitting on the windowsill of my shop. So, I decided to install a mobile antenna configuration in the attic above my shop since I only need to hit a few repeaters from my base station. I used a Laird Base Coil Non-Ground Plane antenna with a Laird NMO Mount/Male N Adapter and a bracket affixed to wall near the top pitch of the roof and in front of the vent and ran about 25' of LMR400 cable to my radio on the bench that sits on top of the repeater. You would think that would be good-to-go for just hitting a few nearby mountain top repeaters that I can do with a 4 watt portable with no problem. No, that wasn't good-to-go because the screen in front of the vent liked to reflect some RF back that I didn't like so I relocated the antenna further away from the screen. Well that did take care of the reflection of RF and I kinda like the VSWR, under two so that seem to be good-to-go. I ran a test with a radio repeater club member on the main repeater and everything sounded good and I was still liking the reflection and VSWRs so I decided to put everything back in its place. I started tacking down the coax, reinstalling a metal grid type shelf that was in my way when I was installing the antenna in its original location and than relocating the antenna, put away all the tools and decided to check the reflection and RF out. Damn, I popped the GFI that I originally thought was the breaker. I was wondering how can I pop 20 amp breaker with hardly a load on that circuit. I didn't have that problem before so I went to the electrical panel and all the breakers were Ok. I went to the outlet and saw the little itty bitty red light on the GFI reset so I reset and keyed the radio and damn it, the GFI popped again. I ran an extension cord to another 20 amp dedicated circuit and I was still popping the same GFI outlet. I decided to relocate the romex wire for the four-plex that I use for my radio stuff further away from the antenna. I had to lower the metal grid type shelf again in order to relocate the romex wire further away. I also relocated the LMR400 further away from the romex wire and tacked it down on the roof/ceiling cross-members. After relocating the romex and retacking the coax. I went downstairs to the radios and fired everything up and walla, the GFI didn't popped alright. So, I went back upstairs to put everything back in its place, take my tools back downstairs. Yes, I did key the base radio again and guess what, the GFI popped again. Are you kidding me. I went back upstairs and again relocated the coax LMR400 further away from the affected romex but, I didn't do anything with the metal grid type shelf, there was no reason to because the shelf wasn't in my way and I already replaced the three boxes what I had on the shelf which, were boxes full of Christmas decorations. Went back downstairs and keyed the radio Pop goes-the GFI. I go back up stairs and took the boxes off the shelf and checked again, and Pop. Now, I'm trying to think what worked before and I know what is not working now. The only thing I can think off is lower the metal grid type shelf and try again. I'm thinking what in the hell does this shelf have to do with anything but, I did lower it. I went back downstairs and keyed the radios and nothing popped, are you kidding me? I went back upstairs and kinda popped up the shelf and went back downstairs and keyed the radio, Pop, goes-the-GFI. Went back upstairs and lowered the shelf and rekeyed and nothing popped. Wow, are you kidding me, so I left the shelf down. I put everything away and I keyed the radio and nothing popped. Unbelieveable, its fixed, I hope.

Shipping from Canada isn't too bad if it is shipped through the US Post Office. It seems that the eBay sellers from Canada, near Toronto, have some ability to get their wares to the US Post Office system for shipping. I have ordered stuff and it usually took about a week.

I learned my lesson, and learning is fun and expensive, and I scrapped the concept of interfacing two CCR mobile radios to make a repeater that could only receive a 4 watt Motorola XTS5000 portable radio no more than a mile from the repeater antenna. I elected to buy a never used Vertex Standard EVX R70-G7-40 (which looks exactly like a Motorola XPR 8400) for only $700 and I am surprised in the FARS I can get kicking the repeater with my portable keying up in the car in the essentially flat Phoenix Area. I guess the repeater will never see the digital mode, at least on GMRS frequencies. The only real coverage testing I have done so far has resulted in very good coverage with portable radios up to about 6-7 miles between the repeater antenna and two portable radios. One user keying the radio from inside the car and the other radio sitting in a cup holder of a Golf Car about two feet off the ground communicating with a speakermic. A mobile radio coverage test with 50 watt mobiles will be conducted soon when I get some extra time to do the test. Old People Community activities, car racing, car and radio clubs, take up my other available time slots throughout the day. PS: If you're selling Solar, please don't ring my doorbell, I don't have time to answer the door or answer the telephone to give you the expiration of my credit card for verification.

Vehicular Repeaters are Part 90 Type Acceptance and are classed for MO3 operations. If you use your vehicular repeater for MO3 operations than it is not a crossband operating configuration, by definition. A crossband system would be two Station, in different bands, such as, fixed base or mobile relay (FB2 Repeater) stations interconnected and operating on separate communications systems. Part 95.1745 allows for remote control of GMRS stations such as repeater, base, and fixed stations but unfortunately, does not allow for remote control of mobile stations. Radioguy is correct, you cannot legally remotely control GMRS mobile stations, only the aforementioned stations. I am very familiar with the operation of vehicular repeaters. I was totally involved with the design, operation, and field testing of the GE and Pyramid vehicular repeaters and instrumental in the design concept of the GE vehicular repeaters for Motorcycles. Back in the 80s I did come up with a design of using a vehicular repeater design type concept for an airborne crossband repeater system in an aircraft for a special event moving across the state. That was a fun project.

