WSAM454

Agree on the higher power base stations. With good antenna height each should be able to communicate with the local hand held units, and from home, you should b e able to communicate with the other houses. The individual repeaters may not enable hand helds at the extremes (you said 30 mile radius) to communicate with everyone anyway, only with the most local repeater, so you still need a way to communicate house-to-house, and that may need more power than the low power repeaters you have in mind. Again, a lot depends on the terrain.

Yes, that is a good possibility, especially if the antenna shows the same problem with a different NMO mount. Could the ring be too large in diameter? Do you have another antenna that you use on the fender mount, and can you compare the O rings on the two of them?

Yes, that is not clear. Do you mean a repeater for each home, for each to keep in touch with individually, or 1 repeater to cover all the home locations consistently. If that, then it should be somewhat centrally located. Also, the average single- story home is about 25-35 feet to the roof,so 30 feet may really not be much height depending what else is around you. You would want to clear as much in the way of tall buildings, hills and trees as possible. Some mention height above sea level, but that really does not matter, what does matter is height above anything else in your coverage area, whether that area is 50' asl or 500' asl.

The first one has about 5dBi gain over the other, so it should 'hear' better.

Yes, more info is needed. Are both radios on the same simplex channel, or possibly you are trying to work the other radio through a repeater channel? CTCSS receive turned off on both radios?

Agree with '381; technically the off-center roof placement may make a difference, but practically it will not. I doubt it would interfere with the radio reception, and if it does, it would only be on transmit, and you would not be listening to the broadcast radio if you are talking to someone!

See the second paragraph here: https://www.btgcommunications.club/aboutus Contact them under "contact us" heading.

Thinking about the heat, also consider that you will probably not be able to run full power on transmit if you are planning for a number of exchanges during the contact, since the radio, especially with the heat build-up in the metal box will get hot quickly. Basically, it will be transmitting continuously for anywhere from 1-5 minutes or more.

Actually, the radio has 2 speakers, one for the "left" display and one for the "right." You can also use external speaker(s). The speaker in the mic can also be used instead of or in addition to the built-in one(s), but that one is not very loud.

462.650 is your receive frequency. 467.650 would be your transmit frequency. You really do not need any CTCSS frequencies, so that should cover it. If you put in the receive CTCSS tone, it means that you would only hear the repeater, no other transmissions made by anyone else. That may make listening easier, but it is not needed to access and use the repeater.

A quick sketch as to how to wire the radio so it will turn on and off with the vehicle: (The relay addresses your point 3 in your original pos, and you should be able to find a fuse on the fuse block that has 12VDC only when the ignition is "on." (Vehicle radio power would be one example.) Referencing the linked relay above, the coil is terminals 85 and 86. Terminal 30 goes to the cable from the fuse, and the radio connects to terminal 87. (not 87a!)

A 50 Watt Output radio will need about twice the current to actually produce 50 W out, so a 10-15 Amp fuse would be close. (roughly 14 VDC at 10 A is 140Watts.) Depending on how the car battery cable is connected to the battery, you might be able to use an existing bolt along with a ring terminal, as nokones said. A current draw of about 15 amps would mean using 12 or 10 gauge cable, especially if it is along run from the battery to the radio. If you want to disconnect when the vehicle is off, then a relay connected to a switch power line would be the way to go. The power cable would connect to the relay's terminals, and the relay would be energized when the vehicle is switched on. You would need a relay capable of handling the possible 10- 15 amps current of draw. One like this: It can be wired under the hood, near the battery, and would need a small gauge (AWG 14 or 16) to connect it to the switched line. https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-0332209150-Fuel-Injection-Relay/dp/B004Z0U1IW/ref=sr_1_10?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6CiXZXcyMGg2s9FmvU_NFD_Mn9BDoW6bjYpTM_FSQloeyDfoCgJX4-e_vZlL8hliWO7eqhhc9Rny31HhLnaQr_ByzSTtIeO-qSFCEnz94bLiGSq90Bsaj8oLEXfxO3qmhnktxHf0D4cMOmh5oREUzHFLd_VpX7bgoHCMHL0HdfvyCRvoCSRPdOL9KLGk-np8QWAVEXBdltaAKnlmg6Bv_VLLxeKePEbJlfcmiGAALos.FszfNxua0PJmmlnp5Kj8u-SpIuFUBOlB0KiRV1-l_bE&dib_tag=se&keywords=12v+relay&qid=1714702608&sr=8-10

Yes, that is a typical 1/4 wave NMO mount antenna, as has been mentioned in the posts.

