WRYZ926

Open up Device Manager and then click on Ports. FTDI chips will say Silicon Labs since that is who created the drivers for the FTDI chips

Line of sight does make more of a difference when using VHF and UHF. I'm glad to hear that you are getting into all of the repeaters now. A j pole antenna has zero gain when measured in dBd, which is the same as a dipole antenna. Using the kv5r loss calculator and your specs, you will have an ERP of 21.8 watts. As you see that will still work even though you are losing about half your power output. Switching to 50 feet of LMR400 will only gain you 6.9 more watts on ERP. I would not bother switching out the RG-213 to LMR400 for that little power gain. What will make a difference is going with an antenna with higher gain. But no need to change anything if it is working well for your needs.

Each manufacturer is going to have different instructions when it comes to using their batteries. I use Redodo brand batteries and they do not have any warnings on their website that I could fine. How to Connect Batteries in Series and Parallel? As always, consult the manual that comes with your batteries or consult the manufacturer directly. Make sure that what ever charger you use is designed for lipo4 batteries. I use a Bioenno 5 amp charger for my 10 AH batteries and a Redodo 10 amp charger for the 50 ah batteries.

You can safely connect LiPo4 batteries in series or parallel or both. LiPo4 batteries do have a BMS (battery control module) that protects them. Always use the exact same size and capacity batteries when connecting multiple LiPo4 batteries together. It is also advisable to make sure they are the same age. IE you don't want to connect a brand new inline with an old battery I run 4 10AH LiPo4 batteries hooked in parallel in my small battery box and two 50 AH LiPo4 batteries connected in parallel in my big go box. I also have an Apache case with two 10 AH LiPo4 batteries and a spot for my Xiegu G90. I can run those two batteries separately or in parallel if I want.

A lot will depend on the gain of the antenna. According to the https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/; you will get an ERP of 1.9 watts when using a radio with 5 watts output, 100 ft of RG-213, and an antenna with 1 dBd of gain. As you can see the calculated ERP is 1.9 watts Now the ERP will go up as the antenna gain goes up. So if the antenna gain is 2 dBd then the ERP will be 2.4 watts. And if you jump up to a gain of 5 dBd then the ERP will be 4.7 watts One thing to keep in mind is that most antenna manufacturers list the gain in dBi while most loss calculators use dBd. Subtract 2.14 from the dBi value to get the dBd value. The kv5r coax loss calculator is not exact but it is close enough to see what the loss difference is between different types of coax and at different lengths.

Just like on the other forum. Some will mention Part 90 radios. GMRS radios are not Part 90 certified. Just because a radio will work on a certain band does not mean that it is Part certified for that band. And the average person is not going to go out and buy a Part 90 certified radio for GMRS use. And I have to ask about what Steve posted since we know Anytone radios are made in China. We can continue to argue all you want. But it is a fact that all Part 95 certified consumer grade mobile radios are made in Chine with the exception of Garmin. Yes there are Part 90 certified business/commercial radios made in Japan that just so happen to work on GMRS but again they are not Part 95 certified. And just because a company has their headquarters in a certain country does not mean that their products are made in that country. Midland is a prime example when it comes to GMRS radios. And again some of the Yaesu mobile radios are made in China even though Yaesu is a Japanese company. Comparing Part 90 certified radios with Part 95 certified radios is like comparing apples to oranges.

Yes we have some even here that are that way. Negative Nancy AKA Nana NoNo aka Mr 200 Miles is one of them. You will find that most here are more than willing to help new people and answer their questions.

Fire departments pretty much have to let electric vehicles burn themselves out because of the lithium batteries. Lithium is like white phosphorus in that it will keep burning when you try to put it out. I'm not super familiar with putting out lithium fires. I do know the only way to stop white phosphorus from burning is to bury it so that there is no oxygen. And it will reignite if exposed to the open air. Willy Pete grenades are fun to play with and the white phosphorus will burn straight through even some of the thickest armor plate. White phosphorus grenades are great for when you have to destroy equipment and vehicles.

We had our weekly 2m net and our monthly GMRS net last night. We always have the 2m net first. One of our members tried checking into the 2m net 2 or 3 times last night but he was on the GMRS repeater. We gave him some trouble once he grabbed the correct mic to check in on the 2m repeater. It happened from time to time when you have both licenses. Most of us have done it a time or three.

Are you 100% sure about that? And the reason I ask is the fact that even Yaesu has some of their radios made in China now. And does Alinco actually make a Part 95 certified GMRS mobile radio? All I could find on their website were Part 90 certified mobile radios. And yeah I seemed to upset some people on another forum when I mentioned that all consumer grade Part 95 certified GMRS radios are made in China. Not including Garmin radios./

This is very true. And the side of a standard US military 50 caliber ammo can will give you a good ground plane for GMRS. I've seen plenty of people use 50 cal ammo cans for dual band and GMRS go boxes. They will usually take the lid off and set the can on its side. You can then use a mag mount or drill the can for a SO239 or NMO mount. Lots of possibilities for a go box or small backpack/sling bag. Here is the ready to go Fara-J GMRS antenna https://vfcomms.com/shop/antenna/fara-j-antenna-for-gmrs/ If you are handy with soldering and sewing then you could always make your own. The downside to this is if you hang the antenna from a rope. You will have to support the end of the coax to the clothe so it doesn't put too much stress on the BNC connector.

