Lscott
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Posts posted by Lscott
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25 minutes ago, WSAV277 said:
Can you please tell me why you only get the kerchunk with receiving tone off and not with it on?
Two possibilities.
1. You are using the wrong tone.
2. The repeater doesn't use a tone on the output. In that case no tone so your radio will never un-mute the audio.
I almost NEVER use receive tones on my radios unless I need to REALLY block some interference from another repeater or simplex station. I just don't get the desire where people feel the need to use a receive tone when it's almost never required on their radio. It ends up leading to unnecessary problems like the above.
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21 hours ago, WRQC527 said:
Also, in order to be certified for use on GMRS frequencies, GMRS radios cannot have the ability to transmit on any frequencies other than the frequencies and power levels that are designated by the FCC. So if you are using a radio that is specifically an FCC certified GMRS radio, there would be no way you could transmit on any other frequencies.
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.
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4 hours ago, WRZP493 said:
but I moved over to the tk-8180 k2 (the K2, 400-470mhz)
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
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11 minutes ago, WRHS218 said:
For extended power outages even the battery backed up repeaters my be down after a few days.
Prime example.
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Just now, WRXB215 said:
I was surprised to find at least 13 ham repeaters in the Houston area with this.
Are all of them linked together on the same system?
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Anyway, back to the threads main topic....
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1 minute ago, WRXB215 said:
@Lscott Here is my dad's old slide rule. I used to know how to use it.
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/419-slide_rulejpg/?context=new
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.
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2 hours ago, WRKC935 said:
Back in the day when you had to use a slide rule and four pencils to calculate the coverage
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
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2 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:
Yes I have Motorola xti3000s. Don’t care for them much. Too big to bulky to heavy and no face programming and too costly if I loose one while crossing a river on horse back or navigating the back country on a quad. They sit at home on a shelf most of the time. Only take them out when I want to impress people. Which is never. I’ve programmed literally 100s of radios with chirp and never had one problem. I try and stay with the same programming software so all I have to do is write to any radio. It takes less than a mini to update each radio.
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.
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8 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:
This is why I won’t buy a gmrs only radio. The programming issues is why I won’t buy anything that isn’t in chirp or rt systems. The rest is why I won’t buy a retivis To many people I know have major issues either upfront or in the long run.
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.
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9 hours ago, WRKC935 said:
The part that you are forgetting is that in order to have a linked repeater, you first and foremost need a repeater. Now depending on the repeater linking controller, it may well run as a stand alone repeater when there is no link present. Mine did before I shut it off. It ran without link several times while it was on the air. But the repeater still provided coverage within the area that it was able to (about a 30 mile radius). The local repeater I have had the same range, ran on a similar antenna system and was run at the same power output. So a linked repeater shouldn't just die if there is no Internet to support the linking. It just doesn't carry the traffic across to other repeaters. Far as generator and battery backup. The 48 / 24 / 12 volt plant will carry the SITE, not just the one repeater, for at least 12 hours. The generator that will come on when the utility fails will go for 48 on diesel and then if it runs out of fuel, the plant picks back up and takes the load giving me time to fuel the generator. I source 48 volts from a rectifier currently and that charges the battery storage, about 600 Ah. Off that 48 volt system I have five 40 amp 48 to 24 volt buck converters in parallel. So that will net me up to 200 Amps of 24 volt power. That feeds the repeaters at the site. Then there is another 450 Ah 12 volt plant that runs off a 75 amp rectifier that runs the 12 volt gear. That will be migrated to 48 to 12 volt buck converters and the 450Ah battery string will be connected in parallel to the 48 volt string, which rewired will add 150 Ah to the 48 volt plant. My goal is 1000Ah capacity with solar and wind generation. If I can build a system that will generate 60 amps for 10 hours, I would be able to run the whole site off grid with a cushion. Currently, with everything transmitting I only draw 30 amps from the plant. That will increase as I move more equipment to the plant, but it's still a manageable level to hit with both wind and solar.
Now, it's true that the linking will fail for sites that have terrestrial Internet service running the links in most instances. But if a system owner has microwave links then the failure doesn't happen unless he looses a site, and that's dependent on the way his microwave links are configured and deployed. If the system has redundant paths, then the failure becomes less likely. But that does require a microwave mesh or at minimum a ring of links so the traffic can continue to flow.
Now all that is of course meaningless since the FCC is coming out and saying that you can't link repeaters. I turned mine off, and I am waiting to see if there is going to be enforcement actions based on the statements made by the field agent in the video. If they aren't going to enforce it, or if there is a change to the regulations, I will fire my gear back up and see about expanding a network in Ohio. But I am not gonna be the one to find out the hard way we can't be linking. My most probable course of action at this point though is to move the repeater that was linked to ham and find an ASL group that will let me link in and run it that way for the time being.
You need a bigger battery backup system.
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10 hours ago, UpperBucks said:
any communications platform you intend to use in emergencies needs minimal complexity
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.
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What version of the firmware is loaded on the radio? Hopefully it’s not the Passport one.
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12 minutes ago, tweiss3 said:
Funny, right in the definitions:
§ 95.303 Definitions.
The following terms and definitions apply only to the rules in this part.
Network connection. Connection of a Personal Radio Services station to the public switched network, so that operators of other stations in that service are able to make (and optionally to receive) telephone calls through the connected station.
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.
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1 hour ago, tweiss3 said:
It is still possible to link repeaters via RF using GMRS frequencies, and remain completely legal.
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.
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15 minutes ago, WRYS709 said:
I taped a printout of each channel onto the display-less Cotre.
At $14, you could have picked up some more to program another 16 channels and/or another DMR Repeater.
The best low cost DMR HT with a display continues to be the Radioddity RD-5R a/k/a Baofeng DM-5R (Tier II) at about a $70 price point (also the OpenGD77 firmware works on both of these).
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.
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15 minutes ago, WRYS709 said:
Yeah: Still no there on Amazon.
I would love to find the COTRE C006D to play with next!
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.
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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.
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1 hour ago, WRYS709 said:
Did he say where he got it from?
Not specifically, but I think it was Amazon.
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6 hours ago, WRYS709 said:
Seems like the Cotre C001D has now disappeared off of Amazon completely; not even available for $35 anymore!
Maybe it was all a dream?!
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.
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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.
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6 minutes ago, WSAA635 said:
I'd like it to be able to scan 460MHz(DPS/Highway Patrol) channels so I can keep track of what's going on while driving.
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.
Amateur radio maker getting into the GMRS market.
in General Discussion
Posted
Looks like the text was written by a Chinese who is somewhat proficient with English, with poor spelling.