Jaay

Also in Many areas of the U.S. our internet is carried on underground fiber optic lines, which keeps it well protected.

Those of us who are Well equipped don't lose any ability to communicate at all, because as a contingency we can switch to Analog repeaters on Vhf or Uhf, or even digital on simplex. The integration of the internet with two way radio create a robust system that works worldwide on up to around 1600 individual talkgroups.

YES it IS Radio, because you're still transmitting on the link frequency to your hotspot, using RF, OR using RF direct to a dmr or other digital repeater system on the same network. Internet only comes into play at your modem, or at hub of a repeater that you transmit to.

NO THANK YOU.

And there's ROIP, or Radio over internet Protocol which can allow Worldwide crystal clear coms. I use a SharkRF Openspot, which allows P25, DMR, C4FM, and Pocsag modes in Digital. Being in a Highrise with Limited antenna options, this method works Extremely Well.

My portion of illinois is completely void of 30 - 50 mhz traffic. All the low band agencies are now on a statewide trunking system. I still have a couple neighbors using 46/49 phones amazingly.

My 935H is just a talkie, but it's 2m/1.25m/and 70cm, as well as Gmrs and Murs if you enter the 4 digit code. A thousand memories on it is nice too.

My H8 is just fine, for what it is and it works well, but my wouxun 935H just covers more bands, since I enjoy 222 simplex as well as Gmrs and Murs. My 935 H will do them all.

ARRL doesn't even affect hams, who choose not to support them.

With the price of good coffee steadily increasing, we'll have to start making informative decisions between our beloved java and our radios !

Donny - " Wait, didn't I appoint someone to the FCC ?

Bert, You forget TWO Important Facts that didn't occur to you before you wrote that. 1. GMRS is intended to be a Short range communication service, Not meant for nationwide comms. 2. you Only have 8 Repeater pairs in which to operate repeaters on, which is approx. 180 mhz. bandwidth. WHY would someone 200 miles away have to be Forced to listen to traffic by a couple of operators on a linked system, not even in their area ? After you get 4 or 5 Linked networks across the U.S. saturating the 8 Repeater pairs we're allowed to use for the entire country, the signal to noise ratio goes UP, sometimes even creating interference for low power or Local repeaters. My suggestion to you, is IF you want to enjoy Long Distance Comms state to state, maybe take the test for your Technician Amateur Radio License, then you could operate on Many of the LEGAL Linked repeater systems we're Allowed to operate ? Both the Two meter and 70 Centimeter { Vhf and Uhf } bands have More than enough Bandwidth to support many Linked systems. Gmrs does Not have the Bandwidth needed to allow linking. I hope this sheds some light for you.

My poor H8 has been a dust magnet, since I bought my Wouxun 935H

They ALL are, when you pick one and you're going somewhere !

Not Boring at ALL ! Quite fun actually, especially for those of us who Don't have the real estate for Full size towers and hf antennas.

As Steve said, 1.75 vswr is Negligible. Getting your antenna UP over the body of your vehicle would likely lower your reading, but 2.6 watts reflected, according to your device is not harmful.

I don't think impressing anyone was his intent. But Proven Science is what it is, and L. Scott was correct in that formula.

Just remember, you GET what you pay for ! $100 isn't going to buy you Quality.

The rattlgram app Can play back a message much faster than you can speak it, and even faster than it can be decoded. Playback time IS Adjustable, once you learn how it works. Also using Your Own ciphered message, that others can't make any sense of is Important. Low tech apps, such as Rattlgram have Defeated Law enforcement when used by savvy criminals.

R and L Electronics has the 991A at $1148 which is FAR cheaper than Amazon, that I don't suggest for Any kind of radio equipment. Also the 991A is a REAL radio compared to that talkie.

The Yaesu FT-991A is a Favorite among shack in the boxes, and I've had mine for 5 years now and Still love it.

With our state of Readiness in question, and our Russian Agitators I've been listening to the HFGCS for some years now. The High Frequency Global Communications System operates 7 main Nets in the hf spectrum on ; 4724 khz. 6712 khz. 6739 khz. 8992 khz. 11,175 khz. 13,200 khz. and 15,016khz. All on USB. Granted, the cyphered transmissions won't tell you much, but Frequent transmissions in a 24 hour period will alert you to things popping off.

NOT True, Digital modes such as Dmr, P25, M17, TGIF and C4FM are Alive and kicking Hard ! For example, there are nearly 290,000 Dmr users on the Brandmeister network alone !

Topographical maps for your area are Very useful for this !

We're just too Old Steve lol!