WSEZ903

There is a system by me that MDC or DTMF is REQUIRED to use the repeater. It sees your assigned ID given to you by the owner and will open the repeater. It also tracks who is using the repeater to cut out the people from playing around being "dumb".

I remember when I was on the fire Dept. in the late 80's we were on 33.780. The antenna on the portables were about 2 feet long. It seems almost everyone now wants a "stubby" antenna because they do not like the longer ones. The mobile antennas were very long too. Sounds like a good idea until you see all the equipment you need and prices of said equipment. Just my 2 cents from the peanut gallery.

I had a smiley on my 935 and UV9G. They seem to work better than the stock ones. Just my thoughts from the peanut gallery.

Funny thing is they typically transmit in simplex, so they are not even using the repeater. Once they hear him talking, the paparazzi gets on the air and mad chaos starts.

If you are in Phoenix, I gather you are as you posted about Shaw being down, there are tons of 70 cm repeaters in the county. I think like 237 statewide. Another 1oo plus in 2m. If you want to dip your toes in Digital, there are a lot of "System Fusion" repeaters in the area. KM7BQP/WSEZ903

I follow this type of programming scheme also. Local (Phoenix) Northern Az, Southern Az Western Az, Eastern Az. Both portable and mobile are set up the same exact way. Only difference is I have a few less zones on mobile as I can put more channels in there for a bank. I did 2 friends like this and the like it also. This way when traveling they just go to that zone to listen to traffic. (Scan list is by zone also but user programmable)

Why not, I think you can at least, just marry the two bricks and use one control head?

The Wouxun radios I have purchased all came pre set to narrow band on the shared FRS channels. Just picked up a Tidradio H3 to mess with and same. Think it is a standard that they are set to narrow on the shared FRS channels.

I will ask around. It is the browning BR-450 https://a.co/d/0DDe9XK. Amazon link. this is with the original one I had purchased that I put back on. 462 is fine. 467 is a bit higher.pictures attached. I will check an auto parts store for other whips. Home Depot was going to be my guess. My goal is to get the 467 side to 1.25 or better. Just figured it would help prolong the life of the radio.

OK so I had added a reply twice since my last but it did not post for what ever reason. I actually cut the antenna to 470 for what ever reason. I honestly do not know what I was thinking. So I ordered a new one and cut it to the 465 are. Did a test and SWR was 1.80-85 area. Took about 3 mil off and now 2.2. I guess i need it longer or I am not measuring the correct spot when cutting? I also have the midland gain antenna that I get a bit of a better reading on but it does not pick up as well. So, I took the original Browning BR-450 antenna and put it back on for the time being as it is below 2.0. Thanks for all the help in this. It is really appreciated.

2.10 on 550 and 2.20 on 725 i put the midland mxta26 on and it is at 1.10 (550) and 1.7-1.9 (725) Ironically it was a lot higher with mag mount so I went with the Browning BR-450 instead as I had installed them in the past on vehicles and no issues. I have it (browning ) cut to 470, now thinking I don’t know why and it might be a tad too short. I will see if I can find where I can but a new bottom rod or just order a new antenna and deal with the loss. I have the midland in there for now. Midland is ok, but browning seems to have a better signal to me.

I have 550 up to 725 in my area and I use both frequently so I will cut my antenna a tad more.

Hit it with the meter. GMRS channel 1 is 1:01 Then did 550 and 725 and was 1:39 and 1:40. I have to he antenna cut for 467 so it is probably pretty close I realized after I put everything away I was on 462 still. I guess I can’t complain with the return watts being that low.

The mag mount wire was routed through the top ceiling next to air bag curtains. Sucked to get in there nut that gave me more wire to get to radio. This I did like back in old days of doing it for a living and ran down the rear door pillar and across the bottom using the channels in the floor. Bit more of pulling stuff off but trying to get it perfectly aligned to stay away from curtains was more of a hassle than it is worth. Just don’t want it to shift over time from vibration/body sway and interfere with a deployment. (Hope it does not happen but….). Last time I did anything like this was 2004 so a bit rusty.

Why not google search GMRS clubs for areas you are going to or even FaveBook? Might be able to find listings of active repeaters.