marcspaz

No worries. It was 100% worth pointing out. I think it's odd that it can be done so easily, but I have never heard of anyone making such a poor choice. Anecdotal, I know.

Well, after 3 years without a CB radio, I bought a new unit. It's a Cobra 75 All Road. I haven't been following CB, but i do know the FCC rule changes about a year ago now allow FM use. I have been curious about it, especially knowing how well FM works on 29 MHz. I had a customer tell me they were interested in this radio, asked if I had an opinion about it and asked if I would install it for them. So, I bought one to check it out. I have to say, it's a little weird running a "stock" CB... but so far, I like it. It's just AM/FM with weather channels, but the transceiver is remote and the controls are in the mic (a familiar setup). BUT, the mic and all the controls are done wirelessly. The mic plugs into any USB port you have, or comes with a power outlet adapter. The mic works over Bluetooth so well, that I had the transceiver in my Jeep, but tested the mic range in my son's Jeep. It works about 30 feet away, which was awesome. I haven't chatted with anyone yet, but I was listening to AM Skip from all over the country. The receiver sensitivity seems real good so far. I am going to ask a friend of mine with an FM CB to help me do some range testing. I'll follow up soon and share the results.

So does just about every unlocked VHF radio made for the US market in the last 30 years. Many without even being unlocked.

Yep, we're doing a GMRS 101 class. I'll share the link after the class.

I very much appreciate all the feedback! It helps, for sure.

LOL I will make sure its covered in the first 3 minutes... but no one tells it like you do. Cameo? Thanks, Steve. Much appreciated!

Hey folks, I've been invited to teach a GMRS 101 class to people who have no knowledge of radio services or how any of this stuff works. I want to keep this brief, 30 minutes or less, and as useful as possible. I plan on helping attendees with getting an FRN and applying for their license and explaining common features and functions. For our new operators (and our seasoned members, too), what would you want to see in a class? What would help you when starting your journey? Any feedback would be appreciated. I will share the recording once we're done.

I'm of 2 mindsets... either you have to stay off the internet (you, generally.. not you specifically) or you need to stir the pot and embrace the suck. Very little of my job is RF related; mostly computers. I haven't been on an IT forum or group in more than a decade. I gave up after someone with no standing in the industry was trying to tell me how wrong I was after answering a question and telling someone how to correctly configure a product I designed, built and took to market. It was like a high school freshman with a 3.0 GPA telling Jeff Snover he was using PowerShell wrong.

With used equipment and a high spot to place it, it can be done for under $1,000. I have even seen some legacy repeaters donated to people who have a good place to put them. Elevation is key and there are a bunch of people here who have had incredible success putting up repeaters. I'm sure if you get serious about it, several people can help guide you.

I suppose someone who wants to do this can do what an overwhelming number of people have... buy a quality radio that does everything and keep your mouth shut about it. If you don't tell anyone, no one will know. Don't cause interference, don't be an ass, and don't go on frequencies you shouldn't be on, and you're going to be fine... not that I am making any promises or condoning violating the rules.

I'm officially jealous.

@WRXD372 you may like a book titled "Three Felonies a Day" by Harvey Silvergate.

Just my (conspiracy theorists) opinion, it's the same answer for radio, firearms, and everything else the government touches... it's not about safety or the people; it's about control.

Welcome! As far as pointers go, I have a couple that may help. 1.) GMRS is a "bring your own contacts" type of environment. If you call out and don't hear much (or nothing) don't let it discouraged you. 2.) GMRS is in the UHF radio segment and is an RF line of sight service. So, when it comes to range, height is might. 3.) In radio, all the magic is in the antenna. Don't get to hung up on power output. That said, more power isn’t a bad thing. As far as setups/radios go, what is it you want to accomplish? Where and what you're doing, combined with your desire for simplicity or Bells and Whistles will determine what you need.

Same here. Never know.

They are completely different antennas that serve different purposes, and both require a good ground-plan. The Tram is a no-gain antenna, with a great pattern for hilly and mountainous areas, while the Midland is a high gain antenna, designed for use in areas that are relatively flat. Regardless of what antenna you use, you have to be sure the element is clear of obstruction so it can work the best.

