WSAH999

Ah see, that's where I went wrong, I swapped the input and output hole... rookie mistake.

One of the oldest forms of humor

Some helpful videos:

Another way to see satellite information is a nifty ($4.99) app called Orbitrack. It's a fairly straight forward app, a bit more intuitive than N2YO. The bottom bar scrolls left and right. Showing more options. Just like on N2YO you want to look at the culmination. That +53 is decent. Screen_Recording_20240222_145559_Orbitrack.mp4 This app also has a time change option to fully see the passes prediction. For $4.99 I think the app is very good.

This guide is not meant to be advanced or technical in anyway. It is for beginners, I write it with the mindset that anyone can pick up a radio* and pick up these signals. This is a guide specifically for NOAA APT weather satellites. (NOAA-15, NOAA-18, NOAA-19) This method can be expanded on to pickup other types of satellites too. But that is for another time. *The radio in question will have to be one that can receive 136mhz-140mhz roughly. (Most APT weather satellites transmit on 137.xxxmhz usually) First things first! We have to figure out the satellite orbit, and be able to track the satellite. Thankfully there are plenty of resources to do this. N2YO.com is arguably one of the best satellite tracking websites. From the homepage click the three little lines and click sign in. Create an account for yourself. Then we can set your location. Click 'Add a new location' to add your location. Once you've done that. Click the three lines again and click on Most tracked satellites. We are going to track NOAA-15. NOAA-15 transmits on the frequency 137.620mhz. Scrolling down shows a map and the information on the next pass over our location. From here we can (optional) choose to track the satellite for future purposes. Again you don't have to though. This information is good for the next pass, but what about future passes? Well the website has a 10-day prediction. So as you can see I circled some numbers. Long story short: the closer to 100 the better. Basically it's how directly over you the satellite will pass. At 87 it will be pretty much on top of our location. So all you have to do now is grab your radio, put in the frequency and wait... Well there's a few more things. You should be able to pick up a signal using just a regular HT(so long as it can receive in those frequencies) and a whip antenna. Even something like a UV5R can be used. Experiment with antennas. As you can see below I was using the normal rubber ducky antenna that came with the radio, sometimes signals also come in better when the radio is on it's side. Snapchat-1810112746.mp4 That is it for the guide for now. I won't go into decoding at the moment. I plan to make a guide about decoding. But using an HT is NOT recommended if you want to actually receive decent pictures, you'd want to probably use a SDR(Software defined radio). This guide was purely to show you how you can pick up the signals.

Here soon I plan on getting a personal GMRSLive (and eventually myGMRS) node up and going and hopefully documenting the process well enough that I can make a guide for here.

**Post is a sort of edited/updated version of this topic on the main forums. I also had no way to repost it, so all of the credit of this guide goes to: mcallahan Here is a step by step guide on how to obtain a GMRS license and call sign from the FCC. To obtain a GMRS license, one must file an application with the FCC and pay a $35 fee. No exam is required, and the license is valid for 10 years. The FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) is is an online portal to manage your FCC applications/licenses, and pay any applicable fees via a single account. The ULS eliminates the need for paper applications and submitting via snail mail. You may also view the status of pending licenses in the ULS. Once registered with the ULS, you will receive an FCC Registration Number (FRN). This is a 10-digit number that is assigned to a business or individual registering with the FCC, and is used to identify the registrant’s business dealings with the FCC. Once you have this ID number – save it! This will be your username to log in to the Universal Licensing System. One thing to note is that your call sign and license is public information and is easily searchable in FCC databases and other records. Should you choose to register with your home address, this will be visible to anybody if they have your call sign. Exposing personal information on the internet is a concern now more than ever, so one approach to limiting the amount of personal information in FCC databases is to use a P.O. Box as your contact address. Step 1: Create an FCC Universal Licensing System account If you are a first time user, create a new ULS account here (skip this step if you have an existing ULS account). Select “Register” to be issued a new FCC Registration Number: Some questions are asked before proceeding, then you can fill out an application with your name, address, password, etc: Step 2: Log in to the ULS After creating the account, or if you have an existing ULS account, log in here. Use your existing FCC Registration Number (FRN), or the FRN provided after completing the first step. Once you are logged in, you will be taken to this screen which shows your current and applied for licenses: Step 3: Begin application for a GMRS license Now we can apply for a GMRS license and pay the fee. On the left hand side menu click “Apply for a New License.” On the next screen, select “ZA-General Mobile Radio Service” from the very bottom of the drop down menu and click Continue. The next step is to answer these applicant questions. Most people can leave “no” selected for each: Click continue after these questions, and on the next screen supply the licensee name and address: Once this is complete, click Continue. The next step is to answer the following question, then click Continue again: The next step will show you a summary of the application. Verify all the information supplied is correct, and click “Continue to Certify.” Step 4: Submit the application The final step before submitting application is reading all the certification statements, which summarize the rules you are agreeing to follow as a GMRS license holder. Electronically sign the application and submit: When you submit the application, you will be prompted to complete payment. After that, all you can do is wait! Applications will appear in ULS Application Search in about one or two businesses days after the application is filed. If you made an error in the application – don’t worry! You can file an amendment to the application. See the Applying for a New License in the Universal Licensing System FAQ for more information about the application process for FCC licenses. I have read posts online where people have reported getting their license within a day, and I’ve read posts where people said it took three weeks, so I can’t give an accurate answer to the “how long until I receive my call sign?” question. I applied for my GMRS license around the holidays and it took two weeks to receive my call sign. Step 5: Receive call sign and download authorization documents Check back to the Universal Licensing System daily, and when you see the call sign under “My Licenses” you are ready to get on the air! To download or print a paper copy of the license authorization, click Download Electronic Authorizations: Select your GMRS call sign from the “Filter by Radio Service” box and add it to the “Authorizations to Download” box then click Download: ORIGINAL POST BY MCALLAHAN - https://mfcallahan.blog

