Widowsson

Squelch was set at 2, however I am only listening to the repeater that I usually listen to. It’s static no matter who is talking and they said I am static as well. Wonder if my solder job is the issue on the pl259.

Another newbie problem hoping ya’ll can help me solve. I had a mag mount antenna on my roof. I was getting decent reception. I bought some lmr400 and a fiberglass antenna from a guy I met on the local repeater. I got it all hooked up and now I’m getting a ton of static. I didn’t make any changes to the radio. Just unhooked the old hooked up the new. The old one only reached to a lower one story roof. This new set up I have about 10’ above the ridge of the two story section. I was expecting clearer signal. Could this possibly be because I am now right in line with the power lines that are across the street? Someone on the repeater asked me if I checked the SWR. I have not and do not have a meter. Not sure how I would trim this antenna anyhow. It’s fiberglass. Any thought?

I have a f150 with aluminum body. I didn’t realize that the mag mount antenna I bought had to actually magnetize to steel for it to work. It’s a Nagoya mag mount. I used double sided tape and stuck it to the roof. I like the looks of it. Looks like it belongs on my truck. I don’t really want a giant whip antenna. Anyone have any ideas how I can make this work aside from strapping a cookie sheet to the top of my truck lol

I’ve seen numerous videos and articles, posts, etc. saying that the radio itself doesn’t matter all that much. That it is mostly the antenna that matters. I’m speaking of handheld devices. Will a 5watt baofeng uv5g with an upgraded antenna be just as good, as far as range and clarity as a high end 5 watt radio?

Thanks for the reply. So when the repeater owner said: "TX for the repeater is 462.6250 and the RX is 467.6250", this means that the repeater transmits on 462.6250 and receives on 467.6250? So, I set my radio to the the channel that corresponds to frequency 462.6250 and set the tones and I should be good? Or am I missing something?

Does this radio connect through a node? Is that why it would transmit GPS data?

I was just using that as an example. I guess a better example would have been to say if the vehicle was on top of a mountain/hill and a person at the bottom of each side could talk through the radio in the vehicle to reach each other if the signal was blocked by the terrain. Thanks. Yeah, the manual is terrible. As a newbie it hasnt helped me at all. A list of the obvious functions but absolutely no description of what they are or how to use them. I have a uv-9g (decent manual) that I have got a pretty good grasp on so far but if I would have started with the DB-40G it would have been a nightmare. I am able to connect to a local repeater. Its tx/rx tone are the same and its transmit/receive frequency are also the same. However there is another local repeater I was granted access to that has different frequencies for transmit/receive. I cannot figure this out. Also the receive frequency is 467.6250 which is not a frequency in the available channels. Totally lost.

Thanks. I guess I assumed that all modern GMRS radios could talk to repeaters. I didnt think it would be something they would specifically push in advertising. I have Radioddity DB40G. It has a setting: "Repeater ON or OFF". Why would you want to turn off the ability to talk to a repeater? Just a newbie trying to make sense of it all.

This may be a stupid question. Im finding conflicting info. My radio says it is repeater capable. Is it possible to use a GMRS radio as a personal repeater? For example: I have a radio, my friend has a radio and there is a radio in my truck. We both walk in separate directions away from the vehicle. Can the radio in the truck be used to repeat and transmit the message to my friend?

if the repeater can be received with or without the r-ctcss tone then what is its purpose?

I was using Baofeng uv-9g with a magnetic base antenna on the roof. Real newbie attempt. Ive played around with chirp a little bit. Im about 1 mile outside the radius of every repeater around me. I ordered a base unit and power supply and someone made me a good offer for a good antenna and some lmr400 so we'll see what next week brings. I managed to hit the repeater. Its about 20 miles but im going to upgrade some things before I try again.

I am unable to reach the repeater with any radio.

Thanks for the reply. Yes I can talk to my other radios from the radio hooked up to the new antenna. When I reached the repeater yesterday I was able to do it with just the stock antenna.

Total newbie here. I’m sure this same scenario has been solved a thousand times on this forum but I couldn’t find a thread specific to this: I was able to transmit to and receive from repeater yesterday but I was told my reception was terrible. So I purchased a magnetic mount antenna and installed it on the roof on top of a cookie sheet. I was super excited but upon testing I’m not getting a reply back. My other radio, set on the same repeater channel lights up and beeps only AFTER I speak and release the button on the radio. This is happening regardless of which radio I attempt to transmit with. I have the r and t ctcss codes set to 141.3 which is what it was set to yesterday when I actually made a successful transmission, however poorly, it did go through. I fumbled with the radio for many embarrassing hours before making the first transmission and had changed quite a few settings. I did a reset on the device so I’m thinking I deleted a needed setting. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Thanks! The previous owner of my house left behind a big spool of coax cable that I was hoping to use. However it is black and unmarked so probably a no on that. Thank you! It was a review on the listing that said it boosted the range of their transceiver but I’m slowly realizing this would not be the case.

Just wanted to introduce myself here. From Adrian MI. A friend gave me a Icom HAM radio years ago and I always used it to listen to police and fire bands but never had any interest in transmitting. Now my local emergency services are all digital so that doesn’t work anymore. Was looking for walkie talkies just for friends and family and stumbled upon GMRS. Kinda became obsessed overnight. Of course I was thinking about setting up my own repeater until I read the slap of reality post on here. I am curious if the cheap simplex repeater on Amazon will boost my uv9g so I am clearer on the repeater I am able to reach. I can hear them fine but I’m being told I’m not coming in very good at all. I ordered a magnetic base antenna I’m going to put that on the roof this weekend. We’ll see if it helps. Anyhow, I’m having fun with this and learning. Nice to be here.