WSAA254

It may be of help to use the programming software or chirp. It seems to be easier to visualize what is going on. I use chirp, and its worked out well. I am also using a wouxun kg1000 plus, I just add another channel for a specific repeater, instead of trying to change the built in channels. Below is an example of the chirp added channels. Hope this helps. The freq on the left are the receive freq, the +5 on the right shows the extra 5 meg to hit the repeater ( this is what you are transmitting)… good luck

You may have some challenges. I use the compactenna scan-III for gmrs, and swr results for 2 meter is not great but acceptable. Another user mentioned the compactenna dual band for 2M and 440. Its a little shorter (7 inch). The scan-III is 9 inches. Best of luck...

Just another piece of data. I use a compactenna scan III. I use this in a base station setup, however its only 9 inches tall, and it primary use model is mobile. I added the gnd plane, which you won’t need for mobile. I have attached a few photos showing swr etc. all info is good info… best of luck swr numbers for 2meters is around 2, gmrs ranges in the 1.2-1.4 range. there are probably less expensive solutions, but all info is good info… I have seen front fender installs of the compactenna, with good swr numbers. The radiation pattern may be somewhat odd given its mounting position, but corners are one of the recommended install locations. Best of luck

excellent synopsis. I look at antenna gains sort of like squeezing jello. You only have so much energy, so you can shape it (yagi/beam). Its all trade-offs. Depends on your unique situations/requirements. Best of luck.

In IC physical design we refer to this as a "star routing". The currents involved in the IC world are on the micro scale, but ANY difference in a GND potential can results in voltage drops, the last thing you want are to different GND potentials. This whole antenna grounding/station grounding as been hashed over quite abit, so go with acceptable standards as outlined in established Antenna ground standards and you will be fine. With a issue thats been around for so long, don't try and re-invent the wheel. All info is good info, regards Its important that all grounds be at the same potentials. So they need to be robustly tied. Last thing you want is a possible voltage potential between two grounds. If you curious search for "star routing" to see examples. Star routing may be more applicable to the IC design world, but the fundamentals are the same. A few ohms difference in gnd routes, may work for very small currents, but hi current spikes may lead to voltage potentials on what you think may be a ground. Unless of course your intent is to make a ground loop, then all bets are off.

All interesting data points. Just to add something, years ago (50) I had a hw-16 (all tube cw only). Did not have a swr meter, but was working on 80m at the time. I probably used this for two years, then got a swr meter, (hw-16 fed a dipole) checked it, and saw a swr of 6:1. Very bad, however at the time I was in TN and contacted someone in SC at the time. 6:1 is not good of course, sold the hw-16 later, the guy who bought it had the tubes checked out, and the final output tube was a little "weak" but all still worked. So I agree, bad swr numbers are not the kiss of death. low is good, but if not its not the end of the world.. All the best regards

For what its worth, another data point depending on your situation. I use the programming cable, interface to a MAC using chirp. The buttons are programmed under the config section. See a screen shot below. Hope this helps. All info is good info... regards

Sorry for the delay, but you are correct, I did get it from DX engineering. Hi quality materials, a little costly but worth it. I have shoulder issues, so an easy way to tilt antenna was important. I have seen less expensive solutions, but doubt if you can find something with this quality. best of luck

As usual there are always a few different solutions. I use a single antenna with a scanner(sdr) and gmrs (wouxun kg1000). I use a antenna switch between the two. The antenna I use is a compactenna (there are probably less expensive solutions), however this seems to work quite well. The swr numbers for gmrs are in the 1.2-1.4 range, the antenna is advertised as a SCAN-III antenna. The scan ranges given are 100mhz to ~1ghz. I went with a single antenna for a few reasons and so far it has been a very good solution. Whatever you choose just make sure and use good lmr400 coax. Low quality coax can really attenuate any signal to or from the antenna. Best of luck

I probably can't add much info regarding radio/coax/antenna. However regarding a tilting mechanism this has worked out well for me. There are many other solutions also but all info is good info. Hindsite I would have put another 5ft of pole up, also used a longer 4x4. The 4x4 is in concrete about 2ft in the gnd. I was trying to stay away from to much supporting hardware, so the antenna is only about 10ft in the air. Higher is better, I went with a physically smaller antenna (its used in mobile applications) since I was concerned about wind loading. we are in fairly consistant 20-30mph winds with gusts to 70. this happens about 2-3 months out of the year. The pole I used is a 1.66 inch galvanized pole, its plenty rigid and I have no other supporting hardware other then the brackets on the 4x4. Best of luck -- jim

I can't really add anything to what has already been said regarding coax etc. Regarding the antenna, and your need to raise/lower it in storms, I am in a very windy area, where we can consistantly get 20-30 mph for days, and have seen gusts to 70mph, so this was my concern regarding antenna etc. Hindsite what it is I would have put the antenna up another 5ft, however I did not want to attach much supporting hardware etc. (guywires etc). I only put the antenna up about 10ft, but given our elevation here is around 4000ft its kind of relative. The repeater I work out of mainly is around 6500ft so it seems to work well. I have attached a few photos on the tilting mechanism I use, there are much cheaper setups its just what I went with. I use the antenna in conjunction with a antenna switch, which when in the COM location it grounds the antenna, I was more concerned about static discharge than direct lightening. your situation may be different. Best of luck

I believe its already been mentioned that small differences in coax, connections etc may explain part of it. I have taken my SWR reading before and after a antenna switch and see a .1 change. I think these small "parasitic loads" can have an effect. When you see folks make a antenna placement change on a car and see much larger differences than you mention, it hints at the differences that these "parasitic elements" make. Either way with such low numbers I think you are good. All the best

