WRYZ926

SOP hasn't changed, one still has to keep transmissions short to keep the enemy from triangulating your location. The Russians and Ukrainians are finding that out the hard way. Difference is you now have to worry about drones along with missiles and artillery. Signals are scrambled and most military radios use frequency hopping but the can still be located if they transmit too long.

The Kraken system is like a child's toy when compared to what federal agencies and the military have. Even the equipment we had in the 90's was still better than the Kraken. We had no problems triangulating exact Iraqi positions back in 1991. And don't think for a minute that the feds are not using that kind of equipment right now. Transmitting briefly is standard SOP when using any military radio and has been for a long time. Transmit too long in a combat zone and you will get a missile or artillery rounds down your throat.

People epoxy sheet metal to the underside of toppers all the time. And that works fine for a ground plane. Having good contact between the NMO mount and a sheet metal ground plane is what matters.

RG8X has around 86% loss over 100 feet while LMR400 has around 48% loss over 100 feet. Plus the fact that the center conductor, insulations (dielectric) and shield braid are bigger with LMR400 which helps reduce loss. @WRDJ205 your real world measurements are close to what most online coax loss calculators will show. While a j pole is not the best antenna, they work just fine. I've seen enough home made UHF j pole antennas built from solid copper wire that works well. No they won't have as much gain as other designs but nothing wrong with a J pole.

It depends on the agency and what equipment they have available to them. I know that 20-30 years ago, we had equipment in the military that could triangulate a transmitter quickly. Even today's systems such as the Kraken SDR can pinpoint a transmitter fairly quickly, and two or more Krakens in different locations and the time to pinpoint a location goes down. One Kraken will get you pretty close and do so in a reasonable amount of time. 2 Krakens will do it quicker and with more precision. Three or more Krakens will be even more accurate and take less time.

You will always lose some power output through a duplexer. The power loss can be anywhere from 30% to 50% depending on the duplexer and the repeater used. The Retevis and Midland 10 watt portable repeaters lose half. They only putout 5 watts after the duplexer. Why compromise your setup when you don't have to. Tune the duplexer for the exact repeater pair you plan on using for the best performance.

Tuning a duplexer for a single pair gives the best performance with minimal insertion loss and better isolation from other frequencies/channels. Yes you can tune a duplexer to cover all eight GMRS repeater pairs but that is a compromise. Doing this increases insertion loss and reduces isolation. Both will lead to poor performance. And the whole point of a duplexer is to isolate the repeater pair from other frequencies/channels.

This is true. We got away with way more when we were kids compared to today's kids. There were no cell phones and not many had the 16mm cameras to record stuff. And one could just throw away any photographs and negatives. On topic. It is pretty easy for law enforcement and the military to monitor and track two way radios and cell phones. They can't hide unless everyone leaves all electronic devices at home. Some people have had warrants issued or have been arrested by using cell phone data and/or security camera feeds.

It could be a number of different things causing the noise. Knowing what vehicle he is using and how it is powered will help. All of the LED bulbs and computer modules on newer vehicles can cause noise. I had to put clamp on ferrite beads on the wires powering my radios and I even put one clamp on ferrite bead on each end of the main wire going from my alternator to the battery on my 2023 Ford Escape. I still get an occasional whine when transmitting. But it doesn't happen often enough to chase down the source. Another thing people sometimes overlook are al of the LED street lights and LED bulbs used in homes. I know the cheap LED lights in my garage are very noisy on 2m, 70cm and GMRS. I don't dare try to use any 2m/70cm or GMRS radios inside the garage with the lights on. Power transformers are another source of noise if they are starting to go bad and/or have bad connections. Solar panels are another source of noise.

Here is the difference between the 2730A and 2730B for those interested.

An old thread brought back from the dead. The 2730A is a nice radio. I do find that it does not do so well on GMRS with the MARS MOD compared to other modded/unlocked radios or Type 95 certified GMRS radios. I can highly suggest the 2730B with black screen over the 2730A with its white screen. The $50 difference is worth it. The 2730B screen is so much easier to see in bright sunlight and easier on the eyes at night.

More information will allow us to help you better. Noise can come from many sources. Alternators, spark plug wires. cheap LED lights, using an accessory port, wiring directly to the fuse panel, etc. The best way to connect any two way radio in vehicles is to run the radio's positive wire directly to the positive battery terminal while running the radio's ground wire to a chassis ground. You do not want to use the battery negative terminal, especially on newer vehicles equipped with battery management systems.

I would buy a pre tuned antenna if just starting out in radio. It will be much simpler and easier for you. A good antenna analyzer or NanoVNA is a must if you are going to properly tune any antenna. There are plenty of free online calculators and phone apps for figuring out the lengths of different types of antennas. A friend has a big roll of solid core 75 ohm cable that he uses for making 2m, 70cm, and GMRS j pole antennas. It's not difficult with knowledge and the proper tools to include analyzers/NanoVNAs. I will say that there is a bit of a learning curve with a NanoVNA. A good antenna analyzer won't be cheap. I have made a few wire antennas for the HF amateur bands but I could not have done it without an analyzer or NanaVNA.

Microwave ovens are faraday cages. You can always put your phone into a faraday bag and then into a microwave. I don't suggest turning the microwave on while the phone or bag are inside. Faraday clothe, just like any other type of clothe, will have holes in the weave which will let some RF pass through. Ideally one would want to use the tightest weave faraday clothe and place that inside a metal container. Ideally one would remove the battery also. But most modern smart phones do not have removable batteries without having to disassemble the phone.

That would be a lot of hugs. I'm 1 of five boys and all of us are married, plus five grandkids.

My Mom is 75 years young today.

I know what today is. It's my mom's birthday. It just happens to fall on Friday this year.

Not all faraday bags are created equal. Better double up on them if using cheap bags from Amazon or eBay. Or stick them in a faraday bag and then into an all metal container.

Seeing higher return power would be due to the antenna having a high SWR as it is reflecting power back down the coax. That's why a dummy load should be used to test power output as the dummy load is a perfect 50 ohm match and should show a 1:1 SWR. That takes out coax loss and reflected power returning down the cable.

I still have a ways to go before I reach @SteveShannon status

You are seeing loss from the coax and/or the antenna. Using quality coax and a good antenna with some gain will help overcome any loss. A dummy load will show a perfect match of 50 ohms, there won't be any loss with the dummy load. @OffRoaderX was that a simple response? I know I have a ways to go to catch up to @SteveShannon

Only if you remove the battery.

I found the thread where I posted my power output results with the Q10H. It is in this thread. about the 935G https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/9435-kg-935h-power-results/#comment-98687 I tested mine on high power and not ultra high. I always forget that the Q10H has the ultra high setting. 2m - 4.43 watts 1.25m - 2 watts 70cm - 5.9 watts 6m - 1.5 watts GMRS - 3.5 watts MURS - 1.5 watts I have never used or tested the ultra high setting on my radio. As Steve mentioned, 1-1.5 watts is not going to make a difference.

I will have to find the other thread where I posted the output power levels on all band with my unlocked Q10H. From what I remember, they are similar to what @WRUU653 posted.

Yes it can be confusing. At least Midland puts a chart in their manuals, that does help until you learn the codes.