Lscott
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Posts posted by Lscott
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1 hour ago, pcradio said:
I would like to see the test changed, not go away. The test questions for technician are totally out of scope for what most people actually do on 2m/70cm. They buy a radio and talk on it! Make the test cover that use case really well. Not all the silly other electronic stuff. Push that out into the higher levels.
I don’t agree. Judging by the frequent questions on this forum about antennas, coax cable, load matching, rules etc. and GMRS doesn’t even require a test. And of course all people want to do on GMRS is just talk too.
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3 hours ago, AdmiralCochrane said:
The tech test is so easy that not wanting it shows unwillingness to apply any effort. For the average American, it is probably no more difficult than your state's driver's license written exam.
Well 12 year olds have gotten their Tech Class license. Makes you wonder when adults complain it’s takes too much time and effort.
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17 minutes ago, back4more70 said:
I have a GMRS license and I decided I wanted my amateur radio license as well. So I studied for the Technician test for the last few weeks off and on, and I took the test this morning. (Side note: I live in California, but currently visiting Wyoming, so I took my test in Wyoming. The VE's were happy to have me.) I passed the Technician test 100%. Then the VE's asked if I wanted to try the General test, which I was completely unprepared for. Turns out I am pretty good at guessing, I almost passed (I scored 25 out of the required 27 to pass). My favorite part was when the VE was grading my general exam, he was shocked that I actually got as many correct as I did. "Unbelievable" was his exact word. Just thought I would share. I guess my point is that for the folks that complain about the testing, it really isn't that hard.
Bit more studying and you’ll get your General.
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1 hour ago, WRCZ387 said:
I also agree on the BNC, with adapters I can have the h-t on the 1/4 wave in the mobile, but I can grab it and switch back to portable mode to carry it with me with just a couple of twists + pulls/pushes
I would rather wear out a cheap easily replaced BNC adapter than having to rip apart the radio to replace a worn out SMA connector.
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48 minutes ago, ytechie said:
I know this is a big ask, but I'm wondering if such a beast exists, that allows:
- GMRS send/receive
- Decent UHF receiving
- Decent VHF receiving
- 1/2 wave / No ground plane (will be mounting opposite of factory radio antenna near the hood)
On my previous car, I roof mounted a Comet CA-2x4SRNMO when I wanted all of those capabilities, but that was with a ground plane. It's not an option on my new truck.
If it doesn't exist, I'll stick with GMRS-only (1/4 wave on the roof or 1/2 wave hood), but I'll be a little sad that I might not be able to receive VHF decent.
I'm looking for one too. I have an old Comet CA-2x4MB. The tested SWR was good for the above bands. I had one on my old Jeep. Other than the fold-over spring it's still in good shape. I have a spare that's never been used outdoors. If the current one is destroyed I have a backup. So far I haven't found a no ground plane antenna that works as well. Unfortunately the two I have have not been manufactured in over 20 years.
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/259-ca-2x4mb-jeepjpg/?context=new
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/282-ca-2x4mb-scansjpg/?context=new
I think Comet made a mistake when they discontinued this model.
I have the CA-2x4SR too. However for some reason it just doesn't work as well. Also requiring a ground plane is another negative for my usage requirements.
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1 hour ago, WROZ437 said:
I appreciate your help, but I think you misunderstood my question. I did not ask about compatibility. I asked about comparability, as in performance quality.
OK. The short answer is the Motorola radios, to mention the brand you seem to favor, are very likely to perform better. I'm partial to Kenwood, but that's just me. There was a poster on this forum who was an avid Motorola guy. I exchanged numerous PM's with him and a few others. I have to admit he made his point about how the one model, which was his favorite, was a stellar performer. The test data he supplied left little doubt. That was the XPR-7550E. Unfortunately they are no longer manufactured. If you want one then buying used is the route to go.
