WQWI871

Can I crossband NOAA?

Okay. Well, I may need to reconsider that length or use something else. I think while It's up, it will last years being straight. But, each time I lower and raise it, It's going to get bent little by little lol. Perhaps if I attach my winch to the top segment, It'll keep it all straight while lowering and raising. I won't be lowering and raising often, only for hurricanes or repairs. But, It's kind of being raised and lowered often at the moment because I'm still working on stuff. I didn't think it would bend that easy, though. Because the top segment is only taking about 3lbs from the antenna, and, the second segment is taking about 5lbs from the top segment and 3lbs from the antenna. The bottom segment doesn't really bend because the setup keeps that one stiff while raising and lowering it.

Tapping the back arrow on the device doesn't prompt me if I want to log out, it prompts me if I want to exit. Which it does if I agree to it, but, still logged in and running in the background. There is no option to toggle notifications for me in the settings. It's fine, I log out by deregistering my callsign. It's no more difficult than logging in/out if I could. Maybe quicker, because I only have to enter my call sign again.

The idea about the larger slot for the radio is good. But, unfortunately, the only chargers I have with that slot, doesn't have an LED like that. About the paper (plastic or anything I can use for a shim between the radio and contacts) I understand, but, the charger will not be receiving power. It will either be unplugged, or, plugged into a regulated breaker with no power running to the charger. One of my chargers can accept the radio backwards, that's a nice idea, too. Thank you, G.

Yes. Most of the time, the desktop chargers will be for simply standing the radios, and charging when needed. Not a big deal, but, sometimes It's annoying removing each radio or unplugging when it doesn't need charging or finished charging.

Apologies if this is the incorrect category to post. I'm renovating a room for a small shack and decided to keep all of my handhelds in an area on a desk connected to the desktop chargers for convenience. I noticed that when some radios are connected to the desktop charger, there's a small LED on the charger, when the charger is not connected to a power source. I don't plan on keeping the chargers connected to a power source at all times, just the radios to the charger. Although I am considering using a surge protector with individual switches to toggle off charged radios while still keep them connected without having to unplug them or take them off the charger. But, does anyone have ideas on disabling the LED to prevent battery drain? I thought of placing a small piece of paper or plastic between the radios and the charger terminals.

I didn't want those antennas so close together, but, trying to improvise on a budget. That actually doesn't include the other three antennas lol. Well, my omni is tuneable, so, if I can lower it a little, I may be able to get by without another antenna. But, I don't need that at the moment. Sucks that two item's I can't get shipped unfortunately are cement and any pipes that are usually over five feet long. Anything else I can order. Considering I don't own a truck, I mean.

My baofengs were all set to a squelch of 4 from stock. It's hard to explain, but, Chirp allows to fine tune squelch levels. For example, a squelch level of 1 is fine tuned to about a 25 sensitivity. So, although 1 is the lowest level (excluding 0), it won't actually have the most sensitivity without fine tuning the sensitivity in Chirp. I generally change the squelch level 1 to a 1 - 10 sensitivity. If that makes sense.

Thank you. It's just the app still seems to run in the background and randomly gives a popup notification in the status bar, gets annoying sometimes.

How about cross band repeater? If the radio supports the GMRS. Although there's a possibility the radio isn't part 95 approved.

Oh, okay. That would be nice, but, I suppose it still won't do me much good with no repeaters in the area.

How about, while using the Map feature to see repeaters in range of the current location, selecting a repeater on the map will show the coverage circles and approximate mileage instead of having to check the coverage for each individual repeater. Sometimes repeaters that are further away have better coverage than the closer ones because of setup.

Antennas up. Pretty much all is taken care of now. I plan on a few small "extra" steps in the near future, but, It's fine for now. The cable ties holding the coaxial you can see sticking out is temporary, just to keep the coaxials from swaying in the breeze. Guy wires are up, I used some aircraft galvanized wire rope. I'll do a little tidying up later. http://i66.tinypic.com/1zd3exk.jpg

I've not done enough testing with a tiger tail / counterpoise to say whether or not It's worth it. I've tried about a 22G 16" insulated wire with a ring terminal around the antenna fitting only on my Baofeng BF-F9. There were times I noticed a little increase, but, because of climate conditions, it varies. However, considering a counterpoise is nothing but a strand of wire that you should be able to either salvage or get for a $1 or less, I'd say just give it a try. You want a nice length, but, something that isn't too much for you to carry. But, you could easily take it off and put it in your pocket or bag if needed.

