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couger100101

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Posts posted by couger100101

  2. New to the GMRS world.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'll be following this and similar conversations. I'm also in Maine, down in York County. Since the wind storm back in October, that knocked out the Internet and cellphones for a couple of days, I've been trying to talk my father and brother into getting into amateur radio so we can keep in touch during the next one. They don't have the time to study, and I found that GMRS was good for the family, so I've moved to pushing that agenda. ;)

     

    None of the repeaters on myGMRS for Southern Maine appear to be online these days. The channels are quiet and the fellow listed as owning the bulk of them hasn't responded to my inquiry. I do hear a morse code ID occasionally on 462.675, but I haven't caught it to record and translate it into a callsign I can lookup. I'd love to find out whose it is and ask to use it, as it seems to cover Sanford to Scarborough. In the meantime, I think I'm building my own.

     

    I'm in Waterboro, Dad's in Limington and my brother in Poland. I think if I were to set up a repeater on a battery at the folks', we'd have the reach to cover the three houses and our commutes. I'm interested to see what you come up with, WRAV269. Good luck, and maybe we'll connect sometime when I'm in your neck of the woods again!

    Yup, but we figured it out Bradley. 

  3. VX 4207-7-45 good/bad/indifferent?

    in Equipment Reviews

    Posted

    I saw a few of these radios at a dealers store a few years back and they were excellent radios.I almost bought one but I was spending what money I did have getting my first GMRS repeater tuned and that has been a few years ago.I think if you can get it programmed you will have an excellent radio.I was just unsure about the certification and want to make sure it was Part 95...William

    Sweet. Part 95 was the first thing I looked for. Took me awhile to find out. Now for programming...hmmmm.

     

    Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

  10. Midland MXT400

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Well, I can pickup these two guys talking in Suffolk County NY from East Haven, CT. Both antennas pick them up. So far, the Midland MXTA11 "seems" to perform just a tad better then the DPD antenna....(all though I like the all black DPD look). Could that be the 1/2 of DB in gain the Midland has over the DPD, I can't say.

     

    Mostly all of my operation is while I'm driving, sometimes I will sit in front of my home. I don't have any hardcore data to back up my observations, just a small swr meter.

     

    I did not set or adjust any swr's on either antenna. I may hook the meter up in the next few days and see...(weather has been miserable).

    Oh I hear you on the weather! LOL. It has sucked up here in Maine as well. It is starting to look better though. I really need to get a 400 and set up a repeater here. or some place SE of my location. These hills are killing me! LOL. I do travel to RI and CT a couple times a year, family and friends. I'll pm you with my info, if thats alright. I might have to spring for the Midland antenna. I think the mag base shouldn't matter in this case.

  11. MXT105, true 5w? Not from what I can tell.

    in Equipment Reviews

    Posted

    out here in very rural Maine low power is good for my backyard. With the hills and woods around me, high power is basically our only way to connect with others. A trip to my downtown is 4.5 miles away with about 20-30 houses in between. Even on high it is still slightly staticy with low modulation. if i lived in the city I might use low.

    Also it's only 5w. It might be different if I was running a MXT400

     

     

    Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

  12. MXT105, true 5w? Not from what I can tell.

    in Equipment Reviews

    Posted

    I always though it was common courtesy to use low power and only use High power when it is actually needed. I was several miles out yesterday and still managed a 5 out of 5 with only 500mw, and the battery last longer.

    out here in very rural Maine low power is good for my backyard. With the hills and woods around me, high power is basically our only way to connect with others. A trip to my downtown is 4.5 miles away with about 20-30 houses in between. Even on high it is still slightly staticy with low modulation. if i lived in the city I might use low.

  14. MXT105, true 5w? Not from what I can tell.

    in Equipment Reviews

    Posted

    You might want to check the documentation on that meter. I suspect it is a CB (27 MHz) only meter. The giveaway is it a Sears brand meter. I do not recall anything from someplace like Sears being anything other than CB.

     

    If it is a CB only meter, it will not give any kind of accurate reading at GMRS frequencies.

    OK thanks. I was thinking that but wasn't sure. can someone do a power test and show results? I'm very curious. Oh and there was no docs. It was an old meter I found at my fathers. 

  15. MXT105, true 5w? Not from what I can tell.

    in Equipment Reviews

    Posted

    OK. os i have an old SWR meter. It works. Whether it works good or not, I'm not sure. For some reason, and I tried it on both truck and base radios, it only swings to the 3rd line from the left on power. Yes, 3rd line under 0.5 watts, on all channels. has anyone done a power test on these radios or knows of any links of power test? The Base MXT90 antenna is factory mini mag..... the truck MXT105 is a BROWNING 450MHz-470MHz UHF 3dBd Land Mobile NMO Antenna. I get the same reading from both. Any help would be great.                                                                                                                            

    post-1733-0-45425300-1521992689_thumb.jpg

  16. Midland MXT400

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Soladaddy, of the two the DPD "seems" to be of a better quality. The MXTA11 almost seems like it would be in a bubble pack hanging in the truck stop. Oddly enough, the MXT seems to perform slightly better.

