WRYZ926

I'm still using the Fluke 73 III that I bought 25 years ago. It does most everything I need it to do. I have a new Klein clamp meter for amperage reading when needed

How did the solder joints look on the antenna? Did you buy a complete cable or did you get bulk cable and install the ends yourself? The destructive way to see if water has gotten into the coax from the connectors is to cut the connectors off and examine the dielectric. The dielectric material will discolor when it gets wet. I've seen issues with bulk head and other adaptors where the treaded portion of the SO239 was too short and that can cause problems too. Another issue is a mismatch of threads IE standard versus metric or the thread pitch was off a little. I've had troubles with less expensive 90 degree PL259 to SO239 adaptors and with Pl259 to PL259 adaptors. They caused issues with SWR.

Negative Nancy AKA Mr 200 Miles just can't resist can he.

Our 70cm antenna is at 900 feet and we get about a 35-40 mile radius of coverage. Our GMRS antenna is at 400 feet and we get 30-35 mile radio of coverage. And both bands have same dead spots depending on the terrain and trees. Our 2m antenna is also at 900 feet and we get a 80-85 mile radius with it. I mention it to show the difference between VHF and UHF. The 2m and 70cm repeaters actually use the same set of antennas and go into a diplexer.

Good idea. And a new voltage regulator should fix it. You definitely don't have to worry about computer modules always on and putting a constant drain on the system with a vehicle of that age.

Man oh man what are we going to do with you two. Only 12 donuts and a 24 pack of beer for all of us. Fer shame Fer shame Fer shame.

Use a Klein or Fluke, it really won't matter as both are more accurate than the cheap Amazon and Fleabay meters. I've owned and used both brands over the last 25 years and used them both in industrial maintenance setting dealing with everything from 12 V DC control voltage up to 480 V AC three phase. And don't rely on the built in voltage readings that some radios show at startup either. They will generally show between 0.1 to 0.3 volts higher than what a good multimeter shows.

I checked and there is not any recalls for my 2023 Escape. There is only one customer satisfaction notice to have the driver's side seat belt buckle replaced. I know there were recalls for earlier Escapes along with the Bronco Sport and Mavericks for over charging. I don't remember if that was for all of them or certain models/engines. I have the 2.0L Ecoboost in my Escape. I just checked and it seems the over charging recall is for the hybrid versions. One should never see 15 volts on charging IF the vehicle is a daily driver. Unless you are only taking short drives daily. Newer vehicles have to be driven at least half an hour to fully charge the battery under normal use. If you are seeing 15 volts all of the time on a daily driver then definitely get it into the dealer.

I forgot to add that when my Escape sits for a week I hardly ever see a spike in voltage over 14.8 volts. Now if it sites for two weeks or more, then I do sometimes see it spike to 15.1 volts.

He should take the truck in for testing no matter if it is an external or internal regulator. Seeing a spike of 15 volts is okay at startup IF the voltage drops right away to 14-14-4 volts. A quick spike is common with newer vehicles since all of the computer modules runs 100% of the time even when the vehicles aren't running. There is always small but constant drain. What is not common is for the charging voltage to stay at 15v all of the time. I don't drive my vehicle very often and it can sit anywhere from 1-2 weeks without starting. And I do see a very short peak of 15.1v at startup when I haven't started the vehicle in a week or more. But the voltage always drops back down to 14.3 volts within a few seconds.

Definitely have the voltage regulator checked. The highest voltage I have ever seen on my 2020 Ford Ranger or 2023 Ford Escape is 15.1 volts and that is only at startup after the vehicle has been sitting for a few days. And it drops down to 14.3 quickly. Both vehicles have the Ecoboost engines with the Auto Start-Stop systems and Battery Management System. It is not unusual to see a spike up to 15.1 or 15.3 Volts at startup if the vehicle has not been ran for a while. But it should drop to 14.0-14.4 with in a few seconds. I never turn my radios on right away when I start my Escape for that reason. I let the voltage drop back down to 14.3 V first.

You're right, it's not the end of the world. It's sad that too many companies have bad customer service now days. I'm waiting to see how long a certain company takes to get me a return label for the items I received that I did not order and also how long it takes to get the items I did order. I ordered an Icom IC-2730B and received a Yaesu FT65 instead.

Sound similar to the response I got from Bridgecom when I contacted them about the CW ID cutting people off. Their reply after I had to ask several times was to just shut the ID off.

WHAT??????? You only brought 12 power rings for all of us????? Happy Easter everyone.

As I mentioned on my last post (just above your reply) that I downloaded a copy last night and the restriction notice is no longer there.

The saying "never bite the hand that feeds you" definitely fits here. A lot of people over there like to give long and convoluted replies trying to show their superior intellect while proving just the opposite. I made a reply on radio reference one time and kept things as simple as possible so anyone could understand the answer and quite a few jumped on me for it.

I just downloaded a copy and yes the restrictions are no longer on the license.

What I posted is a photo of my license that I downloaded and printed in October 2023.

I was issued my license on 11 October 2023 and the form is FCC 605-G August 2007 and as you can see the restriction is on my license.

Well it sure is on my license. Here is a photos of mine.

Yet they still put those restriction on GMRS licenses. Or at least they did as of October 2023.

When was that change made? I just looked at the copy of my GMRS license that I saved to my computer in October 2023 and it still states the Lina A/Line C restrictions.

The maximum run of LMR400 I am willing to use on 70cm or GMRS is 100 feet. And you definitely have more loss once you get to 80 feet or more. I kept the LMR400 run to my base GMRS antenna at 35 feet and 80 feet for my dual band antenna. Just personal opinion here. But if I had a run that was over 100 feet between a GMRS repeater and its antenna(s) then I would look at using 7/8 hard line. there is not a whole lot of difference between LMR400, 1/2 heliax, and 7/8" heliax when talking about 50 feet or less. But there is a definite difference once you get to 100 feet or more, especially once you go up to 7/8" heliax.

I went with the seat bolt mount because the Ford Escape only has two cup holders and I didn't want to lose one of them. My brother's GMC 2500 has four cup holders up front so he went with a Lido cup holder mount. There are lots of options and sometimes you have to think outside the box.

The down and dirty simple answer here is to either use two separate mono speakers or use a dual mono to stereo adaptor to a stereo speaker with separate left and right speakers. And the only stereo speakers I can find on Amazon all have rechargeable batteries or need a separate USB power supply.