kipandlee

There is your problem RAR is a file compression and archiving format. The file you have needs to be un rared. I think this free one from the MS store will do the trick. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/unrar-windows/9wzdncrfj2zh?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

I went through something like that here in my area.  I just got on the repeater a few times a day, at common 'commute' times, and called on the repeater for the owner.  After a few days (about a week iirc) he answered. 
 
I introduced myself and we spoke for awhile.  I asked if it was okay for me and my family to occasionally use the repeater.  Not only did he say yes, but he was happy that someone was going to benefit from using his machine. 
 
In my experience, most owners are fairly friendly.  Just be mindful that its someone else's property and you should do okay.

Agree fully... but I grew up in a time when it was common sense not to video record yourself doing something stupid or illegal. LoL It seems as though people today have lost sight of that. Instead, people seem to think it's a good idea to record it and post it online for the world to see.

I would suggest an addition to the repeater listings that would allow some degree of crowd sourcing of current status. In other words, let users add something like a QSL card or signal report. It could be simply binary as did or did not work. Or, it could be more detailed. Location at the time of the report, signal strength, etc.
 
Then, "last verified access" could be added to the repeater report page and, possibly, people could search on, reported active in the last: 30, 60, 90 days, etc.
 
In the signal report it might also be possible to report if anything differed from the listing, like Frequency, PL, or location. The specific information would not be given, except in the case of a fully-open repeater. But, at least other users would know there had been a change.
 
And, finally. The owner could receive an, optional, email each time a signal report was received.
 
In any case, the basic point is even if the owners do not update their listings, other users could help a bit.

Update FWIW.
 
I sent my TK-880 back to www.used-radios.com to verify firmware and install the correct V2.  Turnaround was 7 days total.  I got a call from the service manager and he got the tech to work it over and correct it.  Fired it up this afternoon and all seems well, buttons are correct for me, groups and channel programming are right, and there's no 'yyyyyyy' across the display.  Hopefully, it won't revert (it didn't do it the first time until power had been cycled multiple times).  They suspected corruption in the software/firmware or such.
 
I would likely mention here if I'd received poor or sub-par service from a vendor, so it's only fitting that I complement one with great service.  Some might say I paid a premium for a used radio but part of my rationale was the 90-day warranty they provide, and that it came complete with mic, power cable, and mounting bracket. 
Now I can add good service to that.  And thanks to all of you who helped diagnose the issue.  

Welcome to the community

Yup he is pretty firm on his price. We were able to get a donation to help out and get it.
 
May be worth grabbing a 4'x4' sheet of 3//4 plywood to throw on the ground first and screw or bolt it to it. Then throw some blocks or something heavy on it ? I had spikes pounded in the ground on all three when ours blew over. They were about 16" long but the ground was mostly sand and didn't help much.

Nice setup but watch the Tripod you have. I tried similar setup for our SAR team in the past and it didn't last well in some wind even with guy wires up. We since switched to a military style mast kit we found here - 
 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTENNA-TRIPOD-29FT-ALUMINUM-PORTABLE-TOWER-MAST-KIT-NEW/361384099911
 
It is night and day better and faster to set up that what we had before. It cost a bit more but in the end it was worth it. The selling point of the tripod is the custom "tripod" adapter he ships with it. Here it was last summer in the national park. This was hooked up to a mixed mode Quantar for an event we handle comms for.
 

 
 

Today, I put together a new portable repeater antenna setup together.  I do a lot of work with Amateur Radio Emergency Service. Often, we need a repeater setup so our people can run around with HT's and still be able to communicate direct with everyone.
 
The antenna is setup for 2m, 70cm and GMRS.  In all services, the SWR is 1.2:1 or better.  It's sitting on top of a fiberglass mast.
 
The total height is 47 feet from the ground to the top of the antenna. The bottom of the antenna is 40' from the ground. My son Nick is next to it to use as a reference.
 
I tested it out on 2m. Full quiet to another station 40 miles away, with only 5 watts. I'm pretty happy with that. On 70cm and GMRS, I was full quiet to a repeater 22 miles away with just 2 watts.
 
I am pretty happy with this setup.  I am going to be doing a training drill on March 28.  We'll see how it goes.
 
 
 
http://fiveguysracing.com/marc/HAM-GMRS/Pot_2m-440_Repeater_Antenna_2.jpg
 
 
http://fiveguysracing.com/marc/HAM-GMRS/Pot_2m-440_Repeater_Antenna_3.jpg

Okay, I'm hooked.
 
I was walking out to our local crop share pickup today when a neighbor texted me and asked if I knew what the huge plume of smoke is rising from near Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing (yet) on the news.
 
I had my radio with me because I was doing a couple of antenna/signal tests anyway, so I hopped on the local repeater and asked for anyone nearby to provide a visual situation report. Within a minute, I had 3 separate responses.
 
Turned out to be a huge construction fire, now at 5 alarms.
 
The local news story hit their web site and alert system > 30 minutes later. (See https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/02/massive-fire-engulfs-fairfax-county-construction-site/)
 
No big deal, I suppose, but I will add that from my vantage point, the smoke was along the glide path into DCA (Reagan National) airport. I'm the son of a retired 747 pilot (and fighter/aerobatics RAF team), so big plumes of smoke near airports have always made me uneasy, since long before 9-11.
 
Anyway, LOVE my GMRS comms now that I've learned about the world of repeaters out there. I'll be taking my Ham technician class exam in a couple weeks as well.
 
