Jones

More info on DCS, including the valid code chart: https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/DCS Even more tech: http://onfreq.com/syntorx/dcs.html http://www.repeater-builder.com/tech-info/ctcss/ctcss-overview.html http://mmi-comm.tripod.com/dcs.html Some of this is heavy reading, but I sure found it interesting and educational, so I'm sure many of you will also.

Wiki has a couple of great fact-filled articles on Squelch systems, CTCSS, and DCS. It a good semi-technical read, if you are interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_Tone-Coded_Squelch_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squelch

That first link says Larry Waggoner, W0KA was in on this project. I didn't know he was ever into Phoenix radios, but his big repeater is made from a GE MSTR-II. Larry is a personal friend of mine, and fellow broadcast engineer. I have his info in my phone, and talk to him on a regular basis. If you have any more specific questions, I can call and ask him.

If that shop is still in business, I'm sure they could tell you which vintage it is. Heck, if it's the PLL one, they may even program it for you if you slip them $20-25 or so. EDIT: You might also ask them for a copy of the manual, or at least a photocopy of the alignment instructions, and the pin-out for the back connectors.

The old GE Phoenix rigs do have a hot receiver, and have all the needed aux pins out the back, with COR, PTT and audio signals. I have a friend who still uses a Phoenix as a UHF link radio on his VHF ham repeater. I'll contact him, and see if he has a programmer available. NOTE: I am personally not too familiar with these rigs, but they are so old, they may be crystal controlled.

Absolutely. Your license covers your extended family, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws. You all would use the same callsign, (yours) and just use your names, or you can assign unit numbers.... as in my family, I am unit 1, wife is unit 2, sons in order of birth are units 3, 4, and 5. If you have a big extended family get together, say at a lake, and everyone is using radios, just using your names is easier, but you all are under the same family callsign. If your wife was calling you on the radio, she would say: "WRAU978 Unit 2 to Unit 1, Jeremy, can you hear me?". Simple as that.

RCM- Welcome to the forum. I like your avatar... nice line drawing of a Shakespeare SE-2500 VHF Marine radio. I wonder if anyone else caught that.

No hablo engles.

Well, well, well,... Would anyone care to take a look at the front panels of the Pofung/Baofeng BF-9500, or the Anytone AT-588????

I do not know, and I do not own an LT-590, (nor a TH9000) but I would certainly be interested in finding out. The radios look identical inside and out. There are also VHF versions of each. The TYT units have been discontinued, but I really think they live on under this Luiton brand name. They must come from the same factory... just look at the difference in the quad-band units the TYT TH-9800 and the Luiton LT-9900 - same thing. Does anyone here own an LT-590? If so, try using Chirp to read it as if it were a TYT 9000, and see if it works. Inquiring minds want to know. Bigger question, does anyone want to blow $25-30 on a cable for an LT-590 and try it on a Midland 400? RT systems says the same "USB-29A" cable works on both the TYT and the Luiton, so... maybe on the Midlands? Of course, if you can, and do re-program the Midlands, they are no longer type accepted.

Keep in mind that the LT-590 UHF is also the same thing as the older TYT TH9000 UHF, which is on the Chirp list.

All it would take is a ruling allowing cross-coupling of the part 95 services above 30 MHz. That would allow for GMRS to MURS links, or GMRS to the old 46/49 MHz band (is that still active?) while limiting it to above 30 MHz would eliminate CB. (I don't want to hear skip from channel 6 repeated on 462.500 all day.) Allowing a 2-Watt VHF handheld to remote into a GMRS mobile would solve that guy's problem on that other thread - the guy who seems to want a wireless speaker-mic that works for 3 blocks from his mobile rig. I doubt this will happen, but we can ask.

