Ian
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Posts posted by Ian
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Ham tech study guides go into this.
VHF is worse than UHF; the 30-300 MHz region is more strongly absorbed by meat than UHF. Put it dead center on your car roof, or up on your house roof, or god help us a tower, and your exposure plummets. Don't do the silly and use a 25 watt handheld, and you're probably capable of ignoring RF hazards unless you try to lick a transmit antenna, the power levels we operate at.
You don't have to get your ham ticket, but they've got some really good study guides that answer this question.
Edit: Barney Fife is smarter than he sounds, he's just shrill and annoying. Listen for his literary references, he's quite well read. High INT, medium-low WIS, lower CHA.
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Not really... These forums provide some laughs from time to time, and it's always the same actors.. Some call me a troll because I float some different ideas about the RF Spectrum... And as soon as I float something all the Nay Sayers come out of the woodwork. It's the same BULLS**T Mindset that said Ham Radio would become CB because of the No-Code License. Of course, they were wrong, there was an influx of some really nice people, it was refreshing and a lot nicer to hear decent people using the Spectrum instead of bunch of old crabs...
As far as the GMRS crowd goes, there's changes coming like or not, you all dodged a regulatory bullet in 2017, but you're almost out of lives
I'm honestly a little annoyed you deleted the first post, because we're still having a discussion, and I missed the beginning.
CB is useless and nobody operates (here) any more, ham has told me to get new friends with ham licenses, and all I wanted was a way to keep in touch with my nerd friends at ren faires with no cell coverage. My weirdest requests here have been in service to this singular goal, too. I just want to solve a boring practical problem.
What the heck is this about dodging bullets and out of lives? Be courteous and don't redact our history, please.
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Because idiots and interoperability. People who know what's going on will just avoid the interstitials if they're dealing with inter-service stuff, but if you have to talk to someone with no idea about the technical details, it'd be nice in a pinch.
I'd almost settle for Midlands being RX only on the interstitials, but ... almost.
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What the heck happened to this thread? Lots of zero-text posts now, and I'm deeply confused.
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Its unlikely flashing existing hardware will be an option. The electronic components used to make filters are designed for narrow use and may not be tuned properly for just a reflash.
Think of it like a car on the highway. If you have a car that can travel at 200mph and the speed limit is raised to 200mph, you're good to go. However, if your car has a top speed of 80... it doesn't matter how high the speed limit is. You would have to re-engineer the car to go faster.
I'm not sure, really the only thing that would need much changing is control logic. Sure, you'd be limited to the power your final amp is good for, but you could get some nice quality-of-life features like two repeaters on one frequency, at least without soldering (if they picked capable enough microcontrollers, at least).
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I think the only think keeping it from getting a part95E cert is the scrambler. Otherwise its no different than some of the other part 95 radios I have.
Easily disabled in firmware. Got potential.
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"The FCC when they approve a cell tower and a cell provider a license, require them to install and maintain a GMRS repeater." Would never every happen. I remember a group of hams who said the same thing about ham radio repeaters to help with RACES/ARES/Skywarn. If cell companies and the FCC weren't willing to work with emergency communications groups (Who by the way, often help those company's by setting up portable cell repeaters) they sure as heck wouldn't want to pay for and maintain GMRS repeaters that could be used by anyone, anywhere, anytime, while being liable for any issues that could come from such operations. The only way they would allow it would be if it was a pay-to-use system which is not allowed by FCC rules.
We'd have to rename it something like "guaranteed minimum radio service." :-P
I've had the same fantasy, but I'm not going to get emotionally involved without a path to agitating for the cause.
Edit: Anonymous delivers, and so do I: https://www.retevis.com/handheld-gmrs-two-way-radio-rt76
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They must have changed it since I posted it as none of that info was there, In fact they had claimed it was 3W output at the time while the picture and their ad showed 8W (The pic still says 8W on it). Thanks for finding the data on them though
Well, they're lying to someone, at this point.
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Update 1: This thing does't seem to have a scan function.
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More's the pity, it's a good looking radio. Reminds me pleasantly of the Xiaomi Mijia handies.
