marcspaz

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.

You got some good advice by kidphc. Get that antenna up higher. You have an 8' tall antenna with only 2' in clear view. Shadowing from the home is likely making a noticeable impact. I would recommend the base of the antenna be at least 3' above the highest point on the roof. If you could make it higher than that, more height equals more range.

Its been a long time since I checked... like 3 years. I remember it's not horrible. Like, 4.2 dB net transmission loss... so about 37% match efficiency. EDIT: I guess the right answer is, 800w out, 290w-300w reflected.

My HF 228 foot OCF dipole is resonant on 1.9 MHz (and a few others / MIMO), but the antenna network has a 9.1: SWR at that frequency. I literally work the world on that OCF dipole on 5 bands. The principles in that book are the main reason I tell people not to cut pre-tuned antennas to adjust the SWR. My radio performance at home is proof positive that its true.

Looking for a low price point stopped me from recommending that style of antenna. My personal vehicle has a Diamond NR770HB, with that design spec.

Man... that is a really tough thing to accomplish... maybe impossible. The Comet SBB-1NMO or SBB-2NMO.... maybe. Still almost $50 each, though. I have a SBB-1 (UHF, not NMO) and they are a compromise on 2m for sure.

I have zero experience with Tidradio, but 0.5 to 0.8 miles in the suburbs sounds pretty normal and my exact experience in most places I visit. In a flat area with zero obstructions, your range is going to max out around 3.5 miles. I think the fact that we can use repeaters makes the service desirable for many people, since range gets extended anywhere from 8 miles for a causal home setup to 100+ miles for a mountain top repeater. As far as handheld radios go, I am a huge fan of Wouxun. I would recommend either the KG-905G or the KG-S88G. Larson, Comet, Diamond, Laird and several others make great 3.5" to 5" mag mounts. Any major brand should be fine. My favorite 2 antennas for GMRS are the Midland MXTA26 gain antenna for flat areas and the Tram 1126-B for hilly / mountainous areas. If you don't find your SWR meter, the Surecom SW-102 is surprisingly accurate.

This is a very valid question.

I have spent decades in the mountains and I have seen 'almost' every type of communications methods fail. The only thing I have seen work 100% of the time (less equipment failure) is HF radio. Sat phones are by far the easiest to use and the second most successful to use. However, in order to work, the devices need to have clear view of a satellite phone network. Being deep in a valley or in heavy tree coverage, the phone wont work. Also, Sat phone uses a frequency that is very easily negatively impacted by solar/space weather. It actually happens fairly frequently. I mention these items because, while they are easy and very dependable, there is high cost to purchase and use and some risk of failure. InReach and other services like it are more affordable SatComms solutions, but have the same technology restrictions as Sat phones. UHF and VHF radio's are RF line of sight... period. If you have heavily wooded areas, are in a low area block by a hills or mountains... even a lot of buildings. Range is massively restricted. Circling back to HF radio... again, it never fails. While space weather impacts performance, all it really impacts is what frequency you use during particular times of the day. HF doesn't care about trees, rain, or anything physically in the way, and it's not a line of sight service. Due to not being line of sight, and the way HF radio propagation works, you can talk to people anywhere on the planet (if you follow the rules) with just a couple of watts. So, as someone whom has spent time in the woods and truly understands the points about weight restrictions (since you carry food, water, clothing, first-aid, bedding/shelter) the last thing I would want to do is add a bunch more weight. And lets be honest, even the smallest of HF radio setups will add 5 or 6 lbs, its hard to tell you what to do when I have no idea what your wife is capable of carrying. BUT... if it were me, I would carry a Sat phone or InReach and a portable 5w HF radio that covers 80m/40m/20m/ (and built in tuner), a random length wire antenna to support those bands and a roll-up solar panel charging system to charge the batteries on the phone/InReach and radio. I personally can't justify Sat phone pricing, so I would use the InReach (for zero 'in the field' setup and instant use) and something like a Radioddity Xiegu x6100 or an iCom IC-705 in cases where the InReach doesn't work. The IC-705 is way more capable and has coverage from all of HF, as well as 6m and 2m VHF and 70cm UHF. But, the x6100 is only $600 compared to the IC-705 at $1,400.

How dare you accuse me of thinking!? Have you read my posts?

We can't do much about the ads, but the dots show a concentration of repeaters. The dot color corresponds to how many repeaters are in that area. As you zoom in, the dots get closer to blue and the number shinks, until you zoom in enough to see individual repeaters on the map. Once you zoom in close enough and click on a single repeater, the green area highlights the forecasted coverage area. I'm not sure about the other questions.