I think you must be talking about something like the police use, which is a UHF walkie on their person that transmits to their cruiser parked outside, which then re-transmits it at higher power on either the 800MHz trunking system, or else VHF High-band back to dispatch. That works because of cross-banding. It won't work on GMRS, even with big cavities, and cross-banding such as GMRS to MURS is not allowed in Part 95. If you are trying to talk back to your base station located 15 miles away, then a simple mobile repeater might do the trick. Just run a normal base station, not another repeater. Your handies could talk to the car repeater on 167, and your base would also hit the car's repeater on 167. The car transmits back to all on 162. That would be legal, and do-able. (I would use a separate battery for that however. Otherwise, rag chewing might disable your ability to start the engine later.) You talked about your repeater being blocks away... do you mean your base station, or your car is parked that far away? If your home base station is only blocks away, you don't need a repeater. Use simplex. If you are trying to talk with other walkies inside those giant box stores or malls, again, use simplex. You don't need a repeater for that. It sounds as if you are trying to make things way too complicated, yet you still haven't explained your true needs. To whom, and where do you need to speak? It is possible that GMRS might not be your best solution.

Mr. Ayers, You said you were using a Surecom digital meter. The one I found (SW-102) is definitely a voltage sensing type meter. The website also says (in very poorly translated ChineEnglish, with color photos) that the Power reading will not be accurate without using a 50 Ohm terminator. Also, you mentioned duplexer - that will also show a false reading if you go between the radio and the duplexer. Are you making a repeater? ...or is this a VHF-UHF type duplexer on a dual band antenna? (I don't recommend dual-band antennas. They are a compromise on both bands.) I am still thinking you might have a bad antenna, or at least one that is mis-matched enough that there will be no way for you to get any kind of an accurate reading on that meter. I also must question the accuracy of these Surecom meters in general. On their website, they show a very clear photo of a forward power level of 7.59 W with a Reflected power of 0.818 W, and show the SWR as 1.24. If the power levels were accurate as shown, the SWR would actually be 1.98 - Bad. In another example, they show a forward of 6.75 W, and reflected of 0.072, with an SWR of 1.02. Again, if the power levels were correct, this example would calculate to 1.23, not 1.02. I would suggest taking these readings with a grain of salt. The meter will show you if it is really good, or really bad, but accuracy does not seem to be there. Just for curiosity, what does your forward power, reverse or reflected power, and SWR read on that meter? .or do you have the model that reads both forward and reverse/reflected power?

Greg, I fully agree with this, and I'll admit that I was trying to simplify something that just isn't so simple. If the antenna has a high SWR, a wattmeter may not read correctly anyway, due to the reflected voltage not necessarily being at a half-wave point in the return path. The main problem is that many consumer-grade RF power meters do not actually measure power. They measure a sample voltage at a given point in the transmission line, and estimate power based on a low-voltage/high-current place on the line. Reflected power, depending on the phase and time of arrival at the metering point will either add to, or subtract from, that representative voltage, giving a false reading. For example, if your input jumper is too long, and falls at a voltage high point in the overall line length, and the reflected power from a mismatched antenna also falls at a voltage high at that same point in the line, your voltage-driven power meter may show 45 Watts output from a 25 Watt transmitter. With a half-wave input jumper, you will start out with a known voltage low point. A mismatched load will still cause a false reading, but usually not as severe. - Your reading will be "less wrong". I guess in summary, if you want to measure output power of your transmitter, use a known good terminating resistor - A.K.A. Dummy Load. I've seen good 50 Ohm terminators selling for less than $40.

Glad to help. If you have any kind of jumper close to 7.5 inches or so, it will likely be close enough at 460MHz. It may still show a difference in power levels between your different antennas, but not as drastic of a difference as your 2 foot jumper will show. If you happen to hit it right on the half-wavelength mark, then there should be no noticeable difference between forward power level readings on any of your antennas, unless one of your antennas is bad - then the transmitter might "fold back", or shut down for protection. ALSO: If you want a true representation of the output power of your radio, don't measure it into an antenna, use a half-wave jumper into your meter, with a 50 Ohm dummy load connected directly to the output of your meter. While I'm here, as long as reflected power is very low compared to forward, or if your SWR is less than 2:1, then it's close enough to work. If it's less than 1.7:1 then it's good. At 1.5:1, it's GREAT! Tweak it if you must, but the difference between 1.5:1 SWR and 1.1:1 SWR is not worth fighting for. In most cases, just follow the manufacturer's cutting chart. ...and trying to fine-tune a quarter-wave stub at 460MHz is absolutely foolish.

