Lscott

I wished people wouldn't use WEBLOC files as links. Just copy and paste the URL.

The main problem is finding a repeater controller that will work with the equipment at hand. People will build a cheap repeater using a couple of HT's or a couple of mobile radios. A lucky few can afford a real purposely designed repeater with the required interface for a controller available. Most often there are no provisions for access to a COR, carrier operated relay, etc. so the builder ends up hacking the radios to gain access to necessary signals. When the builder's family are the only users then simply cross coupling the mic and audio outputs, with VOX enabled, is sufficient for basic functioning, because at least no ID is required. I picked up a simple interface box to do the cross coupling between two HT's, with VOX contol, to experiment with a cross-band repeater for Ham use. A simple duplexer like the below is sufficient to get the isolation at a 5 watt level. https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-916bn#description https://www.buytwowayradios.com/surecom-sr-628.html

Disclaimer, I haven't purchased anything from this company but they have been around for a long time and seem to have reasonable prices. They have a verity of cheap notch type duplexers. Might be worth buying one to experiment with. Then later go with some notch/band-pass types for more isolation. https://www.409shop.com/409shop_shopcat.php?&usercat=4942 http://www.repeater-builder.com/antenna/pdf/chinese-mobile-duplexer-measurements.pdf SGQ-450D-N.pdf

The attached files give some info on isolation requirements and using cavity filters to get it. Calculating Required Isolation.pdf Duplexers and Repeaters.pdf Understanding Maintaining and Re-Tuning Antenna Duplexers.pdf

Forgot to mention that more TX power is going to require more isolation on the RX input side. A few people have experienced RX desense with the power being too high. They did what would at first appear to be counter intuitive, they decreased the TX power.

There are a lot of security issues with the old IPV4 protocols. The new IPV6 tried to fixed them. The packet redirect was part of the DNS poisoning issue. It had more to do with the firmware running on the DNS servers that didn't dump their cash often enough as outlined by the protocol. The reason given it cut down the time spent updating the lookup tables. The attack would target a DNS server by sending it spoofed updates from a higher level authoritative DNS server trying to get the requesting lower level DNS server to read it's spoofed update first. The spoofed update would send the IP address of the spoofed web site etc. in-place of the real correct address when an inquiry was made to the poisoned DNS server. Because the now "poisoned" DNS server isn't dumping it's cash frequently the poisoned DNS server could be returning the spoofed address for an extended length of time. The above is just a basic outline how the scheme worked.

As a matter of practice I don't program in RX tones unless there is something else on frequency that is interfering with the repeater's output.

If they are so worried about "back-doors" then anything electronic coming from the Chinese mainland would be suspect. A few short years ago there were warnings about USB photo frames that came with a virus. https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Virus-from-China-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-3227869.php

Simple, buy new cable. Then do a better job of water proofing the ends. https://youtu.be/s92i2WALXcQ

The attached file outlines one way to do it. MOTOTRBO too 927MHz Code Plug Mod.pdf

Not that I’m aware of at least for Amateur Radio. There are a few FM repeaters around on the band. One of the very few Motorola radios I have besides the XPR-6550’s is an XPR-6580. It’s the only radio I have for 33cm so far. And added bonus is it will do DMR too. The code plug was hacked, using in memory radio CPS changes, to get the radio on the 33cm band. The radio didn’t require any hardware modifications like the Kenwood radios I researched at the beginning. XPR-6550_6580 Brochure.pdf

Good luck on the test. I’ll bet you’ll find it easy. If you can find the 400-470 band split radios they are definitely worth getting. I seemed to have better luck finding this band split with the digital Kenwood’s. Those would be for the big three, DMR-P25-NXDN. I think that band split were the first ones available so that’s what got sold mostly. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/255-tk-d300e-fmdmr/ https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/254-tk-5320-1jpg/ https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/251-nx-300jpg/ The VHF radios are even more attractive. They usually cover 136-174. That will work for the Ham 2M band, MURS, VHF marine, VHF railroad FM and the NOAA weather stations. That’s all in the above range. The asking price is significantly more than the UHF radios. If you’re interested in Ham digital voice modes then look primarily for the UHF radios. Most of the digital voice operations for Ham are on the 70cm band. The DMR and NXDN radios aren’t too highly priced. Now the P25 radios are just plain stupidly high priced. Myself I’m still looking for a second TK-5220 VHF P25 radio. I have one now in my collection, I want a second radio if I can find one that isn’t price like it was Gold.

