WRYZ926

Good to know. I didn't even bother with the rubber duck antennas since I put the Abbree 771 antennas on right away.

I have a couple of Abree AR-771 antennas that came with my Baofeng UV-5R GMRS radios but I haven't tested them compared to the stock rubber duck antennas. I can say that an actual Nagoya 771 antenna is an improvement over the stock rubber duck on my Baofeng GT-5R dual band radio.

The rules can definitely seem convoluted at times. People having different opinions and interpretations of those rules don't help matters either.

I might have went overboard a little with my GRMS antenna. I have a Comet CA-712EFC mounted on a 40" J mount on top of the roof. I couldn't go any higher without chopping a tree down. I know the Comet and Tram antennas are popular here for a base antenna. I don't have my dual band antenna mounted yet so I am just using a magnet mount mobile antenna mounted to the side of my house with two shelf brackets and a cookie sheet. It working okay for 2m. I can hit a couple of repeaters that are within 30 miles of me.

That sounds about right for a HT given the circumstances. Now having a mobile radio setup as a base station with an antenna above your house will definitely increase the range. If you were inside a vehicle while using your HT then you did good. Vehicles will block a lot of signal. And it looks like you are going about things the right way by starting off with HT's and then deciding what you want /need as far as equipment goes. It is too easy to go crazy buying radios and such right away. An easy solution for vehicles would be a good antenna hooked up to your HT along with a hand mic. That saves you from having to buy a mobile radio right away and you can use the antenna for a mobile once you decide to get one.

Yes they were using illegal amplifiers if that was happening. CB radio is restricted to 4 watts. My buddy would scramble everyone's TV signals that were nearby when he would key up with his amp running. But that was back when hardly anyone had cable TV and only rich people had satellite dishes (the big ones).

Yep some myths just won't die.

I have the Baofeng GT-5R which is the same price and it works well for a $26 HT. The GT-5R definitely gets better reviews than the standard UV-5R. I can stand outside my house with the GT-5R and hit the repeater 20 miles away. Granted it is pretty flat around me. I am using a Nagoya 771 antenna on the GT-5R

The only things I have seen CB amps do is interfere with analog TV stations and light up a fluorescent light bulb. The 4 ft bulbs had to be right next to the antenna though. My buddy would key up his CB with amp next to mine and my CB radio never blew up.

Yes a 20 amp power supply will be plenty for a 20 watt radio. You could even run a single 50 watt radio on that power supply. Most 50 radios will draw around 12-13 amps at full power. Now if you think you might end up running two 50 watt radios at the same time then get a 30 watt power supply. One thing to remember with power supplies (and generators) is that they are rated for the maximum/peak amperage. On average the continuous amperage they will run is 80% of the peak amperage. So with your 20 watt PS, you can easily run up to 16 amps continuously.

I knew from the get go that there can/will be an issue running 70cm and GMRS at the same time with antennas close together like on a roof of a vehicle. I do have a little more room with the Escape versus a sedan to space the antennas out a little. Right now I am mostly using 2m and GMRS occasionally. The use of GMRS will change now that others in our club are starting to get GMRS radios. We discussed looking into a GMRS repeater on the 900ft tower that the 2m and 70cm repeaters are on.

November Oscar India Tango Delta Oscar Echo Sierra November Oscar Tango.

Well I sure won't try to transmit on 70cm and GMRS at the same time with both antennas on the roof of a vehicle. I probably won't even tune to 70cm while the GRMS is on. They are close enough in frequencies to cause issues. I was more concerned about 2m an GMRS. ANd I do appreciate all the helpful input from everyone. So please do not turn this into a pissing contest.

I'll stick with the phonetic alphabet that I learned in the military, which is the same as most amateur radio operators also use. It is not hard to learn.

@WRYU400 thank you for the information.

I have decided to go with a magnetic mount for now on the Escape. I will have to use a 15-16 inch tall antenna so I don't tear up anything pulling into the garage. Next question for the gurus. How far apart should I keep a 2m/70cm antenna and a GMRS Antenna while mounted on top of the Escape?

Make sure to use guy wires for everything sticking above your roof. 1 3/8" and 1 5/8" fence rails are flimsy when not supported.

One caution about about using fence top rail or even 1 5/8" fence posts connected together. You will want to support the poles by clamping them to a structure and/or using guy wires to support the mast. I am using three 8 foot 1 5/8" one posts connected together and they are pretty flimsy without any wall clamps. Two poles together sticks 2 feet above my roof. I will have ten foot of mast plus antenna sticking above my roof so I will have to guy it. The two lower poles are attached to the house with a couple of wall clamps. Grounding antennas, coax, etc can and does cause some arguments at times. I won't get into it other than to suggest reading the many books on the subject. There are also NEC codes and local building codes to abide by.

@OffRoaderX I kind of figured nothing really bad would happen other than things heating up.

A friend and I applied two weeks ago and it took four days from applying to receiving our license and call sign. It took 12 days from testing to receiving my amateur technician license. I tested on the 7th and received my license/call sign today.

That is definitely crossing the line. On subject. I like seeing different tests being done. I for one would like to see just how much damage transmitting on high power with no antenna will actually do to a radio.

I will recommend the Baofeng GT-5R for a cheap dual band radio. I've seen enough videos and did some testing of my own and the GT-5R is better than the standard UV-5R. And the GT-5R is $26.99. At that price, they do work and you won't cry much if one gets lost or broken. Ham Radio Crash Course did a good comparison of the GT-5R versus others. Keep a good HT for yourself and hand out the cheaper ones to others. There is a very high 2 meter repeater 20 miles away from me and I can use the GT-5 when outside my house to make contact with others on the repeater. It isn't the best signal since the radio is only 5 watts but it will work.

I was going to get a Wouxun KG-1000G but everywhere I looked is out of stock. I ended up getting a Midland MTX500 instead. The MTX500 arrives today and I still have to run cables to my outdoor antennas. I have a Comet CA-712EFC on one end of the house for GMRS. The base of the antenna is 17 feet above ground. If you happen to be a military veteran or otherwise qualify for membership at govx.com, then go through them for a discount. GovX has a 10% discount code for use on the MyGMRS web store. So the Midland MTX500 was actually cheaper than the normal price for the Wouxun KG-1000G. As far as hand held radios (HT's) go, I went cheap and bought a pair of Baofeng UV-5R GMRS radios. The pair is $51 on Amazon. For HAM, I have a Comet GP9 that is going on the opposite end of the house from my GMRS antenna and the antenna base will be 24 feet above the ground. I bought a Baofeng GT-5R to play with and it works fine. I am borrowing an older Icom IC-208H mobile dual band radio for now. I am just using a mobile antenna on a cookie sheet outside my window with the IC-208H. I decided to just start out with my technician license for now and the test is pretty easy as long as you study for it. I suggest taking one of the free practice exams online until you can pass with at least 85% before taking the real exam.

Thank you for the information @wayoverthere. And yes most things will be a compromise, especially since I do not want to drill any holes. The mount you linked looks like the best option as far as mounting on the lift gate. My Escape does have the factory roof rails but no cross bars.

That is the other main concern I have.