So did I. I went with a Vertex Standard EVX R70-G7 which looks identical to a Motorola XPR8300. The performance of this repeater exceeds my expectation with great portable radio coverage throughout my "Old People Community". I was driving around in my super zoomy kinda not-so-fast Golf Car with my Motorola XTS5000 portable radio sitting in my cup holder with the portable about two-feet off the ground using a speaker mic for my drive-around test and I was able to communicate through the repeater whereas, I was not able to do before with the CCR radios. A member of the GMRS Radio Club I am associated with helped me with the coverage test and he drove around with a portable and communicated within his vehicle through the repeater approx. 5-6 miles away. This evening I was able to communicate through the repeater with a portable about 7 or so miles away from inside of a vehicle. My antenna is a Laird FG4605 5dB antenna and is approx. 25-30 feet to the tip and the terrain is essentially flat with single story houses and commercial buildings and gazillion Palm Trees throughout the community. Today, I finished mounting the duplexer to a mounting board on the wall and built new short cables using RG-8X low-loss cable, with amphenol connectors from DX Engineering (sorry no affiliate link anywhere), between the repeater and the duplexer . The repeater receiver connector required a BNC connector and the transmitter connector required a "N" connector as did the duplexer requiring N's. I have a very short newly built pigtail cable between the duplexer output and the LMR400 cable to the antenna which is about 55-60 in length at the max. and equipped with a lightning arrestor grounded to the earth ground at the electrical panel. I connected my Bird 43 in-line watt meter between the duplexer and the antenna and I measured 24-25 watts out of the duplexer and no movement on the meter for reflected with a 100 watt slug. I put in my 10 watt slug to measure the reflected and the needle moved slightly to maybe .2 watt. I decided to compare my MFJ Digital Meter and I measured a tad over 22 watts with .4 watt reflected and 1.25 to 1.3 VSWR. Next will be conducting a radio coverage test with a 50 watt mobile using an unity-gain antenna to see what kind of "Fars" I can get throughout the West Valley area of Phoenix. Besides being expensive, this radio stuff is kinda fun. This hobby does keep me busy with all the ancillary mini-projects along with my car racing and doing a few "Old People Stuff" I wish I had more time in the day.

Mt. Bullion would be the closest developed remote site to the Yosemite Valley and even Lowband VHF is very spotty to non-existent from Mt. Bullion. Telegraph and Double Dome (Dardanelles) in Tuolumne County would be the next best but, they are two far away. There is a very good reason why that none of the law enforcement agencies along the mother lode and the Sierras do not use UHF radio systems. Tulare County (UHF 453 MHz) would be the only exception but, they don't have too much responsibility far up in the hills. The Park Service uses Mt. Hoffman but, that is on Federal Park Service land.

Part 95 defines plain language communications as: "Voice communications without codes or coded messages intended to provide a hidden meaning. Foreign languages and commonly known radio operating words and phrases, such as “ten four” and “roger,” not intended to provide a hidden meaning, are not considered codes or coded messages." Non-english languages on the airwaves are legal now. Years ago, only English was allowed.

According to the map, there is no repeater coverage in the Yosemite Valley. The sites you see on the map will not provide coverage info the Park.

The mount is the same mount that is used to mount a satellite dish TV antenna with an additional brace.

Here is my setup with a lightning arrestor and grounded to earth ground at the electrical panel.

What about a 700/800 MHz Smart Zone Trunking System? Wouldn't the said trunking system use an antenna array like that?

a.k.a. - Brevity Codes.

If my memory serves me right, I believe he mentioned that he was using a duplexer. Also, in another video he described the antenna configuration he originally placed on the roof and than reconfigured to improve for better Fars and it only showed one antenna arrangement.

As way the regulation is written, sub-section "c" refers to "any" repeater, because that is what it says "any" repeater. Yes, it also regulates the station identification requirements for private family only operated repeater(s) and that is spelled out in paragraph (1). Paragraph "2" is separated from Paragraph "1" and does not just mean a family private repeater, and paragraph (2) is still part of sub-section (c) which still means "Any". Please note that Paragraph 1 sentence ends and the "Any" repeater clause goes on to allow, and again, allow "any repeater" does not have to identify if the control and mobile stations identify, as they are supposed to. At the beginning of Section 95.1751, "each station" is referring to control and mobile stations, exclusive of Repeater stations. If it included repeater class of stations, there wouldn't need to be a sub-section (c). The paragraph (c)(1) clause could have been included in sub-section (a) and be paragraph (3) and there would not be a need for sub-section (c) Please feel free to get an interpretation from the FCC. I'm ready to be in position to be chastised and flamed to death. Government written statutes leaves it up to the means of interpretation. The point I'm trying to convey would leave a lot of means of interpretation in a court of law. That is how government writes regulation, policy, and statutes. I know, I have 36 years of writing and interpreting such statutes, regulations, and policies. Is it confusing, O' hell yes. You carefully have to read it as it is written and try to understand, what in the hell are they trying to regulate/allow.

I got this Bird 43 setup I purchased off of eBay and I don't have more than $300 total invested. I have slugs for 100W VHF Highband, 100W UHF, and a 10W UHF for reading the lower scale for the reflected power. I also have a MFJ Digital Meter that reads, VSWR, forward and reflected power, for checking the VSWR reading which the Bird does not do. The Bird is good for only the forward and reflected power checks. The MFJ is close to the accuracy for the power and can vary from check to check. The Telwave is a good unit and doesn't require slugs. Personally, I think the Telwaves read a tad on the high side, not sure which one is accurate the most. I always thought that the cool guys have the Birds so I wanted one so I can be a wanna-be.