WRAK968

Check two things, 1) Check that cell phones are away from the radio, 2) check that Wifi transmitters are away from the radio, see if this fixes the problem. I recall having similar issues when on EMS calls with our VHF radios. It was enough to mess with the transmission and if the signal was weak, would kill the transmission outright, and would last anywhere from 1-5 seconds, (longer when receiving data or text) The same happens if you have something using wifi that is close to the receiving radio though it'll happen much more often.

Misuse/jamming of a repeater system

I believe I said this in the very first line, "This morning I received an e-mail from Mods.dk about a hacker who gained access to information on their website" The only person who can say if there was a hacking attempt here would be Rich the site owner. I have nothing to do with day-to-day operations with MyGMRS and cannot speak on their behalf. This post was simply to alert other users who use the Mods.dk site that their account information there may have been compromised.

This morning I received an e-mail from Mods.dk about a hacker who gained access to information on their website. I know there are some users of that site here so I figured I would post the announcement here just in case anyone missed the e-mail: I’m very sorry to inform you that a hacker for about 2 days ago have had success to upload a script to mods.dk, and run the script. Which information the hacker has stolen is not possible to see at the moment, but the most sensitive information that you have placed on mods.dk is your email address, and password that you are using to access mods.dk. If you have made money donation all information about your credit card/payment method, has been handle by PayPal, and this information is never been transferred to mods.dk. Your password is encrypted in the database, so the hacker cannot read your password direct, but the hacker can try to compare the encrypted password with a password they try, and with a computer they can compare many password in a sort time. So I will recommend you to change your password on mods.dk and if you are using the same password other places also change the password there. Use always different password every places. The hacker have upload a picture and then they have execute the picture and it has create a script they could execute. So by an consequence of this, upload of pictures and files is only allowed when you have been approved. I will approved all existing users that already have uploaded pictures and files, but in case you don’t have permission, then just contact mods.dk. I’m sorry for this trouble but I hope you still want to support my site, this site is only a hobby project just like my amateur radio, and my resourced are limited. If you want all your data deleted form mods.dk you can go to “my account” and said that you want to be deleted. Best regardsErik Hansenhttps://www.mods.dkNote this message in send from a non-monitored mailbox and replies will never been read, so if want in contact then you must go to the homepage.

You likely may have changed the tone settings or OST. If you are unsure what happened or how, it may be best to simply re-program the radio with an older code plug you know works. This would rule out the user (programmed) side if the radio still does not give audio.

Unfortunately the FCC doesn't seem to do much when it comes to GMRS violations unless there is some form of interference with emergency services. This leaves repeater owners to fend for themselves. I have just gone through this myself about a month or two ago. Unfortunately, my only solution was to change to a split tone system leaving the original tone on output, and changing the input tone. (Example, if the repeater is using 141.3 for in and out, change the input tone to 146.2 and leave the output tone at 141.3) This can be a hassle for some bubble pack users who cant do split tone, however it seems to clear up the interference rather quickly. I have not had any issues since (Knock on wood.) The other thing is that you shouldn't post the new codes publicly, and instead require people to request access into the repeater. This helps you to keep track of who is on the system.

Well, if you do research right, you could get Kenwood 7180 and 8180, giving you VHF and UHF in the same style radio. This would give you VHF and UHF with GMRS and MURS. There is also an additional kit if I remember which would connect both radio decks to one faceplate so it would look like one radio doing both VHF and UHF. And note there are several Kenwood radios that can do this sort of thing.

Motorola XPR series. I've seen a few on ebay that cover 400-470 for about $175 and gives you DMR options for the ham side. https://www.motorolasolutions.com/content/dam/msi/docs/business/product_lines/mototrbo/mobiles/_documents/mototrbo_xpr_4000_series_spec_sheet.pdf The Kenwood 8180-2 (I believe that is the correct model number) also covers 400-470 giving you both ham UHF and GMRS, and is part 95 certified. however I don't know how difficult they are to locate or purchase. I've seen them on ebay as lost as $50 and as high as $300. All depends on the condition. https://www.kenwood.com/usa/com/lmr/tk-7180h_8180h/spec.html There are non part 90/95 radios meant for ham only that could operate on GMRS frequencies, many dual bands can be modded to TX into GMRS and such, though I typically do not recommend this for logical reasons.

