marcspaz

I would not move it to the brush guard. You are going to have a huge shadowing problem at least 160 degrees toward the rear of the vehicle. You will not be happy with the performance. I would either put it on the roof or measure the distance between where it is now and the rear lip of the hood, and then split that measurement and move it closer to the windshield by that final measurement.

@Luish19779, unfortunately GMRS is not a rag-chew service. Many refer to it as a BYOC radio service (Bring Your Own Contacts). Meaning, you and a specific person or group of people are looking for a common radio service so your group can specifically talk. This is why its so popular with groups that do family emergency communications, offroading and outdoors type of entertainment, road trips involving multiple vehicles, etc. As Michael (@MichaelLAX) mentions, Ham radio is most likely a much better bet for you. I am in NYC 6 to 8 times a year and there are a bunch of repeaters in NY, CT, NJ and PA that I can reach, depending on where I am in and around the city. I have really good luck around Bronx Zoo and little Italy, up to around Yonkers Raceway. There are some amateur repeaters on the mountains nearby and the stuff south and west are at lower elevations or you get some clear LOS due to the river. Something to think about, if you are just looking for strangers to chat with and to make new friends. GMRS really isn't the best choice for that, though.

@Sshannon LOL true story!

@WRKC935 I am not a fan of AMA either. They are the Sad Hams of the drone world... 100%. I can definitely understand where you are coming from. The whole situation back to 2018 kept me out of the drone hobby for for a couple of years, too. The drone world and enforcement is kind of like GMRS enforcement. There are rules, but rules unenforced are almost the same thing as no rules. I am only aware of one person who actually got some major fines from FAA... but this person repeatedly posted videos of him flying his drones way above 400 feet... like above cloud cover... flying well beyond VLOS and from what I recall, he also broke speed restrictions by flying well over 100mph. So yeah, they hung that dude out. I have heard of some limited instances of people getting caught up in local BS when cops charge remote pilots for stupid stuff that doesn't actually violate federal law. Usually the PD involved knows zero about drones and the arresting LEO is just an a$$. Also, I checked again today. There are now 3 CBO's, one being FTCA, which has very relaxed common sense rules. They are the ones I picked for flying recreation before there were any "officially recognized" CBO's. Right now... today, you can go from zero to legally flying almost anywhere in less than an hour, and then in seconds every flight after. For recreation, these are the current rules... 1. The aircraft is flown strictly for recreational, or educational purposes. Pretty straight forward. 2. The aircraft is operated in accordance with or within the programming of a community-based organization’s set of safety guidelines that are developed in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration. With FTCA now being approved... also very easy. I used to keep the printed safety guide in my bag so I could use it as a reference if PD or a nosy person got in my business (thankfully neither ever happened). 3. The aircraft is flown within the visual line of sight of the person operating the aircraft or a visual observer co-located and in direct communication with the operator. Also, common sense. Can't avoid a crash, especially with over aircraft if you can't see them. Forward camera isn't good enough. 4. The aircraft is operated in a manner that does not interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft. Also makes sense and pretty easy to abide by. 5. In Class B, Class C, or Class D airspace or within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport, the operator obtains prior authorization from the Administrator or designee before operating and complies with all airspace restrictions and prohibitions. This sounds hard, but is actually super easy. I use an FAA approved LAANC (pronounced Lance) service provider app on my phone. It's called Air Control. It takes seconds to check where I want to fly and automated approvals take less than 60 seconds in most limited/restricted areas. Most consumer grade drones also have this feature built into their controller apps. 6. In Class G airspace, the aircraft is flown from the surface to not more than 400 feet above ground level and complies with all airspace restrictions and prohibitions. Again, same as above. No need to struggle to ID the airspace class. The software does it near instantly. 7. The operator has passed an aeronautical knowledge and safety test described in subsection (g) and maintains proof of test passage to be made available to the Administrator or law enforcement upon request. This is called a TRUST certification. It's free, only needs to be done once and is good for your lifetime. Only took me 15 minutes to do. 8. The aircraft is registered and marked in accordance with chapter 441 of this title and proof of registration is made available to the Administrator of designee or law enforcement upon request. This is also super easy. If your drone is less than .55 lbs (250gr), then you don't need to register it for recreational use. If you want to or if the drone is 0.55lbs or more, you get one registration number for free in just a few minutes (only legit site is the FAA .Gov site) and that 1 number is good for all of your drones.

