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Lscott

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Everything posted by Lscott

  1. Lscott
    What you learn quickly the real circuit is not what the schematic shows. When you include all the parasitic elements it’s gets a lot more interesting. The higher the frequency or when transient events are important you can’t neglect them.
  2. Lscott
    Ok.
  3. Lscott
    You forgot about the necessity of cutting off those crummy F-connectors, replacing them with “N” type or PL-259, if you can find any that fit that coax size, or finding the correct adapter. I think you’re better off installing the correct antenna and coax and save yourself the extra hassle.
  4. Lscott
    If you're definitely using your GMRS radio in Canada then you should be aware of the Industry Canada, their FCC, rules. They are closely similar to the US FRS rules. Per the Annex E specifications GMRS radios in Canada are restricted to no more than 2 watts ERP, effective radiated power. That's a significant restriction. Canada GMRS-FRS Rules.pdf Canada FRS - GMRS Channels.pdf Canada Annex E - GMRS and FRS.pdf
  5. Lscott
    If you’re going to do any significant driving through the west side of Canada you may run into what are called “radio controlled roads” which are on VHF. That might be more of a use to you than the Canadian version of GMRS. Canada VHF LADD Channel List .pdf
  6. Lscott
    It would be a very good idea to wait a few months on buying a TH-D75A. Let everyone else do the beta testing. By then Kenwood should have a good idea where all the remaining software and hardware bugs are and have a fix for them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the radio go through several hardware revisions before getting to a stable design.
  7. Lscott
    There is nothing in the rules that requires this, but it's the general practice. https://www.customsmobile.com/regulations/title47_chapterI-i4_part95_subpartE_section95.1763 A few repeater owners have selected a frequency pair from the 462 and 467 groups that are NOT an exact 5MHz offset. That was done to discourage some users, with fixed programed frequencies in their radios, from accessing the repeater. While that will "tie-up" what amounts to 2 "repeater channels" and may not be well received by other repeater owners it's not illegal under the current GMRS rules. https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Offset Same with tones. A few owners have required the use of MDC to access the repeater in an attempt to limit unauthorized access. Most of the common Chinese radios can do CTCSS or DCS but not MDC, thus cutting them off from the use of the repeater. The are a number of the more expensive new/used commercial grade radios do include MDC functionality other than Motorola. See attached example brochures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDC-1200 TK-2360-3360 Brochure.pdf TK-5220_5320 Brochure - 1.pdf NX-1200_1300 Num 1.pdf NX-220_320.pdf
  8. Lscott
    Or GMRS users simply don't need the feature enough to bother commenting to the FCC about it.
  9. Lscott
    It's bad enough people are trying to poke at their vehicle's touch screens, or playing with their smartphones, while driving. Do we really need another distraction for the driver?
  10. Lscott
    You very likely can get a purpose built repeater controller for a lot less money unless you "happen" to have a PLC laying around someplace. Otherwise the cheapest thing you likely can use is like the example linked to below. https://www.robotshop.com/products/ardbox-plc-20-analog-modbus-industrial-arduino-module
  11. Lscott
    I think if one wanted to know your location in an urban area using an app on the smart phone seems like a better idea. At least the location data can be overlaid directly on a map using a device most people already own. Using an HT or mobile radio alone one would still require some method to plot the GPS location so more hardware would be required anyway. The above point also applies while out "in the woods" too. I guess one would have to store the maps on an external device first then interface the radio to it to plot the GPS location being sent it it. Apparently there are some devices that can do both in one box but they likely aren't cheap. https://g.factoryoutletstore.com/cat/31220/rino-.html
  12. Lscott
    The FCC screwed up when they allowed the sale of combination FRS/GMRS radios before the rule changes in 2017. The idea was if one wanted to use the GMRS specific, at the time, channels one would have to get a GMRS license. Well, almost nobody bothered. So, when the rules were changed in 2017 the FCC had to do something about all the existing radios out there. They simply changed the rules to make those combination FRS/GMRS radios FRS only and legal to use as is. However the channels you pointed out sit between the main GMRS repeater input channels, which use a 25KHz channel. The FRS channels, 8-14, where kept at very low power and narrow band since they partially overlap the main GMRS repeater channels. The idea was to minimize the interference they cause. At the time FRS was limited to 0.5 watts and narrow band, 12.5KHz channel, so keeping the restrictions didn't require any changes to existing radios. As you pointed out for FM use they are basically useless. Many GMRS specific radios don't even include them, noticeably on mobile radios. So practically speaking GMRS really has useful access to only 15 channels. You might ask is there something that those channels could be used for? Maybe, but that's a topic for another thread, which if you look you'll find on the forum discussing adding channels to GMRS. FRS-GMRS Channels Layout.pdf
  13. Lscott
    Have you considered using any of the license free MURS radios? While limited to 2 watts max at VHF they do a bit better in terrain that's a bit hilly and tree covered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-Use_Radio_Service Some examples of MURS radios. https://www.retevis.com/murs-radios https://www.buytwowayradios.com/business/murs-radios.html There is also a mobile magnet mount antenna that is usable for both GMRS and MURS in case you decide to carry both types. https://dpdproductions.com/products/dual-band-gmrs-murs-mobile-antenna
  14. Lscott

