BoxCar

Shame on me! I thought even the south end of a north bound horse would realize the example of microwave stations were just that, examples of fixed stations.

As has been stated many times on this forum, it's all about how the transmitter is being used. Two stationary units only exchange signals between themselves. They are not used to contact repeaters or mobile stations nor; do they contact other base stations that communicate to either other base or mobile stations. Perhaps the best example of a fixed station communicating to another fixed station are microwave links. they don't contact repeaters or any mobile or other base stations. they only talk to one other station at a fixed location.

*1 on going for Extra, Being Extra is also the gateway to becoming a Volunteer Examiner for new hams and those wanting to upgrade,

Everything looks right to me but, I don't have one of these radios so I'm not aware of any channel restrictions. l

Post which channels you are programming and we can then dianose the problem. You may be trying to set a simplex only channel to repeater use and theradio's firmwre is blocking you.

$190 is awfully high for a piece of steel and an NGP antenna. I'd look into making my own with a piece of stainless epoxied in place.

I last soldered SMT back in the late 60's. The worst part was getting the heatsink fastened correctly so you didn't stress the flat pack.

AS others have stated, its about location, location, and location. Scadacore has tools that will allow you to see if there are obstacles, like hills, between your work and house. You can also use it to see which repeaters can be used (assuming you know where the repeater is physically located) between your house ad the repeater and your work and the same repeater. Of course, just listening for the same repeater at both locations also works. You'll need to test if you can reach the repeater using your handheld at your office and home as it may require either better antennas or more power at both locations. The key piece in any situation is the antenna used. My recommendation is for a small (20-25W mobile at the house with an external antenna and not a handheld. Two handhelds are great for unit to unit conversations when you are outside, but can be iffy in connecting to repeaters because of the lower power/

Glass mount antennas have special mounting requirements. They can't be installed on windows carrying electrical charges or metallic film. Embedded defroster wires, heated windows or FM radio antennas all are problems.

Not even close. It requires a chamber and precision measuring and generating equipment to mimic the ground planes provided by the radio itself and the person holding the device.

You can't measure SWR on handheld radio antennas without very specialized equipment.

Good info, but personally, I would have just replaced the screw.

There is a wallet card on all recent license documents from the FCC. It's below the "mini" license they provide nowadays.

Actually, it is based on observation of processing many thousands of requests to the Commission for processing. l

I will wager this statement will prove false.

Notice, I stated the primary purpose is to pass data. I did not state a fixed station was data only nor reference nor imply that was their only use.

Not quite, fixed stations are primarily used to pass DATA between two fixed locations i.e. flood monitoring stations and monitoring posts. "Base" stations are control sites which activate repeaters or fixed stations to report. Base stations are at either permanent or temporary locations and are used to pass both data and voice to other base stations or mobile stations either through repeaters or directly. This implies there are three classes of stations, fixed stations reporting to another, single, fixed station, control stations, which may serve as both control and base stations and mobile stations which have no permanent location.

Fixed stations don't connect to mobile stations.

Dimmy antennas are used to contact stations 200 miles away.

Any 50 ohm load rated for 50W or more.

Our ham club operates a GMRS repeater on our tower and is maintained through club resources. Yes, it is licensed through a club member holding both licenses. So, stating a club cannot operate and maintain a GMRS repeater is incorrect. The licensee is the owner of record and responsible to the FCC but it's a ham club operated repeater.

From SoCal? He only knocks what anyone has.

And to add, the tones used as default vary between manufacturers. Retevis tones are not the same as Baofeng's or TID's.

Stereo to mono plugs DO NOT combine two channels but keep them separate. Combining the two channels through wiring only affects the impedance seen by the amplifier and speaker. To work correctly, the two channels have to be fed into a mixer which combines the audio signals and keeps the impedance of the circuit constant. What the stereo to mono plugs go is combine the ground return path while putting one audio signal on the tip and the other to the ring.

Heliax is the best, but a lot depends on the repeater itself. How much power does the repeater have? What antenna are you planning to use? A low power repeater (less than 25W) can usually get by with LMR 400 or better coax for that length run. Coax loss can often be made up with antenna gain. Where the repeater is located, terrain, and intended use also factor into the need for Heliax over coax. Repeaters only cover the area from the antenna to the radio horizon and increased power only means the signal is stronger in the same area determined by the antenna type and placement.