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Lscott

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Everything posted by Lscott

  1. Lscott
    My TK-3170's US versions will do the same. Might even go lower. The European versions start at 440MHz.
  2. Lscott
    People want to know why bother with a two way radio when the cell phone is so convenient in a STHF case? Here's one reason today. https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/02/22/major-cell-phone-outage-nationwide-at-and-t-t-mobile-verizon-some-911-down-n2170453
  3. Lscott
    Mostly true. There are older used commercial "LMR", Land Mobile Radio, radios that you can program with any frequency in the business band segment. Typical range is 450MHz to 490MHZ / 520MHz. Depending on manufacture some of those radios have have Part 95 certification, legal to use for GMRS. The caveat is they must be programmed to follow the GMRS rules for the allowed frequencies for the service. Many users on this forum use commercial hand held and mobile radios successfully.
  4. Lscott
    Most of the Kenwood radios are the 450 to 490 range, or the 450 to 520 range. Those might even have Part 95 certification on the older models. The 400 to 470 range is sort of rare. If you do find any it’s commonly on the digital radios, and occasionally on the analog only models. Also I’ve never seen the 400 to 470 range radios certified for Part 95. I’m also mainly a Kenwood guy too. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/249-934916052_radiocollectionjpg/?context=new
  5. Lscott
    Prime example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003
  6. Lscott
    Are all of them linked together on the same system?
  7. Lscott
    Anyway, back to the threads main topic....
  8. Lscott
    Wow, that's in really great looking condition! People collect these and pay big bucks for them. To keep the slide on the metal types from sticking you use a VERY tiny dab of Vaseline on the slide edges as a lube.
  9. Lscott
    That was a long time ago. The younger electrical engineers walk into my office and sometimes ask what that funny looking ruler thingy is hanging on the wall above my desk. And they don’t know what a vacuum tube is either. Sad. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/342-slide-rulejpg/?context=new
  10. Lscott

    NX-320.jpeg

    Lscott posted a gallery image in Members Albums Category

    NX-320.jpeg

    From the album: Misc. Radio Gear

    This is a Kenwood NX-320 UHF radio. It’s shown monitoring an active local GMRS repeater. It works just fine on GMRS, but it doesn’t have Part 95 certification, just Part 90, so it’s questionable if the FCC would bother anyone using the radio on GMRS. Likely not from the opinions of others on the forum here. It has very similar features to the new NX-1300 when the NXDN firmware is loaded. The specifications are found here. https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/302_NX220-320.pdf
  11. Lscott
    I tried using CHIRP on a Kenwood TK-370G radio, 128 channels with zones. CHIRP messed up the code plug by screwing up the entered frequencies and switched them between zones at random. I gave up and used the official software which is Windows based. Then there is the Kenwood TK-370, 32 channels and no zones. Seems to work OK for that. I 'll use CHIRP since the only official software for that radio is DOS based. There is no windows version.
  12. Lscott
    This is why all my "GMRS radios" are really commercial grade LMR's models programmed to GMRS frequencies. I use the manufactures software whereas possible to do the programming since it allows access to all the radio's options. I've tried to use CHIRP on several radios. Unless it's a VERY basic simple type I've had CHIRP mess up the code plug a few times and went back to the manufactures software. I tend NOT to use CHIRP unless the manufactures software is a complete POS, or not avaialble.
  13. Lscott
    You need a bigger battery backup system. PowerSafe GC-M Specs.pdf
  14. Lscott
    So many forget this point. I see many radio clubs building emergency communication trucks filled with radios. The owners manual for them is 100’s of pages long to cover all of the options and settings only accessible through multiple layers of menus. Expecting volunteers to figure out how to operate them under the stress of a real emergency is just going to contribute to the disaster. You need brain dead super simple radios to operate in these conditions.
  15. Lscott
    What version of the firmware is loaded on the radio? Hopefully it’s not the Passport one.
  16. Lscott
    So, that means clearly the POTS, plain old telephone system, network. In that context then linking through other kinds of networks, Internet, would be OK. That implies linking GMRS repeaters through other kinds of networks should he just fine.
  17. Lscott
    Hum... I wonder if linking repeaters, more than two, over an RF link, could be considered a "network." It seems the real question is the very definition of what is a "network" in the context of the FCC's usage. With a firm mutually agreed upon definition the rest should just fall into place.
  18. Lscott
    The non display models I have are a few Kenwood radios. A sample is here: https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/291-tk-d340u-front-and-back-2jpg/?context=new I have to print out a cheat sheet to remember what each channel is programmed to.
  19. Lscott
    That was the model I saw being recommended. I have some non display Kenwood radio models in my collection. Nice radios but not very convenient use. With up to 32 channels on some of them trying to remember what channel is programmed for what isn't easy if you don't use it very regularly. That's why my preference are the display models.
  20. Lscott

    TK-2180.jpg

    Lscott posted a gallery image in Members Albums Category

    TK-2180.jpg

    From the album: Misc. Radio Gear

    This is a used VHF Kenwood TK-2180 radio I got at a local Ham swap for $40. The UHF version, 450 to 520MHz has FCC Part 95 certification making it fully legal to use for GMRS. I have a few of these too in my collection. It's a bigger radio than my usual GMRS carry radio, TK-3170, but has much more channel capacity. The specifications can be found here. https://pdfs.kenwoodproducts.com/10/TK-2180&3180Brochure.pdf Also some people have pointed out more GMRS repeater owners are requiring MDC1200 to allow access to their machines. This radio will also do MDC1200.
  21. Lscott
    The attached paper was published in an engineering journal. It goes a bit more into the details of narrow verses wide band FM. The material isn't for the "casual" reader. Narrowband vs Wideband.pdf
  22. Lscott
    Not specifically, but I think it was Amazon.
  23. Lscott
    A buddy got one the other day. He said he still needed to install the software to program the radio. He did comment about the funky stud type antenna port.
  24. Lscott
    Oh, if you want to find out what is on the various frequencies using the main digital modes, DMR - P25 - NXDN, this site linked below is a good source. https://digitalfrequencysearch.com/index.php
  25. Lscott
    Now days most of the public safety stuff has moved to 700/800 MHz and typical is digital, P25, and maybe using encryption. You may find a few cities that have remained on 450 to 470 MHz narrow FM. There is a lot less to monitor. I have seen some movement where legislation is being proposed to at least prohibit encryption on the public safety frequencies. That's likely to go nowhere.
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