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Lscott

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Everything posted by Lscott

  1. Lscott
    I can smell it way over here, and I have my COVID mask on too.?
  2. Lscott
    This is like the old joke about how 3 people can keep a secret. It works as long as two of them are dead. That seems to be the only way it’s going to happen on GMRS, agreement on a travel channel.
  3. Lscott
    Figures. I have a Kenwood 2022 price guide showing the discounted price and list price. When I was soliciting quotes I sent the section of the price guide to a few to see if I could get a better deal. One vendor commented it was a good price except Kenwood just increased them. From their quote it was about $50+ higher. ?
  4. Lscott
    Kenwood doesn’t appear to be going to the 2023 Hamvention this year. All sorts of speculation why that is.
  5. Lscott
    I think for the money they are a good choice. The long delivery times IMHO is due to them saving critical chips used in the higher tier models, NX-3000's and the NX-5000's, which I suspect are more profitable too.
  6. Lscott
    Which amps were those?
  7. Lscott
    I sent out a bunch of requests for quotes on a new Kenwood NX-1300DUK5 radio. I had more than one vendor tell me the radios are unavailable due to chip shortages. The last email from one said Kenwood advised them they won't see any until late summer. I found one vendor that had some of the analog only models in stock, and purchased the DMR feature license key to upgrade it before shipping. By the way if somebody wants a new good quality commercial grade radio for GMRS these are nice. They are not going to be exactly cheap, even in the analog only version. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/290-nx-1300duk5/ I read about the cheap Baofengs being shipped without a chip, I think it was for the FM broadcast feature, a while back. I also haven't got my Bluetooth remote for the D578 yet. That's been a couple of months on that too. Anyone else having issues with ordering and getting delivery on radios?
  8. Lscott
    With a utility pole, if installed right, you don't need a big cement base to anchor it like you would with a more traditional metal tower. I had a discussion with a coffee group buddy about a tower recommendation for his house. I suggested a 30 to 40 foot tubular crank-up design. Those you normally don't need guy wires. Being a crank up tower they can be lowered enough that a step ladder can be used to access the top for maintenance. Also when very strong storms roll in the tower can be lowered to minimize or eliminate potential damage from high winds. Also some neighbors may not like looking at the tower either. You don't want your house to look like something out of the X-Files. Keeping it down when not in use can promote better neighbor relations too.
  9. Lscott
    A few people have used a wood utility pole as a cheap antenna tower. Of course the issue is lighting protection and how do you get the antenna up there and service it later. You can use either certified climbing gear, or better rent a bucket truck for a few hours. Oh yes, you will sooner or later have to check/repair/replace the antenna and cable, maybe more than once, at some point. This goes for any place you put your antenna. That might change your mind on the mounting location.
  10. Lscott
    Some people feel the switch to SMA, from BNC, on HT's was a mistake by the major manufactures. The opinion is BNC connectors are physically stronger.
  11. Lscott