Info for those not familiar... The popular "DB" line of antennas is/was made by Decibel Products, but due to various corporate buyouts and mergers became Andrew, and now CommScope. Decibel Products DB-420 Andrew DB-420 CommScope DB-420 They are all one and the same. ...and they are my first choice. The whole DB series, not just the 420.

The reading on a power meter will vary a LOT depending on where the meter sits in the overall total-length of coax cable. To get an accurate reading, the meter MUST sit at an interval of 1/2 wavelength along the transmission line. The only way to easily do this is by insuring that you are using a half-wave input jumper cable on your meter. Cable electrical wavelength is figured by the Speed of Light (299,792,458 meters per second) divided by the frequency in Hertz, the dividend of which is multiplied by the velocity factor of the cable (look at the specs for the cable you are using). For instance, if my meter's input jumper was made from RG-213u, I would see that the velocity factor for that cable is 0.66. (sometimes shown as 66%) (NOTE: In this example, I have used 462.600 in the GMRS band as my desired frequency. 462,600,000 Hz) Let's do the math: 299792458 / 462600000 = 0.6480597881539127 * Velocity factor of 0.66 = 0.4277194601815824 Meters. That is a full-wavelength of cable, and we need a half wavelength, so cut it in half. So, your jumper cable into the meter should be about 21.5 centimeters long, or about 8.5 inches. If you were using a smaller cable, like RG-58u with a foam dielectric, which has a velocity factor of 0.535, then you would need .1734 Meter jumper, or about 6.8 inch jumper to correctly match the input of your meter. If you are using just some random-length input jumper, particularly if it is over a full wavelength long, then you may not be even close to the half-wave point, depending on the length of the rest of the cable going to the antenna, and the meter will not read right. If you use this calculated length of input jumper, accounting for its velocity factor, then whatever is on the output side makes no difference to the reading accuracy. By the way, this rule goes for SWR meters as well as power meters. If you set up your UHF antenna with a 3-foot truck-stop CB jumper going into your meter, then you are likely WAY out of 'whack'. These rules still apply at HF also. It isn't as critical below 30 MHz since the wavelength is so long, but if you use a 4 or 5 foot long meter jumper at CB frequencies, it WILL be wrong. At 27.205 MHz, use a 6 inch jumper, or else a 9.6 foot one for accuracy. Tech hint: I keep several different lengths of pre-made jumpers in my Bird watt meter case for different frequency bands that I normally work with, and have them all tagged as to what band range they are for. The higher you go in frequency, the more critical this gets, and the SHORTER they get... sometimes TOO short, thus for 950 MHz, I keep a 15.6 inch jumper of LMR-400, which is 1.5 Wavelengths, but still on a calculated half-wavelength point in the line. A 5.2 inch long LMR-400 jumper is too short to work with. Long winded, sorry, but I hope this helps. -Jones

RickW, ...and other interested readers, I personally have purchased 5 of these from rfconnectivity through eBay, and have been very happy with them. These ARE from China, but I have had great results. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SMA-Female-to-UHF-SO-239-Female-RG316-Antenna-Cable-2m-for-Baofeng-UV-5R-UV-82/253459615241?hash=item3b035ece09:g:36QAAOSwcOlal5VZ They are about 6 feet long, with a small lightweight coax (RG-316) that doesn't put a strain on your radio's antenna jack. These are also available in BNC, and other connectors, as well as shorter lengths if you are overly concerned with loss.

You can listen to, and record any open, in-the-clear radio transmissions you would like, (except cellular phone and encrypted comms) and you may forward the recordings along with other documentation as evidence of violations to authorities. If you are a repeater owner or trustee, then record away, it is your system to control. ...and keep very good logs and notes, including time and date of alleged violations, and any triangulation or location info you have. Make sure you have facts. Just saying "I think Billy is kerchunking my machine." will get you no where. Also... one thing I have done on one my Ham machines to eliminate kerchunkers is to have ZERO hang time, and no "courtesy tone" or "Roger Beep". The repeater works, but if they chunk-chunk-chunk it and don't hear the "tail", they assume it isn't working, or that they do not have the correct tone, and they leave. If they key up and ID themselves, then I will answer. I inform them about the machine having no hang time, and no beeps and boops. I tell them it is like a "religious" repeater: they just need to have faith that it is working.

