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WRUQ357

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  1. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to SteveShannon in Radioddity DB20G   
    Yes it is.  Watch for sales at Radioddity.  You should be able to pick up a db20g for less than $90.
  2. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to WRUU653 in New to GMRS and can here people but cannot reach them.   
    I think it’s good to remember that it’s radio and radio isn’t private. You can’t control how people want to use it or what people want to use it and certainly not if they are within the rules. Respectfully, there are cell phones for conversations you would rather were just between you and your people.
    I do understand where you are coming from regarding  your wife being made uncomfortable and that is unfortunate that happened to be sure and shouldn’t. If on simplex and you don’t want to be intruded on you could set up tones to try and eliminate some unwanted bother.
    As for someone asking for your call sign, I have not heard anyone do this on GMRS simplex ever but if you are on simplex you could just as easily tell them you are on FRS and not to worry about it. I personally would expect that two people talking without call signs was just that. However if you’re using a repeater, well at the very least the owner certainly has the right to ask you for a call sign, after all it is their equipment.
    I suspect where the population is denser you might have more to deal with. Where I am there isn’t a lot of traffic on GMRS and seems to be enough room for all. You will hear occasional conversation on GMRS repeaters often it will be someone on vacation and they are looking to see if they can reach it from where they are and someone local will jump on and respond. You might hear some simplex traffic that will be a couple or friends traveling in separate vehicles, the occasional farm communication or even a daycare. Once I heard a young daughter giving dad a play by play report of where she and her mom were to her dad, “now we are at the post office” lol, adorable. I never hear anyone unwanted jump in those conversations. That’s just my experience where I am. 
  3. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to SteveShannon in New to GMRS and can here people but cannot reach them.   
    I think I have five GMRS certified radios, beginning with a Motorola Talkabout set of 2, nearly twenty years ago, then 2 Midland handhelds.
     
    At about that time I got my FRN, but the $70 for five years seemed too high. Then I felt I needed a Garmin Rhino because my rocketry friends had them and used the location sharing feature.  Then, in 2021, I got my GMRS license at $70 for ten years.  About then I started watching Notarubicon videos.
    My interest in radios was rekindled and the following year I got my ham license.  Then I bought two more GMRS certified radios, both DB20Gs, but I  converted them both to ham frequencies. They’re the only 95e certified radios that I have capable of operating on ham bands and I no longer use them on GMRS. If I buy better mobile ham VHF/UHF radios I’ll probably revert them back to GMRS use.
    I’m not sure what I was supposed to be a perpetrator of.
     
  4. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to SvenMarbles in New to GMRS and can here people but cannot reach them.   
    Nah, not on the GMRS. The problem is that the radio nerds moved into GMRS as a novelty, not appreciating that is was for the casual appliance user. It became so prevalent they started to make themselves at home here. When they hear traffic, they get on to let us know they're monitoring 😑.
    Moral of the story,... I want the wives and kids to be able to grab a radio that we set up, key up, and call eachother. Callsign is label maker printed on each mic, but frankly, do we need to even be about that? If my son raises me on the radio for some minutia communication, and rando Dave jumps in to ask for a callsign ID, am I wrong for feeling like that guy can kind of F off? We've got our call and IMO that's between us and the FCC..
    I AM a radio nerd. I'd equate myself to a highly informed and motivated Tech class (despite not being one). But I understand and appreciate that the fam (and fams in the plural sense at large) aren't going to be. And we should be ABLE to set the radios up within our circles and do the GMRS thing without the ham types getting mixed into our practical comms type situations..
     
  5. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to WRYS709 in Radioddity DB20G   
    I’d bet dollars to donuts that most DB20-G users use their cigarette lighter plug for power. 
    In my vehicle, I do, and why not?! It’s so easy to unplug and hide the equipment in a zone where I am concerned about someone breaking a window to steal it when it’s in plain sight. 
    And for the one in my shack: the Powerwerx adapter makes it plug and play without losing the versatility of having the cigarette lighter plug, when needed. 
  6. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to SteveShannon in Radioddity DB20G   
    Exactly right. Almost every car comes with a power port that accepts the cigarette lighter plug. Although the cigarette lighter plug isn’t what many of us might eventually use, it’s the closest thing there is to being universally available and works well for these low power radios allowing them to be used immediately.  
  7. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to amaff in Radioddity DB20G   
    I also can't speak to "the best", but of the radios in that range I've tried. I pretty much agree with @SvenMarbles's review. It pretty much just does everything most of us want it to do (and in many cases a decent chunk more).

