WRAK968
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Posts posted by WRAK968
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Easiest option would be to "scan" the channels. I believe Ch 20 is considered the "emergency" hailing frequency (think ch 9 on CB) however I wouldnt depend on it.
As for repeaters, you can check the MyGMRS listings here, while not 100% accurate, they do help in finding something local. Repeaters usually increase the range of your portable so you can get your signal out further, and there are some linked repeater systems which will allow you to talk regionally or even nationally as well. Be sure to check that a repeater is "open" for use or obtain the repeater owners permission prior to use. -
I'm setting up the shack. I'm planning to mount the antenna on the gable end of the garage.
The specifics:
* Mounting brackets - Skywalker 32812 (4" stand-off)
* Mast - chain link fence top rail (or similar), length to be determined
* Antenna - Tram 1481
So the question - How much distance should I have between the upper and lower mounting brackets? Is there some general "rule of thumb", like 25% of the mast height above the top mounting bracket (ex. 8ft mast above = 2ft in the mounting brackets)? Or do I take my best guess, mount it, and see if it pulls the side off of my garage?
First, MAKE SURE THE BRACKETS ARE INTO GOOD STRONG STUDS!!! Dont just drive them through the sheeting.
Now, I can give you the utility pole rule of thumb, should work for this application. So, you use 1' for every 10 feet of pole. This includes the antenna as well, plus 2 feet to the total. So a 20' pole with a 10' antenna, 30', 3+2= a 5 foot space.
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Tone in usually refers to RX, Tone out is TX.
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So unlike ham repeaters that publish their PL tones and allows anyone to know, gmrs repeaters are trying to get people out...hmmm wonder if it worth the soon to be $35 to get a gmrs license.
I wouldn't say repeater owners are trying to keep people out, rather, trying to control abuse of their systems. Repeater owners easily put out nearly $1000 just to get a system running. That doesn't include time spent maintaining the system, cost for repeater sites, cost of internet use (for linked systems,) or cost of power use. Because of this, and because there are people who simply wish to be destructive for whatever reason, repeater owners don't always disclose their access codes to the general public. This prevents unlicensed access and also reduces intentional disruption of the system.
I use to publish my input codes for the public, however after an unknown user jammed the repeater forcing me to take it off the air so it didn't suffer damage, I changed my input code and did not publish it. When a licensed GMRS operator contacts me requesting the info, and I can see that user is local to the repeater, I give them the access code. Simple as that. Ask and I think most operators will grant you access.
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Either split (403-470 or 450-512) will cover GMRS, but the lower split will also cover ham and quite a bit of business and public safety.
They are NOT Part 95 certified, old or new rules.
They are not PL agile from the FPP, but can be programmed via the CPS. The Commercial Series (CM300 and PM400) can be set up to be PL or DPL agile.
They need the Motorola CPS. Using Chirp is not a good idea.
I think the 1250 comes in VHF and low band as well, which is why I said the correct split, though I do stand corrected, not part 95. Sorry for that missinfo there.
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as long as you get one with the correct frequency split yes it will work for GMRS and I think is
part 95 certified.I stand corrected, NOT part 95 -
Absolutely any number of things.
First, Welcome to the forums. There are a lot of great techs that can help you out with almost anything you ask.
Now. As I said, there are any number of things wrong with your set-up, I'll list a few basic ones to start.
1) Nobody on frequency. This is a big one as most people think if they dial up a frequency and key up somebody somewhere will be listening. With 22 channels to chose from catching people on simplex isn't always easy.
2) Wrong PL/DPL programing. Along with knowing which channel to listen to, there are "Private Line/Digital Private Line" codes commonly refereed to as CTCSS or DCS codes. These codes will mute your radios speaker unless an incoming transmission has a matching code. There are hundreds of codes, and when you add in split tone combos, thousands of code combinations. This only complicates things more when making simplex calls.
3) Terrain reducing range. With GMRS and especially on portable radios, your range is extremely limited depending on the terrain you are in. GMRS works off line of sight, thus if you can see it, you should be able to talk to it. The more hills, trees, or buildings between you and the other radio, the less range you will have.
An easy way to fix this would be to log into MyGMRS.com and use the map or repeater finder to locate repeaters near you if any. Follow the directions to get permission to use a local repeater, and that may extend your range.
I hope some of this helps
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They are great little radios though the accessorys are a lil pricy. Chirp will NOT program these radios, you will need Icoms CS-F2000 software and a cable. The software is usually $45-55 depending on if you get a dowloaded version, or a CD, or CD with programing cable. Work got the cable and software from here:
https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/cs-f1000-2000-usb-7705
So if you need the cable and software, and everything to work on windows 10, I can say this will work for you. -
This means those channels are preset, all you do is tell everyone "go to channel 25" and all of the radios will have the same settings and frequency and talk to one another, vs telling them "go to channel 16, CTCSS code 143.5" which some people may not understand.
