marcspaz
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Posts posted by marcspaz
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3 hours ago, pcradio said:
I'm having a conversation on another board. They've hinted that there is a legal radio. I'm awaiting their response.
People can hint at it all they want, they will still be wrong.
If you don't like the rules, lobby Congress. That's what everyone else who gets laws and rules changed does. In the mean time, you need to live by them or be prepared to suffer the consequences of those choices.
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That seems like a violation of FCC rules... especially since (I believe) there is no certification process for amateur radio equipment. I'm highly suspicious of them making that claim and having it be truthful.
Edit: man... that whole write-up is sus. Dude claims it's GMRS and Ham approved, but you're doing a soft-reset and going between modes via a service menu... now I'm really calling BS.
- SpeedSpeak2Me, gortex2, Lscott and 1 other
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1 hour ago, JoCoBrian said:
Do they still offer free testing down at Our Lady of Perpetual Motion? I get 100's on all my practice exams, how do I get to take the Master exam, the one above Extra.
You're already an extra... stop messing with people.
I legit LOL'ed at Our Lady of Perpetual Motion.
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I'm posting to subscribe to the thread and to share info about the DC metro area. I'm curious to read updates after the rally in SC.
It's kind of strange here. When big events happen in Richmond, DC or Virginia/Maryland DC Metro area, the repeaters usually go quiet. It would be interesting to see how the community responds in other areas.
- WRWR489 and SteveShannon
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44 minutes ago, WRWQ761 said:
Hey! I would love to go but just "joined" the club a second ago. Just wanted to check with you so I don't just show up unannounced!
Welcome! Yes, indeed. Come on out. Everyone is welcome.
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I don't use it on my GMRS radio, but if GMRS was my only radio, I would. We are prone to get tornadoes here, so I have my amateur radio set to give me alerts when we have bad weather inbound. Otherwise I leave it off.
On 6/26/2023 at 2:32 PM, markskjerve said:Don't see the need to use NOAA at least here. Any weather alerts are usually broadcasted out over the Florida Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet) repeaters and I do monitor those.
Man, I love the SARnet. Being in my Jeep in St. Pete talking to people in Panama City Beach and Miami without needing DMR, Wires-x, etc., is pretty awesome. And yes, the abbreviated notifications that a weather alerts exist is a pretty nice feature. Thankfully most of the standalone amateur repeaters in VA also provide that service, too.
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3 hours ago, rivrrat said:
Stock gladiator okay for this trail?
Yes, Sir. 100%. Even on the hard trail, you would be good to go. The trail we are going up is a shade rougher than a poorly maintained dirt road.
I mentioned high clearance vehicles because there are a few spots that are rutted and a "car" will almost certainly get stuck. Anything with about 4.5"-5" of clearance or more and you will be fine.
- SteveShannon and rivrrat
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Hey folks, I am scheduling a radio expedition up to Flagpole Knob. Lets bring handhelds, mobiles, whatever you have. This is going to be a chance to set a personal-best for range of a contact and soak in some nice fresh air. If you have any non-GMRS gear you want to bring, this is a "let play radio" event. Bring it out.
Additionally, I will be setting up my HF radio. Anyone who is interested in trying out the amateur bands and possibly talking to someone in another country from radio to radio, everyone will be welcome to operate my equipment. No need to worry about licensing, as you can operate under my station ID up to the limits of my privileges. No amateur license needed.
As a side note, while will we be taking the easiest entrance to the top of the mountain, a high-clearance vehicle such as a stock SUV or pickup truck is recommended. If you don't have one, post up here and we can see if you can ride up with someone who does.
This is a "weather providing" event. It will be rescheduled if there are chances of rain and lightning.
SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2023 AT 9 AM
We will meet at 9:00 AM at the Sheetz gas station in Harrisonburg VA on route 33, just west of route 81, and head up from there. Anyone who plans to arrive at the mountain top later (or earlier), we will be monitoring channel 20 (462.675) while we are there.
