ssugarek1956

I tried a random wire antenna connected through an UNUN to the SDR, and was blown away by the amount of increased stations it picked up. They only minus is a heavy 60Hz to 120Hz noise floor on the AM frequencies. The higher frequencies work great!

It's basically a matter of generating interest in the area, the equipment is solid.

Yes, I have the GMRS model antenna, about 20 watts coming from the radio.

In reply to your question, I have an RT95 Retevis base connected to a Retevis 144/430MHz Amateur Dual-Band Base Antenna, aout 35 ft tall, mast mounted, an RA25 mobile, and four walkies, 3 Baofeng and one Tidradio. I live about 15 miles from Beeville, TX in a farming community, no nearby relatives and am disabled. Cell phone service is weak at best, but my worry is that if the cell towers go down, or if the grid is compromised due to a domestic or international threat, I personally need a way to communicate, and moreso the lack of repeaters and users in this area needs to be increased to fill the gap between San Antonio and Corpus Christi.. GMRS could be a vital tool in lieu of CB, which is too noisy, and Ham, which is too costly.

WSBC912, Steve-O here. I recently set up a GMRS base station with 35 ft. antenna after purchasing a few walkies, and love to work with them. I am considering setting up a repeater, too, but there is a BIG catch to it. I am located in South Bee County near Skidmore, and am pretty much the lone wolf in these parts, as GMRS activity is sparse to non-existent. In fact, a quick look at the map on this site shows that any kind of interest or network coverage basically drops off of the end of the Earth once south of San Antonio, the only repeaters being private and guarded like Fort Knox. There are several in Corpus Christi, but sadly, they are too far away at 50 miles. I am looking to make contact with any interested GMRS user to try to fill the huge communications void between CC and SA. Basically in the Bee-Karnes-Live Oak-Refugio-San Patricio county areas, and any adjacent counties, too. Like many of you, I have concerns about SHTF communications if the towers go down, and a well-placed series of operators that can run on DC power for a while would be a valuable communications asset. If any of you that subscribe to MyGMRS might be interested, I would love to talk to you, please post a reply. I have nothing to sell, and the advice is always free!

Ok, here's a good one to solve-will a Retevis RT95 transmit in the GMRS channels after the "Mode 2 reset"? All I get is a red "Forbid" warning at the bottom of the screen. Needless to say, these babies are a rip dog to program.