berkinet

It was really a minor issue that I noted for other potential customers and I have already made my decision about doing business with them in the future. Since at least one other reader found this information useful, I'd say It is you that is making the ado about nothing EDIT: I might add, if you don't like my post: My post, my choice. You don't have to read it, or do business with me. And I didn't engage you in a discussion. You were not compelled to read it, or reply to it.

I highly recommend you visit (and bookmark) http://www.repeater-builder.com/ They have the answers to all your questions, plus much, much more.

Of ourse I don’t. But, that was not my point. I do not think a simple business relationship gives someone the right to engage their customers in a religious discussion. BTW, I would feel the same even if I held the same religious views as them, which, for all you know, I might.

TA as in Talk-Around

I have also found them to be very customer oriented. I bought a couple of GMRS-v1s for our CERT group to try out and had to return one. However, they did one thing I found slightly disturbing. Apparently the owner(s) is/are very religious and they included religious materials in the packaging for my replacement radio.. People are well entitled to their beliefs, whatever they may be. But, I wish they would not take advantage of a business relationship to proselytize those beliefs.

Sorry if that sounded like it was directed specifically at you, it wasn't. I just meant other users might not be interested in talking outside their own user group. This is particularly true for family based groups where the communications tend to be limited to immediate practical matters (pick up some tomatoes while you are at the market...). BTW, A quick look at the RepeaterBook page for Florida seems to show a lot of activity on 2M Good luck with your ham ticket.

BTW, a slightly belated congratulations on passing your exam.

I will limit my comments since @marcspaz has for the most part already said what I would have said. Assuming, for discussion's sake, your assessment of GMRS and CB is correct, it seems the real issue is your expectations and understanding of the radio services available to hobbyists. By your own definition, if GMRS is for talking to people on the same license, and nobody in your area has that need, what is the issue? If you have that need, then go ahead and setup those on your license with appropriate equipment to meet that need. But, don't claim GMRS stinks just because others aren't using GMRS in your area. (With the caveat, as @marcspaz notes, that you do not have some equipment issues). BTW, even if there were GMRS users in your area with the desire to talk to people on the same license, what makes you think they would or should want to talk to you? As for CB. Again assuming you are correct in stating the purpose of CB is to talk to people on different licenses, while CB has the ability to skip and allow communications over fairly large distances, it is generally intended for communications with others in the local vicinity and is particularly adapted for mobile communications. If you are in an area where there is no CB traffic, then that's just how it is. That is not, per-se, a problem, it is a fact. But, there is another option: Amateur Radio. This service would seem to check all of your boxes - in particular, a very active community and lots of options to join in. Depending on your choice of equipment, you can communicate around the block or around the world. The technicians license is not at all hard to get, and would give you a wide range of local communications options. The general license is a bit harder, but would, literaly, open up the world to you. My suggestion, stop bemoaning the way things are and asking the world to change and go find a way to change yourself (and maybe your expectations).

Good luck. Though I am sure you will do fine.

There is no mention of FCC certification in the manual and it is not listed on the FCC's website under Yaesu's Grantor Code AKH. So, it would seem that in the US this radio is only legal for Part-97 (Amateur Radio) use - for which no certification is required. BTW, this radio is made in China and does not carry the CE Mark (Somewhat like the US UL Mark) and is therefore not available in Europe.

Well, yes, but mostly no. That is to say, the real reason the FT-1907R is not legal for GMRS is contained in paragraph a)... Since the FT-1907R has not been certified, it cannot be legally used. Paragraph c) describes the reason the radio cannot be certified and applies to the manufacturer. But, it is paragraph (a) that is the part that concerns you, the operator. I am sure there are many FT-1907Rs in use on GMRS. But, bottom line, the FT-1907R is not certified for GMRS and therefore cannot be legally used in that service.

Are you using a half-wave or a full-wave bridge?

To the OP on this topic. Maybe you did, or maybe you didn't like the responses to your question. But, since two people took the time to give you some useful links and information to help answer your question. I would think some recognition on your part might have been nice. For all I know, you may never have even bothered to read the responses, in which case we just wasted our time. I suspect the responses weren't horribly inaccurate, since 4 people seem to have liked them. Maybe you wanted better answers, or just didn't find the responses useful, in which case you could at least provide a little feedback so as to the issue. But, if users here are going to ask people to take their time to try and help them, then at an absolute minimum, they should be prepared to acknowledge the effort.

Well, since it is usually better to learn how to fish than to have to buy fish... Try starting with the Wikipedia. Another excellent source for repeater information is Repeater-Builder.com. Here is a page from them on duplexers. But, to get you started... very basically, each cavity performs one of two functions. It either: Filters out everything except a specific frequency (a notch filter)Filters out just a specific frequency (a band-pass filter)As you add more cavities (I.e. the more times you filter the signal) the effect of the filter becomes more pronounced. The low cost, so-called mobile, duplexers consist of only notch filters - 3 for receive, 3 for transmit. The transmit cavities (attempt to) filter out any signal other than the transmit frequency. The receive cavities do the opposite, filtering out everything except the receive frequency. Adding a band-pass filter will boost the effectiveness of the duplexer. For example, a receive band-pass cavity would be turned to attenuate the transmit frequency. Note that most high-end and commercial duplexers consist of both types of cavities.

