BoxCar

Not to my knowledge. Most of the activity I have heard is on FRS.

Welcome to the group as well. I'm in South Asheville and I can tell you the Asheville Linq repeater hasn't been on the air for over a year that I'm aware of and the listed owner's license is expired.

If you are on a budget, you may want to look at these antennas, I have one tuned for GMRS and it works well on the Ham band 70 cm. I'm able to trigger repeaters 30 miles away from inside my ground floor apartment with a 25W BTECH mobile. https://www.jpole-antenna.com/

Probably used the coax shield as its ground path. Shows the antenna has a good ground plane.

The equipment and possibly the land is probably owned by the licensee. Attempt to contact them about access to the site and tower.

Welcome to the group!

You can use almost any 18 through 14 gauge wire the transmit draw is less than 15 amps. As far as quick disconnect connectors, I use XT60 connectors I can get at any hobby store selling radio control items. They solder to the wires so crimpers are not needed.

Any local radio shop should also be able to do the work of shortening the cable as well.

With the high gain antenna and a pre-amp you may have been overloading the receiver front end which in itself contains amplifier circuits to boost signal levels

Connectors, no matter the type will always degrade as they represent a break in the electrical path and a mechanical restoration of the circuit. The mechanical pieces will ALWAYS introduce less than perfect electrical properties and a less than perfect mating of the parts, The only connection I am aware of that does not result in a break in the electrical path is a fused connection where two conductors are fused together. That doesn't imply there is no loss or impedance introduced due to impurities or misalignment in the fusion process.

Let me see if I understand what you are stating correctly. You state Ultra High Frequency connectors shouldn't be used even at Very High Frequencies because they don't present a 50 ohm impedance somewhere above 100 MHz. I guess following that logic they should only be used at frequencies usually referred to as being in the high frequency range. Did I capture this correctly?

I'm too old to learn everything but welcome to the wacky world of GMRS users.

You'll need a good ground plane for the antenna, The roll bar should have a good connection to the frame and the mount will also need a good electrical connection to the roll bar. Probably the best mount would use holes drilled and tapped into the bar with star washer between the mount and bar.

Yes, called then caller,

Digital modulation and analog (F3E) are incompatible as digital modulation is a string of ones and zeros which sounds like a chain saw. In the Part 90 world where there are assigned frequency coordinators they have to maintain separation between digital and analog users on the same frequency to eliminate interference complaints. As GMRS doesn't have frequency coordinators insuring spacing between channels, allowing all types of modulation would be chaos.

I'm curious as to the HOA restrictions. The FCC has ruled against many associations having rules against external antennas. If that is the underlying issue, send a copy of the association's rules to the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and ask them for a ruling. It may be their rules violate FCC regulations and are now unenforceable.

I would also write the changes to the radio after each change with CHIRP. Disconnect the radio fro your PC and cycle power on the radio before reconnecting to switch the feature again.

Yes, CCR is the LOL of radio.

I'm looking at picking up an ICOM IC-F6011 for a transmitter either in my base or as the output for a repeater I can install. What I'm looking for are some thoughts on this units performance over time and if there are concerns over possibly reaching or exceeding the recommended duty cycle. They are reasonably priced both new and used on Flea-Bay. I know from past experience the brand is/was frequently cited by hams for its quality.

A recommendation for any unit used as the output or transmitter half of a repeater will depend on how much use the repeater will expect. The heavier the use, the higher duty cycle rating for the trannie is needed. I haven't seen a consumer grade unit with a duty cycle greater than 20 to maybe 25% or roughly 12 to 15 minutes of transmit time per hour. A commercial unit or a public safety grade unit will have a 30 to 50% duty cycle. These are re-tuned FCC Part 90 certified units which cost several hundred dollars each when new but can be picked up for anywhere between $75 to $200 each on the used market.

Marc, I'll disagree with you on range. I coordinated many part 90 channels that lost coverage area going to 12.5 kHz channels. Granted, many of these stations were way overpowered for their AOP so the loss didn't effect them. I mean we had one PS Coordinator that would slap a 40 km AOP for a town that was less than 9 km across and then complain (the term is properly object) to an adjacent whose coverage area stopped 10 km outside the city limits.

It sounds as if the PD is using two frequencies similar to a repeater operation. Check the frequencies assigned to the PD using ULS. You may find the mobiles sending on a MO while the base is sending on another channel.

Welcome! Lots of good information here.

Something to bookmark on your browser. The Enforcement Bureau has opened a new portal to report interference and complaints for Public Safety, Business users and consumers. GMRS/FRS users can report problems using the Consumer tab at https://fccprod.service-now.com/psix-esix/

The FCC has tested/certified an independent test facility report the radio used for this service meets the technical requirements for emission type, stability and power. It benefits other users of this service by ensuring radios will not cause undue interference to other users and those in adjacent services.