WRYZ926

1/2" Heliax if you can afford it. Otherwise LMR400 will work even though it is not optimal for repeater use. Here are the losses for LMR400 and 1/2" Heliax for a 50 foot run on 462.600 using 50 watts out and antenna with 6 dBd of gain: Power loss per 100 feet LMR400 - 48% 1/2" Heliax - 30% ERP -effective radiating power LMR400 - 143 watts 1/2" Heliax - 166 watts You will not see 50 watts out of the repeater due to the duplexer. Most will output 25 to 35 watts. Here is the numbers for 35 watts out. EPR LMR400 - 86 watts 1/2" Heliax - 99 watts Those numbers are from using the kv5r.com coax loss calculator. @WSFF627 is correct when he talks about receive signal strength. You have to keep that in mind too. You will be okay with either LMR400 or 1/2" Heliax. Go with what fits your budget. Don't skimp on any of the components such as coax fittings, etc.

He will only get a Midland if they make a pink Barbie or purple Barney version. Otherwise he will give use 1009+ reasons why one should just throw any Midland or Wouxun radio into the trash.

I never messed with voltage above 480 three phase and I did not want to mess with higher voltages. KV is nothing to mess with. I won't get near a high power AM/FM radio station tower either. I also would refuse to use any type of welder outside in the rain for the same reasons. I had a 1st Lieutenant that wanted one my soldiers to stand inside a M113 engine bay and well the engine mount in the rain. The 1st Lt tried pulling rank but he forgot that the lead maintenance soldier was always in charge while working on vehicles. I politely and tactfully told hime that he was an ID10T and my soldiers would not weld in the rain.

It will only hurt for a little bit - until you either trip the breaker or pass out from the pain. I've zapped myself with everything from 12 V DC to 480 V AC three phase. 120 is the worse since it wants to hold onto you. Generally (but not always) 220V and above will throw you off. I got hit with 480V three phase when testing a contact. The relay went bad and it was getting the full 480 across it. I had my left hand on the metal cabinet when it hit me. It instantly threw my hand off the door. One of the worse shocks I got was when working on a 36 V DC golf cart. I got zapped by the full 36 volts from 6 high amp 6 volt batteries. I was testing the big resistor that controls the speed and accidentally got my left forearm across all three terminals on the motor. I had to grab my left arm with my right hand to pull my arm off the motor. I won't go cheap when it comes to tool needed for electrical work. All of my screw drivers and some pliers are all rated for up to 600 volts. And I definitely won't use those pen testers.

Some sad hams hate on other amateur license holders especially the old curmudgeons that had to write essay answers on their tests and had to pass the CW code portion too. They feel that since they had to walk up hill in 2 feet of snow both ways to school that everyone else should have to do the same.

I'm still using the Fluke 73 III that I bought 25 years ago. It does most everything I need it to do. I have a new Klein clamp meter for amperage reading when needed

How did the solder joints look on the antenna? Did you buy a complete cable or did you get bulk cable and install the ends yourself? The destructive way to see if water has gotten into the coax from the connectors is to cut the connectors off and examine the dielectric. The dielectric material will discolor when it gets wet. I've seen issues with bulk head and other adaptors where the treaded portion of the SO239 was too short and that can cause problems too. Another issue is a mismatch of threads IE standard versus metric or the thread pitch was off a little. I've had troubles with less expensive 90 degree PL259 to SO239 adaptors and with Pl259 to PL259 adaptors. They caused issues with SWR.

Negative Nancy AKA Mr 200 Miles just can't resist can he.

Our 70cm antenna is at 900 feet and we get about a 35-40 mile radius of coverage. Our GMRS antenna is at 400 feet and we get 30-35 mile radio of coverage. And both bands have same dead spots depending on the terrain and trees. Our 2m antenna is also at 900 feet and we get a 80-85 mile radius with it. I mention it to show the difference between VHF and UHF. The 2m and 70cm repeaters actually use the same set of antennas and go into a diplexer.

Good idea. And a new voltage regulator should fix it. You definitely don't have to worry about computer modules always on and putting a constant drain on the system with a vehicle of that age.

Man oh man what are we going to do with you two. Only 12 donuts and a 24 pack of beer for all of us. Fer shame Fer shame Fer shame.

Use a Klein or Fluke, it really won't matter as both are more accurate than the cheap Amazon and Fleabay meters. I've owned and used both brands over the last 25 years and used them both in industrial maintenance setting dealing with everything from 12 V DC control voltage up to 480 V AC three phase. And don't rely on the built in voltage readings that some radios show at startup either. They will generally show between 0.1 to 0.3 volts higher than what a good multimeter shows.

I checked and there is not any recalls for my 2023 Escape. There is only one customer satisfaction notice to have the driver's side seat belt buckle replaced. I know there were recalls for earlier Escapes along with the Bronco Sport and Mavericks for over charging. I don't remember if that was for all of them or certain models/engines. I have the 2.0L Ecoboost in my Escape. I just checked and it seems the over charging recall is for the hybrid versions. One should never see 15 volts on charging IF the vehicle is a daily driver. Unless you are only taking short drives daily. Newer vehicles have to be driven at least half an hour to fully charge the battery under normal use. If you are seeing 15 volts all of the time on a daily driver then definitely get it into the dealer.

I forgot to add that when my Escape sits for a week I hardly ever see a spike in voltage over 14.8 volts. Now if it sites for two weeks or more, then I do sometimes see it spike to 15.1 volts.

He should take the truck in for testing no matter if it is an external or internal regulator. Seeing a spike of 15 volts is okay at startup IF the voltage drops right away to 14-14-4 volts. A quick spike is common with newer vehicles since all of the computer modules runs 100% of the time even when the vehicles aren't running. There is always small but constant drain. What is not common is for the charging voltage to stay at 15v all of the time. I don't drive my vehicle very often and it can sit anywhere from 1-2 weeks without starting. And I do see a very short peak of 15.1v at startup when I haven't started the vehicle in a week or more. But the voltage always drops back down to 14.3 volts within a few seconds.