The maintenance guy at work gave me a brand new antenna mount like this. Brand is Pctel I think. I'm like 99.8% this is NMO. But that little .2% is enough for me to ask. Is it NMO? I may be fairly ignorant in asking that seeing as I have done some research on the magmounts and seem to only ever see that size and they all generally look the same. Even if it isn't NMO, it still is a free brand new antenna mount. (Not the one in the pic. The one in the pic is just the one that I had available to take a picture)

Added a link to the West Michigan Technical Group. This group is NOT a club. Just a group of west Michigan locals who collaborate on radio related projects (The maintainers of the WMTG600 Repeater, as well as multiple HAM band repeaters. More information: https://www.wmtg.me/

this is generally how I had it setup for my radios, using the tone mode. I tried the TSQL before and I don't know, it didn't seem to work as well. However this is how myGMRS.com's chirp configuration is setup specifically for in this example Moline Only thing I'd change is NFM to FM. It most likely will work better (don't ask me why, I'm not quite sure myself at the current time being, but I heard from someone on these repeaters that WFM is better to use.) From what I've looked up, this is what I've found: https://www.twowayradioforum.com/t/tone-or-tsql/7198 My radio configuration you see there, are channels that I created on the radio itself, So I went in the settings and set the RxCTCSS and TxCTCSS and when uploaded to chirp that's what it put, and when redownloaded to the radio they still work fine. TSQL though is for setting both IN and OUT tones.

*Sidenote: Using a programming cable and software may also assist you a lot easier than trying to do this on the radio itself.

Alright so I have noticed, myself being one of them, newer people at first not completely sure how to set up their radio to access local repeaters. I'm going to (try my best to) explain every specific setting in a relatively simple way, that'll hopefully allow anyone to be able to program their radios. First thing: Choosing the repeater you want to Tx(Transmit)/Rx(Receive) on. (I won't be using any real repeaters in my examples) for this guide we'll use: Example 675 (Ex675). Repeaters will (most likely) be using either CTCSS or DCS tones. CTCSS - In this example there's both an input and output tone so we have to adjust the Rx/Tx CTCSS settings on our radios accordingly. (Make sure to set both if there are two separate Rx/Tx options.) DCS - This one is going to be the same as setting the CTCSS, but instead of CTCSS the setting will be called DCS (There also may be two separate settings for Tx/Rx.) And the numbering is a bit different (Don't worry about the difference between CTCSS and DCS at the moment, right now we're focused on getting you connected to a repeater.) Ex675 is going to be using what is usually known as 20RP or Repeater 6 channel(Freq: 462.675 - 467.675) (You can also use a custom channel, but make sure the offset is on.) REMEMBER!!! Repeaters are (usually) on an offset of +5mhz so adjust this in your settings! Once you are done putting your settings in, don't just hit the transmit button to see if you hit the repeater. Call out your callsign and ask for a repeater check. ("This is WSAH999 repeater check, over.") If you were not able to hit the repeater: double check your settings. More than enough times radio settings can accidentally be backed out of without saving. Make sure you saved your settings by going back in after saving them to see that the settings have reflected the changes. If all else fails: you may need a better antenna(or your current antenna just needs to be in a better place. If you're inside, try going outside then testing it. If you can get on top of your house, even better.) or you may need more radio power.

Created the West Michigan GMRS Facebook group for anyone that prefers Facebook to this website. https://www.facebook.com/groups/west.michigan.gmrs As well as just a central website for tracking links/guides as well as easily showing the repeater map + myGMRS network dashboard. https://wmgmrs.club/

A place to notify or link to new repeaters in the West Michigan area. Will add any confirmed repeaters to the repeater page.

Looking for some other fellow operators in the West Michigan area. I have noticed (and requested permission on) some repeaters in the Kent/Allegan area. Figuring that there wasn't any sort of representation on myGMRS for our area, and seeing as we still haven't been able to connect to the midwest hub, hopefully we could see if we were able to help speed the process along. Started an open club on the forums, if you'd like to join you're more than welcome to. I've also posted links to all the repeaters in the general west Michigan area, as well as some resources and message board. I'm located in Wyoming/Kentwood area.

I will be posting any updates related to the club in on this topic. On top of that please post any club feedback and suggestions here as well.

Use this Topic to introduce yourself to the club I'll go first: Name: Tristan Callsign: WSAH999

Yeah I sort of figured that. Considering for the satellite related stuff I can just use SDR. (And have been. Just didn't know if there was a radio that had the GMRS channel only TX while you could still receive on a bunch of other freqs)

Not going to lie, I personally just like listening to most people. I figured if I wanted to chit chat, GMRS was right there and a bit easier to get than HAM at the current moment. (Planning to get full HAM eventually) Also I like to listen to satellites, especially NOAA ones so I sort of require a radio that can at least rx 136-138mhz

Looking into getting a GMRS base station, not exactly sure what's good or not. I'm looking ideally for superhet, 15w (at least), biggest thing is it has to also be able to pickup 136-174 band. Besides using radio to communicate I enjoy grabbing satellites. Any suggestions?