     

    Now the difference in DB gain is the DPD is 5.5, and the MXTA11 is 6DB gain. I can't say whether or not that 1/2 DB difference between the two antennas makes that much difference. I travel the same routes to and from work, same times, and I always have the MXT400 on scan mode.

     

    I'll put the MXT antenna back on for tomorrow see what I get. Then I may put my swr meter between the radio and the antenna and see what I see.

     

    In Commspreppers review of the DPD antenna, he did say he felt the DPD was of "commercial quality"...........on the other side of that coin the Midland MXTA11 antenna may be a better "match" since they are from the same manufacturer.

    Any noticable difference? Just curious. I have a Browning on my truck. 3bd gain. Seems to pick up just a smidge of engine noise or something. Trying to save a little without sacrificing my tx.

     

    Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

  17. Cable types and losses

    in Technical Discussion

    Posted

    You're right couger37, (binary?) at UHF frequencies, 9913 has slightly less loss than 213. I see you were even talking about Free 9913. I just had 213 on my brain the other day, since I had just replaced a chunk of it at an AM broadcast station. Free is still the right price, regardless of coax type.

     

    Yes, a 12 foot RG-213 jumper will eventually burn out when you're running 500 Watts at 1.39 MHz. (Keep in mind that AM radio stations use 125% peak positive modulation, so 500 Watts is actually 2500 Watts PEP, continuous keydown, 24/7 classic rock. Cable eventually melts and arcs through. I might need to move that jumper up to half inch Heliax.

    Absolutely. That's just a bit of juice running there. 1/2" or even 5/8" might be better. Just sucks when you have to pay that price. Ultimately it will be worth it in the end. I happen to get lucky and talked with a local commercial installer and dealer and they just didn't have the room to store precut feeds. I'll have a variety of lengths that should fit my needs at the moment. I will also share the wealth with family and friends that are joining me on the air.

     

    Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

  18. Cable types and losses

    in Technical Discussion

    Posted

    Yes! I love free. All good cable, they just don't have room for pre cut lengths. I already bought an antenna. Ed Fung. Dbj- uhf. Should be here Monday or Tuesday. Can't wait. From the loss calculator 9913 has a slight less loss then the 213.

     

    Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

  20. Need Advice For Purchase of Several Radios

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    First off I want to say congratulations!

           I can only assume you have been looking on Amazon, correct? Tough to find a HT with repeater for that price range. You have to either increase your price range slightly or settle with non repeaters. i have been on Amazon for the last couple weeks hard looking. I myself don't have any repeaters at the moment. What I use is the Midland GTX1000 HT's with a MXT105 for my base and mobile. Great range for the price! My suggestion to you is to Get a decent base or mobile radio, good coax. and good antenna. After that, pick and choose one or 2 at a time for the HT's. There are some good deals out there and don't hesitate to get on and ask questions. I know answers might be a little slow coming in but well worth the wait in the end. 

  21. Cable types and losses

    in Technical Discussion

    Posted

    Please keep in mind that Belden 9913 has fairly high losses at GMRS frequencies. My old Belden chart from the early 1990's shows a 9913 loss of approximately 3.08 dbi for roughly 100 feet. Compare that to Hardline LDF4-50A cable at approximately 1.465 dbi loss for 100 feet.

     

    I understand that. I can deal with a little loss for the price. Lol. I was on a text line loss calculator and played around on it with different feedlines. I should only need about 60'. If I remember right the loss was between 1.7 and 2.1 at that length. Free is hard to come buy for feedlines. Lol. As I get more into it, I'll upgrade too.

     

    Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

  22. "Wall to wall and tree top tall"...?

    in Technical Discussion

    Posted

    Lol. Wow a bit shocking. Logan5, how far can you reach on high without repeater? I could just imagine your face when that meter pegged. What are you using for a mobile antenna? I have a friend in Groton that I'm trying to get him to buy a radio so we could talk. We use to talk on the CB back in HS. He is an Engineer for GDEB.

  24. Baofeng uv-5r

    in Amateur Radio (Ham)

    Posted

    ok. So from what I can tell by reading some of the discussions on here, the uv-5r is not part 95 for HT even though i have a gmrs license? does this still stand if I use it as a base radio? I'm still green on these things so please be patient with me. I'm am trying to learn and understand so I can pass the right info to my family and friends. I have read through the part 95 rules but still a little confused. Basically I need layman terms.  

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