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Just got mine due to the plague. (It's not a long story, but...) First impression: I like it. The orange accents are happy looking, ad the PTT is pleasantly tactile and clicky. The rubber over the headset jack isn't silicone, and won't last forever, but it's held on by a screw and won't be hard to replace... if there are spare parts in ten years. Body is cast aluminum inside. Not very heavy, feels cheap... and then you realize it's got no chassis flex, and it just feels light.
But mostly? This thing's a chonker. Front to back, this is almost 50% thicker than a GD77s. Could be close to an inch and a half thick, but thankfully the edges are rounded. Flashed a codeplug with some local repeaters, and sensible tone codes on the simplex channels, and I'll play with it in a while, but the human factors are fine so far.
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Scientists Create Quantum Sensor That Covers Entire Radio Frequency Spectrum
You heard it here first, folks. (Maybe!). True DC-to-daylight performance is available for the first time in history. The prototype has been tested from 0 - 10^12 Hz.
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Actually, this is relevant here.
https://www.retevis.com/shop/Mobile-GMRS-repeater-RT97-Handheld-GMR-Radio-RT76/
Throw that on a hill with a solar panel, battery, and antenna, and you're in business.
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https://www.retevis.com/shop/Mobile-GMRS-repeater-RT97-Handheld-GMR-Radio-RT76/
Two handhelds and a repeater for $457. Be still my heart!
I think I could use like four of these things, including one for the truck.
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My personal use-case is mostly caravanning, much like what CB would be used for in decades past. Just this last weekend, I had an hour-long conversation while driving on 22-22 (channel 22, 141.3)
I also plug radios into my hearing protection when doing something loud ever since a couple hurricanes ago (chainsaws are loud!).
But generally, lately, I favor FRS radios for the occasional around-the-house or around-the-store thing now, because they're smaller and easier to carry than GMRS or MURS radios I own.
One of these days, I'm putting up a Ventenna and setting up a home base radio doing 40-50 watts and/or a garage repeater, but that's pretty niche utility for me; scanning on handhelds produces basically no traffic around here, and I'm not super hopeful of reaching my neighbors.
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Not yet. Enjoying my MXT-275 in spite of that, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDBrXb44fBc
Trying for an install like this.
Edit: Already bought the parts, just holding out for an antenna I like. The original plan for a fender-mounted Sti-Co covert antenna is on hold pending saving up about $400, and an RF safety evaluation because being in the same plane with 50 watts and a high-gain antenna gives me pause. Yes, the 275 only does 15 watts, but I'm not willing to limit myself to 15 watts in the long term. Now I'm looking at a Meso Customs brake light with NMO mount. Better visibility, AND no new holes in the hullmetal!
Downside is it costs $290. Upside is that it frees me from spending $317 for the covert antenna, or that I could save that for a CB mount at some point in the future.Edit: Hm. A $290 mount and antenna cost about the same as the $317 Sti-Co antenna, come to think of it.
- rdunajewski and marcspaz
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Dunno, but if not it should. The technology exists.
I was sort of imagining a civilianized version of the military radios that share a common backplane a while ago -- something that'd fit in a double-DIN stereo slot, with separate radios, and a shared screen and mic. Seems like it has potential to work really well with an auto-voting mic like you're imagining.
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The UV-5R, containing controls to operate the transceiver, is intended to be held. It's not protected under Nevada's hands-free laws. Whoever initiates the traffic stop might use their discretion to not issue a ticket for a radio on the hip or in a center console as the radio isn't readily accessible, but if you get caught it's probably for taking your eyes off the road to change channel or something.
Most commercial and CB radios (designed for road use) meet those legal requirements, while most ham and Part 95 GMRS radios (designed for operator convenience) do not.
I wonder if you bolted the Baofeng to the dash, while using a battery eliminator…. Or better, bolted the battery eliminator to the dash.
Also, it looks like every Midland except the 105 has channel buttons on the mic. That means every current-production meant-for-GMRS radio that's repeater capable falls afoul of this law.
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Barely 2 weeks in, just scratching the surface
in General Discussion
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Welcome to the forum, and the community!
We're here for you when you want to nerd out, but for now, congratulations on solving practical problems via use of RF.