Take a look at the example code plug. Shows how to setup the memory channels for zones. I have two zones setup for GMRS/FRS. One is set for wide-band, normal GMRS. The other is set for narrow band to talk normally to those with FRS type radios. It also has some Ham stuff in it too. Since the radio is not front panel programmable, and you don't have a real VFO mode. I sort of cheated by using one zone for Ham simplex and used the frequency as the channel name. That way when you flip through the memory channels it looks like you have a VFO with a 25KHz step. You don't need to enter in every 25KHz frequency step in the band because there are only several sections recommended for simplex only so that keeps the required number of channels down while providing good coverage. The 450MHz-520MHz band split you can "push" down out of band to around 440MHz, maybe lower, and it will work. Two out of the three Ham simplex sub-bands are between 440MHz and 450MHz along with the repeater section. Now you have one radio that will work for most of the Ham 70cm band, GMRS and is Part 95 certified. Not a bad deal. You'll also see I have some Part 90 frequencies in several zones for monitoring use. I like to go for walks at some of the local malls when not at the gym so I monitor the local shops and mall security frequencies etc. It's legal so long as you don't TX on them. The TX function is inhibited by leaving the TX frequency entry empty for those. If you get the 400MHz-470MHz band split, harder to find and are not Part 95 certified either, are usable over both the complete Ham and GMRS bands if you aren't worried about the certification issue. US Amature Band Plan 2020.pdf TK-3180 - Example Ham GMRS.dat

That is sort of funny since they are not vanity plates. You have to provide your FCC license to get one, and at least here in Michigan, the cost is the same as a regular plate.

That's stretching it a bit! I tried once from the old Place location, by the land fill, and it was a bit noisy. When I got to Lake Orion, nothing. That's with a big high gain mobile antenna.

I'm not interested as well. I already have a Ham call sign license plate as it is.

As of last Monday the repeater has officially 224 registered users. If what you hear is routine and frequent it is likely a wide area coverage repeater. The Troy machine is on top of a building at about 150 to 200 feet above ground level, I don't have an accurate figure for it. The radius of coverage should be about 20 miles, and might be further if the other station has a good height for it's antenna as well. Some of what you might hear is referred to as "tropospheric ducting" which occasionally occurs on VHF and UHF frequencies. This has resulted in stations being heard 100's of miles away or more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation

AKA - W7ML too.

Don't bother me any. If you want to waste your money paying the higher fees for a vanity plate that's your problem.

Some general info: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/radio-information-for-boaters https://towers4boats.com/do-recreational-boats-need-a-vhf-radio/ https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/maritime-mobile/ship-radio-stations

I've seen occasionally Ham call sign license plates, I have one myself, but almost never seen a sticker saying monitoring 146.52, that's sort of understood. If you see a call sign license plate and a VHF/UHF antenna on the vehicle giving a shout on the calling frequency might get a response from them. In another thread I asked about why you don't see any GMRS call sign license plates. It seems that only exists for Hams. One suggestion was getting a vanity plate with your GMRS call sign on it. If you recognize the plate as a GMRS call sign, big hint there is a UHF antenna present too, then again giving a shout on the calling frequency might be in order.

VHF Marine Frequencies - 1.pdf

Since you're primarily interested in GMRS then one of the Kenwood's analog only UHF radios might be a better fit. Personally I use the TK-3170. There is also a TK-3173, that has built in trunking, but otherwise they are the same radio. It's also Part 95 certified too if that's a big concern for you. Some of the commercial grade radios that will work OK on GMRS don't. That's a decision you have to make. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/263-tk-3170jpg/ Keep in mind that radios will cover different parts of the radio spectrum. I only mentioned the NX-200 since it was a VHF radio and I needed a way to handle the huge number of memory channels. Being VHF it won't work for you on GMRS, which is UHF only. The other radio in that series is the NX-300. It will also do digital NXDN, however NO digital voice modes are currently allowed on GMRS and likely not in the near future either. It is a nice analog only radio. Unless you need the extra digital features for another service I wouldn't recommend it since you're going to pay a lot more money for something you can't use. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/251-nx-300jpg/ Another one that several members use is the TK-3180, which I recommend you look at. https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/10/TK-2180&3180Brochure.pdf The above radios are no longer manufactured so you will have to buy one used. If you shop around you can find some in almost like new condition for a reasonable amount of money.

I know the Kenwood radios I have will let me program up to 128 scan groups. Each group can be enabled/disabled from the front panel keys. Also each memory channel in each group can be enabled/disable too. That gives the me a lot of flexibility in what I want to scan for monitoring. This feature comes in handy on an NX-200 VHF radio. I have a special code plug written with all of the VHF railroad FM analog and digital channels. There are a bunch. https://www.radioreference.com/db/aid/7747 Each group the ID that shows up on the display, when changing groups using the group up and down front panel keys, shows something like "AAR 001-025" etc. That way I can quickly locate a channel I want in a group. Of course each memory channel is labeled too. Keeping the number of memory channels in each group limited to 20 to 25 means I'm never more that 10 to 13 channels away from the one I want in a group using the channel selector knob. The channel selector knob function is programmed to "roll-over" at the top or bottom of the programmed memory channels in a group.