I'm hooked.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken (WRFC318)
 

Yup, got it.
 
Thanks

Yes, it grounded through the antenna, and/or the mounting bracket of the radio. (Kenwood 880s are not floating case. the metal case and bracket IS negative ground.)  That's another reason NOT to fuse the negative power lead of a mobile radio. If that negative fuse blows, you might not ever know until you burn up the shield on your coaxial cable by pulling 20 Amps of DC across it.  Also, I don't know where you learned the bit about "Connecting positive first as always" ...but that only applies to replacing the battery.  It is totally backwards with regard to hooking up accessories in a negative ground automotive situation.  After everything is mounted and grounded, then and only then should you hook up the positive "Hot" wire,, and install its fuse LAST.

If the vehicles (factory) ground strap from the battery to the engine block fails, the radio acts as the negative side for the whole vehicle. The radio might not like seeing all the current of the starter motor. I have seen equipment fail this way, the end result is the junk pile or needs repair table at the next ham fest....
 
Yea I'm am back from my forum break

I go straight to the battery because I have an insane amount of voltage drop on transmit when I use the factory common ground and B+ bus bar.  Like... 14.6v in standby dropping to 12.4v (sometimes less) on transmit.  Going direct to the battery, even with my 200w amp, I never see more than a 0.3v drop.

Hello Welcome to the group

Anyone involved in Winter Field Day this weekend? Daytime comms have been great on 80m through 20m. I made contacts from California to the Mediterranean on 100w and a 80m dipole. I thought the D layer was going to beat me up, but I'm pretty happy with the performance today.
 
I'm not in it for the points or competition... I just love making long distance contacts. Was wondering if anyone else has been involved today.

I’m in the market for another MXT275 in the next several months. Glad I can support the forum while I’m at it.

Heaven, and the powers of the universe, tend to help those who help themselves. This is a corollary to "google is your friend."
 
With a few keystrokes I found
https://www.dxing.com/radterms.htm  and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)
Note CQ is not generally used on GMRS. Though, there is no legal reason you couldn't use it, other than most people listening would think you were daft.

Actually going to a lower loss line could make the SWR worse as seen from the radio end. The reason why is the energy reflected from the antenna back to the radio is attenuated less, more reflected power, that would otherwise be adsorbed by the feed line.
 
The SWR can be calculated using forward and reflected power using the formula below:
 
SWR = (1+sqr(Pref/Pfwd))/(1-sqr(Pref/Pfwd)) 
 
Where "sqr()" is the square root of the value inside of the "()". And "Pfwd" is the measured forward power going to the antenna while "Pref" is the power being reflected by the antenna miss-match back to the radio. 

You can use almost any 18 through 14 gauge wire  the transmit draw is less than 15 amps. As far as quick disconnect connectors, I use XT60 connectors I can get at any hobby store selling radio control items. They solder to the wires so crimpers are not needed.

You are already in pretty good shape. Dropping below 1.5, even to 1.0 won't make a substantial increase in performance. It's not nearly as noticeable as, say, going from 2.0 down to 1.5. But, if you want to try for some small improvements...
 
In general, I don't think you can have too much ground plane. (And I am sure someone here will correct me if that is wrong.)
So, I'd extend the ground radials as much as possible and see if that makes any difference.
 
Also, you don't mention it... but, are there any other vertical metal poles or other antennas anywhere close by? Other objects might affect your transmission and SWR.

Ive got some of Bluemax's Motorola programing cables. Very well put together And ive never had a cable related issue with them.
 
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

No grandkids here yet... just kids...  
 
G.

Not too much to update other than it’s still working great. I’ve been in contact with Wouxun regarding the fact that the backlighting does not time out while scanning. So you have to disable it if you want to scan. That kind of sucks. Considering the GMRS-v1 would time out. A couple of little cosmetic things like some particles underneath the screen lens; I can’t seem to blow them out. The PTT and all other buttons suck. The material is not great. Like a hard plastic with little tactical feedback. I know I’m nitpicking a little. But for the price I’d like something a little more refined as far as firmware and form. However, the RF performance blows anything in its price range out of the water. At least for a Part 95 radio. The superheterodyne receiver has excellent sensitivity and I tested it a couple of days ago on the go and I have got nothing but excellent feedback on my audio through repeaters. Some thought I was on a mobile. Excellent quieting free of static. I also tried with a buddy 8 miles away, yes 8 over simplex. Clear as can be. Now, I had some elevation over him; but still. I’ve only been able to do that with my old Icom 4021 HT. So, the performance of this unit makes you deal with the shortcomings of the radios form. I told Buy Two Way Radios if only the buttons were rubbery and had a tactical click to it and a little more customization with the firmware it would be a damn near perfect low cost Part 95 radio. It’s based off the KG-703E radio and it’s a single band radio. So you have the advantage of tighter filters and a more “tuned” experience than a dual band radio. That’s just my option though. It would be worth checking out if I were you. Danny is the man at BTWR too and he is willing to answer any questions you may have about the specifics of the unit. They provide great support. Yes. When BTech first tried to certify for Part 95 they left the power setting at 5w per the UV-82 spec. They later were required to resubmit at 2 watts to stay in compliance. The KG-805G is a true 4 watt UHF radio with clean output. It’s Part 95 certification is based on the KG-703E since that is essentially what the 805 is with a modified firmware.

I can recommend bluemax49ers programming cable. It works with both the TK-840(N) and the TK880-H 1