Q-"Could it be the other radio equipment and antennas on top of the building making interference?" A- Almost without question. If there are other UHF transmitters on that building, whether ham, Police, Fire, whatever... they will wipe out your receiver if you don't have a very tight bandpass filter.

Note for clarity... Vertex is NOT Motorola. The EVX line is (was) Motorola TRBO compatible, but Vertex is a Yaesu product, along with Standard.... ie, Vertex/Standard. Also note: Any form of digital modulation such as TRBO or P-25 is not allowed on GMRS. These radios will have to be programmed in analog-only mode for use here. -EDIT: WOOPS, I stand corrected: December 28, 2011 - Motorola Solutions is taking full ownership of the Vertex Standard LMR business. The effective date for the reorganization will be Jan. 1, 2012. Jun Hasegawa, president and CEO of Vertex Standard, announced the corporate reorganization. “After four years of joint venture with Motorola, we have decided to transfer the Vertex Standard LMR business to Motorola and focus on Amateur, Marine and Air-band business,” he said in a letter to customers. October 16, 2017 - Motorola Solutions said it will combine the best of Vertex Standard's portfolio with its two-way radio product lines beginning Jan. 1, and all products will carry the Motorola Solutions brand. Specifically, Motorola will rebrand the Vertex Standard entry-level radios as Motorola products. The radios, most of which are analog or Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), will keep their current model numbers. Vertex DMR radios will not be rebranded as MOTOTRBO, Motorola’s DMR product line. The Vertex DMR radios are compatible with MOTOTRBO, but it is a higher tier portfolio, said Mike Petersen, Vertex Standard director and general manager. “We’ve worked to have closer alignment over recent years,” Petersen said. “It’s a natural progression that stemmed from a lot of internal collaboration. Both businesses are doing well, but this just allowed us to better align and serve our customers.” Vertex will continue to offer a few select models in specific markets under the Vertex Standard brand. Petersen said the VX1700, an analog single sideband radio, is one example. -- I guess I was a bit behind the times in this area.

WRAK968 - FYI, in case you want to do some heavy reading, the EAS protocol is found in CFR47, Part 11.31 https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2002-title47-vol1/xml/CFR-2002-title47-vol1-sec11-31.xml The digital header code is repeated 3 times. [PREAMBLE]ZCZC-ORG-EEE-PSSCCC+TTTT-JJJHHMM-LLLLLLLL-(one second pause) See the text for what all of those variables mean - but it contains all of the information about the alert, including what it is, who sent it, who forwarded it, start time, expiration time and areas affected.

The EAS rules state that watches and warnings activating EAS, including AMBER alerts, will be less than 2 minutes. 2 minutes is the default timeout of EAS relay boxes, so even if one doesn't hear the incoming EOM (end of message) tones, and gets "stuck", it will send its own EOM tones, and auto-reset after 120 seconds. To the best of my knowledge, (I am a radio broadcast engineer) the only EAS message that is allowed to go over the 2 minute limit is a national emergency activation notification (EAN). Those messages can be as long as the POTUS wishes them to be. This has indeed been an issue in my state, as the highway patrol got very long winded and overly descriptive with the first few AMBER alerts they issued, and they were abruptly cut-off by all of the broadcast stations at 120 seconds. They are now aware of this limitation, and use brevity, stating basic information one time, and telling listeners to go to the state website for more detailed information. The average thunderstorm or tornado warning runs about 0:45 to 1:30 around here. The weather radio will repeat these warnings every few minutes, but the EAS will only pass them one time, and log all the repeats of the same warning as dupes. A new warning will have a different header code, sort of a message serial number, and will pass as a new alert. That triple-blast of noise you hear as an EAS alert tone is actually FSK digital data, the header code, containing all of that automated message information. For more information on EAS, see the Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Alert_System

I have always interpreted that as: If you are running a private repeater, and you ID yourself, then your machine does not need an IDer. If you are running an open repeater shared with other users, then your repeater needs to ID itself. Otherwise, your guest users would be required to ID as: "This is WQXE920 utilizing the WQYM541 Repeater". That's my take on this... other opinions and translations may vary.