WRYZ926

You are correct on that one. Glad that the Slim Jim's working for you.

Yeah it will surprise you when testing a HT antenna's SWR with something like the Surecom-102. The SWR can be all over the place since there is not a good enough ground plane. I've seen big differences when checking the same antenna with my Surecom-102 and my Comet CA-500 analyzer.

Your antenna must be extremely narrow banded or something is wrong for you to get those kind of SWR readings. Normally you will find SWR around 1.0 - 1.2 on 462 and up to 1.8 on 467. Or you will get 1.0 - 1.2 on 467 and up to 1.8 on 462 with most antennas.

What you can do is use one of the many empty memory slot to program other repeaters into the radio. You can program as many repeaters into empty memory slots as you want. You can even have repeaters with teh same frequency/channel but different PL tones programmed into memory.

My condolences to the family. He was at the Collinsville, Il ham fest last month and his grandson tested that day. A couple of guys from my club got to talk to him that day. He will be missed. Maybe his grandson will get his call sign.

You won't be able to use multiple repeaters unless they are linked together.

Yes Part 95 certified GMRS Radios have the 5.0 MHz offset pretty much pre programmed for you. I would still double check though. Now 2m/70cm radios that have been unlocked will normally require you to manually input the offset.

I've never gotten a really good SWR reading on my HT antennas when using the Surecom SW-102 for the reasons already mentioned. I do get good SWR reading when I use my Comet CA-500 antenna analyzer though. The Comet is bigger than HT's with a nice flat surface where the antennas mount. But I still get higher SWR readings on some HT antennas with the Comet analyzer yet they work just fine when attached to the radios. As others have said, don't rely on testing HT antennas for SWR, you can get misleading results.

Welcome to the forum. I can definitely recommend the Wouxun KG-XS20G, especially if you plan on having a radio in a SxS. I use the XS20G with a Comet 2x4SR antenna in my SxS and have no issues reaching the local repeater. I also always get good signal reports and am told that my transmissions are always clear.

I use a 9dB gain antenna for 2m and 70cm for the range. While there are a few hills and valleys around me, there is also a lot of fairly flat open farm ground too. A 5 or 6 dB antenna normally is better for areas with lots of hills/mountains and forests.

And that is why I said "up to". And when it happened to me, the other guys were using 50 watt mobile radios on high power at the time. I did not get that overload talking HT to HT.

The Baofeng/B-Tech radios are fine and they do work well enough. One of the issues with them is the sensitivity of their receivers, they will pick up all kinds of signals and noise. They are also easily overloaded by other radios in close proximity (1/2 mile or less). I own Baofeng and Wouxun HT's. The Wouxun radios are better in the following things: less susceptible to overload and noise clearer audio on transmit and receive better reception with the stock antenna Both brands will reach out the same distances. Generally superheterodyne receivers are better than system on a chip receivers. But this is not always the case. My Icom IC-T10 HT is SOC and is just as good if not better than my Wouxun HT's. The Quality of components matters too.

Glad to hear that you finally got CHIRP Next up and running.

The local GMRS repeater is 21.5 miles away. And it is hit or miss if I can be heard on the repeater with my HT. It depends on the atmospheric conditions. The same goes for the 70cm band too. That distance is easy for my HT on the 2m band.

Atmospheric conditions is one thing that affects radio waves. I made quite a few contacts last night on 40m when the storm came in. The storm went just north of me last night.

No need to re examine my reply. If phone service is down in one area but working in other areas then radio operators operating with in their license privileges can relay as needed in an emergency.

If I buy a new HT anytime soon it will most likely be the Wouxun KG-10H since it works on 4 bands out of the box and can be opened up too.

I know nothing, nothing

You can get used Motorola repeaters programmed how ever you want to include PL tones. Our radio club just bought one setup for the 2m band. Another option is a repeater from Bridgecom. We are using a Bridgecom repeater for our GMRS repeater which has been working well for us. I'll recommend the Comet CA-712EFC antenna for a home repeater if you are only wanting to put up one antenna.

That's still a large EMF considering a non suppressed 25Kw 208 3 phase generator only produces an EMF of a 150 foot radius.

That's one heck of an EMI field if it causes interference up to 3 miles away.

Interesting. I'm curious to know what you all find out about this.

25 watt mobiles will work fine in your situation as long as you all have good antennas to with them. A goos mag mount mobile antenna on a cookie sheet mounted on the side of the house facing your family will work pretty well. I mention 25 watt radios since they are cheaper than most good quality 50 watt radios.

The Comet CA-712EFC antenna is poplar GMRS base antenna. It is advertised as having 9dBi of gain and is tuned for GMRS. That is what I am using for my base antenna. 24-25 miles seems to be the max distance on simplex channels here in rural central Missouri. The guy I talk to at that distance is using the same antenna. His is on his tower about 35 feet up while mine is on my roof at 18 feet. We are both using Wouxun KG-1000G radios on high power. According to this website: https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/ we are just barely making it over the terrain for direct line of sight. Our GMRS repeater is 21.5 miles away from me and the antennas are at 400 feet above ground.

It's definitely aliens. I'm interested to know more information too.