The specs of this mobile can be found here, https://www.kenwood.com/usa/com/amateur/tm-281a/spec.html

Few things of note, 1) This is a ham radio and is not part 95 accepted for either MURS or GMRS. 2) This radio is only VHF and will not work for GMRS at all. As for power supply options, many are screw terminal connections. If you plan to move the radio between your vehicle and the house you may wish to look into purchasing a quick disconnect, either in the form of power poles or an AMP connector. This just makes the move back and forth quicker and easier, and also reduces the chance of crossing the power wires.

The MXT115 does not allow you to store channels. So, for instance if you wish to access 5 different repeaters you would have to re-enter the information each time you change repeaters. The 880 allows you to save each repeater on its own channel. There are also a few extra options like being able to scan the channels you enter, where the MXT will just scan all 22 channels.

Those are the differences to my knowledge. As I said, contact Rich and he will send you the file you need as well as a node number and password. If you have a pi and a way to wire it to the repeater then you should be all set.

There is no public download (That I know of) at this time. This is to avoid confusion with the ham radio side of Asterisk. Ontop of this, you will also need a username/password for the server, and I believe the linked network is limited to repeaters only (to avoid unlicensed FRS users from accessing repeaters through the 462 frequency) If you have the equipment already, you can contact Rich@MyGMRS.com and he can get you set up with the image and username/password. If you do not have the equipment, you can purchase it from https://shop.mygmrs.com/products/repeater-linking-bundle?variant=32248678744099 and choose an interface that will work for your radio.

We use fleetsync at the beginning of transmit. This allows us to ID the radio at each key-up. We can also direct page a particular radio (though all radios will here it unlike DMR) to get the attention of the assigned user and using the status codes we can also send basic text. There is a way to send advance texts however that requires computer set-ups and not really useful for the GMRS community.

It is possible that the repeaters you are trying to access no longer exist or have outdated contact information. I receive emails now and then from people wishing to use the linked repeater so I do know the emails are going out.

Also, I should note that this Asterisk is NOT the same as the ham radio asterisk, that is to say it is the same program however it uses different servers as to not cross ham into GMRS or GMRS into ham.

That would be the owner of this site, Rich. You can contact him here: rich@mygmrs.com or through the MyGMRS.com contact page: https://mygmrs.com/contact Rich will give you the information you'll need to get the system up and running. OR, if you wish, you can purchase a node controller from MyGMRS.com which will come with a Pi and Asterisk preinstalled, as well as an interface if you wish for it, https://shop.mygmrs.com/collections/repeater-accessories/products/repeater-linking-bundle?variant=31428894654499 MyGMRS also sells just Asterisk on a SD card.

There is always some loss, however your SWR should be low. High SWR means you have a lot of power returning to the transmitter. Granted 2.4 is still bad, I've seen it as high as 19:1. The BP/BR duplexer loses 3-8W depending on how much power I put in. Not on a flatpack at 460M. The nano VNA stops reading at levels below -60DB. I tried this several times and while I think it'll be in the neighborhood and could be used to test the duplexer, I wouldn't attempt to tune a 460 duplexer with it.

