WRYZ926

Here is an interesting video to watch. How the FCC Finds & Fines Radio Pirates, Jammers and Interference Generators

I agree with you. The FCC stated themselves that is what they will actually take into account before thinking about investigating. That does not mean they will actually do anything. Their own track record shows they do not do much at all.

The FCC won't even think about looking into things UNLESS threats have been made on air by the ID10T. And the FCC still won't get into any hurry. You have to have things well documented before submitting complaints to the overlords. Otherwise, do as Randy has said. Track the ID10T down and try talking to them. If that doesn't work, send a cease and desist letter. And if neither of those options work then it's time for a good old fashion attitude adjustment in front of his family and friends. A fourth option is to get a nice focused log periodical type antenna and park out front of the ID10T's house and jam him every time he decides to show his fourth point of contact to the world.

I can say that the Bingfu definitely has less than stellar real world reviews from people that have tried them. I would say the other two are probably no better.

You might not find any dual band antennas that fits your needs then. The shortest dual band I could find is the COMPACtenna Model 2M/440 Dual-Band NMO Mobile Antennas 2M/440 which is 7" tall. I have no idea how well those work since I have no experience with them.

I can definitely recommend the Comet SBB-1 NMO antenna for 2m and 70cm.It is only 16" long. I am height restricted myself and the Comet SBB1 just clears my 7 foot garage doors in the center of the roof on my 2023 Ford Escape. Another good option is the Comet SBB-2 which is 18" long. I tested my SBB-1 on GMRS and the SWWR was 1.8 at 467.600, so it is usable for GMRS.

And nothing wrong with that either. I find that I learn best by hands on.

While one can tune a duplexer with a NanaVNA, how accurate is that going to be. And you really want the duplexers spot on when there are other repeaters on site and/or other GMRS repeaters in the area. As we all know RF can do weird things. I'll say it again, ask around with your local amateur radio clubs and see where they get their duplexers tuned. Most of those people will be more than happy to help.

Well it never hurts to have plenty of different adaptors on hand, especially if you have your amateur license and like to do POTA and SOTA or other portable setups.

I ordered a set of SMA to BNC adaptors from Amazon not too long ago. They work with my Baofeng, Explorer (TYT), Icom, Quansheng, and Wouxun HT's. I mostly bought them so that I can use a loop antenna or hand held yagi for fox hunting and chasing down kerchunkers and jammers. onelinkmore SMA to BNC Kits 2 Set RF Coaxial Adapter Male Female Coax Connector 8 Pieces

My battery was showing 99% when I tested.

I have to agree with everyone else, I would not try to tune a duplexer using a NanoVNA. We have member in our local club that retired from Sound Solutions and he still has access to all of the proper equipment to tune duplexers for us. A person really does need the proper equipment if they want to do it right. @WSGB808 I suggest reaching out to any local amateur radio clubs near you and ask them.

The lack of activity on the 1.25m band in my area is another reason why I have not bought a 1.25m radio. I do have the Wouxun KG-Q10H quad band. Here are the power output levels on the KG-Q10H using a Surecom SW-102 into a dummy load. 1.25m - 1.4 to 1.6 watts 2m - 4.5 to 5.1 watts MURS - 1.4 to 1.8 watts 70cm - 4.1 to 4.5 watts GMRS - 4.1 to 4.6 watts 6m - 1.0 to 1.3 watts Power output will vary slightly depending on the frequency/channel on each band. And output levels are what I expected on each band. Tri band and quad band radios are a compromise. A mono band for 1.25 and 6m is ideal for the max power output on mobile radios.

Good to know about the Alinco. I'll keep that in mind.

The problem with most 50 watt tri-band radios is that they will only do 5 watts max on 1.25m. And HT's will be more like 1 watt or 2 watts on 1.25m. That's why I will not buy a tri-band radio. And right now the only two mono band 50 watt 1.25m mobile radios available is the Alinco DR-CS25T or the TYT TH-9000. And there is the 30 watt Bridgecom BCM-220. But none of those three radios get the best reviews, especially on e-ham. It's a darn if you do and darn if you don't thing with 1.25m mono band radios. The big 3 manufacturers don't make them because there is not much of a demand. And no one wants to use 1.25m in most areas because no one makes a good 1.25m mobile. I would use a tri band if we could get at least 20 watts on 1.25m or even a mono band radio if a good quality one was available new.

There probably is something to that. The temps here have been swinging from highs of 25 to 60 and lows from 18 to 50 in the last week or so. And I have been hearing a GMRS repeater for the last few days that I normally do not hear at all. The repeater is about 50 miles east of me. Now I have not heard any good band openings like I did in October. I fully understand others when they deal with two or more repeaters on the same channel and being in the middle of both. The repeater 50 miles east of me is on the same channel as a repeater that is 50 miles west of me. The west repeater uses PL tones while the east repeater does not use any tones. I normally do not hear the east repeater since its antenna is not very high and there is enough hills in between.

GMRS is a great way to get kids into radio. And that is one of the many reasons we installed a GMRS repeater. It is a good way to get new people into radio, and they might end up also getting their amateur radio licenses in the process. I doubt that a 9 year old would be bothered about talking on a repeater as long as he gets to talk to grampa. We have a 7 year old that gets on our GMRS repeater to talk to his papa and grammy all of the time. He also enjoys talking to others on the repeater. And the rest of us always smile when he gets on the air. Go ahead and try hand held radios. You both might get into a repeater just fine and even be able to talk to each other on simples. Or you can always setup mobile antennas (on cookie sheets) or base antennas and still be fine with HT's The 7 year old uses an HT with a home made j pole antenna inside his house that his papa built. They live both live about 7.5 miles away from the repeater. He gets into the repeater just fine with the j pole inside.

I was given a brand new Melowave antenna recently and rewatching your video on the Midland Ghost and Melowave Shadow is what made me decide to keep it and try it out on the wife's car.

I use two of the Midland mag mounts on my Ford Escape without any issues. And a Melowave mag mount on the SxS. Both do well even with the Comet 2x4SRNMO.

You should be happy with the 2x4SR. They work well for 2m, 70cm, GMRS, MURS, and public safety frequencies. That is what I use on my SxS and it works well. I have to stick with antennas that are no taller than 20" on my Ford Escape in order to fit into the garage.

I'm another that is not impressed with the Nagoya UT-72G. My Tram 1174 does a better job. I have a Melowave Shadow that I am going to try out on the wife's car to see how it does with my KG-XS20G.

The information is found on the University of YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsXFtMe_-Eo

Did you get the KG-Q10H or the KG-Q10G? The G model is locked down to GMRS only while the quad band H model can be opened up.

Yes aluminum will work as a ground plane. You would need some actual steel somewhere for the magnetic mount to stick to. And @WRXB215 is correct, you need at least a 6" radius all the way around the antenna for a good ground plane. I actually use a 40" by 24" expanded metal cargo rack on the back of my SxS with the mag mount centered on the rack. That works just fine for me.

Most Sky Warn nets are held on 2m repeaters. As others have said, there really isn't much to gain by changing out HT antennas. Yes you might get a little better improvement, but it won't be much. Your best option is to hook a HT up to a mobile or base antenna that is properly setup. If you are wanting/needing something for portable use then I will suggest one of the roll up J Pole antennas. There are a few designs out there. Some are made from twin lead/ladder line and there are some made from faraday clothe. If you are interested in a faraday clothe j pole and don't want to build your own then check out https://vfcomms.com. They sell faraday clothe j pole antennas for 2m, 70cm, 6m, and GMRS.