berkinet

By, "sent a message" do you mean you transmitted from your radio and spoke your call sign? Or, did you do something else?

I bet a pair of P1225s would make a great portable repeater and they are dirt cheap nowadays.

Well, welcome. Technically, there isn’t much difference between amateur 70 m and GMRS, especially when it comes to repeaters. On the other hand, socially and culturally HAM and GMRS are as different as the equator and the poles (though that difference seems to be lesseningj. This is a good group here, usually quite helpful and without a lot of “why do you want to do that responses to questions. Enjoy.

Thanks for the comments, Yes, our major goal was to improve reception, so your thought about just adding a bandpass cavity in front of the receiver seems to be the right way to go.

Reason, the law, the applied law and the FCC may or may not coincide. All I am saying is that, unlike regular repeaters, there is no basis in the regulations to state that simplex “repeaters” are explicitly allowed. Further, in point of fact, they are really not repeaters at all. They rebroadcast via store and forward technology. In addition, as far as I can tell, Argent Data Systems, the manufacturer of the "repeater" noted by @Guest_Mark Lewis_* has not certified the ADS-SR1 for GMRS, or any other service. In fact, they do not appear to even have an FCC Grantee Code. On top of that, the manual for the ADS-SR1 states:

Note that not-disallowing something is not the same as allowing it. Just because simplex repeaters use automatic control technology, does not mean they are allowed. If that were the case, you could argue that a GMRS repeater could be used for any purpose as long as it was controlled automatically.

There is some question about whether simplex repeaters are legal on GMRS. First, check out this thread from 2017. However, note that @commsprepper never provided any specific information (and, in fact, hasn't been active since shortly after he posted that comment.) However, in spite of @jmoylan69's claim that nothing in Part95A prohibits simplex repeaters, there are two sections that could be read as disallowing such operations. Both have to do with One-way communications. and The argument can be made that transmissions of a simplex repeater constitute a series of one-way transmissions. Personally, I don't know if this is true or not and, frankly, I don't like the idea of simplex repeaters in the first place. However, I thought you'd want to know there is at least some question as to the permissibility of simplex repeaters on GMRS. Personally, if I was in your position, I would look at building a portable repeater out of 2 decent quality HTs and a mobile duplexer. There are literally hundreds of pages around the web on how to do this. Here is a thread on radio reference.com that might be a good starting place.

We are thinking about upgrading our current Celwave 6 cavity notch-filter duplexer for something better, like a bandpass/bandreject. After looking around it seems there are essentially 2 options: very expensive commercial products or the Jiesai 8 cavity duplexer (and other seemingly identical products). Has anyone here had any experience with this product? Would you recommend it, or suggest we stay away? Are there other options you can suggest? FWIW: The repeater is a Motorola MTR2000 running at 40 watts. Thanks.

Legally? All any user of your license is required to do is to identify as WRDV917. Whether you are nearby or in the other side of the country or with or without cell coverage is not relevant. As @BoxCar suggested, you can add additional identification information, like unit number x or mobile x, or base, your name, or whatever you wish. But, that information is not required and actually has no official significance. Look at it this way. The FCC only wants to know what license a given station is operating under. In other words, your call sign. Any other identification is for your own purposes. However, the group you joined may have their own internal rules or standards and while not legally binding, might cause you problems with the group. You might want to ask someone if they have a set standard.

As @kidphc noted, it is the ID of the repeater (more accurately, the GMRS callsign of the owner/operator of the repeater). The FCC does not require that a repeater ID. But, if the repeater does ID, it may do so using morse code or voice. There is no limitation on the allowable speed of the morse code ID, and some repeaters ID at a rate that would challenge the best morse operators out there. This is defined in 47 CFR § 95.1751 - GMRS station identification. You can also search the forum topics onMyGMRS for several lengthly discussions on the subject.

Well, lots of (good) questions... Normally you will not cause interference to your neighbours unless their equipment is poorly maintained, for example, with corroded connections.The LMR400 should be fine. You can always run it at an angle across the ridge to increase the run length. However, given the relatively short distance, if the curve over the ridge is too tight for the LMR400, you can easily switch to a more flexible cable. Loss will not be a factor on a 20" runBy all means use the existing mount, if it is strong enough.The max height will depend on local zoning and your landlord or home owner's association. Make sure you get a base station antenna (I.e. with a ground plane) and then mount it on the highest mast you can - as limited by the local rules and your ability to properly support/guy the mast. Finding good anchor points for the guy wires for the mast may be the hardest part. BTW, I'd just do one set of guy wires and given your roof layout, I'd do three wires at 135º, 90º, 135º. Or, with a short mast, you might get away with just attaching it to two points on the existing mount (high and low).As for lightning protection. I'd ask a local radio shop or ham group for advice. But, I strongly suspect the wall will not work. However, if you live in an area prone to lightening, you are likely to find a solid ground up there somewhere.Good luck and be careful up there.

Very true, though with the caveat that the “gain” is limited to specific radiation pattern.