I have my opinion... I have had many MXT400 radios. At least 5. They are great radios, but there are 2 generations and Gen 1 was less than stellar for the price. Gen 1 is where a lot of the bad press came from, too. Midland was selling the Gen 1 bundle for ~$460 or ~$480 and the antenna it came with was terrible, the cheap plastic and loop hanger on the microphone, and the narrow-band performance made the radio grossly overpriced. Then, many people used the Gen 1 in narrow-band on wide-band repeaters, which made it difficult to hear. The early Gen 2 radios were released with a tone scan function and wide-band already enabled, but after a few months, they started releasing Gen 2 with tone scan enabled, but defaulting to narrow-band, again. As an FYI, the tone scan only works when the radio is in the Tone Squelch (TSQ) mode. If it is in Tone (T) mode, it won't scan.

Yeah, after working in and on communications gear professionally and being a Ham for as long as I have, there really isn't anything that would shock me as far as range goes.

I mean, technologically its possible with tropo ducting... but I can't find anything that says its legal or not. I know that Amateurs have to apply for reciprocity for use of our gear and on our frequencies.

You may be onto something. When CB's were only 19 channels (and later 23 channels), ch17 and ch19 were most commonly used by travelers and truck drivers. Ch17 was used for north-south and ch19 was used for east-west. I don't know why those were selected because it was so long ago and not well documented... CB's have been 40 channels for more than 46 years. Far as I can tell channel 19 became extremely popular as the main channel for truck drivers, regardless of direction of travel, in 1977 and 1978, following the release of movies like Convoy and Smokey & The Bandit. It's possible modern use is impacted by '70s pop-culture. In any case, that doesn't negate the technical advantages of using channel 19 and the potential reason behind the ongoing use for several decades.

@vzqhsg Welcome. Yeah, GMRS is really a "bring your own contacts" type of service. Unless you happen to be in a densely populated area with a good GMRS repeater presence, it can be kind of quiet. The weird part (sort of) is, I found through casual conversation that there are a lot of people around here that listen, hear calls for contact/radio check/etc., but don't respond for their own reasons. Do you have people you wheel with that have a radio to help you test? The chances of a random person responding to a call may be small. Having a friend help at least confirms the radio works and is configured right.

@WRXH357 it is possible, but that would require a repeater to be near him to be heard. I may have misread the post, but I took it as there is no repeater nearby.

Yeah, i never understood that personally. There is a pretty valid reason for using ch19 on CB. It is the center of the band and most AM and SSB radios were tuned for max power on 27.185 MHz. Also, properly tuned antennas are tuned for that frequency as well. That mentality is non-applicable because the center frequency on GMRS is not a usable frequency and no where near channel 19 or 20 (462/467.65 or .675). So picking any channel is really just picking a number for the sake of picking a number. It doesn't serve a purpose. Honestly, I don't even think saying that copying CB for ease of use is valid, because of all the GMRS users I know personally, many of them never used CB and think ch19 is "the trucker channel ".

Two groups, Popular Wireless and Personal Radio Association came up with the idea of an Open Repeater Initiative (OPI). It was designed to get repeater owners to open up and share resources instead of locking down systems. The idea was to make it easier for GMRS users to find and access repeaters. The group established the 141.3 CTCSS/PL as a “travel tone”. Originally, the repeater pair 462/467.675 was the OPI frequency (aka today as the travel channel). However, OPI eventually morphed into any repeater pair using 141.3 for PL access and did not require prior permission. Well, OPI and the founding groups are long gone, but many repeater owners still honor the spirit of OPI on their repeaters. In the absence of OPI, there has been debate in the community over what should be put into place, if anything. There is merit to all sides, but there are trolls that stir the pot, too.

There are 2 possibilities, E Skip or tropospheric ducting. Based on your location, it's most likely E Skip. Sporadic E propagation (known simply as E Skip) reflects signals off relatively small "clouds" in the lower E region. E Skip propagation supports long distance communication during the approximately 6 weeks centered on summer solstice. Tropo ducting also happens this time of year, when radio waves travel along temperature inversion ducts, but that is not likely what you're experiencing. Tropospheric ducting normally happens near and along water. In the US, that translates to mostly the Gulf Coast and East Coast.