I like a more sensitive receive, so, I generally set the squelch in Chirp to 10 on the Squelch 1 of my handhelds. Never thinking to go lower, I just figured that should be good and it always was. Recently I got a new Baofeng UV-82 and set everything the same as usual. I noticed I was getting clear receives on my UV5R's and BF-F9 while not receiving on my UV-82. I thought that was a little odd with the squelch set the same and just figured the squelch on the UV-82 wasn't as sensitive, so, I lowered it more. This time to 5. Of course I receive some transmissions, just a lot I don't. On 5, I noticed that still not getting some unless I open squelch. So, I set it to 1. I was missing a lot of transmissions this time even when I did open squelch all the way. Even connected to my base antenna. Any ideas what's up? It's almost as if each time I lowered squelch, It's closing it.

Okay. I sent them an email. If I got the email address correct. I couldn't find the email address specified or a direct message on the website, just a link that opens an email client to send an email, which I don't have. Edit: Email responses were quick.

I think the usual "stock antennas are junk" is kind of overrated. It's always nice to upgrade with better quality accessories over stock accessories, but, I think a lot of people overlook how well some stock accessories actually are. I've done some testing with various Nagoya antennas and various Baofeng antennas (stock antennas from different Baofeng models) and there was little to no difference. I feel the stock antenna actually receives better on FM broadcast than Nagoya and transmits and receives a bit better on UHF than Nagoya, with the exception that I did get an additional five feet distance with the 771 and 774 and the 805-3 seems to be closest to the stock antennas with FM broadcast unless the 771R or 774 is completely retracted. However, this is with my terrain and comparing with Nagoya. Perhaps a different make such as Comet or Diamond would provide better results to compare and different terrain. I've tried the stock antennas in basements and metal wall constructed buildings, and they seem fine, at least for the needs compared with Nagoya.

How about those that are using mobile providers such as T-mobile for the connection? Some mobile providers offer internet data plans to be used with hotspots or wireless modems. Those signals can be rerouted wired.

Funny lol. Yeah, I'm still upgrading some hardware such as bolts and guy wires and replacing and adding on coaxial cables and other antennas, so, I didn't want to waste my time putting my current antennas back up when I would be taking the mast down a few times. Maybe by the end of this month everything should be taken care of.

Thank you for that.

I'm not familiar with any third party handheld antennas for GMRS, except most stock antennas such as th baofeng ones are suppose to be tuned for GMRS and Nagoya has a couple commercial antennas for GMRS. I usually favour Tram for mobile or base, they're usually okay for the price unless you can afford something like a Diamond or Comet. There's also a shop on eBay that sells some, I've checked them out last year and they're still doing well.

Okay. There's several atmospheric conditions that can effect electromagnetic waves. Tropospheric, ducting / scatter, lightning scatter. Diffraction. Other conditions exist, but, generally less common on the UHF range.

Yeah, the Nagoyas aren't great for GMRS, but, they're alright. I can still communicate half mile to a mile using baofeng handhelds to handhelds on GMRS with a Nagoya antenna, depending on which one. But, I often find the stock baofeng antennas to be better with GMRS. The Nagoya 771, 717, 701, 774 and 771R are nice. I use the 805-3 for close range and local repeaters, and, the 717 is a nice balance between the 771 and 701. You could try the 701C and 771C which are tuned more for GMRS. I haven't tried the C versions, though. But, of course this is based on my local terrain. You sure your radios weren't desensing, though? I think that's odd that the radio(s) could have a problem like that.

I understand that. Although I enjoy using Chirp, and the ability to copy and paste over to other radios, It's nice understanding how to manually program as well. Sometimes I manually program because some frequencies are new and I don't keep tons of frequencies stored, just the most used. I remember I didn't understand how the manual programing worked with the offsets before I started using Chirp. I kept putting the TX as the RX frequency, not realizing the offset changes the frequency when transmitting when I started out. Edit: Dang, why's it doing that? Sorry again. Thank you, G.

I like to think an easy way to remember it is to forget about the transmit frequency and focus on the offset. If you set your frequency to 462.xxx and set a +5Mhz offset, the radio generally transmits on 467.xxx (which is +5 difference) and automatically swaps back to the set frequency 462.xxx. Each radio should be programed the same with the 462.xxx frequency set and the +5Mhz offset. If using a repeater, each radio may need to be spaced apart or you may not hear on a radio while transmitting on a different radio.