GreggInFL
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Posts posted by GreggInFL
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Anyone have a feel for the typical capacity utilization of a typical repeater? I know, it is situational but, IMHO, goes to the question of whether a repeater should be private (with the understanding that the tones can be scanned to defeat that effort).
If I put up a repeater I will leave it open until such time that the traffic is taking up a large portion of the capacity and keeping others off. There would be no incremental cost to me if one more stranger uses it when it is mostly idle.
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Thanks everyone. Good stuff.
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Interested; in the same situation. Our neighborhood is 1,500 acres, generally rectangular with the longest distance ~3 miles. ASL ranges from 30' to 70' with thick vegetation. I've tested 5W HTs and they make a scratchy connection when one is at a high spot; with both low it doesn't happen at all.
If I hosted a simple antenna on the roof (or, in the attic, keeping it out of the wind?) I'm guessing most everyone would have coverage. I'm new to this and that's a guess. Am I missing something fundamental?
Can one rent a repeater set-up to test the concept?
Did I mention that I'm new at this?
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4 hours ago, WSAB827 said:
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to introduce myself after joining this informative forum and receiving my GMRS call sign yesterday. I’m an over-the-hill family guy with 3 kids, beautiful wife and a little dog here in TX. When I have the time, I enjoy off-roading, archery, camping, shooting, swimming, fishing, hunting hogs, karate, learning history, shade-tree wrenching, and banging on drums - and am fairly mediocre at all of those pursuits.
I’m still very new to GMRS (and radio communications in general). I don’t have a GMRS radio yet and am researching both mobile and hand-held. I’m also reading and studying up for a Ham tecnhnician’s license that I hope to attain later on this year. In the meantime, I’d like to learn as much as I can about GMRS now that I got my GMRS license and possibly contribute when I can.
Welcome! I'm new to GMRS as well. I've found this group to be very helpful, extremely patient with the noobs and highly knowledgeable about GMRS -- and other invisible things that fly though the air. You're in the right place.
- WSAB827 and SteveShannon
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If I could take the General test online I would do it.
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On 11/25/2023 at 3:36 PM, back4more70 said:
I'll say that someone should go for General regardless, since it is not that much harder than Technician and grants plenty of extra privileges.
But one still must take the Technician test first, correct?
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Agreed. I have a pair and would recommend for a new user.
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Thanks, Steve. Makes sense. Didn't realize the gain loss was so high. I'm probably at 100' end-to-end.
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On 12/28/2023 at 1:14 PM, Sshannon said:
I would use the coax. It’s not perfect but it’s not terrible. It’ll prevent you from getting an swr better than 1.5:1, but most people are satisfied with that.
So, I could probably use the coax that DirecTV installed 29 years ago?
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6 hours ago, BoxCar said:
I suggest you contact a local ham club to see if they have access to a package that can model your proposed installation.
This sounds like the best approach.
A Mickey-Mouse test might be to grab a couple of HTs and try to get over that first hill. No guarantee that you could somehow extrapolate the results, but it scales to only ~2.5 miles and might tell you something.
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6 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:
google earth has the same too with a little more added info. right click on a line between two points and choose 'elevation profile'
Good to know. Thanks!
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Not a modeler, but I've found this useful: https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/
- WRHS218, WRQC299 and AdmiralCochrane
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Ah, that's right, the offsets are fixed in GMRS. Duh. If the small repeater's RX was something other than 462 it might work, but then it wouldn't be GMRS would it?
I'm familiar with the network linking.
Thanks!
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Probably a stupid question from a noob but I'll try it anyway: Any reason one could not set up a small repeater just big enough to reach the mega repeater down the street, i.e. the small TX = the mega RX?
TIA, and Happy New Year!
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What would one suggest for an Airstream? Is this the other extreme, a ground plane motherload?
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Ah, got it. Yeah, 446 won't work. Thanks!
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I'm thinking about brining my GMRS radio to Germany, assuming there is anything to hear. I'll stay away from the PTT button, so there are no licensing issues. Thoughts?
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Question (which may have been addressed in the previous pages, but I'm too lazy to check): Must one take the tech exam first? What if one wants to go straight to the general? Is that a no-can-do, or a sure-why-not?
Okay, three questions total.
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Trees are a big issue around here. I use that same repeater but come at it from the east, so there is little development and, being Florida, no mountains – just trees, trees, trees. If you can get past them you're golden. Any height is worth finding. I recently hung a UV-5R (rubber ducky antenna) out the car window from five miles east and was able to hit Orlando 700 while on a slight rise.
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On 10/29/2023 at 3:06 PM, JB007Rules said:
Attention Midwest GMRS users,
Tower rent is due for the Crete 600 tower on 10/31/2023 for a sum of $1584 for the year of 2023 ($132/month) which doesn't include the Verizon bill which is another $360/year ($30/month tax included on my grandfathered Verizon plan) totaling $1944. As of now I have a total amount $1408.89 in donations to pay for this rent leaving me at a negative $535.11. keep in mind that I've kept the donations in a high yield savings account as of April 2023 which has needed me an additional $25.35. Better than a stick in the eye I guess.
$660 was covered and paid on 11/29/22 which was rent for August 2022 thru December 2022 - 5 months
$1584 is for 12 months and while it's due on 10/31/23, rent is good through December 31st 2023
To cover rent through 12/31/2024, the total now increases to $2479.11. I've updated the Gofundme page to show a new goal of $4109 to reflect that.
I was clear out of the gate that I put this repeater in for hobby use and I'm not within it's usable coverage footprint (which is quite massive) 99.99% of the time. As such, to keep it in the air, I'm encouraging everyone to donate here otherwise, if I cannot cover the operational costs, I have zero incentive to keep this repeater online.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/crete-600-yearly-operation-costs
Thanks everyone who has donated thus far! Here's to a great 2024!
ROB - WRDU235
What size tower do you have? Curious because our group is deciding whether to rent or build.
GMRS repeater
in General Discussion
Posted
Welcome Alejandro.
I have the same radio and use this cable to program with a computer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V4D6F5F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. The software is the one used for the Radioddity GM-30. You can find it on this page: https://www.radioddity.com/pages/radioddity-download.
You can program manually off the screen, but I've found the computer to make life much easier.