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You will need to contact the repeater owner for PL codes. Often times if the repeater has an identifier you can look up the owner of the repeater on the FCC ULS database and get an e-mail address there. MyGMRS listings simply require you to click "Request access" and it will auto e-mail your name and callsign to the owner of the repeater.
Simply "hacking" your way onto a repeater without knowing if it is open or not, is usually frowned upon so I wont explain how to do it here. -
There are going to be so many opinions here, unfortunately, each site has different requirements and what may work well for one site may not be so good for another.
For me, I run two Motorola GR1225 repeaters. The nice part is that these repeaters are plug and play ready for network interfacing, so if you aren't too good with building custom connectors or soldering, this may be a better option. The 1225 is 100% continuous as long as you run it on low power (25W) which is reasonable enough. (Personally I have seen little difference in range between 25W and 45W.) Purchasing a Rim-Lite with the 16 pin motorola plug, you just plug in to the back of the radio, plug into the pi, adjust your audio in/out and your all set.You'll definitely want a good BP/BR duplexer. I started off with a flat pack but after switching, I cant see myself using flatpacks outside of mobile repeaters ever again
For feedline, I use LMR600. I live in a salt air environment being less than a mile from the ocean and bay and never had issues. Others have said they had issues with water getting into the feedline and corroding the jacket and core however I believe this is because those persons were using junk LMR. I go to https://mpddigital.us/ for mine, nice part is they have a lifetime warranty, so if anything happens to the coax short of a lightning strike, they will repair it without question. If you are building it in a high RF area or a very long run of coax, you may want to consider 1/2" -1" heliax.
For an antenna, I use a Comet CA-712EFC which is a high gain omni-directional antenna. It seems to work fine for me. -
https://www.ebay.com/itm/FTDI-USB-Programming-Cable-Support-Motorola-CDM1250-CDM1550-RKN4081/153254242963?hash=item23aeaa2a93:g:aj4AAOSwWelfZB5W
I trust this guy, bought many cables from him and ALL of them have worked with no problems.
As for software, you will likely need to go to MOL and see if you can find it there, or talk to a radio shop to see if they can sell a copy. I believe Motorola cracked down on many sites that were selling older RSS/CPS files.
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Thanks for that. The switch is what I'm interested in. Is this what I'm looking for?
Depends. From what I've read from your post, it looks like you plan to use one or the other, not both at the same time. If this is true, then Yes, it will work for your application, though you may wish to set some form of reminder on the transmitter radio to confirm the radio is selected. This avoids open load which will fry the transmitter very quickly.
If however you plan to use both radios at the same time, this will not work. This switch only allows one or the other to operate at one time, and does not allow both to run simultaneously.
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There was a recent security breach on MyGMRS.com which may be to blame. I'll pass it along to Rich (WQEJ577) just in case he is not aware.
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why is it that the gmrs repeater owners can be hotheaded and mute someone that is new to the service and just want to be able to have someone to talk to but then when you try to program your radio the moderators feel like you are annoying and mute you so you dont know if your radio is programmed right or not
this is supposed to be a service that anyone can use
i paid for my license to be able to use it and am being bullied for trying this is so not right
maybe if i keep getting treated like this ill just start reporting abuse to the fcc
First, I'm sorry if this comes off as cross, however the way you had typed and worded this message promotes the air of "I want it therefore it should be given to me" type of attitude, which to many repeater owners, translates to abuse of equipment they paid for and maintain. Everyone has a gripe, its discussion of the concern or issue in an adult manor that brings some form of resolution or at very least a little more respect for you as a person.
Now second, if you have read the FCC rules that you agreed to, you will find the following:
47 CFR 95.1705 (D) Individual Licensee Duties, The holder of an individual license:
(2) May allow any person to use (i.e., benefit from the operation of) its GMRS repeater, or alternatively, may limit the use of its GMRS repeater to specific persons;
(3) May disallow the use of its GMRS repeater by specific persons as may be necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section.
Another words, as a repeater owner, I have the authority to refuse access to users who fail to follow FCC rules, or fail to follow rules I have set for the use of the repeater (Including collection of any club fees associated with maintaining said repeater/repeaters) or if you conduct yourself in a way that may be harmful or interfering of any communications through said repeater. I have banned people for prolonged "key up" times where they were intentionally jamming the repeater in hopes of damaging the unit. I also banned a user who tried to tell me I had to pay him for the use of the repeater I had bought and set up.
