berkinet

And, if the SWR on both is 2:1 or lower, seal everything up put away your tools and leave it. If you keep trying to “fix” it you will end up with an antenna for the 100 gigahertz band.

The bottom line test is to do the following. You take one one radio and give your grandson the other. Turn your backs to each other and each of you walk 100 feet. Call each other, on the radio of course. If you can hear each other through the radio, there is no problem, if you can’t, well there’s always eBay and try again.

Keep in mind that many, maybe even most, people get into GMRS specifically to talk to family and close friends and have no interest in general chatting on the air. If you are truly looking for finding people to chat with over the air, you probably should at least take a look at amateur radio.

And, that reference was wrong. But, there is another element at work here, one that shows up from time to time on these forms. It is the case of one person needing something that requires other people to do the work to produce. And, where the people capable of producing “whatever,” because of their ability, are the ones who specifically have no use for the end product. Perhaps another way to approach this would be for the people who need an acronym defined to maintain the list of acronyms. Anytime someone finds a term they do not understand, once they get a definition, they could add it to that list. In that manner, the people creating the list would be the ones most likely to benefit from it, and the list, by its nature, would contain the most needed definitions.

Actually, I was suggesting that it be defined on first reference in any post, or at least the first time referenced in a thread.

I think a fundamental problem is that many of the more difficult acronyms are actually slang and the more common actual radio terms (SWR, LOS, etc.) can be looked up online. For example, the term CCR only appears once in the three lists posted by Lscott, and then it is defined as “Central Control Room.” However, I do think the initial comment about newcomers to GMRS understanding acronyms is valid. So, I would suggest two things. First, if you use an acronym in a post, note it’s meaning at the first reference. Example: GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service)... And second, if you see a term you don’t understand, do as TomWRHZ479 did, ask.

If you transmit on a repeater channel you will receive (listen) on the channel displayed (462.550 in your example) and transmit on another frequency exactly 5.0mHz higher. (467.550 in the case of your example.) If you are on a simplex (non-repeater channel) you will transmit and receive on the same frequency. (462.550 in your example.) There is a problem with the radio nomenclature where the word channel is used with two different meanings. First, the FCC has designated 30 UHF frequencies use. For convenience sake, each of these frequencies is assigned a channel number: 1 to 22. The 8 frequencies reserved for repeater inputs are grouped with the corresponding receive frequency so there end up being only 22 channels numbers. As noted above, whether you transmit on your receive frequency or the repeater's receive frequency depends on how you configure your radio. Now, radios also have arrows, dials or some other means of selecting the frequency, and these selections are also called channels. How channels are assigned in the radio differs from manufacturer to manufacturer even model to model. Some vendors of FRS radios call each combination of a frequency and a PL tone a channel. Hope this helps.

Since this topic now seems to no longer concern GMRS, or even UHF, shouldn’t it move to the Miscellaneous section?

People really need to start learning how to use the search feature on this forum. Also, Rich, maybe the link to Midland thread here could be made sticky, it seems to be pretty popular, and you sell the radio. Also, when people do have successes breakthroughs and other things that are of interest please get back to the community and share details. Take a look at this thread... https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1837-midland-gmrs-product-updates/?p=17118

There are a number of possible causes for what you are reporting, including the possibility the people just don't want to talk to you. However, the two most likely causes are: You are hearing a repeater, but you are transmitting simplex (i.e. on the repeater's transmit frequency) when you should be transmitting on a frequency 5mHz higher, on the repeaters receive frequency. The person you hear has set a tone filter (PL/Tone/DCS, etc.) on their receive and you are not sending the required tone.Note that with a repeater, you will usually have to transmit the correct tone to operate the repeater. This topic is commonly discussed on this forum. Talk a look around at some older threads and I am sure you will find a lot of information.

One thing to keep in mind is what kind of range you will actually need. For example, if you live in the center of a valley surrounded by tall mountains 5 miles away in every direction, there is no point in spending a lot of money for extra power or to reduce cable loss. For example 20 watts into a 6db loss feed line might still cover the entire area quite well. Also consider the criticality of the system. Is this just for fun and maybe a backup for a cell phone. Or, is this your sole means of communications. Once you answer that question, budget accordingly. And, also step back a bit and look to see if there is another way to organize your installation. For example, instead of locating the radio 50 feet from the tower, can you create a small enclosure and house the radio at the base of the tower. A good quality weatherproof garden shed, or even a large tool-box, might cost a lot less that 100 feet of high-end feedline.

You may just wish to follow WRAK968's suggestion. Because of the 5mHz rx/tx offset, you are still going to be tuning somewhere in the 465.xxx range anyway. That is, unless you are sure you will never want to use simplex and you are willing to slightly sacrifice reception for transmission. Keep in mind: Perfect is the enemy of good

BTW, it has not been directly suggested, but one possible explanation of your problem could be a very poor connector/cable connection that is actually radiating RF and desensing the receiver.

Possibly not. First let's verify terms. If by "split band" you mean different tone/dcs access modes on the input and output, then the answer is Yes, for the stock radios. However, if you have the MXT-400, take a look at this post (and the entire thread). It certainly seems like you should be able to re-program that radio - though nobody seems to have actually trident, or at least nobody has reported having tried it. YMMV

Of course, you have to keep in mind that without something like a phone patch (which is not allowed on GMRS) two way radio is only useful to the extent someone is listening. If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, did it make a sound?

https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1825-wouxun-kg-805g-gmrs-radio/?p=15594

Absent any other circumstances, yes.

That is correct. However note that part 95.51 then refers to 47 CFR § 95.317 which provides restrictions for all personal radio services under part 95. However, the restrictions are pretty much the same as they were under section 95.51. But with the addition of additional restrictions if you’re near a military installation or airport.

Do not use LMR 400 between the duplexer and your antenna. There are reports that the new versions of the top quality cable no longer are subject to the bi-metallic problem of the old versions. But unless you are buying a cable you know to be OK for use in a repeater, stay away from LMR 400 altogether. Simply put, if you cannot be heard by the repeater when you are 1/8 of a mile away, why worry about a DB difference in signal loss. You have much bigger problems to solve.

Thank you. That was a very clear description.

Yes. In GMRS all repeaters use a standard 5mHz offset. Your radio will transmit 5mHz higher than it receives. Depending on your radio and the software, you may have to set each frequency, transmit and receive, separately. Like: Receive 462.725, Transmit 467.725, Or, you may just set one frequency, usually the receive, and the offset. For example: Receive 462.725, Transmit +5mHz.

A collapsible painter’s pole also works quite well.

Sorry if I implied I might buy - I am overstocked with radios at the moment. However, at the price, I can't imagine you'd be unhappy. The reviews sound good and buying through Amazon would give you 30 days to return. You may not be able to use CHIRP. The RT-9000D is not listed and neither is the Luiton equivalent. However, the TYT TH-9000 is supported... good luck.

I don't want to seem (too) sarcastic... but, the message means exactly what it says. The software thinks your radio is not running V2 firmware (because your radio is running V1 firmware). But, one or more of the options you have selected are only supported by V2 firmware. It is most likely a radio-wide option rather than a channel specific option, that is causing the issue. However, your radio will work just fine. If you don't like seeing the warning message, you will need to figure out which option)s) you need to deselect. I am not specifically knowledgable on Kenwood equipment. However, there are several threads on the forum discussing the differences between V1 and V2 software. IIRC the conclusion was that the V2 features were not particularly for most GMRS uses. One tip: I have generally had better luck using google to search the forums than in using the forum's search feature. Try a google search entry something like: site:mygmrs.com kenwood tk-880 v1 v2 difference