Logan5

lol, yep, for some reason I was mistaken and thought PastorG started this thread. Thanks JohnE will have more questions later.

PastorGary, are these mast mounted preamps, to be used in a repeater environment? or for a dedicated scanner or simplex radio antenna? I have used a mast mounted TV preamp in the past, but that is a receive only application. Myself an another myGMRS user have done a few radio checks today and I am thinking a RX pre might help, or maybe wait till I get a new repeater? we are working with 25 watt's at 40' and can't get past 10 miles over flat Florida, anyway were gonna raise it 10 more feet tomorrow. well see how that goes. Best Regards Jim....

Hey BkHammer, did you ever get that repeater up and running? Update?

When recommending radios, I am learning to clearly state what is and is not part95 certified. and I am getting better at making this note of this distinction between radios in my writings here and RR. There is much mis-information and misleading advertising that makes this even more important than ever. Often a person makes outlandish claims or statements when void of knowledge and this is often countered with what seems to be a lambasting or flame throwing. A good student will read throw any insults and berating and find his way to the truth. a true lambasting would also be void of knowledge.

Very good, I would consider the F21 over the, F21gm then, as I as prefer not to be limited to just GMRS. I do know Icom makes some of the best radios,.

William, I have a question, can the F21gm be reprogrammed with the same cable? or is it set the way it comes? That would make a big difference for many of us.

I would have recommended keeping the BF888's and storing them in a metal box for a rainy day. the battery's should keep good for 5 years and would allow you some extra Non-part95 certified radios in the event of a major emergency. This would allow you to expand your group and or stand in's if the F21's get zapped. either way they are good little radios for 17 bucks. basically disposable when needed in special opps. I do not know anything about the f21's but if William recommends them for GMRS, they are good "part95" radios.

Oh yes, I do not ground my antenna, as I do not want to attract lightning. I know others will disagree, however in 20 some odd years I have yet to be hit. Although I have had lightning come in on the telco and did thousands of dollars of damage to my "10baseT" network, to give you an idea of how long ago that was.

Howdy Kris and welcome to the MyGMRS forums, As PastorG stated LMR400 is pretty good stuff and for a price point, well below 1/2" hardline cost. and only a fraction of db. difference in loss at 40feet.. I consider LMR400 use a minimum. No point spending all that money on top of the line equipment only to skimp on feedline. Also a properly tuned duplexer unless you plan to use two properly spaced, separate antennas. I also live in Florida and the flat topography is awesome, I run an Old Uniden 25watt repeater with 60' of LMR400 on a 50' pole currently only raised to 40' with a comet antenna factory tuned to 465. I use an RFS duplexer and I cover a 20 mile radius. I expect 25 miles when raised to 50'. Good luck and keep us posted. Jim...

Thank You PastorG. I am an atheist in study, But with all my heart I want to believe for those we have lost. Yes today is that day 12 years later, and with or without GOD we must remember those who we have lost, both on that day as well as the many years of war that followed. Their memory's will forever fill our hearts with Love and Joy. Never again, Never forget. Jim....

since I am the repeater operator, I have a channel programmed in my radio that is reverse set. If for some reason the repeater goes down, I switch my radio to reverse and listen to 467 and transmit on 462. at that point you could inform the other users that a simplex mode will be optimal until the repeater is back, My radio with dual VFO and dual watch, gives me the ability to run simplex and reverse at the same time.

A young man named Charles Stewart lost his life Saturday night, He was hit by a car. he was on a scooter, after he allegedly ran a stop sign or light. He was killed instantly, He helped me move 2 months ago and had been helping me with my new repeater install and I had talked him into getting his HAM cert.. He had been studying for the exam and he was doing quite well. He was only 27 years old. I will truly miss him.

ok, one more time. http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/WQQT630/library/?sort=3&page=1

ok, again I am having trouble uploading pictures. Will attempt again later. 64KB is just way too small to be effective.

http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0829/DA-13-1838A1.pdf

Yes, I have a plan to make it retractable to just below the tree canopy. I also plan to install 3 pullys to attach at the 35 to 40 foot level, This will act to stabilize it in both the fully erect position as well as the mid retracted position for storms. it is locked into the tree fork at the 20 foot level already and all connections to the tree will be strong non penetrating. not to mention the base stake, is a 10 foot channel rail driven 6 feet into the ground. I got this neato stake driver from home depot, makes short work of it. also handy to have for Emergency antenna deployment. I need to head out and do some propagation checks. but I don't feel like driving, much less in the rain. I still have much work to do, but so far so good. Thank you Pastor Gary, is nice to have the Storm updates, and your input. Thank you William and JohnE for your technical knowledge and JeremyM for the motivation to get started on this project. also a half dozen other myGMRS users for their input as well. More update and pictures to come.

about 51 feet to ground plane. I have to drive a stake at the bottom of the pole. when I do, I plan to raise the whole thing 1 foot off of the ground U bolted to that stake. the second support is about 20 feet up, I have the pole erected thru a limb fork that is stable and keeps the pole centered, there is no further support for the rest of the 30 feet, plus the 10 foot comet antenna at the top. yikes

Well the condo where I am staying during construction, is only 3 miles away, but the repeater comes in on the east side of the building and the condo is on the west side. I used to have to walk to the kitchen to key it up, now I can sit on the Patio and is clear as a bell. I may drive to Miami in the next day or so, that will be the real test. However I can not even key up my local VHF Amateur radio repeater from Miami, so don't expect much past Hollywood. We shall see...

Got the outdoor outlet installed this afternoon and just moved the repeater over and powered it up. The Mast is only about 40 feet tonight, but plan to raise it to 50 over the next few days. I am exhausted and need a hot bath.

Gusto, from your suburb location, Can you hear ERS650NY and or can you hear any of the other GMRS repeaters from NYC? If you can hear it you can often utilize it as well. If you want your own repeater there are many things to consider, first of is location. if you locate in the burbs, it is very unlikely to give you any coverage in NYC almost regardless of how high you get the antenna or how much power you push. However if your brother has a high rise condo and has access to the roof in NYC, you will get good coverage in the city, add a directional yagi and you could theoretically get 50 to 60 mile range. there are many variables, but I am going to guess this is not going to work. You will be better off asking for permission to use an existing GMRS system first. expecting 50 to 60 miles of range from a 500.00 repeater is not going to cut it. another thought is you and your brother study for your Ham tickets together. it's fairly easy and only 15 bucks, Is good to have Ham ticket even with your GMRS license anyway. "73" Best Regards" Jim...

Actually PastorGary, I am considering a Hive of European honey bees. Right where she crosses the seawall. They won't sting you, but she won't know that.

WOW, so sad. with donkeys like that. I understand JohnE's shutting it down from time to time.

yes, our contractor has caught her snooping around several times, she always claims she's looking for one of her 5 cats. He has warned her that there are open holes on the property and she could be injured, but she keeps coming over. I am about to block the seawall access.

3 days now and she still hasn't said a word. I went over today to attempt to put the Comet up on the pole and 66' of LMR400, but she and her husband were doing yard work so I decided to just get everything lined up. and try tomorrow wile she is out. I also plan to run some conduit for my outdoor outlet tomorrow. Has been hotter than blazes down here and killer humidity, reminds me why I usually head for New England this time of year.

I use a BF888 with my repeater, The BF888 is a little lower power output, than like a UV5R. but works quite well with repeater offset's. I saw an e-bay listing that get's you 10 BF888's for 169 bucks shipped. They must be programed via USB cable only. They are super cheap and work quite well.