    NX-1300DUK5

    Lscott posted a gallery image in Members Albums Category

    NX-1300DUK5

    From the album: Misc. Radio Gear

    This a Kenwood NX-1300AUK5 upgraded with the DMR license, and the enhanced 40 bit ARC4 encryption option license (DMR only and compatible with Motorola's Enhanced Privacy setting), effectively a NX-1300DUK5, so it will do both analog FM, wide and narrow band, and DMR conventional operation. This radio can also be loaded with the NXDN digital mode, which requires another feature license being added to the radio. The radio will do analog FM and either one of the digital modes depending on which firmware is currently loaded on the radio. It will only do one digital mode at a time. I have a collection of NX-200's/300's series radios for NXDN so I don't need that mode in this radio, I'm just interested in DMR. https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/NX1K_Specsheet_K.pdf The radios I purchased have the 400-470 MHz band split so it's a perfect fit for Ham 70cm and GMRS. You only need one radio to cover both services on UHF. Currently digital voice is not authorized on GMRS so the DMR feature is only usable on the Ham band. Although it's not Part 95E certified, Just Part 90, it can be used on GMRS if it's programed carefully. So far the FCC hasn't been clamping down on Part 90 radios used on GMRS but it's not a guarantee they won't later. One nice feature is the radio can do front panel programming as a standard feature, you only need the display with the limited keypad model, when enabled in the programming software and the code plug loaded into the radio! I believe you also need the software to enter the alpha tag, otherwise it's set as CH-xxx where xxx is the current channel number. Not perfect but many commercial radios you can't program from the front panel at all, or if you can it's an extra cost item and you're still limited to narrow band FM. I now own 5 of these radios currently. I paid $400 for the new one BTW in the photo. The rest are used but in like new condition. A couple were analog only but upgraded, license key written to the radio, to DMR. Effectively NX-1300DUK5 models. All the radios are now enabled, license key, for ARC4 40 bit encryption as well, about another $30 for it per radio. I just recently purchased a used NX-1200DVK2 radio in very good condition. It included the base radio, antenna, battery pack and charger base. The price was about half of a new radio. If the radio doesn’t have ARC4 enabled I have a quote to get the feature license to add it in. It’s pretty cheap. There is a cracked version of the programming software available so you can avoid the cost and hassle of buying a license key and the PIA license manager garbage with Kenwood's servers. You'll have to register (NO COST) and join the group to gain access to the file section. The below link has the cracked software and mostly current firmware files. https://groups.io/g/kenwood/files/NX Series/NX1xxx-3xxx-5xxx/KPG-D6 Documentation for the radio, service manuals, user manuals, programming manual are located at this link. https://groups.io/g/kenwood/files/NX Series/NX1xxx-3xxx-5xxx/Docu/NX-1200_1300_1700_1800 Series/NX-1200_1300 HT's The cracked software also allows wide band over the full frequency range too. Otherwise that's another extra cost license option for the programming software you can avoid.
  12. Lscott
    After being disappointed by one, or more, you learn why people spend a lot more money on better radios soon after. I have a buddy at work that purchased several Baofengs for GMRS. I got him to spend money on a good clean Kenwood TK-3170 commercial radio. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/263-tk-3170jpg/ Since he started using the Kenwood he doesn't bother with the Baofengs, and comments how the Kenwood works better. With these cheap Chinese radios, CCR's, you get what you pay for, and maybe not even that is some cases. ?
  13. Lscott
    Isn't that what the radio is used for? ?
  14. Lscott
    I see there are some repeaters on P25. You going to do any for NXDN?
  15. Lscott
    I was reading the post as activating a new repeater. I was wondering if another one besides the Detroit and Mt. Clemens machines was going in some place. I was talking about the above repeaters at our Thursday night coffee group meeting. One of the Hams mentioned your name I believe. He has the cross-band repeater in Melvindale. Another Ham in our group just put up a repeater on UHF a short while ago. I was suggesting he could get his GMRS license and put it on the band. That would provide coverage out on the west-north-west side of the Detroit area. I believe he has access to emergency power at the site.
  16. Lscott
    One of the new GMRS repeaters by me does so using a female voice. It even announces it’s an open repeater and the access tone required.
  17. Lscott
    Where do you plan to locate the repeaters in the area?
  18. Lscott
    Oh, if you're worried about getting the channel selector set to the wrong position on any of the radios. Just program all the channels exactly the same. Then it doesn't matter where the channel selector is set.
  19. Lscott
    A similar radio to the VX-231 from Kenwood are the TK-3160 and TK-3360 16 channel radios. Neither one is Part 95 certified however. The TK-3360 is a somewhat newer version of the TK-3160. Both are basically idiot proof. There are only a channel selector, volume control, transmit button and two optional programmable side buttons. You could give one of these to a 5 year old and not worry much if they will much something up. TK-2360-3360 Brochure.pdf TK-2160_3160 Brochure.pdf
  20. Lscott
    Good question. I never got into the details of what the technical qualification are pertaining to frequency range to get certification under the various FCC rule parts. It could just be Kenwood felt the 450-520 band split was a better fit to cover the commercial market. Before the rule changes businesses could get a GMRS license. The 400-470 band split doesn't cover the upper end of the commercial market. It's likely a better fit for markets outside of North America.
  21. Lscott
    You're going to find a lot of Hams on this forum too. There is nowhere for you to hide.?
  22. Lscott
    I have identical radio models where the only difference is the band split. For example my NX-300's come in two band splits, 450-520 and 400-470. The 450-520 has Part 95A while the other doesn't. Both FCC grants are dated for 2013 prior to the rule changes. NX-300 FCC Grant - 2.pdf NX-300 FCC Grant - 1.pdf
  23. Lscott
    Another suggestion is the TK-3170. I carry that one around myself. There is also a TK-3173 which is about the same except it will do trunking. For GMRS you don’t need that otherwise the radio is the same as the TK-3170. The TK-3140 is a good radio as mentioned above. The difference that might make a you pick one over the other is the side port used for programming and options like speaker microphones. The TK-3170 uses the same type of plug that many of the cheaper Chinese radios copied. Also many times you can use the same programming cable too. The TK-3140 uses what Kenwood calls a universal connector. It has 14 spring loaded pins on the plug that makes contact with the pads on the side connector port. The nice thing with this is it keeps dirt and water from getting inside of the radio. That’s the problem with the other radios I mentioned if the port isn’t covered or an accessory plugged in it. There are other commercial grade radios that fit you requirements others here have used and will recommend. TK2140_3140.pdf TK-3173(K) Brochure.pdf TK-2170_3170(K) Brochure.pdf
  24. Lscott
    I'm waiting for delivery on a new NX-1300DUK5 radio with display and standard keypad. This particular model has the ability to be front panel programmed without any hardware modifications or license key loads. One of the option license keys for it enables the 40 bit ARC4 encryption feature. It's a "cheap" license, around $30 more or less. I know it's weak encryption, and has been broken. If a number of radios use it them I might spend the money and upgrade it just to experiment with it. The one nice feature is no key-loader is required, for example AES and DES. My question here what radios currently use this encryption standard? NX-1300DUK5.pdf
  25. Lscott
    Well, there aren't that many non ground plane antennas to choose from. Another point is a non ground plane antenna needs an internal load matching section. That adds bulk and cost to the antenna over a simple 1/4 wave design which needs a ground plane and no load matching section. It's possible that more non ground plane antennas will be marketed as more vehicles employ plastic in the roofs and other body panels to save weight and cost. For those you don't have much in the way of options.
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