BoxCar

I bought the FT-4XR for the weather scan that the FT-65 lacks.

The coax you choose is open to a lot of debate. It's safe to say that hard line, air core will have the best results, but then using a good foam filled coax will make the install less costly but incur slightly less power available at the antenna when comparing the two types. The radiation pattern from a vertical antenna can be visualized as a beach ball with the top and bottom of the ball indented. Increasing the gain of the antenna pushes up and down on the ball resulting in less energy being directed up and down but more toward the horizon. A 3 dB gain effectively increases the energy being radiated to double the input while 6 dB is a quadruple increase. I also recommend an antenna with radials as this ensures the antenna has a ground reference and sets where the "bottom" of the beach ball pattern is. The top of the ball is the antenna tip. In all cases, antenna height above ground is the primary factor for distance covered.

The range for your installation is dependent on three factors, antenna height, surrounding terrain and power. Your antenna's propagation pattern is from the center of the antenna rather than the tip. With a short antenna, it makes little difference from where you measure the height from the ground. With longer antennas, the best result is if you measure from the antenna feed point to the ground. But all that is for naught if the terrain around your install is higher than the antenna. UHF radio waves don't bend around hills.

45 degree down slope is recommended on all the homebrew antenna setups.

A repeater station consists of two separate units. One is a receiver connected to the second, the transmitter. Repeaters operate on two frequencies ("Channels") which are paired and referred to as a repeater pair. Each of the frequencies of the pair can use a subaudible or digital tone. A receive tone opens the receiver and connects its output to the transmitter causing the received intelligence to be sent or repeated over the other half of the frequency pair. The transmit portion of the repeater can also be configured to send a tone. The tone sent by the transmitter does not have to be the same as the receive tone. If a different tone is used, then the repeater is said to be using split tones.

Love the new look to the site. The only suggestion is to allow the forum to be selected directly rather than through the drop down.

ARLB014 FCC Auto-Registration Feature for Exam Applicants to be Discontinued Auto-registration in the FCC Commission Registration System (CORES) amateur radio exam for candidates using a Social Security number will be discontinued on May 20, 2021. Applicants must use an FCC Registration Number (FRN) for all license transactions with the FCC. Examinees must register in CORES and receive an FRN before exam day. Starting on May 20, electronic batch filed applications that do not include a candidate's FRN will be rejected. The Social Security/Licensee ID Field will be disabled. The CORES website can be accessed at: https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do .

If you are planning on getting your Ham Tech ticket, then a Yeasu FT-4XR or FT-65.

[Title 47, Volume 5, Parts 80 to End] [Revised as of October 1, 1999] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 47CFR95.141] [Page 519] TITLE 47--TELECOMMUNICATION PART 95--PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES--Table of Contents Subpart A--General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) Sec. 95.141 Interconnection prohibited. No station in a GMRS system may be interconnected to the public switched telephone network except as and in accordance with the requirements and restrictions applied to a wireline control link (see Sec. 95.127). [53 FR 47717, Nov. 25, 1988]

The FCC has stated they will shift to the new fees AFTER Congress has been notified of the changes AND the website has been updated. Each change will be handled individually.

Avoid any paint containing conductive material such as metal or carbon as these could ground the antenna through any overspray. A lot of dark paints contain carbon for tint/color.

We used to tell them to follow that curly cord from the device in front of their face. You'll find your radio there.

I'm using the BTECH UV25X2 and it's been excellent for over a year now.

You can't get a count easily as there are two main groups, Public Safety ad Business/Industrial/Land Transportation or 90.20 ad 90.35. Then there's Part 101 ad several different parts that are used.

You can also take practice exams at HamStudy.org. I use it and it's great. The ARRL book is written around the exam and provides the background information. The ARRL book is cheaper through Amazon than from ARRL.

The CB 27 MHz frequencies are in the 11 meter band while Ham frequencies which are close are 10 meters. The 10 and 11 meter number refer to the length of a full radio wave. 300 divided by the frequency in MHz gives the wavelength.

That particular type of cross-band is specifically called out as not permitted. Part 95 and Part 97 frequencies can't be intermixed.

Theoretically you can put four 6,25 kHz signals in a 25kHz channel but actual usage shows only 3 are viable with today's equipment. You need the extra spacing between the three channels.

Amateur radios are part 97 which has different requirements than the other parts. You won't find a Part 95 and Part 97 radio. A lot of the Part 97 radios can be modified to operate out of band for both MURS and GMRS frequencies but they are not authorized to operate on those frequencies. That doesn't mean there aren't a lot of them that do, they are just not in compliance when they do.

Admiral Cochrane makes a very broad statement with nothing as background. While I'm in western NC I do know a little more about how the amateurs in Florida have setup some of their emergency communications network throughout the state. I know the Florida DOT has made space available on their radio towers for hams to install repeaters. Orange County has an active emergency management center that includes amateurs within the structure. I believe Pinellas also includes hams in their emergency ops center. The more times regional and state emergency operations are activated, the more agencies and groups are included to facilitate the flow of information both into the center and out to the affected areas and general public. I firmly believe you are on the correct path for the protection of not only your family, but those you come in contact with when evacuated. You will have a means of getting information in and out of wherever you are.

I have the FT-4XR on order. Universal Radio has the best prices.

I purchased a Nagoya 200C for my mobile. I rarely hear any traffic on GMRS but routinely work repeaters 23 miles away on both 2 meter and 70 cm with 25W. I can also trigger repeaters further away but these two carry a lot of traffic.

Welcome OM

And a welcome to the forum back to you.

Bandwidth is the amount of space allocated for a channel and all the GMRS channels are spaced 25 KHz apart. The modulation or intelligence must be contained within the limits of the channel and is limited to 20 KHz to leave a guard band or blank area of 2,5 KHz on each side of the intelligence. This explains the 20K0F3 designation. Narrowband channels are 12.5 KHz wide so their modulation is 11K0F3, 11K of modulation and 1.25 KHz of guard on each side.