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Hey folks,
I figured I would put this on the books. Lets meet at 3:00 PM at Longhorn Steakhouse in Falls Church / Bailey's Crossroads on July 1st. This is going to be a causal get-together for the group to shake hands, showoff any new toys and gadgets, and chat about radio stuff (or whatever).
Hope you all can make it!
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@Sshannon I tried that method too. No luck. It doesn't mute or unmute when the tone is present. Mine defaulted to 300, but i tried several times and none of the selected tones worked.
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I am totally bewildered by a radio feature and can't find an answer anywhere. I found one single page that says it reduces background noise when there is no audio is present, but that absolutely isn't happening on any of my radios. Hopefully some of the smart people here know what this stuff is.
I have several Yaesu radios that have a squelch type called "PR" in the radio menu, and "No-Communication Squelch" in the manual. There is nothing in any of the manuals I have that explain what No-Communication Squelch / PR is. The only thing in any of the manuals is how to turn it on and how to set the "PR Frequency". That's it.
Normally, I wouldn't even care, as long as the squelch works. However, no matter what I do, it doesn't seem to squelch anything. Like nothing. It doesn't act as a regular squelch, a reverse squelch, really has no impact whatsoever on how the radio seems to work. It exacts like nothing has been enabled.
Does anyone know what the heck PR / No-Communication Squelch is and actually does?
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56 minutes ago, WRXR374 said:
I'd love to see a statute or case cited. I've always heard that was only for digital TV antennas.
I know that 47 C.F.R. §97.15 applies to Amateur Radio, and section 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 covers almost everything else.
If the HOA bust chops about a CB or GMRS antenna, I would just get my Amateur license and then the antennas would be protected.
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2 hours ago, kidphc said:
That only applies to tv antennas.
They do and can restrict you from putting radio antennas and towers.
Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
For what it's worth, there are some federal statutes (I'm out and don't remember at the moment) that state HOAs 'must' make reasonable accommodations for 2-way radio equipment. My friend actually went to court over and the HOA lost. He replaced his small antennas that could only be seen off property through about 2 degrees of opening in the trees, with a giant mast that is 20 feet higher than the house and has several monster antennas for HF, VHF and UHF.
- wayoverthere, WRUU653, back4more70 and 4 others
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It's been a bit since our last get-together. I was thinking about another meet-up mid-afternoon at Longhorn Steakhouse in Falls Church / Bailey's Crossroads on July 1st. But, I was thinking there may be a bunch of people traveling for the holiday.
If I set it up, who can make it? If enough people can make it, I'll get it going.
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18 hours ago, kidphc said:
Wanna borrow mine to try?
Your ft891 is capable of you mars mod it. I think.
Plus Jack has a sirio on the back of his vic.
Not sure what radio it is attached to. I think it is a President with fm.
Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
It would fun to try, for sure. My FT-891 sounds like trash on CB once i get about 1/4 mile away, but when it's close to transmit stations, it blows out my front-end to the point that I can't make out what they are saying. Even if I turn the RF gain to the lowest setting and turn on stuff like the IPO, NB, DNR, etc.
I've been thinking about buying a Galaxy or a President, but they are steep given it would be occasional use.
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I want to, desperately. The price of an FM CB was a complete turn-off. Especially since I don't know a single person who has one.
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2 hours ago, WROZ437 said:
Nice job! I am big fan of clean installations. How do you like the "CB Bar?" I am going to be moving on from my Midland MXT275 to an Anytone D578, which lacks a detachable faceplate, so I will need to be able to see the radio and interact with it's buttons and knobs. Seems like it might be the cleanest way to mount a radio without a detachable faceplate.
I appreciate the kudos!
The CB Bar was a great addition. It's hollow square stock with some pre-drilled hole, but it's also easy to use self-tapping sheet metal screws for custom installations. The tubing helped me hide most of the wiring up there.
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9 hours ago, nokones said:
If people are experiencing lower audio levels with their CCR/CCSDs than "Turn Up the Volume".