The FTDI or Prolific chips that are in programming cables emulate serial connections. So yes when you plug in a USB programming cable it does create a virtual serial port. Windows likes to default to a baud rate of 9600 and some radios will use a different baud rate. I haven't had to mess with the IRQ settings but I did have to change the baud rates for a few different radios. Changing the baud rate is mostly for connecting HF radios to a computer though some mobile VHF/UHF radios do use a baud rate that is different from the default 9600. I have not had to mess with the baud rate when connecting any of my hand held radios to a computer.

Glad to hear that antenna is working out for you.

Yes that is what I did. You can also go into the regular grid tracker settings under audio alerts and check callsign

@SteveShannon can mark one off his list for 20m By the way. I am using my IC-7300 and cobweb antenna.

One of the hardest parts is getting coax that won't have too much loss on GMRS and still keep it light weight. A lot will depend on how high you are planning on getting your antenna up in the air and also what type of antenna being used. Using a sturdy mast will allow you to use heavier coax. Some of the cheaper telescoping masts are thin and won't support the weight. Go with the lightest coax with the least amount of loss that is acceptable to you. I actually have a couple of clothe roll up j pole antennas made with faraday cloth. One is for 2m and the other is for 70cm. The 2m j pole works fine for both 2m and 70cm with a SWR of 18 or less. And the 70cm j pole works fine for GMRS with a SWR of 1.7 or less. I am using 30ft of LMR400 equivalent coax along with a Sotabeams 7m/21 ft telescoping fiberglass mast. I hang the clothe j pole from the top of the mast and run the coax down, attaching it with velcro straps to keep things from flopping around in the wind. 30 feet lets me get 9 feet away from the mast. I normally will use some type of stand or 3 guy ropes on the bottom section of the mast to hold it upright on calm days. I will add three more guy ropes towards the top on windy days. I also have throw line and throw bags incase I want to just hang either antenna up in a tree. I can throw my dual band or GMRS radio into my go kit along side my G90 HF radio for any type of portable use. I am also setup for sending emails with Winlink on HF and VHF if needed. My go kit is one of the Hart rolling tool boxes from Walmart. I have a couple of 50 AH batteries in the bottom case and everything else (besides telescoping masts, fits inside the other cases. I can also throw a radio or two, some throw line, and the clothe/wire antennas and 1 or 2 10 AH batteries into a backpack and go light.

I ended up just adding you to my watch list on grid tracker. I'll definitely try to work you when I see you on.

I just saw all of this and am currently on 15m FT8. HF has been a little slow for the last week or so. @SteveShannon I know how how the weather plays havoc with antennas. I have a 6 band (6m-20m) cobweb antenna that works great until it rains. But the cobweb design is more susceptible to SWR changes when wet. Most of the time the internal tuner on my IC-7300 will take care of things but every now and then I need my external tuner on some bands.

All antennas are a compromise. Go with what works best for your situation. I know most do not want to drill holes for an antenna mount into their Wrangler hard tops and I don't blame them one bit. Though it can be done. People install NMO mounts on fiberglass truck toppers (camper shells for us old people) all of the time. They will put a piece of sheet metal on the underside of the shell for the needed ground plane. And glass mounts do work. Though I will caution that some factory tint can have negative effects on them due to the metal content of the tint. The only way to know is to try.

Contesting is just too fast paced for me and I don't find any enjoyment in it. I'm not much on long rag chew sessions but I also don't want to feel rushed either. And I do use QRZ at home for logging along with HAMRS for logging POTA contacts. My chicken pecking is not fast enough to keep up at times. Plus my arthritic hands don't always cooperate. I have to edit my posts frequently do to spelling and grammar errors,

I would NOT want to clean that cat pan

Don't let Negative Nancy and his very negative waves bother you. Most of us either ignore him or laugh and make fun of him

One of the hardest states for me to work on 10m was South Dakota. For whatever reason, SD can be hard to get at times from Missouri. I would like to get an antenna up for 30m and 60m. I don't have the room at all for a 160m antenna. I'm hoping that 6m opens up this summer like it did last summer. I'm sitting at 39 states worked on 6m.

I'm personally not a fan of contesting. I can't keep up with writing down the call signs, signal reports and times to make it any fun. More power to those that do enjoy contesting. As mentioned, it is a good way to practice using your radio and learning how to filter signals out. I do work the occasional POTA as an activator, but I don't get into any kind of rush making contacts. As long as I make the minimum of 10 contacts for an activation then I'm happy. I usually stick to the WARC bands when working SSB or AM when there are contests going on. Contests are not allowed on any of the WARC bands. For voice that leaves the 12m and 17m bands. And you can work CW or digital modes on 30m.

Start playing with them cats using a laser pointer. My smallest cat is 6 pounds and she won't hesitate to take on the 96 pound dog. She is my ultra feather weight golden gloves champ. And she is vicious when it comes to lasers.