WSAM454

Thick door rubber striping would be good. You would not be able to completely close a window on the cable without damaging it. Some owners use window deflectors like this: https://huskyliners.com/c/exterior-accessories/vent-visors/?srsltid=AfmBOoqNIPV7B5LNpdnK1Nh6o4QrKHh7Dj8KkBcLiucq96wTuvt_dDHZ Not recommending that particular one, but something like that would allow you to keep the window open a bit and pass the cable through it more safely. Not sure if your vehicle would lend itself to this, or if you even care for the look, but just another suggestion.

The repeater output is 5 watts; about the same as your handhelds, but you will be using it with a higher and somewhat better antenna, so direct communication with others at home should not be a problem, but you most probably will have limited range when mobile, since the repeater output is relatively low and the antenna is only about 2' long. Getting GMRS radios, as OffroaderX suggested will make things a LOT easier for you and your friends to program than 'converting' Ham versions of the radio. (Getting GMRS licenses is also suggested)

It is NOT deformed; the lower area makes it easier to hold the solder against the connector and cable. Not all are made that way, it is not supposed to be straight across at the end. You can touch a soldering iron to it for a few seconds to get the solder to flow a bit better if that will give you peace of mind, but really not necessary.

Most of the antennas mentioned are mobile; the OP specifically asked about tower/roof mount antennas. Most of those for the ham bands will have a higher SWR on the GMRS band. Just how high, and whether your radio will still operate safely is not certain. The only antenna I am aware of that is designed for use on all 3 bands is a mobile one, the Comet CA-2x4SR. My GP-3 has an SWR about 4:1 on the repeater freqs, with reduced power output. You would have to decide if that is OK.

No, if the repeater does not use the CTCSS tone on it's output you will not hear anything! (Not all repeaters use a tone on their output.) As OffroaderX said, you only need to set your transmit for the tone.

If operating simplex, people will use the tone so that the only person(s) they hear are the ones that they want to hear (those using the tone) It makes monitoring easier if you don't hear all the other traffic that you are not interested in. If operating through a repeater it means that the only repeater you will hear is the one with the tone, all others on the same freq withing range will not be heard. If you turn off your receive tone, then you will hear EVERYTHING on the freq. Basically, it makes it easier to monitor a freq if only stations using the tone can be heard. Even though, way back, Motorola called it "Private Line" ("PL") and today is is usually referred to as CTCSS, it really isn't a 'private' feature since with the tone, they can still be monitored if you have your receive tone set.

I no longer have the radio, but I remember that I was able to use a Y adapter, as discussed in the manual. I have found that some of the cheaper adapters have really unreliable plugs and/or jack on them. Do you have another adapter to try? If you plug the speaker by itself into either A or B output, do you get good audio out? (to make sure the rig's jacks are OK.) To check out the adapter, try plugging the adapter into only A and see if you get audio from the speaker. Try the same with the B output only. Both should give you audio.

Many of the radios advertise an 'optimistic' power output, but 20 Watts does seem low. Yes, the cable would attenuate the signal, so if you were measuring the power with the meter at the far end (antenna end) of the cable, then 20 Watts may actually be what is getting to the antenna, but if you are measuring the rig's power output with the meter right after the rig's antenna connector, especially with a 1.1 SWR, then that is less than half the advertised output, and I would question the seller, although it is now about 2 months old.

Yes, according to the calculator I posted earlier, the loss should be about 2 dB, and my quote of 10 in and 7 out would then be correct according to the calculator. If it IS actually a 5dB loss, then some other info is missing, or the cable is bad.

It depends on what kind of distance you need to cover, and how much power you are running, and how sensitive your receiver (s) is/are. As an example, 10 Watts out of the 900MHz radio with the cable you mention will result in about 7 Watts at the antenna. Fill in the Line Loss Calculator here: https://kv5r.com/ham-radio/coax-loss-calculator/

After you pull down the latch, the battery should just slide straight back and off; not too clear in the video, but give it a try. An excellent choice HT, by the way.

One thought; I also have my rig connected to the battery, but through a relay, so it won't accidentally be left on all night. (Does not have a 'turn off' timer setting!) Of course, the car has to be in at least the 'accessory' position to activate the relay, but even with the engine not running, there is circuitry activated. Anyway, I don't have any other suggestions, especially since this is one of those "it had been working fine" situations. Hopefully someone will offer a more viable solution. Good luck!