As a general rule I would expect a commercial radio to perform better than Ham gear and better than a lot of the CCR's, Cheap Chinese Radios, for sale. The radios have to perform in hostile environments and just plain "work". That means the physical and electrical design is a step, or few, above the others, and why they tend to cost more.
Now while some of the CCR's may lack in some performance areas they have more "features" you typically won't find on a commercial radio. Remember commercial radios are marketed for business and first responder use. They are a program and use scenario, not aimed at frequent reprogramming. Contrast that to Ham gear where it's expected to be reprogrammed, possibility frequently, and from the front panel while in the field.
So, the trade-off is just how much do you want to spend and what features do you want, or require, in the radio. That will drive what choice you make. Some may have more than one and switch off depending on the current anticipated use. For example some people want one radio they can use as a base, mobile or as a hand portable. Others are happy to have a different radio for each. Believe it or not some also have several different mobile antennas they use when driving in the city, highway or out on the trail.
If you have any specific models in mind you can ask for opinions here and get some input from others who have used it. Remember questions and answers here are free.
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17 minutes ago, WROZ437 said:
I understand your disclaimer. I will say that I don't plan to operate with power that exceeds FCC regulations for specific frequencies/bands.
Radios get FCC certification under the rule parts that pertain to the radio service in question. Ham gear typically only has Part 15, which has to do with interference and the blocking of scanning/monitoring or cell phone frequencies. Since they have no certification under any section in Part 95 they can't be used "legally" for any service covered by that rule part. That includes the case when all other requirements like frequency, bandwidth and power are programmed to match. So, the point of the disclaimer was to make the record clear what your exposure to potential FCC action would be.
24 minutes ago, WROZ437 said:So are the Radioddity or Anytone radios at all comparable with something like an older Motorola?
The radios are compatible with any other radio, including Motorola, using analog FM and set for the same bandwidth.
A number of the Motorola radios use a digital mode called "Mototrbo", which is their brand name for DMR.
https://www.radiocoms.co.uk/what-is-mototrbo/
So long as a radio complies with the DMR standard then they should have no issue with communicating with another DMR radio. I haven't head of any issues in that area with the Anytone models.
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2 hours ago, WROZ437 said:
Being able to use digital and analog would be a plus (I use UHF DMR radios at work under an IG license).
If you're looking at doing DMR there are only a few choices.
DISCLAIMER. Modifying Ham gear to operate on other services is a violation of FCC rules. What you choose to do is your choice.
Back to the topic. A favorite is some of the Anytone radios. The older D868 HT and the newer D878 HT models. Example of one I have.
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/270-d878uv-model-1/?context=new
There is also the D578 mobile, which comes in several different models depending on options.
Most of the digital voice mode activity is typically on UHF. You can get some commercial radios, single band (VHF or UHF), that can be programed for Ham, GMRS and MURS. Again some examples that I own with analog/DMR.
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/255-tk-d300e-fmdmr/?context=new
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/290-nx-1300duk5/?context=new
Note some of the older commercial radios have Part 90 and 95 certification. The later is required for legal operation on GMRS. Currently the FCC seems to ignore Part 90 radios on GMRS but that is not an endorsement they won't at a later date.
Also UHF radios are likely manufactured covering two or more band splits in the UHF range. For example the NX-1300 is either 400-470 MHz or 450-520 MHz. For Ham 70cm and GMRS I would recommend the 400-470 MHZ band split of course.
The VHF radios almost universally seem to cover 136-174MHz, which covers Ham 2M, MURS, Railroad and NOAA weather frequencies.
The digital modes you'll find for commercial radios are DMR, NXDN and P25. I have radios for each mode and band.
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/249-934916052_radiocollectionjpg/?context=new
The VHF version of the radios tend to sell for more than the UHF versions. The most popular mode so far is DMR, System Fusion and D-Star. The later two are strictly Ham radio modes and not found on any commercial type radio. Also P25 radios tend to be significantly more expensive than any other digital mode. You can find them at a decent price but you'll be looking for a long time before you stumble on a good deal.
