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WRYF747

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  1. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to Sshannon in What is legal when duplexing a repeater?   
    Control station. A station at a fixed location that communicates with mobile stations and other control stations through repeater stations, and may also be used to control the operation of repeater stations. 
    Fixed station. A station at a fixed location that directly communicates with other fixed stations only.
  2. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to Ian in Retevis 900MHz   
    Ouch.  Seriously, though, I collect "unicorns" -- things the FCC approved though they violate FCC rules.  FRS radios with detachable antennas, MURS multiservice radios, type-certified DMR FRS radios, weird shit.
  3. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to Lscott in The never-ending Part 90/95 debate, and my discussion with the FCC   
    My favorite Kenwood models, for VHF use, are the TK-2170's followed by the TK-2140's. The UHF versions work fine on the Ham 70cm band and should work down to about 440 MHz which covers most of the simplex section and the repeater section of the band. The radios may function lower. You'll need to test your radio and see what it will function down too.
    https://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/amateurtools/US-BandPlan-Update-1-2020.pdf
    The UHF models come in several band splits, most common is the 450 to 490 MHz or so ones. There are some other radio models that work from 400 to 470 MHz, but seem to be really rare to find.
    The 16 channel radios are OK if you want something simple to use. They're good for programming in your local repeaters, keeping in a glove box or handing out to family members. There are 2, 4 and 8 channel radios out there but personally I'm not interested in those due to limited channel capacity. The 16 channel models I would consider as the minimum usable.
    The issue with any of the commercial radios is they DO NOT have a VFO like a Ham specific HT would. Some of the radios can be modified for "front panel programming", which requires removing a diode or resistor from a circuit board plus enabling it in the software, but the actual programming must be done to an empty memory channel. The procedure is rather cumbersome and covered in detail in the radio's service manuals. I've never modified any of my radios, easier to use the software.
    One work around however is to program a sequence of memory channels using the channel spacing for the band used. On UHF it's typically 25 KHz. So I would start at lets say 440.000 then the next memory channel is 440.025 etc. The channel name would be the frequency like 440-000, 440-025 etc. That gives a decent simulation of a VFO using a fixed step size. The radios have "zones" where you can group channel memories together. For the simulated VFO I stick them all in their own zone labeled "SIMPLEX" for example. The better radio for this is the TK-2140/TK-3140 series since they have a total of 250 memories. The 128 channel radios it gets a little cramped.
    https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/9/TK-2170&3170Brochure.pdf
    The below is the same as the TK-3170 but has trunking, which you'll never use, and uses the same software. Works very well for GMRS too.
    https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/12/TK-3173BrochureRev.pdf
    The below radios use the multi pin connector, like some Motorola radios, for the speaker mic's and programming.
    http://www.swscomm.com/kenwood/TK-2140_3140.pdf
    There are some higher end Kenwood radios that you'll end up paying more for used with extra features you'll likely won't use except for the higher channel capacity.
    https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/10/TK-2180&3180Brochure.pdf
    The below radio is like the TK-3170 but has a more basic feature set.
    https://sieuthimasomavach.vn/upload/tk22123212-brochure.pdf
    Whatever you buy DO NOT purchase any Kenwood "Protalk" radios. They are normally only 2 watts and come setup with a list of programmed frequencies to select from, which you can't change. The frequencies are all from the business pool, none are useful for Ham or GMRS use. You'll see these being sold at times with what looks like a good deal, until you discover the limitations, then they end up in the junk draw. Fortunately I did my research before purchasing when looking at an unfamiliar radio model to add to my collection and avoided the mistake. 
    If you're interested in Motorola, Icom or Vertex commercial radios there are some experts here on the forum, I'm not one of them.
     
  4. Like
    WRYF747 got a reaction from WRUU653 in Why don't repeater owners use the GMRS repeater pairs for a full duplex?   
    Oh. My bad!
  5. Like
    WRYF747 got a reaction from Gingineer in Why don't repeater owners use the GMRS repeater pairs for a full duplex?   
    Oh. My bad!
  6. Thanks
    WRYF747 got a reaction from Sshannon in Why don't repeater owners use the GMRS repeater pairs for a full duplex?   
    And to you too!
  7. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to wrci350 in What is the purpose of GMRS channels 8-14?   
    Because they are so close to the repeater input frequencies.  It's to minimize potential interference with repeaters.
    (c) 467 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, control and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. Mobile, hand-held portable and control stations may transmit on these channels only when communicating through a repeater station or making brief test transmissions in accordance with § 95.319(c). The channel center frequencies are: 467.5500, 467.5750, 467.6000, 467.6250, 467.6500, 467.6750, 467.7000, and 467.7250 MHz.
    (d) 467 MHz interstitial channels. Only hand-held portable units may transmit on these 7 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 467.5625, 467.5875, 467.6125, 467.6375, 467.6625, 467.6875, and 467.7125 MHz.
    They are only .0125 MHz away from the repeater inputs.
  8. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to Lscott in What is the purpose of GMRS channels 8-14?   
    The FCC screwed up when they allowed the sale of combination FRS/GMRS radios before the rule changes in 2017. The idea was if one wanted to use the GMRS specific, at the time, channels one would have to get a GMRS license. Well, almost nobody bothered. So, when the rules were changed in 2017 the FCC had to do something about all the existing radios out there. They simply changed the rules to make those combination FRS/GMRS radios FRS only and legal to use as is.
    However the channels you pointed out sit between the main GMRS repeater input channels, which use a 25KHz channel. The FRS channels, 8-14, where kept at very low power and narrow band since they partially overlap the main GMRS repeater channels. The idea was to minimize the interference they cause. At the time FRS was limited to 0.5 watts and narrow band, 12.5KHz channel, so keeping the restrictions didn't require any changes to existing radios.
    As you pointed out for FM use they are basically useless. Many GMRS specific radios don't even include them, noticeably on mobile radios. So practically speaking GMRS really has useful access to only 15 channels. 
    You might ask is there something that those channels could be used for? Maybe, but that's a topic for another thread, which if you look you'll find on the forum discussing adding channels to GMRS. 
    FRS-GMRS Channels Layout.pdf
  9. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to Sshannon in Has anyone tried the KG 1000M yet?   
    I agree with the others.  A mobile MURS radio doesn't do anything that a good MURS handheld won't do.
    Either can be connected to the same external antennas, With a handheld all the controls are in your hand, a feature folks are willing to pay extra for in a mobile radio it would appear, It's possible that the KG1000M has a better receiver than an inexpensive MURS radio, but probably not much different than a decent handheld, 2 watts is 2 watts, regardless of form-factor, 5 channels is 5 channels, regardless of form-factor, If you just want a microphone in your hand, there are ones that plug into the handhelds. It's like they asked "What's a problem nobody has, so we can solve it?"
  10. Like
  11. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to WRXB215 in What's your GMRS mobile setup, and how does it work for you?   
    UV-5R "GMRS" with an old Radio Shack scanner antenna I had in the garage from way back. Home made adapter. Yes, I can actually talk to people with this thing. 😉
  12. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to Sshannon in This Ghost Antenna is Trash   
  13. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to Sshannon in This Ghost Antenna is Trash   
    That's great!!!
    It could only have been better if it said "NOTARUBICON".  
  14. Like
    WRYF747 reacted to Sshannon in Retevis 900MHz   
    No. 

    Argentina is in South America (a continent).
    Argentina is in the Americas (a land mass consisting of two connected continents: North and South America and their surrounding islands. 
    Argentina is not in “America” as the term is commonly accepted. 
    When you hear other countries refer to the USA they frequently interchange “the United States” or “America”, specifically meaning the United States of America. 
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