As '381 mentioned, a quarter wave ground plane is about 6" long, and so would fit and clear the garage, and while not a gain antenna, with a good ground under it, it will probably out-perform the ghost type antenna. If the carrier might hold items that can get in the way of the antenna, then a compromise might be a magnet mount antenna; not ideal, but still might be a better performer than a ghost antenna.

I would suggest a shielded cable, as short as possible, since it will be carrying audio, (possibility of getting hum) and may be susceptible to picking up RF in the shack, especially if the radio is running at full power output. Some thoughts: Any way to re-locate the radio closer to her and keep the mic cable the original length? While 30 feet of extra antenna cable will introduce some loss, it may be acceptable and not impact noticeably on signal strengths. (transmit or receive) The Wouxum's head can be remoted, and comes with a 10 foot extension cable to run from the head to the main unit. Since the mic connects to the head, the mic lead does not have to be changed. While more expensive than the other radio, this might be a consideration. I assume the cable they use is shielded, although it it NOT a straight-through cable, and a regular Ethernet cable CANNOT be directly substituted. (see the thread here: https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/7247-wouxan-kg-1000g-plus-faceplate-data-cable/#comment-77387

Glad you found the problem, and that it was not you! As for programming, make sure that the data cable is securely plugged into the side socket on the radio. When you get it working, their program is fine. Be sure you download the one for the KG-1000+ version of the radio, not the older 'non +' one.

Message withdrawn, I can't delete completely.

M&P is about the only "upgrade" from LMR400, unless you go to hardline! This site will custom make the M&P in the length you specify, with or without connectors: https://www.buytwowayradios.com/messi-paoloni-mp-uf10-mr.html

You should be happy with the M&P coax, which actually has a bit less loss than LMR400 but is not as widely known (yet!) Comet antennas are pretty well regarded, so the station should perform well. Curious to learn the final results in a few weeks.

Yes, SWR is a transmit function, but losing 3 dB is still signal loss, so yes, the length of the cable WILL effect receive!

Actually, it could be the cable, since I have found that sometimes a radio will receive well UNTIL the outer part of the PL-259 connector touches the barrel of the SO-239. To test SWR, you need a device. The most common is an SWR/Wattmeter such as the very popular and relatively inexpensive one that usually goes by the name Surecom SW-102 UV. (about $60 on Amazon) It must be a meter that will work on the GMRs freqs, which are referred to as UHF. If you are not very technically inclined, then I would suggest only the first 6 or so posts in this discussion, and don't get carried away with the rest of the 2 pages! https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/7312-budget-friendly-swr-meter/ If you find the SWR is very high, that may point to a cable/mount problem. If you can borrow another antenna to test the mount, that would also help give more information. Looking more closely at your video, are you sure that is an NMO mount? It looks like your antenna is screwing into an SMA connector, like is used on the top of a hand held radio. Can you remove the entire black part (down to the black rubber washer) and still have something that looks like this mounted to the metal bracket?

Have you checked transmit SWR with the antenna outside, in the clear? You are removing the antenna 'whip' but not its entire NMO mount; could there be a problem with the cable or the actual NMO mount? (either the antenna's mount or the car's mount.) Can you try another NMO mount antenna to see if it may be in the feedline or the mount itself?

If you have regularly have backyard BBQs, I doubt that you will open them up to anyone who may be passing by, although you may be more generous than the average person. As Gortex said, if you are spending the money to get the equipment in place, licensed, and maintained, then you should be able to have some control over who and how it is used. Bottom line is that although years ago Motorola called CTCSS "Private Line" it really isn't totally private!

Flagpole is a good possibility; I do not think HOAs are allowed to control your ability to fly a flag.

If you use their bluetooth program, you can customize the two side buttons (long and short press) and the top button (also long and short press) for a total of 6 settings. Not a whole lot of options to choose from, but you can include NOAA, flashlight, FM broadcast radio, monitor, and a few others that way. Try long and short presses of each button, and maybe that way you can find the light. Also, if you discover the NOAA button, remember that they have a number of freqs that you will have to scroll through to find the one nearest you.