Agreed on the LMR400. Its easy to lose 1-2db at 75ft if your not using a hi quality low loss cable. Regarding antenna, whatever you pick, height/line of site to repeater is everything. I can hit a repeater 50 miles away at 5 watts, and my antenna is only about 10ft off the ground (outside). However the repeater is about 1500ft higher in elevation than where I am at. Hindsite what it is, I would not go over 20 watts. more is better if you trying to punch through trees etc, but line of site rules. Interesting you mention a scanner also, I use a antenna that works very well with a sdr and my gmrs. I use a antenna switch. The antenna I use is compactenna, a little pricey but very flexible regarding frequency range. Its only about 4-5 db gain, so there are probably better solutions for gmrs only, but if your after broad frequency coverage its worth looking at. The first image is the antenna, there fairly small, so atic would work, but like I said a little pricey. The 2nd picture is the antenna switch showing connection to sdr only. Best of luck.. regards

All of these replies regarding the use of CHIRP has been entertaining. I use chirp and its always worked well. I am on a MAC so have fewer options. Bottom line, use what works for you. The best piece of programming software is the one that works for you in your situation. I will admit there is a little decoder ring regarding chirp, however posts in this thread has pointed to manuals, and given good info regarding usage/programming of TONES. Best of luck.. regards

if you don't have a SWR meter or a nano vna to check, it gets down to "trust me". if the antenna is a reasonable quality built for gmrs, and your using quality coax and connectors, connect it up and see if you can hit a repeater. Does that antenna advertise any SWR results or do other folks use the same antenna etc. Outside of that its "trust me"... best of luck. The antenna I use give a ~1.4 swr, I did no tuning etc. used it "out of the box"

Yes, a number of dual band will provide a solution. I use a compactenna scan-III for sdr and gmrs, and I have good swr numbers in gmrs and 2 meter. See the attached jpg files. I also use a antenna switch, to switch from the gmrs to the sdr, works very well. The 1st of 2meter 2nd is 420-470 sweep and last is 462-467. You may get slightly better results with other antennas, the compactenna is a very broadband, but it can be done. Regarding antenna switches, there are a number of options, the one I use the "active" feed connects to the radio in question, the other lines are GROUNDED. So just be aware to switch to the correct radio, or you could end up transmitting into a hard ground connection. All info is good info.. Best of luck

Your in business. Go with it. SWR can be affected by so many things. I swear I have seen a flea fart and change SWR. best of luck

This may be a little late, and may not apply since this refers to a non-repeater. I use chirp on a mac m1, programming a kg1000 plus. So far so good. The latest version of chirp will run on mac m1 or the mac intel (depends on os version). I have a old mac (late 2013) that won't run the latest chirp. However the new mac m1 will.. Good luck.. regards

I am using CHIRP next version 20240419. I have also used previous versions. I use it on a mac airbook m1, seems to work very well. Apple complains about the app not being from there app store, but you can ok the execution of the app under settings. (sure windows is sort of the same). Have been using it about 3 months, so far so good. Best of luck... regards

Just found this thread. Excellent information. Appreciate everones input. Helped confirm a lot of chirp/wouxun kg1000 plus information. Again thanks to all..

I use chirp on a mac m1, for the wouxun kg1000 plus. One thing I have noticed, if the repeater input and output tones are the SAME, and you startoff with "cross" it will set the tone to "tone" then only enter one tone for the xmit, or depending on how you start out, if you set it to TQSL, and there both the same, it will put the single tone on the input squelch column. A little confusing, I kind of see what they are doing, but it takes some reading between the lines. I would much prefer to just set both tones and be done. However I can see the benefit of opening up the recv tone in some situations (how mine is currently defaulted to). If that were the case it would be nice to set the recv tone to "all" so there removes any ambiguity. That would simply mean you would get no "extra" level of filtering on what what xmitted from the repeater, The "gate" to the repeater would simply be depending on what you xmitted to it, to have access. Not to confuse things, but there are times where you have to read between the lines on what chirp is doing. I am going to do some test to set the radio manually on some of these "tones" then download from radio to the computer and see how it comes through.. All the best.. all info is good info... regards

I have been using CHIRP on a mac book m1 for about 3 months now. Now this is on a wouxun kg1000 plus, but CHIRP supports a ton of radios. You may try the manufacturers website first since there software may be more tightly aligned with your specific radio, than CHIRP. I went with CHIRP since wouxun did not support mac m1. So far all works. try https://chirpmyradio.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home . best of luck UPDATE: You may end up using CHIRP, but only for programming. Any firmware would be by the manufacturer of the radio

Elevation is everything. Best distance I have is 50 miles at 5 watts. If it were not for the elevation of the repeater, there is no way I could do it... best of luck

I use a compactenna scan-III. It is a wide band antenna, that give good results in the gmrs bands. I also use this antenna with a SDR, and on a routine bases get NOAA, AM broadcast, I have even picked up some weather satelite data (137.1). Below are my swr results for a number of bands. I think there are better GMRS specific antennas, however for my setup, it works quite well. The first pic is swr at 462 and 467, the second is 420 to 470, third is 2 meters. I have also shown the switch setup I use to switch from the GMRS to sdr setup. I have the wouxun kg1000 plus, but find myself using it primarily for GMRS, When setting it up I confirmed it worked for NOAA/FM etc, however for my use, the wouxun is probably overkill, since I don't use all its capabilities. Best of luck

Could not agree more. I ASSUME if the radio has some degree of complience standard, and the radio manufacture has been around awhile, it should be ok. No spurious emissions, etc. All I have is a nano vna, I have never verified that the wouxun xmits at the power advertised. Course if I had to make a choice on selecting a really "clean" transmission, or the last watt out, I will take the "clean" transmission. xmit power is more of a advertising point, as oppose to what it really means. Great content, and information.. all info is good info. regards