This means that when you contact the FCC, they will likely ignore you, or if you do get a response, it'll likely be "The system owner has legal authority to restrict the systems use to specific individuals."
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Well in all honesty, nither system would work well for you as even the GMRS link repeaters are not always connected. Radio signals in general do not encapsulate the world offering unlimited distance (with VERY few exceptions) That said, if your not overly far away, GMRS would be the better option as you wouldn't need to have each family member take the ham test. With GMRS, your range is mostly line of sight, another-words if you can see it, chances are you can talk to it. If you cannot see it, your chances of communicating are reduced.
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You would be looking for Rich, WQEJ577. Ill text him later and let em know you are looking for him. If you wish, PM me an e-mail address and I'll forward that to him as well.
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Thanks for all of your help. I now have audio, but I can't transmit and for some reason, I can't program my radio from my computer.
Happy holidays
sounds like the RJ45 port (where the mic/programing cable plugs in) is bad, or one of the solder pads cracked. Simple fix if you know how to.
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Hi Santos,
So, can we do this over the linked GMRS network too?
G.
I was just going to mention this. I'll check with Net Control on Sunday. Perhaps they can make a mention and see what comes up, though it will likely be regional. I believe if we did a nation wide QSO it would likely be a long wait to get in.
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Sorry for the caps thanks for the reply I’ll sit on it until I can figure out what to do with it
Go for your ham license lol. A tech level license can use that radio and is extremely easy to get.
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Please dont type in caps, feels like I'm being yelled at by some random troll.
That is an expensive receiver. C4FM is ONLY used on the ham side for System Fusion radios, so you wont hear digital police or fire with it. Likewise, as was pointed out, GMRS will not be doable with the FT3207 as it only transmits 430-450. There is a mod you can do that will increase the TX range of the radio, however this can cause a fair bit of issues down the road.
That being said, it looks like the ADMS3200 software should program both the 3200 and 3207. Simply do a read from the radio so the software knows what radio it is looking at and start programming. -
Mr Ross, if you give a callsign and an e-mail address I can e-mail the information you need to you. Unfortunately we cannot post frequency or code information in public area's of the forums. This rule is to prevent unlicensed operation on the repeater systems and network, and to reduce jamming on those systems. The callsign is needed to show you do have a current license.
After a couple days, you should be able to create an account with MyGMRS. The servers take a little time to update the new callsign lists from the FCC ULS database.
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Thank you WRAK968. I must have been on a cached version of the page and edited my original with info I found that they can talk before I saw your reply (but Midland's didn't have the warnings you provided)
The explanations are great. Any more technical at this point and my head would start to hurt, so your level of explanation is perfect.
Anytime. The guys and girls on this site can answer almost any question. Many are Ham/Emergency Communications techs, and we all started out somewhere
Any other questions you have feel free to research/ask them. -
Ok, Great questions and while I am half asleep I'll try to get a reasonable answer to you.
Channel 8-14 are limited to .5 watts power and 12.5kHz bandwidth due to them being close to the repeater input channels. By limiting TX power and narrow banding those channels, it reduces the chance of interference with repeater users.FRS is narrow band (12.5kHz) all the way through, and most bubblepack radios will be set up this way. GMRS uses wide band (20kHz.) They can talk to one another if on the same channel, though there will be some degradation of audio (narrow band transmissions will sound quiet on wide band channels, and wide band transmissions may clip or sound over-modulated when heard on a narrow band channel)
Bandwidth is the total amount of frequency space a signal is allowed to take up. A 12.5kHz signal can take up as much as 6.25kHz of frequency space on either side of the center frequency. A 20kHz signal can take up to 10kHz on either side. So when a wide band radio is listening to a narrow band transmitter, it is expecting a 10kHz signal on either side of the center frequency, however since the narrow band radio only sends out 6.25 on either side, the audio output becomes quieter. On the flip side, a narrow band radio is expecting a 6.25 signal on either side of the frequency, however when it receives a 10kHz signal, the radio is hit with an extra 3.75kHz of signal and will either over-modulate, or overload the front end (in rare cases however usually worse when very close to one another.)
I'm sure some of the other radio heads could explain it better, but thats the fundamentals. Narrow band and wide band radios can talk to one another which a few minor issues, but will work in a pinch. and the .5W TX power is simply to help prevent interference with repeater users.
New user, old radio question
in Guest Forum
Posted
I've compared the frequency list in the manual for your radios and they ARE legal for FRS. They will work with the first 14 channels of FRS/GMRS radios. They will NOT work on channels 15-22 or any of the repeater channels.