The problem with this is, when everyone else is using the same bandwidth and deviation, then my speakers rattle and my ears hurt from the volume blasting. Spending several minutes playing 'chase the volume level' is usually not a good time, prompting me to tell the operator what's happening or me just turning my radio off.
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2 minutes ago, BoxCar said:
As a former frequency coordinator,
I don't know if you mentioned that before, but I didn't know. That's actually pretty cool. Folks who do that work save the community a ton of aggravation and arguing.
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2 hours ago, WRUQ758 said:
Channel spacing for the GMRS repeater & simplex channels is 25 Khz and 12.5 for FRS channels. I hear a lot of users with low audio and in many cases this may be from someone using a narrowband radio on an GMRS appropriate wideband repeater. I am a radio tech but will not get into a technical rant about the differences. Basically 25 Khz spacing gives you WAY better audio and range due to the bandwith. Radios like the Midland MXT-400 come with the correct spacing out of the box. In a nutshell if you buy commercial Kenwood, Motorola Etc repeaters, mobiles and portables make sure they are older "wideband" capable radios for GMRS use. Whoever programs your radios can tell in the software. This is great news for GMRS users because there is a glut of cheap wideband capable UHF radios out there cheap that cannot be used on narrowband spacing on regular business band. If the commercial radio or repeater you buy is 12.5 narrowband capable make SURE whoever programs it has the permission "key" to set it to 25 Khz. Do not use 12.5 KHz spacing on GMRS, enjoy the better audio and range benefits of our wideband "exception" under FCC Part 95.
My personal FAVORITES are Motorola Maxtrac, Radius M100, GM300, Ht-600, P-200, & Saber. These were some of the best radios ever built but require special software and an obsolete DOS computer and RIB to program.
Here is a list: Motorola Narrowband Capable Radios (comsourcewireless.com)
I'm sure this will spark an argument... but I want to make a few corrections. I'm not trying to pick on you... just want to put a tad more accurate info out there. Like you... my post is not very technical... more of a general concept.
You are mistaken about wider signal having more range. The opposite is true... narrow band has better range. Wide has better audio fidelity. Wide receivers have less usable sensitivity than narrow bandwidth receivers because the wider the receiver, the more it fills with the broad spectrum noise. It then takes more desired received signal to pull the data out of the noise, reducing range per watt. This is why major manufactures collectively agreed, many decades ago, that 2.5 kHz bandwidth for SSB voice transmissions would be considered "normal" bandwidth.
Also, the "bandwidth" and "channel spacing" are not the same. It looks like you may have mixed them up. In real-world application, GMRS WFM (aka wide band) "channel spacing" is 25 kHz and the typical occupied bandwidth is 20 kHz. The NFM (aka narrow band) channels are spaced 12.5 kHz and are typically 11 kHz occupied bandwidth. I measured one of my radios moments before posting this. My radio on wide band is 19.3 KHz with 4.4KHz deviation and narrow band is 10.3 KHz with 3.5 KHz deviation (a little hot).
In laymen terms, the more bandwidth you use, the more data you can send. The more data you send, the better the fidelity can be. In GMRS voice, that data is your voice. Therefore, on wide band, you can have better audio fidelity due to more information transmitted and received. The reason audio from a narrow band transmission has low audio on a wide band receiver is because the receiver is tuned in such a way that it is listening to a wider spectrum of radio than the transmitted signal, and it is expecting more deviation than provided for the voice. The empty RF space is filled with random noise (same noise that reduces sensitivity / range) and the lack of deviation leads to lower audio levels. You combine the two and it can sound like less than half the expected/normal audio levels.
The inverse is true when a narrow receiver hears a wide signal. The receiver is only hearing about half the signal (making it sound lower in tone) and the over-deviation causes a loud audio level... sometimes sounding a little distorted.
Any Tips For Someone Thinking of Getting A H.A.M. License?
in Amateur Radio (Ham)
Posted
It's me, isn't it? You can just say it's me. I mean, I already know it's true, but I like a good "that a boy" every now and then.