marcspaz

Carry-on and use of radios are 100% allowed in terminals and on commercial aircraft (with the PICs permission), by federal rule. However, you should check with whom you are traveling with, as some airlines may have a company prohibition.

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long break. I am looking forward to getting together with everyone. Along with getting our monthly meet-up going again, I would like to use this event to meet with Mike and give him any donations to help offset some of the expense associated with getting the Bull Run Mountain repeater running again. Lets meet at the parking lot beside Outback Steakhouse at 4995 Wellington Rd, Gainesville, VA 20155. After socializing outside for a bit, we can head inside for dinner. Depending on how busy the area is, we can meet in one of these two locations circled in red. I'll be monitoring the Bull Run repeater, too.

Awesome! Thank you and looking forward to it. I'll post up the date for the Meet N Greet soon.

Hey folks, Mike has run into some unexpected expense with restoring service keeping the Bull Run Mountain repeater running. I am going to make a donation to the expense. I am reaching out to see if anyone else is interested in contributing some cash to Mike. He is providing an awesome service to the community. I hear a lot of people talk about how thankful they are to have access to that system and the rest of his network. Unlike other repeaters in the area, Mike's systems are 100% privately funded, rather than having a club or group contributing to operations. I hope many will be willing to help. Anyone who is willing to contribute, I would love to raise $700 between us. I will not be accepting anyone's money. I would like everyone who is willing to contribute to come to the next Meet N' Greet to present Mike with the donations directly. Please make a note here or PM me if you are interested in helping Mike out. I expect the next get-together to be scheduled for sometime in the next 2 to 3 weeks in the Gainesville area. If Gainesville is a hard location to reach, I may schedule 2 get-togethers back to back on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Thanks, Marc

@Sshannon love Dave. He's got some good videos.

The range maps are estimated based on a percentage reliability scale. Some people draft the maps with a 70% reliability rate (looks larger) others use an 80% or 90% reliability rate, which makes it look much smaller. If you move out of the mapped area, that doesn't necessarily mean the repeater isn't usable. It just means service will be spotty and weak. Possibly 50% reliability or less.

I hate to say it, but that mount is not in a good place. In lamens terms, you're creating a short circuit for a large amount of your signal into the body. The electro magnetic energy needs to have a minimum of a 1/4 wavelength of free space to work well (6 inches). A half wavelength (12 inches) or full wavelength (24 inches) would be even better. I would recommend you get a Comet CP-5NMO mount and mount it on the hood, at lest 12 inches forward of the bottom edge of the A pillar. 14 or 15 inches away would be better. Like this...

You're Welcome.

Wait... HP doesn't pull cable for infrastructure. And I used to work for HPE and now collaborate with HPE daily for massive IT infrastructure projects. Anyone who is carrying a radio is either carrying a Harris or Moto and running trunked networked encryption radios. Pretty sure that dud didn't work for HP Tech or HPE and didn't know what he was talking about.

Moving it inside the roll bars will not help. Especially if the top of the metal enclosure is lower than the top of the tub. Can you share a picture of how it's mounted now? It may just need a simple adjustment instead of a complete relocation. As you pointed out, the current location with the MXTA26 may be the optimal combination. When my top was down, I have put a mag mount on the metal brace above the speaker bar. That has worked very well for UHF, prior to my permanent mounts.

What year and model Jeep do you have? The 2018+ Wrangler and all current generation Gladiator have plastic corner caps between the hood and A pillar. You should have no less than 7 inches of metal in every direction. While there is metal under the plastic, it's recessed too far to help. So, you may just need to slide the mount closer to the front. Also, not all antennas are created equal. One of the best antennas I have used to date, is the MXTA26. I have had even better performance out of my Diamond NR-7900... though that is a very large/heavy antenna and may not be a good choice for a front/hood/lip mount.

It's dang near the same radio from a software and performance perspective. Just a different form factor. If you like the 500 performance, you should enjoy the 575.

I got to do a range test today and I am very impressed. In an area I typically get about 5 miles of simplex range with a 50w VHF or UHF radio (Ham and GMRS) I was able to have a conversation at 14 miles apart, while moving. One of my friends who also has a good AM/FM CB and a good antenna setup were able to run a test while driving in Norther Virginia. I have to say, 14 miles for both AM and FM is fantastic around hear. The furthest I have ever talked on a CB on the local level was 26 miles, using a 104" (1/4 wave) steel whip antenna and 12.5w peak. This 14 mile contact was using 3.5w and a 86" Diamond HF10CL antenna, which isn't as good of a performer as a 1/4 wave would be... but it's pretty darn good. Much better than if I tried a 3 foot or 4 foot Firestik, I'm sure. This radio seems like a win for a compact FM CB.

I have run a bunch of different radios over the last 3 to 5 years. I feel like any of the Wouxun or Midland radios would be a good choice. Got to say, though, I am currently using a Land Mobile Radio Service radio and there is nothing on the market that has matched it in performance or durability. The only downside is the price tag.

If a student fails, it's the student. If the class fails, it's the teacher.

We don't have to imagine. That is literally what GMRS is.

I put this radio on a watt meter and dummy load today. I was surprised to see it actually has 3.5w of output. Most CB radios I have tested over the years have been 2.5w or less.

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.