WRXX738

I would drill a hole through the block wall. If you have two grounds you can end up with a current between them that can do anything from causing an annoying hum to destroying equipment in between them. 

You shouldn’t drive another ground rod in either case. Your antenna shield and lightning protection should be bonded to the electrical system ground. Just run more solid bare copper wire, #8 or larger diameter.
Save the coax and run the wire to bond to the ground. 

I’m glad gmrs is not like cb. But I’m still gonna scan the channels, and I take mine everywhere and leave the other radio with my wife just in case I can talk farther than 2 miles. And I do plan on using them for every road-trip as well. Anyway thank you for your reply.

Good explanation Corey. Its also important to note that even repeaters have some form of duty cycle and that the duty cycle can change depending on output power. A great example is the motorola 1225 series repeater. At full power, 45 watts, the repeater is limited to a 50% duty cycle. In low power, 25 watts, they are 100% cycle.

Luckily, good repeaters have protection in the form of a Time Out Timer (TOT) and usually a ReSet Timer (RST) When set up correctly, the TOT should cut off the TX BEFORE the duty cycle is reached, and the RST should prevent transmissions until the appropriate rest period has passed. This helps extend the life of the repeater even when your not there to monitor it.

Almost ALL radios now-a-days have a TOT as well. Typically I set mine for 2 minutes which is more than I need to transmit for, but is less than the duty cycle permits thus protecting the transistors.  I've had people tell me its dumb to do as no idiot would want to talk non-stop unless they are in a net or special operation. That's when I give them this story:
 
A while back when I was on the first aid squad, I was getting ready to go to sleep. Turned out the lights, laid my head on the pillow, then came the sound of a soft moan from a woman. Now, this would have been great, if there had been a woman in bed with me. The moaning continued and a bit confused I began looking for the source. Didn't take long to find my squad radio was receiving, and after turning it up a little, yep you guessed it. Turns out, the LT's portable radio had fallen between the bed and the night stand and as they and their lover were going at it, it was all transmitted quite clearly to the repeater, then retransmitted for the ENTIRE COUNTY to listen to. To make matters worse, the radios all had ID numbers so we knew whos radio was transmitting, and even worse, the LT had shut their phone off, so calling them to tell them their private session was public was not doable. Finally, the radios did not have TOT's at the time and so for a good while (I just shut my radio off but a friend at the county said they heard every minute of the 15+ minute incident. When the portable finally cut out, either from overheating or a dead battery or from falling loose of the PTT button, there wee quite a few catcalls to let them know everything was public including a few repeats of nick-names used during the session.

So folks, learn two things from this story. A: TOT's work, especially when a mistake is made or you don't realize the transmit button is pushed, it will work and save your radio from damage and possibly you from some embarrassment. B: Someone is always listening, so keep in mind what you say or do on the radio, especially if you work for a public safety organization because if you say the wrong things you could find yourself in quite a bit of trouble.

Let me say thank you for all you do. I became a premium member shortly after joining because personally I felt like I was stealing from you guys with as much resources you have on here. All the help and info I have received on this site and then even being able to start a page for my state has been great. We have some really good guys up here in Alaska and they are really getting us caught up with the rest of the states which I am so grateful for. I don't mind volunteering and helping you with whatever you need, but I don't know how much help I can be still being so new to radios, but I'm always willing to help others if I can. Thank you again sir!

Hello Rich,
I never knew this is a one person operation.  Now that I know that I am glad I am a supporting member as I can't imagine how hard it is to keep up with all the questions, updates, upgrades and just keeping things running.   I am thankful for the work you have been doing.  I too would volunteer to help when I can, if I can.  I guess I would need to know what you need help with. It would have to be things that do not require a work like schedule.  But I could figure out days or times I could work on stuff. 
Again thank you,
Royce

Many scanning systems provide three options: Carrier Operated (resume when carrier drops), Time Operated (resume after n-seconds EVEN IF THERE IS STILL TRAFFIC), and Stop Scan on traffic.
Some radios may have a secondary control for CO -- specifying a pause before resume. You'd have to check the manual/menus for the radio to see if such exists. (Based upon the PDF -- the only option seems to be scan on/off, and from your description, the only mode is CO).
The KG935 offers TO/CO/SE (Stop, they call it SEarch) options, but states that CO will continue as soon as the signal is lost
The AT-D878UV+ (dual band amateur) has TO/CO/SE, but states that CO resumes 2 seconds after signal loss.
BTech GMRS-V2 TO/CO/SE CO "after a factory preset time with no signal it resumes scanning" (TO is "factory preset time out...")
DB20-G (mobile unit) scan modes are 2SP, 5ST, 10ST, 15ST -- SP is the only option for CO mode, 2 seconds after signal drop; ST is TO mode choices.
 

Its a nifty little radio, but unless everyone else in your party also has one, most of that nifty'ness doesnt matter.
As for basic use and fars, it's pretty much the same as any other radio.

For UHF/VHF (GMRS) I just use the Surecom SW-102 off of Amazon. Gives you SWR, power, and shows the transmitted frequency.

For cutting off the shelf whips and the like it works great.

I also have a variant of the Nano VNA. It it more finicky to use, but does work and gives you tons of information. I use that when making HF antennas. Not necessary IMO for GMRS stuff.

The surecom is easy to use right out of the box. And for the price I think it's worth it. Are there better? Sure, but you'll pay more than you probably paid for your radio... just my 2 cents from my experience.

Nanovnas are awesome. Especially, when building antennas. But overtly complicated for most.

They do have some what of a steep but fast learning curve to them.

Most just buy a surecom, really more then enough. Fairly fast and not complicated.

If really serious, you start looking at rigexperts and up. But they are $$$.



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