Have you checked the SWR past the duplexer (checking the feedline and antenna?) Also check your jumpers, its possible you accidentally hooked swapped them and is often the problem. RG8x isn't very good for short repeater runs let alone the length you are running, While I doubt thats causing your swr issue, it will greatly reduce the range of the repeater, especially at longer lengths. Personally I used LMR400 then upgraded to 600 which in my opinion is fine for running 30-40 feet up, though there are guys here who will demand 1/2" or 3/4" helix which for the type of install and the cost, I just dont feel its worth it. If the SWR is good past the duplexer, then it would be reasonable to believe the duplexer is bad. Most flatpacks that I have seen are only rated to 45W for UHF band, and work best at wattages below 25W. `If you are putting 52W in you may have caused some damage to the internals, and could have damaged the repeater itself. So, I would try running low power, around 20W or so, and see if that gives you better SWR readings. Last, I would recommend changing out the flatpack for a band pass/reject style duplexer. The difference will shock you for two reasons. #1, the Chinese flatpacks arn't made with the best quality and often have issues with them and are never tuned correctly. and 2) BP/BR duplexers seem to just work better than the flatpacks do.

N= Normal, I = inverted Basically it inverts the code and repeats the same lineup.

The closest group/tower I could find was https://mygmrs.com/view?id=3913. According to maps, its about 15 miles from you and mentions having RF links. Even if its a bit far away, perhaps the owners may know of local groups for you.

HHmmm, Well, you will have a few options. The legal way, (And if you plan to be a relay station between GMRS and Ham) would be to get two separate radios, one (preferably dual band) for ham, one for GMRS. If you go this route, I would say the TK880 low power (25W) would be a good start. With a power supply and proper wiring for RACES, you can make that radio swap from a vehicle to your house to a command post and will give you a legally dedicated part 95 radio for GMRS use. They typically go for about $60 on ebay. Youll need a programing cable ($10-20) and software (can be found for free) If you have a little more cash on hand the Motorola XPR4350 covers both 70CM HAM and GMRS bands at about $175. This radio is part 90, and will give you DMR options for the ham bands (if there is a local DMR repeater near you this would likely be a better option) If you would like a lesser legal way, and I am not supporting this, though in an emergency it will work, is to get a reasonable ham radio (I used a yaesu 7900) and have a cap mod done which allows the radio to transmit out of band. This would give you both 2M and 70CM ham bands and access to the GMRS band though I would only run low power to prevent too much interference. Next you'll need coax. If your only doing 20-30 feet, RG8x will be fine. Longer lengths and you may wish to find better coax. I used LMR200 for some time at about 60 feet and found it was reasonable, however that observation is irrelevant as your install situation will be different from mine. Being you'll likely eventually have several radios in the shack, you may wish to consider the LMR200 just to prevent inductance (I think thats the proper word, basically signal from one radio getting into the another radio through coax run very close to one another) For antenna's, again, it will vary by install. A friend of mine runs a browning unidirectional antenna at about 20' up and has shown good results with low SWR. I have a couple antennas, One Tram hi-gain antenna for the repeater at 25-30' up and it gets about 6 miles range, and another being a diamond 200U which in the same install configuration only had 3 miles range. The use of the antenna also will change what type you will want to use. My understanding is that the higher gain antennas are more for repeater use, while lesser gain are better for mobiles and portables. Im in no way an expert on this and am just going by the experience I had when starting out. Most of the comms stuff you learned in the past will cross over here. Use your best judgement, and if you have a question ask and you'll usually get an answer rather quickly.

It takes time to learn the more advance radio tasks. LMR's make the task of programing and using the radios a little easier, however are still a little confusing the first few times you write a new code plug. Give it some time and you'll find it easier to do the things you want to do.

I've been using Fleetsync (most of our radios are kenwoods) for ID and messaging. Not a bad system though its nothing like digital for work. there we can privatly page and voice to an individual radio without disturbing others on the channel. Would be interesting if deployed for GMRS, however I believe the FCC would have to specify which digital standard they will allow and type accept more radios to be used on GMRS with that standard.

GMRS should be programed in analog FM mode using wide band. You do not need a digital ID to operate on GMRS repeaters, though some do require something called MDC1200 to use (Very rare cases and you'll know beforehand if you do need it)