Sorry to hear you aren't finding anyone to talk to, but not surprised. GMRS is known as a "Bring Your Own Contacts" (BYOC) service. The most common use is for families to be able to chat with each other in absence of or instead of a cell phone. The next most common use is car to car for people in a caravan, such as going offroad or multiple vehicles traveling together on the highway for long road trips. Don't expect to find anyone on the air except the people you bring to the air. Also, depending on what the terrain is like around you, with a handheld you can have another operator 1 or 2 miles away from you and you just aren't going to hear them. Mobiles can stretch that out a little tiny bit... maybe to 3 miles (again, depending on terrain). Unless you get on a tall hill/mountain or on a repeater with great coverage because it's up high, you may not have any luck. I have some bad news on the CB side of things too. It's not much better unless skip is in or your running a buttload of power, like 400w or more (not that I advocate for violating the FCC rules with use of an amp). Without extra power, using a 1/4 wave antenna (104"), I can double the range of simplex GMRS, but that is still only 6 to 8 miles assuming the other people I am talking to have a good setup, too. Even with a ton of power, CB is mostly a line of sight service, like GMRS.

I assumed we're talking about UHF in and around 400-500 mhz. Hence my answer/examples. That said, you're correct and I'm sure the information will be helpful.

You are correct. My mistake. It's always a 5 MHz split... only 'always' +5 in GMRS. Thanks for the catch!

In Amateur Radio and GMRS the offset is always up (+) 5 megahertz. So, if the receive frequency is 444.xxx, the offset is 449.xxx. or, if the receive frequency is 462.xxx, the offset is 467.xxx. Amateur Radio and GMRS are 2 distinctly different services. Do you want to learn about Amateur Radio, GMRS, both or radio communications technology in general?

I tried it with AGC off, but it seems to work better with AGC on and set to zero. May be placebo, but is sure sounds good on the recording. LoL

Here is a screen grab of what my settings are... Radio Configuration --> Radio Wide --> Tx Audio Control Per Mode. It's the Noise Suppression check box and Attenuation Level option. The directions say it works best with the Mic AGC disabled, but I find it works best with it on.

If you are a Jeep enthusiast and love to drive around with your doors off, but hate that the road noise is so bad that you can't use your radio, I highly recommend getting an XTL5000 or another Motorola model that was designed for use by first responders and has noise cancelling microphone features. I have had a total of three XTL5000 radios and I have never realized there is a noise cancelling feature before this one. This feature absolutely rocks. With every mobile radio I have every owned, I could never drive around in a Jeep with the doors off because the tire hum and wind noise would make it so my voice was washed out. It made the radio unusable while the Jeep was in motion. I decided to mess around with the mic auto gain control and noise suppression. I found that I can have the roof and doors off and still use the radio. I have aggressive 37" tires that hum so loud, that with the wind and tire noise, I can't talk to my passengers if the doors are off. BUT... now I can still use the radio! I setup my home-based FTM-300DR to record and went for a spin. The slowest I was going was 45 mph, at the very beginning. The fastest I was traveling during this test was 70 mph. I'm pretty happy with the results. You can hear the processor work its magic when I first start to transmit.

That is amazing. There is a 6m opening right now, with an s1 noise floor and the tropo duct map looks just right.

This is pretty wild. I don't check everyday, but this is either the third or fourth major storm I have seen this Spring. I haven't used the radio tonight, but I have to imagine this is causing some issues to some degree. I noticed the MUF is really high, too.

Hey folks, we had an awesome turnout! Thank you to everyone who attended. I had a great time and it was nice meeting some of you for the first time. Looking forward to the next one!

Hey, folks.... we're looking forward to seeing everyone today at 3PM in Gainesville. Even if you don't have a mobile setup you want tested, come hangout! https://facebook.com/events/s/mobile-tune-up-session/172329032127594/

Yes! Exactly! Some hams I know even use Q codes while they are are having a face to face conversation. Shoot... a lot of older hams I know call in-person conversations an 'eyeball QSO'. LOL Though, thankfully, the hams I know don't care if people say 10-4. It's mostly people I don't know that give me grief if I break ranks.

Please tell me that was a Jeep! That would make it even funnier!

I would start by asking what their interests are... meaning, why do they want to get into amateur radio. This way I may be able to point out different resources. Also, I would invite them to spend time with existing Amateur Radio clubs, especially during special events. The main goal here is so they can see and experience many different aspects of technology and the personalities of people, before taking a test or spending money on equipment. I would also stress how incredibly important it is to be sure they are very selective of whom they pay attention to when it comes to technology, because a lot of people have zero clue what they are talking about. I would provide resources on where they could find reliable printed information on how radio communications work, as well as where to find reliable information about equipment considered reliable and suitable for a particular task,without breaking the bank. I think the most important thing would be to listen as much as possible, talk less, and when I do talk, it would be to give guidance towards their goals. It's important to share experiences and opinions, but not push my hobby or opinions on them... mentor, not indoctrinate.