GreggInFL

I've noticed this locally as well. Makes a good case for avoiding repeaters and simplexing with your group. Those repeaters are going to burn up with traffic with the next hurricane -- if they are still standing.

I'm usually stuck in the FL swamp with very little range on my HTs (two miles is worth a high five) but I found myself yesterday atop a seven-story parking structure beachside in the Daytona area with the ever-hated UV-5R and the OEM rubber ducky antenna. I asked myself, "Self, what are the chances of hitting Orlando700 from here?" So I keyed up and launched $18 worth of 5W of RF into the cosmos and damned if I didn't hit it. That's about 30 miles. Whoever first said "height is might" needs to repost that in bold italics.

Ah, thanks. Makes sense.

I feel your pain. When asked how far my HT will go I usually reply, "Half a mile, two if you're lucky." My 25W mobile with a mag mount is another story.

A.K.A Florida. Sigh.

Can you point to some info on that? I recall that Hurricane Sandy took out ~25% of the cell towers, but I've never seen any data more recent.

I'm impressed with the mast.

That's very smart. Hilarious, but smart. Well done, sir! How did you piece this together? Poles are easy to find, but what are you using for a base? How did you attach the pizza pan? Yes, I've used a similar adapter for 120 -> 12V.

Road trips with multiple vehicles and outdoor activities with friends. The value of radios when out of cell range is obvious, but I'm always amused when the "just use a cell phone" crowd realizes the radios free up the cell phones for other uses. Plus, texting in a car is not easy, and who wants to set up a conference call when there are 3+ users?

Welcome!

The mag mount uses a pizza pan for a ground plane. I placed it in the top shelf of a closet where it worked well for RX but not TX, so I'll have to move it to the attic or outside. The rig is in the vehicle now, but when I next have it inside I'll try those options.

If 265 DPL is the input tone of the repeater he wants to hit, wouldn't he put that in the TX DCS? I'm having a similar problem in that I can't find "DCS" as a tone option on Chirp for my UV-5R. EDIT: Okay, I found DTCS, which appears similar. I'll give it a try.

I've heard it referred to "CB on steroids" and "HAM radio for Dummies". Personally I prefer -- and qualify as -- the latter. (<- No ham ticket.)

I've nearly talked the HOA into putting up a repeater to be used post-hurricane, but some aren't convinced it would be worth the money. This is perfect for a dirt-cheap proof-of-concept demonstration. And I already have a pool-cleaning pole.

Yeah, 16 is the hailing frequency. If you linger there a grumpy person wearing a uniform will bark at you. 22a is the USCG channel for announcements. Never TX on 22a. I've noticed channel 9 is being used for hailing. Must be a policy change because when I took the CG Auxiliary class (centuries ago) it was reserved for emergencies.