     
  8. Thanks
    WRUQ357 reacted to SvenMarbles in Radioddity DB20G   
    I've been operating with a Radioddity DB20G in my truck since Christmas. I wasn't planning to make a fuss over it or type up a review or anything, because I felt like it was a pretty basic, standard, inexpensive, knock around mini-mobile GMRS radio. But after using it for these weeks, I've noticed that I just really like this radio a lot.
    It does all of the small things right. It may sound silly to some, but I just really appreciate that it uses a big switch on/off volume knob. For a radio that I operate in a vehicle, I appreciate it when a radio isn't "fiddly". I reach over blind, switch it on and set to a comfortable volume in one intuitive and effortless motion. The radio sits in a spot that is absolutely perfect in my truck (pictured in following post). Facing face-up below where my right arm would rest on the middle console. The speaker is powerful and can be cranked up adequately loud to hear comfortably above road noise. I also appreciate that this radio is 20 watts (and actually is) which means that it can safely be powered by a cigarette lighter plug. When you power on/unlock the radio, you have full freedom to program as many simplex and repeater channels as you'd like. I used the included bracket and some 3M hook and loop strips to make it so that I can simply pull the entire radio off to bring it inside for programming, or use it in another application. Reception is great, no breakthrough overload, and reports are that I sound nice talking on it as well.
    It just hits the sweet spot of preferences for me in a radio for how I want to be able to use a radio..
  9. Haha
    WRUQ357 reacted to Raybestos in Even A Snowstorm Won't Stop The Tower Inspector   
    An elderly lady phoned her telephone company to report that her telephone failed to ring when her friends called -- and that on the few occasions when it did ring, her pet dog always moaned right before the phone rang. The telephone repairman proceeded to the scene, curious to see this psychic dog or senile elderly lady. He climbed a nearby telephone pole, hooked in his test set, and dialed the subscriber's house. The phone didn't ring right away, but then the dog moaned loudly and the telephone began to ring. Climbing down from the pole, the telephone repairman found.....

    1. The dog was tied to the telephone system's ground wire via a steel chain and collar.
    2. The wire connection to the ground rod was loose.
    3. The dog was receiving 90 volts of signaling current when the phone number was called.
    4. After a couple of such jolts, the dog would start moaning and then urinate on himself and the ground.
    5. The wet ground would complete the circuit, thus causing the phone to ring.

    .....Which goes to show that some problems CAN be fixed by pissing and moaning.
  10. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to OffRoaderX in Midland Ghost Antenna   
    Not long ago I tested a few antennas against the Midland Ghost antenna and it performed better than the Nagoya UT-72G .. and ALMOST as good as the Midland MXTA26..
  11. Haha
    WRUQ357 reacted to BoxCar in More Power?   
    You forgot to say GMRS can cause excessive spending on new radios and antennas.
  12. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to tcp2525 in I need a new GMRS radio   
    Forget about those radios and buy the most beloved and best sub $100 radio on the market, the Radioddity DB20G. A radio that the set the GMRS world on its backside by delivering high performance and reliability in a tiny package. 
  13. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to marcspaz in National call channel   
    You need to understand the history of GMRS to answer this question. The original 'distress' frequency was 462.675, aka channel 20. While there is no longer a formal calling/distress channel, there are plenty of sites that have old articles about common distress frequencies in different bands, and the history of GMRS. Then there are guys like me who have been using GMRS since the '80s, who just remember. 
     
    Also, the legacy distress/calling channel gets conflated with ORI.  There were two groups, Popular Wireless and Personal Radio Association, that came up with the idea of an Open Repeater Initiative (ORI). It was designed to get repeater owners to open up and share resources instead of locking down systems. The idea was to make it easier for GMRS users to find and access repeaters. 
     