I thought the battery revert kit was an optional extra. But of course since this radio is only available second hand, some units might include them. We had a GR1225 and it was not rack mountable, maybe that is what differentiates your RKR. As to XP, that is easy to solve... just run a VM. The 1225 RSS runs just fine in a VirtualBox XP VM. We use an RPi at the site and share the USB port over the net to a VM running XP. The same setup that worked on the GR1225 now works on our mtr2000.

I'd go with vertical separation with as much distance between the two antennas as your mast will allow. The higher mounted antenna should be for the repeater you want the greatest range on. And... DO NOT USE LMR-400 From repeater-builder.com

The 1225s are indeed solid serviceable repeaters with built-in controllers. However, they have a seriously bad habit of blowing the final PA amplifier. They work best when run at half their rated power on a 50% duty cycle. However, before you buy a 1225, I would strongly suggest looking at a MTR2000. This is a solid piece of equipment, also with a built-in controller. It has no bells and whistles, just 100% duty cycle ability at the rated power. On a good day you can get a MTR2000 for near the same price as a 1225. Unlike the 1225s, the MTR2000 can be rack mounted. OTOH, it does not come in a neat little metal box like the 1225s. Also note, you will probably have to buy a duplexer. But, a basic mobile unit, like the one included in the 1225s, won't set you back very much.

Go directly to http://www.repeater-builder.com/rbtip/index.html#main-indexall will be revealed. And, BTW, welcome to the guest forum, now go get your license.

Try force re-loading the page. You may have a cached copy.

Or maybe less... See: https://www.everythinghamradio.com/2014/07/fox-hunting/ http://www.homingin.com/equipment.html etc. OTOH. If, as suggested earlier in this thread, the radios are being operated shipboard, that would narrow down the target area substantially. Maybe just take the antenna off of an HT and walk around the docks. If you hear something, you are probably within a few yards of the source. And, if you actually find the source, what are you going to do? If the FCC does decide to look into it, the ship will be long and far gone.

And... there is another solution that probably deserves its own topic. Remote access to a radio through the use of USB port sharing over Internet. The software I am most familiar with is VirtualHere (not related to VirtualBox). This software would let someone connect a radio to their local machine (Linux, Windows or MacOS) and then share it over the net so someone remote, with the proper software/skills, could program the radio. I have personally used this scheme to program some Motorola radios using the Motorola programming software. We also use this same scheme to access our MTR2000 repeater should we need to make changes. In the case of the repeater, we run VirtualHere on a Raspberry-Pi. Works great.

One word, free solution: VirtualBox But, are you sure the problem is due to running CHIRP on MacOS? CHIRP is written in Python and should be virtually identical on any platform it will run on. However, the RT27 (FRS/UHF) & RT27V (MURS/VHF) are not listed as supported. Since the Retevis software will certainly run in VirtualBox, you will be covered in any case.

Is it just my failing memory or did Rich change the logo at the top of the forum pages? (to match the T-Shirts)

I think you may want to to step back for a moment and look at the reason there is GMRS. In other words, it is not a service intended for hobbyists (like amateur radio), casual ad-hoc communications (like CB) or commercial operations. Not to say it can't be used for those ends, just that's not the intended purpose. So, if someone wants to set up a repeater, it is really up to them as to how they set it up, including allowing other users access to the system at all. In that light, my take is if it works for the owner, that's all that counts. And, in a free market economy, the GMRS radio manufacturers' success depends on their ability to meet the needs of the market as a whole and that is likely to be driven by how the FCC defined the service in the first place. If someone got into GMRS because they thought it would be a "better CB," sooner or later they are likely to be disappointed. Just my 2¢ worth.

Well, let's see. If every active GMRS licensee (the FCC says there are 56,338 of us) bought 1 radio at $150 ea. that would net $8.4M. Then, let's assume retailer profit is 40% (66% markup). That leave $100 per radio ($5.4M total) to the manufacturer (we won't worry about any wholesalers, etc. here). Now, I'll take a wild guess and say it would cost $200k to design a radio from scratch (I.e. not base it on any existing product) and another easy $200k to setup the manufacturing capability. That brings the manufacturer's gross income down to an even $5M. Next, let's guess each radio costs $50 to manufacture, and another $10 to box, warehouse and ship. That is a cool $2.8M and the manufacturer is now down to $2.2M. Note that if this was the only product of its type, the manufacturer's costs would be much higher. Next, in order to get 56,000 people to buy this radio you have to advertise. Easily $0.5M and throw in another $0.5M for promotion, trade shows, etc. Now we are down to $1.2M. Taxes, overhead, retirement plans, health insurance would likely add another $2M and we end up with a nice profit of $1,000,000.00 IF every single GMRS licensee actually bought one. The real number is likely to be under 10%. But, let's be generous and say it would be 25%. So, after all this work the net profit is going to be around $200,000 and would result in a totally saturated market for years to come. And, don't forget you have to either pay off your investors or the bank, or have had the cash to finance this on your own. And, THAT is why you do not have the perfect GMRS radio being sold today for $150.