Close. To use your analogy, and limit it to omni-directional antennas, a low gain antenna, say a 0db 1/4 wave, is like the sprayer in the middle of your yard the kids run through. Water sprays a short distance in every direction, including up, within a 180° hemisphere. A gain antenna is more like a quality lawn sprinkler head. The water only goes out sideways, not up. So, the same amount of water covers a larger circle. (BTW, unlike radio waves, water that goes up will, at least according to Isaac Newton, come back down. So, the analogy is imperfect. You have to imagine that the water going up from the sprayer evaporates before it can drop back to the lawn.) Now, to extend the analogy, imagine you ditch the sprinkler and sprayer and get a nozzle. Now you have a strong stream of water in one direction only. So, even though only one person will get wet, they will be drenched. And, that is a directional antenna. Pure and simple, the power out put from the radio is constant. All the antenna design does is focus the direction, including up or down, that the radio energy is radiated. Less energy radiated towards the sky means more radiated sideways... hopefully to another antenna.

Hmmm... ok, not much to go on, it could be a lot of things. But, it might be something at the site that is desensing your front end. If so, the problem could be in your receiver. But, more likely it is another transmitter. Just curious, are you using LMR400 feedline between the duplexer and the antenna? If so, how long has it been up there?

More information required. Since you haven’t been to the site since the problem started, how about these questions to start off... Does this happen to all radios or just some? Does it only happen after the repeater has been off the air for a while? Day, night or both? Have you checked the antenna SWR? Have you tried turning off PL on the input (if you can do that remotely)?

Enquiring minds want to know... Does this mean you now have your ham ticket???

None.

Standard PowerPoles have a small key that allows two connectors (black and red) to be connected together. In this manner it is impossible to mis-connect them. You can also buy them already bonded together in the same manner, or just glue them together with super glue, or, if you have no other means, just wrap tape around the pair of connectors.

Did you see this article on repeater builder? Here is the relevant part. RF Frequency Programming: Presently there are three ways to program a TKR-n20: Using the Kenwood KPT-20, which operates standalone (with its own keyboard and screen). Using the Kenwood KPT-50, which can operate standalone (with its own keyboard and screen), or using a PC with KPG-21D software (the required Kenwood software package - much easier). Using some math and the techniques used in this article by Matt Krick K3MK. The KPT-50 and the PC software is MUCH easier to use than the KPT-50 by itself, and that is much easier than a KPT-20. ... And, you might try this link

I can't really help with the programming. But, here are a couple of pages you might want to look at. http://www.repeater-builder.com/kenwood/kenwood-repeater-index.html, in particular: http://www.repeater-builder.com/kenwood/tkr-n20-bit-banging/tkr-n20-bit-banging.html and also: http://www.thetkrguy.com Also, you might just look for a KPT20 or KPT50 programmer used, like: https://www.ebay.com/c/1220341434

Welcome aboard.

Sorry. That question is above my pay grade as I don't own that radio. Although, based on the GMRSV1 I would guess that there are only a specific number of channels that can be programmed for Tx & Rx. I am sure @marcspaz or someone else with hands on experience will have the answer.

Well, looking at the specs on this radio from BTech, it will Tx and Rx from 136 to 174 on VHF. Since MURS runs from 151.82 to 154.60, it would be covered. Note however, MURS radios must be certified (Part95-J) and this radio is only certified under Part-15. See the official FCC certification report for more information. To answer your second question, If you look at page 22 in the manual (also available on the BTech web site) it looks like Receive and Transmit CTCSS are set independently. Also note: while they proudly claim BTECH Radios are Designed in the USA. while it is not, per-se a problem, the radio is most certainly not manufactured in the USA. Also, it is very likely the term designed refers to the software/firmware and not the radio hardware. And... If you are not already familiar with miklor.com, you should check them out. I am not convinced their reviews are impartial. But, they do provide good information and are an excellent resource. They have a review of the UV-50X2 from 2017.

The Effective Radiated Power of 40 watts into a 6db gain antenna is 160 watts (If the antenna is really working as specified). A 5.5 db gain antenna would have an ERP of 142 watts. The effective difference is ~0. If you are really melting anything inside the antenna, you have something very wrong in your station setup. The Midland antenna may not be high quality, but it should definitely not melt when fed 40 watts. If this has happened with more than one antenna, I'd take a close look at the radios and power supply.

I'll second that. The FCC sets specific station identification requirements for GMRS. However, identifying a station and calling a station are not the same thing. At the minimum, a family member can key the mic, simply state their call sign and then call another family member by name, nick-name, or whatever (WABC1234, hey sis, you out there?). The other family member can then key their mic, state their call sign and start talking (WABC12343, yup, wassup?). Then, at least once every 15 minutes, each person must simply state their call sign. Note that all you need to say is literally just the call sign. You don't need to say "This is WABC1234." Should you happen to be monitoring a ham station, note that while the rules are pretty much the same for ham radio (with a 10 minute interval between IDs) the common practice is to call people by their call sign rather than name. But, as is the case in GMRS, this is not required.