BoxCar

Michael, Please provide us with your definition of influencer. I saw the post as an announcement with nothing to indicate a person should purchase this item due to his standing in the forums.

No, people are still willing to help but the mindset is GMRS isn't meant for casual assistance like traveler information. A great many GMRS units are used as base stations and people at home usually have little information regarding traffic conditions. The major thrust of CB from back in the 70's to current time has always been a mobile installation with home base stations secondary.

Ahh, spell check doesn't like companders.

I would use the vertical posts on the fence as anchors over the top rail. The top rail wouldn't be made to handle the stress from a lead pulling on it. The vertical posts are probably anchored in concrete and would handle the stress from a guy line much better.

The rules are pretty absolute about what is and isn't legal for GMRS. The truth of the matter is little enforcement is done currently so using a non-certified radio is quite common. Used Business or Public Safety radios can be purchased from many dealers and E-Bay but they aren't as flexible for changing the configuration if a different station/repeater is set up different than what your radio is currently. A lot of the amateur equipment that works in the FRS/GMRS channels can be reconfigured from the front panel or through microphone controls to handle different repeaters on the same frequency.

In the current state of affairs you are more likely to be able to contact another traveler or station using CB rather than GMRS or FRS. A hand held radio, with the supplied antenna inside the car isn't going to reach very far, probably a half mile for certain and a few miles at best. Pair it with an external antenna and you can have an average contact area of 2 to 3 miles. Moving to a mobile unit, you will have the 2 - 3 mile minimum range with a max of 10 - 12 miles with some exceptions. Your best coverage area for travel on the major routes will be cellular. If you are set on using radio, an amateur technician license with a 2 meter HH will give you the most coverage area.

Sidetone is actually a telephony term and it refers to a small part of the input signal being fed back to the speaker.

I think you are both over thinking the monitoring of radio transmissions at the site of an incident. The only comms that are actively monitored would be the non-encrypted ones as tracking frequency hopping or code encrypted comms requires special equipment not found in most incident command vehicles. They are going after the low hanging fruit as it were.

Rather than move the mount, install a jumper wire from the mount to a good ground point. I would recommend nothing smaller than 14 ga wire.

BINT (Back In The Day) I built a line filter using a bridge rectifier and a feed-through capacitor to cure the engine noise into my CB. Doubt you could find the electrolytic feed-through cap now.

For simplicity, stick with the Midlands. There are many other brands available, BaoFeng, BTECH, Anytone, TYT, Woxun and thirty or more brands. There are several on-line retailers as well but BuytwoWayRadios gets good reviews.

None of my radios have numbers assigned to tones so privacy code 07 means absolutely nothing to me. There is no assurance that a manufacturer would assign the same tone to a code number so a value of 7 could be almost any tone that would be compatible with only their radios. GMRS/FRS still isn't popular enough that a significant number of people would even carry the radios or know how to set a code in the first place. CTCSS codes are something I set using a computer for specific repeaters and wouldn't even begin to fumble my way through a menu on a screen or voice prompt to try to set. No, using or requiring a code on a channel for emergency purposes isn't a good practice in my estimation. Perhaps something such as calling on the 7's would be a better solution, as there would be 6 specific times for beginning a call that would (and should) change to a different channel.

The 403-450 MHz antennas can be trimmed for GMRS but it would be very easy to trim a bit too much ruining the antenna.

Check the packaging on LED and CF bulbs for FCC certification. This helps ensure the emissions are low and will not cause undue interference. You'll pay a few pennies more, but it's worth it in an RF rich environment.

Tim, Good question but the answer isn't easy as there are more things to consider besides wattage. The key piece to distance is the antenna. Figure your antenna radiates in a pattern that could be described as a beachball with the top and bottom squished. Add gain to the antenna and the beachball just gets flatter and bigger around in the middle. The second piece to your antenna is height, The higher it's mounted on your vehicle, the better as height means the horizon is now further away. Your signal doesn't bend to follow the earth, it reaches the horizon and keeps going straight out. More power just means more signal is reaching the horizon and going off into the ether. Your 15 watts will travel less distance than say 20, 25 or even 50W but once it hits the horizon the extra power doesn't do anything. The other thing your antenna does is listen to incoming signals, so again height is important as the area covered is a larger diameter. Here, wattage becomes a factor. Signals lose strength the further they travel so a stronger signal as in higher wattage means you can be further apart. Receiving is dependent on the radio itself and its sensitivity. A HT can receive a lot further than it can transmit so I could hear somebody but not be able to talk because my signal isn't strong enough at their receiver. To sum up, a good balance for a mobile rig is the 15 to 25W radio. It will transmit a good signal to the horizon and comfortably reach most of the stations it receives.

Probably not but I'll bet that shark fin has at least 3 antennas and more likely 4. (AM/FM, Satellite, Phone and GPS)

Often rules set in one section are referenced in other sections and included by that reference,

You'll always be liable for Federal tax on SS, most states exempt it from state tax.

Welcome to the group. You will find a lot of information regarding your radios and their programming.

Coax is easy to find and most of the sites selling radio gear are competitive. Places like The Antenna Farm, DXEngineering, Gigaparts, Ham Radio Outlet and many others are all on the 'net. All you have to do is press a few buttons and shopwith the coax being delivered in a few days.

1. Load C 2. Connect programming cable 3. Start CPS program 4. Turn radio on 5. Set program so it connects to radio. 6. Read factory settings from radio 7. SAVE FACTORY CONFIGURATION 8. Create new code plug 9. Write to radio. 10. Turn radio off 11. Unplug programming cable 12. Enjoy

Buried within CFR 47 are several statements stating it is permissible to use any frequency when there is an immediate danger that would or could result in the loss of life. I don't recall the exact section but I know the exemption is in part 90 and other parts. A few years ago (more like 10) an amateur operator was fined for contacting a public safety agency and reporting an emergency. That was acceptable but, what was not was he stayed on the frequency and continued to transmit after being told to leave.

The Commission has stated if Life, Health or property is in immediate danger one may use any frequency to summon aid. They have also ruled in the past that once the aid is summoned the emergency use exemption has been met and further transmissions are not allowed unless authorization is specifically granted by the responding agency. Once you contact an agency and relay the situation, the emergency is over as far as you are concerned and further transmissions are in violation of Commission rules.

I would put an RF choke (Ferrite ring) around the power cable between the T connector and the radio. Amazon.com : ferrite chokes

BINGO! You got it. As it is a treaty it has to go through the Congress Critters in the Senate who will do everything in their power to politicize it.