WSEM958

Ooops…I remember those days (not much else), me bad!!! Is there any popcorn left?!

Nope!

Sorry, just a newbie who has heard about linked repeaters. Sorry I stepped on your notARubicon sensibilities! Yes, I do watch and do enjoy your style of not so subtle sarcasm, really am just a beginner. Even watched your YouTube video on the subject so am not surprised by the comment. Too bad all the linked repeaters are either going down or hiding in the Roman catacombs. Nice meeting you anyway snob boy…just thought the Fedboi comment deserved some kind of come back…

Do we have any linked repeaters in Virginia? If so, are any near Fredericksburg? Thanks! Steve

Thanks...I think I'm heading in the two-antenna direction. Would use the Yagi for directional access to the repeaters and a good omni for general non repeater conversation. Best, Steve

Hi Steve...thanks for your response. Unfortunately, setting it up outside is not going to work for us...best I can do is put it up as high as possible in one of our upstairs bedrooms. We live in Fawn Lake right in the Wilderness woods, so mostly surrounded by tall trees that we couldn't get over even with a hundred-foot antenna. No choice but to try to bull our signal through the mostly flat tree covered area (probably about 1/4 to 1/2 mile thick. We have nine-foot ceilings so with a tripod and grounding plane we would be down to about 7' or so of clearance. Really would like to get the most powerful antenna I can to fit in that environment. I can position in a window to the South, East or North. The two repeaters I'm trying to connect with are the Battlefield GMRS Repeater (North about 7.2 miles) and the Gordonsville W4CUL - CARA repeater (SE about 25 miles). I think less trees between me and the latter repeater even though farther distance. Would like to get to that repeater to talk with my son who lives in Rhoadsville and the other my wife when she is shopping around Fredericksburg. I I'm looking for recommendations on the best antenna option to overcome these challenges. Also, would you know anyone within Fawn Lake or nearby who may have already solved this problem and who I might be able to discuss it with? Many thanks! Steve

7.2 miles as the crow fly's.... many thanks!

Unfortunately we are in a rental plus HOA probably wouldn't allow an outside tower even if I could get permission from the owner. Antenna radiation density is going to be my only hope...any recommendations? Many thanks!

Looks like 7.2 miles as the crow flies. Guess I need to find a more powerful antenna...any suggestions? BTW...don't know if it matters but I get several of the NOAA channels Chrystal clear. Many thanks!

I think you are right...probably being blocked by the trees. How are you getting700 watts of radiated power...what antenna would I need?

Thanks for your response. I'm using the side transmission button on my mic handheld. Please see my response to Boxcar on coax type. I'm pretty close to the repeater, but we are nestled in the Wilderness part of Fawn Lake. Pretty sure we have line-of-sight...relatively flat here, just lots of trees. Haven't tried simplex yet, but I will shortly. I will also be trying to talk to local radio soon as well. Hopefully after getting this stuff correct, I will make contact with the repeater. Best, Steve

Great...many thanks!

Great...many thanks!

Hi Box car...I was told that since my antenna was mounted inside my home vs outside that it did not need a grounding plane. I currently have it in a magnetic base sitting on a bunch of boxes next to my outside wall which is facing North in the direction of the repeater I'm trying to connect with. The base and cable are: Anina NMO Antenna Magnetic Base Mount 16.4 FT RG58 Coaxial Cable PL-259 Plug with NMO Antenna Mount Cap for CB Ham Radio Truck Marine VHF Radio. What do you recommend? Thanks!

Good afternoon...please forgive my ignorance -- total GMRS newbie! I got my programming cable and input the 67.0 Hz tone input using the "tone" mode. Hit the squelch quickly to see if I got a response back from the repeater...did not. Now I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or and really not making contact. I have a BTECH GMRS-50v2 base station with a Nagoya Mode NMO-200C antenna sitting at the highest point in my 2nd floor office, facing north. I live in Fawn Lake, so this should be fairly easy to reach the repeater. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Thanks, Steve