    The group established the 141.3 CTCSS/PL as a “travel tone”. Originally, the repeater pair 462/467.675 was the ORI frequency (675 known today as the travel channel) due to 675 historically being the distress/emergency channel. However, ORI eventually morphed into any repeater pair using 141.3 for PL access and did not require prior permission.
     
    ORI and the founding groups are long gone, but many repeater owners still honor the spirit of ORI on their repeaters. In the absence of ORI, there has been debate in the community over what should be put into place, if anything. 
     
    If we stick to the historic components of the FCC and groups like ORI, the calling frequency would continue to be 462.675, and the open repeaters would be on 467.675/462.675 with tone 141.3.  However, the radio services is so small, the number of users has dramatically increased over the past few years, and with modern technology, just about any channel can fit the bill for "calling". A vast majority of us are scanning all the channels if we're not actively in a conversation. 
  14. Like
    WRUQ357 got a reaction from SteveShannon in Linked Repeaters   
    And a good bourbon 😋 
  15. Like
    WRUQ357 got a reaction from TrikeRadio in Linked Repeaters   
    And a good bourbon 😋 
  16. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to SteveShannon in Linked Repeaters   
    Mmmm, beer...
     
  17. Haha
    WRUQ357 reacted to WSDD439 in National call channel   
    SO,,,,,,,,,turn that stupid radio OFF, unless you're talking to someone you are related to or are friends with. The Prime Minister has spoken !
  18. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to prmirage in New to GMRS - State to State Question   
    I think I may eventually put together a base station as funds permit. My list of hobbies is getting expensive. 😕
  19. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to Hoppyjr in National call channel   
    If by interesting you mean annoying as heck, then yeah, it’s interesting.

    Same issue on pretty much every forum, new people don’t use the search function so the same stuff repeats over and over and over….
  20. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to Willie in Best GMRS channel to monitor for traffic   
    So I think I'm beginning to see a trend here.
    1) CB is for citizens to talk to other citizens whether they know each other or not.
    2) GMRS is for co-workers / family / friends to talk to each other IF they know each other, but not to be mixed between the categories.
    ("Don't cross the streams." ~ Egon Spengler, PhD)
    3) HAM is for talking to random strangers.
    Is that about right? Give me a minute to grab a snack...🍿
    I've still got a lot to learn here. 😁
  21. Haha
    WRUQ357 reacted to SteveShannon in New to everything   
    It’s a little known fact that H.A.M. is an acronym for “Hounding Anonymous Men.”
     
    No, that’s wrong!  It isn’t an acronym at all. 
  22. Haha
    WRUQ357 reacted to OffRoaderX in New to everything   
    Welcome to the forum!
    GMRS is for talking with your friends while off-roading, hiking, etc. in a very easy, UNcomplicated way H.A.M. is for chatting with anonymous men in the most complicated way possible while trying to show everyone how smart you think you are at the same time Never confuse the two and you will do just fine.
  23. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to Willie in New to everything   
    Amateur radio (HAM) is where you will get buried in acronyms. GMRS follows more of a KISS (keep it simple stupid) methodology. There is a bit of it when it comes to the technical stuff but no where near as much as HAM. GMRS is just more "chill". At least in my novice opinion.  
  24. Like
    WRUQ357 reacted to WRXB215 in New to everything   
    @Billz Welcome to myGMRS.com. Lots of good people here who are knowledgeable and helpful. As @SteveShannon said @marcspaz video is a good one to start with.
    If you prefer the info in written form you might give this page a shot.
    I will also second @WRUU653 on HamStudy.org. That is what I used for my tech and general and I'm using it to study for the extra.
    P.S. I've been kicking around the idea of writing a PDF of GMRS basics and FAQ. Maybe I'll go ahead and dive into that. It would be something good to have.
  25. Haha
    WRUQ357 reacted to Hoppyjr in Best GMRS channel to monitor for traffic   
    The world we live in today is much too soft.

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