@tweiss3, yes, Sir... that is the one. This is the best place to get started on understanding where the process is right now... https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started The the rules have been all over the place for awhile, but the commercial side has finally settled at this point and seems to have been for at least 6 to 8 months. I figure with the free lifetime membership Greg offers and the re-training / updates as little things pop-up, it won't be so bad. Right now the recreational side is all over the place. They biggest problem I see is the whole "CBO" requirement. Since the FAA is somewhat tied to it due to congress passing a law, you have to use a community based organization's rules while flying for recreation. When there was no 'formally recognized' CBO, it was easy to use someone like Flite Test Community Association (FTCA) and download their guidelines. Now, Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) is the only official CBO, and their rules are way worse and more complex than the FAA Part 107 rules. Which is why I went commercial instead.

I feel bad hearing this. If you guys are still interested the rules are a heck of a lot more relaxed as of today, compared to even a year ago. Part 107 gives me more permissions, like flying above 400 ft with no special permissions in some cases. We also have the ability to do night flights now, too. Also, the rule about 5 miles within an airport are gone and no need to call ATC/Tower anymore. I've actually flown at Dulles International and the local regional airport by my house. For the times you do need FAA approval, a vast majority of it can be done via a phone app and get instant approvals. The only thing that sucks now is, no flying in national parks or wildlife management area. Part 107 turned out to be a big plus, even if you are only doing recreational flight, the certification makes it so you can do so much more than a strictly recreational flyer with no cert. If you are still interested in quads or fixed-wing, check out some of the latest free videos at Pilot Institute. They are the best Ground School and Remote Pilot training I found. If you decide to go back to recreational flying, the training is 100% free and their commercial 107 training was under $200 last I checked, with lifetime continued training.

I have a couple of drones I use for hanging antennas from trees, recording offroad videos, scouting areas to put up my portable gear when in the field, and occasionally just for the sake of flying. I got really bored yesterday and ended up with a fun gag reel I wanted to share. Anyone else here use drones and find a way to incorporate then into other hobbies? How do you use your drone? Anyone a Part 107 Certified Remote Pilot? If so, what are you using your cert for? Work? Fun? Both?

I agree with the other responses. There is nothing in the rules that state you must use 5MHz splits. Unusual frequency splits as well as mixed split tones are a great way to keep the trolls away. I'm pretty sure the 5MHz split was borrowed from other popular UHF based services and is considered best practice. Standards help avoid mistakenly causing harmful interference. It also helps companies build standardized hardware for maximum compatibility.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had a great day! Michael... I was on 14.235.

I recorded Christmas wishes from a new friend in South Africa. We chatted 12,700+ km / 7,900+ miles via HF radio. I apologize for the audio sync problems. I rushed last minute to record a conversation with Lyle, which led to me having some issues with the radio display feed being frozen and the time sync between voice and video being off. I will record another one later, after I fix my video codec issue, but I really wanted to share it anyway. Merry Christmas everyone.

I use either Diamond K400 heavy duty (for heavier antenna or more than 50w) or Comet CP-5M. The Comet maximum power is 50w, IIRC.

Great... the second I left this thread, this was the first ad to pop.... SMH. LOL

This step always tells the real story. I have seen some mobile installations that have had 20+ feet of 16 or even 18 gauge wire with crimped extensions and crimped eye-loops at the battery. On the radio side, they experienced a 1.5v to 2v drop when in standby and 3.5v to 4v drop on the radio side when they key up.

Not in your specific example, no. There should be no correlation. While ducting occurs adjacent to the surface, your communications is localized and likely had/have stations that are too close to each other and too low of an elevation to really be impacted.