    Lscott commented on TheNevilleKid's gallery image in Members Albums Category

    You'll end up like me with a bunch more radios in your collection. It's addictive.
  15. Lscott
    I checked mine, V4, and the attached photo are they only frequency options shown for the TK-880 mobile radio.
  16. Lscott
    I never claimed it was. The dPMR service in the EU seems to be working out OK so apparently it's very possible to do, share the spectrum. In fact they have TWO digital voice modes, dPMR and DMR. Further on 11M people have used AM and SSB for years and now FM is added to the mix. I don't see any huge crying over that either. I have to agree with those with how annoying a mode like TDMA, which is how DMR operates, with the machine gun like pulsing. I do know that the TDMA nature of the signal is known to cause false opening of the squelch, when using CTSS, on analog radios. It happens on the CCR tri-bander I have in the office I use as a cheap scanner from time to time. The two modes I mentioned in the paper are FDMA, no pulsing noise. I also am NOT advocating using digital voice on repeaters. I would keep those analog only. Analogue and Digital PMR446 Information Sheet.pdf The-effect-on-dPMR-446-of-the-new-digital-license-v3-2019.pdf
  17. Lscott
    Looks like that's were we should start, get the FCC to enforce the rules. The whole point with enabling digital voice, in some limited manner, on GMRS has nothing to do with experimentation or making it a "Ham Lite" type service. It's more about improving the quality of service. As it exists now the general GMRS user really only "practically" use channels 1-7 and 15-22 due to the above restrictions on channels 8-14. The proposal I made in that paper would take the nearly useless narrow band low power interstitial channels and put them to better use. The topic of this thread was more "repeater" channels. While not exactly adding more channels by allowing using digital voice on 8-14 and at a reasonable power, 5 watts in simplex mode, we effectively gain 5 more channels without asking the FCC for more spectrum, which likely won't ever happen. Better than nothing and a kick in the butt from the FCC.
  18. Lscott
    Sounds like to me the battle is already lost. What your complaint is really all about is no FCC enforcement. Not really about digital voice, although you pick on it as an example. We also have reports by others of illegal use of GMRS by businesses with no licenses etc. This topic deserves a whole thread on its own. But that’s not what this one is about.
  19. Lscott
    Two decent strength analog FM signals do a really good job of wiping each other out too. Did you bother to read the file I posted the other day on this thread?
  20. Lscott
    I wouldn’t make a blanket statement like that. This is why the topic doesn’t get a serious discussion. There is a way to partially accommodate a digital voice mode if one is willing to consider reasonable options. Read the attached document, particularly the last few paragraphs. GMRS Digital Voice - 20231127.pdf
  21. Lscott
    Could be true. But I swear some of the operators might be brain dead.
  22. Lscott
    The problem with people asking for opinions is where they get good advise then go out and buy the cheapest P.O.S. on the market. Makes one wonder why they bothered to ask.
  23. Lscott
    That's cool! I could use a new calendar for my office. One like the above would be nice.
  24. Lscott
    Might be true of new models. However I own a bunch of older Kenwood radios the have Part 95 certification, and some of those are digital voice capable. My carry radio for GMRS and Ham UHF is the Kenwood TK-3170. A few others here use it as well. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/263-tk-3170jpg/ TK-3170 Grant.pdf
  25. Lscott
    Good old phone spoofing memories.
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