WRYZ926

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.

It's all good my friend

Thanks for the correction. Dealing with too much blood in the caffeine system today.

Well every one that uses our GMRS repeater does use their actual GMRS call sign. They will use designators such as WRYZXXX Base, or WRYZXXX Unit 2, etc. And that has worked just fine for us. I would not want to try and remember a bunch of numbers either. And you still have to use your call signs when using open repeaters anyway. Now if the repeater is closed and ONLY used by immediate family then that's a different story. Correction. Call signs are still required even on private/closed repeaters. Though the repeater itself does not.

Even with the repeater itself set to full 50 watts out, there will still be a loss of power output from the duplexer. There is no getting around that.

I know of one repeater that does have a better range of around 50-55 miles using a Quantar 125. We could benefit from going with 1 1/4" hardline versus the 7/8" hardline but again that is not in the budget for this year. We get 30-35 mile radius of coverage with our current GMRS setup. The funny thing is our 70cm repeater has the exact same range and the exact same dead spots.

This is true. I'm not saying it is right but other GMRS repeater owners in my area are using the UHF Motorola 125 for their GMRS repeaters and have the power levels set for 45 to 50 watts out after the duplexer. And that setup works well and they have not had anyone complain to our FCC overlords.

The 2m/70cm antennas are connected with 1 1/4" hardline and the GMRS antennas are connected with 7/8" hardline. We just upgraded our 2m repeater with a Motorola Quantar 125 and it is set for 60 watts out after the duplexer. We are using an older Motorola 70cm repeater and I'm not sure what the power output is on that. We are using a Bridgecom GMRS repeater with an external duplexer and the power out after the duplexer is at 35 watts. Going with 1 1/4" hardline would improve things a small amount for the GMRS repeater but the 7/8" hardline was already ran on the tower so we did not have to install new coax. It would be nice to swap out that Bridgecom with a UHF Motorola Quantar 125 so that we could get a full 50 watts out after the duplexer. But getting another repeater is not in the budget this year.

We do occasionally have more than two family members talking on the repeater along with others and it hasn't been an issue.

Just wait a little bit. I'm sure Negative Nancy/Nana NoNo will tell us how he talks 200 + miles on an HT.

This is very true. I can talk on the local 2m repeater that is 22.5 miles away from inside my house with my Icom IC-T10 and my Wouxun KG-Q10H. But that is not happening with my Baofeng GT-5R or Explorer QRZ1 (TYT UV-88). And UHF is going to be different than VHF. I can't get into the 70cm repeater at all with any of my HT's from my house. I've tried many locations in my yard to include standing on the roof. I can however get into the GMRS repeater with my Wouxun KG-935G and KG-Q10H in certain spots in my yard. All three repeaters are at the same location with the 2m and 70cm antennas at 900 feet and the GMRS antennas at 400 feet.

Why do you insist on being so damn negative?

I find the Tram antennas pretty easy to tune following their instructions. I tuned my Tram 1174 for 467 and the SWR is a slightly lower on 462. I mostly use the local repeater at 467.600 and the SWR is 1.4 and it is 1.2 at 462.600. I could have kept messing with it but figured 1.2 and 1.4 was good enough. I have the luck of the Irish and stopped there so I didn't cut too much off.

Well technically the AnytoneAT-D578UV III is a tri-band 2m/1.25m/70cm amateur radio with DMR. Yes they can be opened up for GMRS. I have not seen the Midland MXT500/575 or Wouxun KG-1000G ever cost over $400. Mot of the time they are right around $380. Those are the most expensive Part 95 certified GMRS radios that I know of. We will just have to wait and see what happens. And tariffs against China will affect some Yaesu models too since certain models are made in China.

It never hurts to have multiple layers of security. But a determined thief will not be stopped if they want something bad enough. My home security is a little different. I have a big dog that is half Great Pyrenees and half lab mix along with several cats. I have red lasers that track movement. The lasers will get the cats attention and they will fiercely attack what ever the lasers are pointing at. And that noise will get the dog's attention. The dog will finish what the cats started. All of which gives me plenty of time to react if I am home.

The cost is actually $25 for each program and an extra $15 for both Windows and Mac versions by contacting RT Systems at time of purchase. RT Systems does not charge sales tax, or at least I didn't get charged the few times I purchased from them. I haven't had a chance to mess with the KG-1000G CPS yet but the RT Systems CPS is easier to use for my Icom radios compared to the Icom CPS.

Though you do have to take into account the Doppler shift as the ISS moves across the sky. The Doppler shift causes the frequencies to shift as the ISS moves. I know I know, too geeky for most

No you can't because they will have different serial numbers. And you need a valid serial number which is tied to the version you purchased.

That will definitely improve things for you.

This is one case where more power can help. Can you raise your base antenna any to help?

That is one way of doing things just as using call signs is another.

I have not tried that.

An update for those interested. RT Systems has now released a Mac version for the Wouxun KG-1000G/KG-1000G Plus and is available for purchase.