The document says it was released November 25 of this year. Here is the whole thing. Media Contact: Will Wiquist will.wiquist@fcc.gov For Immediate Release FCC BANS EQUIPMENT AUTHORIZATIONS FOR CHINESE TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT DEEMED TO POSE A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY New Rules Implement the Bipartisan Secure Equipment Act of 2021 -- WASHINGTON, November 25, 2022—The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules prohibiting communications equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security from being authorized for importation or sale in the United States. This is the latest step by the Commission to protect our nation’s communications networks. In recent years, the Commission, Congress, and the Executive Branch have taken multiple actions to build a more secure and resilient supply chain for communications equipment and services within the United States. “The FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders, and we are continuing that work here,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications.” The Report and Order applies to future authorizations of equipment identified on the Covered List published by the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau pursuant to the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. The new rules prohibit the authorization of equipment through the FCC’s Certification process, and makes clear that such equipment cannot be authorized under the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity process or be imported or marketed under rules that allow exemption from an equipment authorization. The Covered List (which lists both equipment and services) currently includes communications equipment produced by Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, and Dahua Technology (and their subsidiaries and affiliates). The new rules implement the directive in the Secure Equipment Act of 2021, signed into law by President Biden last November, that requires the Commission to adopt such rules. The Commission also adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking further comment on additional revisions that should be made to the rules and procedures prohibiting the authorization of “covered” equipment. It also seeks further comment on potential revisions to the Commission’s competitive bidding program. The Commission is also seeking comment on future action related to existing authorizations. The new rules follow a series of other FCC initiatives to keep U.S. networks secure. In addition to today’s actions and maintaining the Covered List, the FCC has prohibited the use of public funds to purchase covered equipment or services, launched the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to remove insecure equipment that has already been installed in U.S. networks, revoked operating authorities for Chinese state-owned carriers based on recommendations from national security agencies, updated the process for approving submarine cable licenses to better address national security concerns, and launched inquiries on IoT security and internet outing security, among other actions. ### Media Relations: (202) 418-0500 / ASL: (844) 432-2275 / Twitter: @FCC / www.fcc.gov This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).

@Lscott at this point in my life, I have come to distrust anything electronic. There is a good chance that if electricity can flow through it, someone can use it improperly against you, without your knowledge.

FYI... still trying to find out how this impacts the radios we use for GMRS and Ham radio. “For these three companies, we will require them to document what safeguards they will put in place on marketing or sale for these purposes, and we are putting in place a freeze on all of their telecommunications and video surveillance equipment authorization applications until that work is done,” EDIT: I removed the link and just attached the document. Not sure what went wrong with the link. DOC-389524A1.pdf

Temperature inversions and inversion levels are what causes the refraction (largest impact on the refractive index), lending to what we call Tropospheric Propagation and Tropospheric Ducting. Makes sense to postpone blasting when there is an increased risk of high power(ish) RF in the lower atmosphere.

I voted no for a few reasons. I don't want the sticker on my truck. Someone close enough to read the sticker is likely going to overload my receiver front-end. I don't always have the radio on and it's on varying frequencies when it is on... to name a few.

Honestly, you are describing a situation well inside LOS. Unless there is something in the way that you didn't mention, 10 miles from a summit to a valley should be a cake walk even with just a few watts and a vertical antenna. Normally you would use a beam to reduce the reception of signals/noise from directions other than forward, while increasing listening ability and focused power in the forward direction (which you obviously understand at this point). However, those forward listening advantages are accomplished by enhancing the ability to hear more of the refracted and scattered emissions you are receiving from beyond LOS, that didn't fly off into space or get absorbed by the terrain. Or at least reduce the ambient noise so what you do hear is easier to understand. Your forward transmitting advantages are accomplished by putting more focused energy into the atmosphere in a forward direction, thereby likely increasing the amount of RF that is refracted and scattered beyond LOS, that didn't fly off into space or get absorbed by the terrain. That increase in refracted and scattered energy would, theoretically, increase the ability for a station without a beam to receive your signal. So, to sum up, it sounds like you are already in a massive over-kill configuration. If there is no heavily diluted "over the horizon" communications to enhance, you won't benefit from using beam antennas.

Mike W. told me one if the troublemakers around here is mobile and just drives around DC metro and messes with people on the repeaters. Part of me thinks "don't feed the monkeys and the will go away" and another part of me feels like we should do a fox hunt. They might be doing the same thing I do. Every GMRS/FRS and MURS frequency is being used by local retailers and restaurants around me. They all use tone codes and the repeaters do too. Most of them can't hear the repeater on the cheap handheld radios while in their building, so we don't interfere with them, but if you aren't running tone squelch, you will hear them all day. So, we "tone them out."

Outstanding!

What OffroaderX said. LOL Do you mean why can’t we use digital voice on GMRS?

I was eating some Wendy's chicken nuggets when I was typing. LOL

Man, I had a TRS-80 model 1 from 78 to 82 until. It launched my career as a computer scientist. Love that system.