WRVZ612

Reduced power would make sense. It's tuned for 440 to 450 in the UHF band. 462 to 467 is somewhat higher and out of band for it's designed specs. I have used it on GMRS along with a buddy that has the same thing and neither one of us noticed any difference in real time performance from our KG-935's. I will do some power testing to see justy how much of a difference there is. Note, the receive would be affected as well, but that might be harder to test. I'll post results when I do.

Are you using 2 antennas, or a duplexer?

I use the Diamond SRH77DA on it for an antenna. I hook it to a mobile antenna in the car and to my base antenna at home. It is far better on any band Ham, or GMRS than the stock antenna. I use the RT Systems software to program it. That solves the issues of repeater offsets. To me, it works as well as my KG935 and has a faster better scan that the KG935.

Anyone out here using a Yaesu FT70 HH that has the Mars mod done for GMRS? Opinions?

I also have the KG935 and am very happy with it.

OK, here is my take on this. Channels 1 through 7 are 5 watts. Not a lot of range. Channels 8 through 14 is one half a watt. Not much use at that power. Channels 15 through 22 are 50 watts. Hey, that's great, but oops. Those are repeater output frequencies as well and anyone using a repeater on one of those channels with it being a travel channel, if it's a busy repeater, they will blow right over you and they will not even know that you are there. They won't hear you, because you are not transmitting on an input frequency and no tones. Basically none of them are good as a travel channel and that sucks. Unless the FCC was to give us one 50 watt non repeater channel lets say, channel one, then a common travel channel is unlikely. The only other option would be a "gentlemen's agreement" Like some Ham situations are. Making one of the repeater channels a travel channel and any repeater owner that uses that channel to change to another one. It's a nice idea, but it's easier said than done.

What are your opinions on Baofeng radios? I find them to be weak, under modulated and muffled on transmit. The recieve is prone to interference from nearby signals much more so than higher quality more expensive radios. I have found this on both Ham and GMRS. Now, I know that because of their low cost, they are something that could get someone on the air who is on a tight budget and could be considered a starter radio, just to be fair about it.

Sounds like a good idea. I'll get right on it.? Actually, I wish I knew someone who lived up there. There is a cul-de-sac right at the top. A simple antenna mounted to the peak of a house would do it up there.

I've been thinking about getting a Midland MXR10 repeater for a summer camp situation. I like that one over the RT97. I think it's better built only if its just in a metal box instead. Midland said that its out of stock. Does anyone know of a reseller that might carry them?

These are definitely repeaters. I can tell the difference between a radio squelch tail and a repeater squelch tail. The same thing on Ham as well. I'm only new to GMRS but have been a Ham for a while. I have listened to known repeaters in my area and only one auto Id's. I guess the GMRS repeaters (the cheap ones) don't do it, or the owners don't have that enabled. So, I guess I've already answered my own question. I have unlisted repeaters in my area. I am sure of it.

So, I'm fairly new around here. I've had my radio on scan a lot and sometimes I hear people on repeaters that are in my area, but I can't find any listing of them. They are not listed on the repeaters section, or map and I don't know if they are listed on some other site. Can people put up repeaters without listing them anywhere?

That is exactly what I saw. I might have to go the duplexer route since two separate antennas on my house is not an option. It's interesting that the 40 watt maxons were better that the 50 watt KG1000's. Maybe just better stability and punch. I heard that many times on the old CB band.

I'm still looking for an answer here. Win, lose , or draw they sit there and I can't do anything to them. One sits there unresponded to, and to more were deleted by the person they went to, but I can't remove them. Am I missing something, or is the site just not capable of having the user modify it?

I watched your YouTubes on building your repeater. In the end, did you finally go with a working duplexer, or with the two separate antennas?

Yeah, didn't think of that right off. After looking at the map for distance I noticed it. I will put up an external base antenna at his place and see what happens. The next step will be a couple of 50 watt radios, instead of KG-935 handhelds. (Guess I should've mentioned that too.) I'm so used to picking up my HH Ham radio and talking to Ham repeaters with a rubber duck on it. There are a ton of those repeaters around here. I guess I got spoiled.?

I have a base antenna and it works good. I am going to get a J-pole that I built and matched up at his house and see if that works. There is a 300 foot high hill in between us, so that is probably the biggest problem. I have been looking at various repeaters including the RT-97 and have thought about using 2 Wouxam 1000's with a duplexer as well. I might just try the 97 and see what it does. I have seen the 97S and another just called the 97, no S what is the difference?

Probably about 7 miles straight line. I already have a base antenna up. It's my 440 Ham antenna. He has a mag mount on a steel plate screwed to the window sill. There is a 300 foot high hill directly in between us. I just built a couple of j-pole antennas and matched them with a Nano VNA. I'm going to try one at his house up on a mast and see if that does the trick.

The guy decided to respond to me through email. He has other intentions for his repeaters and wouldn't approve me, so there they sit. I'll have to email them back and just ask him to deny them to get them out of queue.

I, and my buddy are retired from the same job. He is now disabled and doesn't get out much. We both got licensed for GMRS and quickly found out that we couldn't talk house to house, just too far apart. There are some repeaters in our area, but the owners already denied me because I was honest and said that my buddy and I would chit chat and they didn't like that. They wanted to keep there's open for emergencies, travelers and business type communications. They were former first responders from what I gather. I have applied to other repeater owners who are on my travel routes and are friendly and looking forward to hearing from me. We are going to both put up base antennas and see if that works. I would put up a repeater so that he and I could communicate easily and I would have it open so that others in my town could make use of it. I also work events at a campground and would use a low power repeater since it's a stretch from one end to another with a hill in between.

If you have unanswered repeater access requests on your page, how do you remove them.

I have a KG-935 also. Seems like a well built solid radio. I use it as my personal radio and hook it up to a base antenna when home. I also bought a KG-905 basically for testing purposes. I have used FRS radios for years for summer campground activities, but they gobble up AA batteries and don't always make the trip. I like the fact that the KG-905 is simple to use for radio dummies. I can set it, lock it and there is not much someone can do to mess it up. I'll get more KG905's and get the extra batteries for the KG-935 since they are heavier and always have a set on charge all weekend.

In the repeater access area, I can't seem to type anything there. Anybody know why? I want to contact a repeater owner to request access. Thanks.