WRXB215

Been thinking about putting another radio in the truck, maybe just one of my HTs but I keep putting it off thinking there is not a good solution. Those Lido mounts have changed my mind. 👍

I'm glad you aren't a Sad Ham. It's nice to get strait answers. 👍
 
Did the first one this morning. Now to find a crayon. 🤣

Welcome. Bring your questions, as there is a lot of good information here and many knowledgeable people. If you have a good sense of humor, you might want to bring that as well.

I'm glad you aren't a Sad Ham. It's nice to get strait answers. 👍
 
Did the first one this morning. Now to find a crayon. 🤣

Yup seat bolt mount would work great for the little radio.  Easy to install also. No drill no holes 

I ran into the same issue with my 2023 Ford Escape. I ended up going with a Lido seat bolt mount.

The headliner will not hold screws. They are usually made of heavy cardboard foam and fabric.
Every car is different and most modern cars are very hard to find a place to mount radios.
Here is Lido's site. I found a cup holder mount that works for my truck. You may have to get creative to find a solution.
https://www.lidoradio.com/
 

I would put this claim in the same category as "always get gas in the morning while the gas is denser" and "always keep a crayon in your wallet".

Do roger beeps confuse repeaters?  My opinion... it's possible.  Depends on the controller.  Most repeaters have a controller for remote control (required by our overlords at the FCC to be 'in control' of the repeater at all times).  Many of the modern controllers use digital signals for remote function, but near all of them still have analog function, typically done with DTMF codes. 
 
Depending on what your roger beep sounds like, you could risk partially triggering a remote command, putting the repeater in an unknown state, making it so the owner or admins can't manage it.  Then they need to drive to the repeater site and either reboot the controller or the repeater.
 
That said, I think the number one reason is because a good portion of the people listening, including the owners, don't want to hear a stead stream of beeping all day on the repeater.  It gets pretty annoying and people clearly have no idea what a roger beep is for... which is to send a quick blip to acknowledge the previously receive transmission without actually saying anything.  Especially for conditions when the two stations are on the fringes of their range and voice comms are difficult.  It was never intended to be used on every transmission.  Though, Sad Hams will tell you a different story.

Cup holder or vent mount from Lido or Ram.

@WSCD623 Welcome to GMRS and particularly, myGMRS.com. I like to refer to GMRS as the "Great" Mobile Radio Service. Lots of good people on the air and in this forum.

@WSCD623 Welcome to GMRS and particularly, myGMRS.com. I like to refer to GMRS as the "Great" Mobile Radio Service. Lots of good people on the air and in this forum.

No one is forcing you to join a club.   No one is even charging to use the repeater.  The Mesa crest repeater is closed to the public.  The repeater is for club use.    The dues are to join the club.  The club has many outings, events, and support for all members.  The club president and vice president have gone to extreme lengths to built an amazing repeater that has a huge foot print for club use.    There are many clubs in the world and most if not all charge some type of yearly or monthly dues.   This one is very worth it to me.  The $35 a year is nothing to be a part of such a great group    

I'm not sure how this statement fits into a discussion about repeaters. Not having access to a repeater does not stop you from using your radio. It only prevents you from using equipment that belongs to someone else. 🤔

I'm not sure how this statement fits into a discussion about repeaters. Not having access to a repeater does not stop you from using your radio. It only prevents you from using equipment that belongs to someone else. 🤔

I'm not sure how this statement fits into a discussion about repeaters. Not having access to a repeater does not stop you from using your radio. It only prevents you from using equipment that belongs to someone else. 🤔

If anyone is interested in messing around with antenna simulations the software is now freely available.
https://www.eznec.com/
I've attached some models I've played around with in the past.
Magnet Mount - Rev 2.EZ Magnet Mount Ham and MURS.EZ Ham and GMRS Magnet Mount.EZ GMRS J-Pole Rev 3.EZ GMRS 11 Element Yagi Rev 2.EZ FRS-GMRS Gnd Plane With Radials.EZ 4 Bay Anetnna MURS.EZ

OK.
I simulated a simple magnet mount 1/4 wave MURS antenna. The frequency was selected to be about in the middle of the band. The results looks good. The match and radiation pattern look like what I would expect.
The exact same antenna was then run at a frequency about in the middle of the GMRS band, between the simplex and repeater input frequencies.
As you can see the match short of looks OK on GMRS, however most of the RF power shoots up at a very high angle uselessly into space. I guess if GMRS has satellites in low earth orbit it might be a good antenna. For normal ground work most of the power is wasted. 
This is what I was getting at in my prior post comments.

It's a good sign that your laptop recognized it but did you select the right COM port in the software?

Aren't all MURS channels limited to 2 watts transmitter output?  Unlocked, it maybe not be "illegal" on GMRS, but even on medium power (2.45 watts) it is not legal for MURS.  And it's questionable whether they really comply with the 20khz bandwidth limitation with MURS.
These cheap radios always have power management issues.  There's no logic built in to monitor power output so they're all over the place.  I've tested three H8s right out of the box and the power output varied significantly between the three.
 

Warning: Do NOT listen to the "experts" that love to spend your money - for occasional tuning/testing of your antenna you do NOT NEED a $500+ SWR meter.
Normal people use inexpensive meters like the Surecom SW-33 or SW-102, and they work just fine.
If you plan on testing/tuning antennas professionally or as some kind of a hobby, then by all means get one that costs much more and is *slightly* more accurate.

The Surecom SW-102 UV is well-liked here. Make sure you get the one with the connectors you want. They come with either SO-239 or N connectors.

Another vote for the Surecom SW-102. It works just fine.
I do have more expensive analyzers but I mostly use those when I build my own antennas. 

I plan to install a Midland mobile in my son’s Jeep JK and recently found this Jeep owner who installed a Larsen pick antenna to the metal speaker bar overhead. It apparently has no issues with hard or soft tops and should perform similar to the Midland “ghost” 3db antenna. We like that it’ll be an easy install and hidden.

Are you connected to the right port for programming? The programming port is the same connector size as the microphone plug but on the SIDE of the radio, not on front.