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6 minutes ago, WRXE944 said:
Although I do not have these radios, I installed this software once in an attempt to solve someone's problem.
What difficulties are you having with this dialog box?
He needed the KPG-49D software for his radio. The KPG-62D was the wrong version. I sent him the right one and just got a PM saying it's installed and working now.
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20 hours ago, Blaise said:
I buy all my radios on the dark web with crypto. Does that count?
That's OK, but UPS, USPS, FedEx etc. will report the delivery to every three letter government agency in the Washington DC telephone book.
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10 hours ago, WRWI306 said:
Having issues figuring out how to install the KPG software. I'm stuck at the username part, does anyone know what'd be? or what to put for all 3 columns? Trying to program my Kenwood TK-880. Thanks
Check your private messages for the correct software and install serial number.
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2 hours ago, WRQG930 said:
walk into a store front and buy with cash
Happens all the time at various flea markets where it's primarily cash and carry.
https://hamvention.org/2022-hamvention-attendance-announced/
https://swling.com/blog/2019/05/2019-hamvention-photos-friday-flea-market/
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3 minutes ago, WRWR489 said:
Not bragging, nut in 2005 had a bolt of lightning hit a 30 foot tall queen palm that it hit, found the ground to the lamp post in the driveway and blew shingles of the roof of the house. No fire thank god, but it looked like a backhoe dug a trench from the tree to the light. Blew the ground apart and opened it up. When I say ground I don't mean a wire, the lightning blew the ground apart.
I’ve read stories about serious injuries being near a tree when struck by lightning. The heat generated by the current flow through the sap flashed it to steam. That resulted in the tree trunk exploding like a bomb. People ended up looking a voodoo doll from all of the wood shards sticking out of them.
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3 minutes ago, WRKC935 said:
Google is your friend here. If you have specific questions then feel free to ask, but I really don't want to get into a ground up discussion on here about it.
It’s not legal on GMRS anyway so no practical application on the service.
From a purely academic perspective it’s an interesting topic. Might be the subject for another thread. -
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3 hours ago, Sshannon said:
That’s also true of any GMRS user using those channels for simplex.
But that’s not “jamming“ the frequency. That’s just sharing the frequency as regulations require.Unfortunately people treat FRS radios as a toy. When you can buy a bubble pack of two for $29.95 at the local discount store nobody gives a crap and reads beyond how to turn them on and where the batteries go. They give them to their kids and off they go. A 5 yo has no idea what frequency sharing means.
I’ve had some local kids playing on the local repeater’s output channel for an hour or two at times. And unfortunately they happened to be close by so the higher power repeater signal had trouble swapping out the FRS signal.
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22 minutes ago, Sshannon said:
How do they cause problems for repeater owners? FRS radios are blocked from transmitting on the 467 main channels that are the repeater inputs.
By transmitting on the repeater output frequencies. If they’re near by your location they can jam the frequency.
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2 minutes ago, kidphc said:
Yup. Kinda weary of the used or older ones for that reason.
Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
One other thing I forgot to mention. That's the cycle life of the switch. There is usually a max number of switch cycles the device is rated for. After that you can get mechanical failures. Some of those used switches might be near the end of their cycle life and were pulled out of active service and replace with new ones. It might work for a while then fail later.
Hopefully the switch wasn't abused by switching under power. That would likely burn the contacts. You don't want to buy somebody's else's problem.
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Before spending your money try to track down the data sheet for the switch. Many times you can find it on line. In other cases sending a friendly email off to the company's sales or tech support department might work.
The other thing to look at is the power handling capacity of the switch. A switch you're interested in might be cheap because it won't do more than maybe a few watts.
Hamvention
in Amateur Radio (Ham)
Posted
Thanks for the info.
I’m going with a buddy. Haven’t decided for sure if we are going to use analog FM, DMR simplex or NXDN simplex for our private communication. Likely DMR.