Since you mention a bulkhead fitting on the roof, it sounds like a mobile installation. Some thoughts: 1- Do they still hear the whine if the engine is NOT running, and is the radio is connected directly to the battery? 2- Is the negative lead of the radio connected to a near-by chassis/ground, and not a cable also running back to the battery? 3- Is the radio possibly being powered from an accessory plug, rather than directly to the battery? 4- You may be getting noise into the system from the running engine, and/or its associated electronics. Can you try the radio on a separate battery, not connected to the vehicle. 5- It may also be a poor ground/chassis connection to the radio's power or antenna system. Make sure all connections to the chassis (ground) are less than 1 ohm or so.

If these are both vertical antennas, how do you orient it so the stronger lobes are in the "right" place? Do you mean the antenna's take off angle? If so, that is not usually given in the specs.

The Arizona NOAA site shows another Tucson station, KXI24 (Safford) on 162.475. If you do not have any CTCSS or DCS tones enabled on receive, as Steve mentions, you should be able to hear it. Might the .475 transmitter be closer to you?

I would be sure it is more than the height of the antenna away from power lines, in case it comes down it will be less likely to hit/take down the power line. I would also mount the antenna so the bottom is at least 3 feet from the metal roof. Also, the suggestion by GROW to mount it on the gable is a good one.

It is still not clear if you are actually transmitting a carrier or not. It may not matter if the radio shows a full red line or not. If you key the radio, can you hear an audio-less signal (carrier) on another radio? if not, then you are not actually transmitting, and mic gain really does not enter into whether or not you are hitting a repeater, since it is the carrier that will activate the repeater, even if you have no audio. If another radio can 'hear' your carrier, but no audio when you talk, then the mic may be defective. Another thought: Does the repeater you are trying to access have a CTCSS (PL) tone needed by your transmitter, and if so, are you sure you have it programmed in correctly?

First you had an SWR of 3.78. After making changes you got the 19:1 reading. Now, you said that the meter no longer reads anything when the mic is keyed. Is it possible that the radio is no longer transmitting after that high SWR that it experienced? I realize that the radio should protect itself from extreme SWRs but maybe this time it did not??

The repeater may 'hear' the rf signal from your HT, and while it may be enough to key the repeater, the signal from your HT is most likely so weak that no intelligible audio will come through. Think of someone you have monitored who is very noisy into the repeater; it is not always possible to understand what they are saying, yet the repeater is keyed by them. Probably what is happening in your situation. If you are too noisy someone helpful may come back giving you a poor signal report, but more likely you will just be ignored. If you are that noisy, they may not even be able to understand what you are saying at all, and will not respond.

If it is a GMRS only radio, and there is no way to "unlock" it ( look it up ) then it will only offer the 5MHz split, since that is what is used on the GMRS band. If it can be unlocked, then you might be able to enter the needed offset, but make sure you would be welcomed on the repeater, since it does not sound like a typical GMRS repeater, and if it is, then it should be using the standard GMRS repeater offset.

These "400" cables can get confusing. The RG-400 you mentioned is a small diameter teflon Mil Spec cable with a 400MHz loss of over 8 dB/100ft. https://www.awcwire.com/rg-catalog/rg400-coax-cable You probably meant to write LMR-400, which is the agreed-upon default cable at a moderate price, for UHF operation with low loss.

Good info, but the recent assumptions and loss figures are for a 50 Watt radio, and the OP never mentioned how much power he will be running. Bottom line is to go with the RG-58U for better flexibility and easier installation.

While the thicker cable will have a lot less loss, you are dealing with an approximate 20 foot run, and the thicker one will be very difficult to route. Unless you are using a 5 Watt radio in the car, I would go with the RG-8 or 8x cable. As you will see from Steve's link there will be a good amount of loss with the thinner cables. While the thicker cable will have a lot less loss, you are dealing with an approximate 20 foot run, and the thicker one will be very difficult to route, so the thinner usually wins out. Unless you are using a 5 Watt radio in the car, with a loner than 20' run of cable, I would go with the RG-58 or 58x cable.

Does that small metal disk make an adequate 'ground plane" for the antenna to work against, since it would appear that the adhesive will insulate the plate from the actual metal of the vehicle? OP. how about a lip mount that might fit somewhere on the hood lip, since you do not have a trunk.

Good idea; especially if you are going to run the HT radio (lower power). An outdoor antenna will give you much better/reliable coverage, and the meter can come in handy to make sure it is tuned for the right part of the band. The SW-102 should do nicely.