marcspaz

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.

I have to echo the same sentiment. GMRS is a "Bring your our contacts" service. If you're looking for random people to talk with, my own opinion is that you picked the wrong radio service. Amateur radio (Ham radio) is a better option, for sure. I spend a good amount of time on GMRS with people I'm friends with in the area or when we're offloading, camping, etc., but very rarely ever have a stranger just start chatting. As far as trying to reach random people while driving, channels 19 and 20 seem to be the most popular around the country... be it simplex or if you're near a repeater. That said, I wouldn't expect much of a response.

I would love to have them on the back wall of the cab, but I would have to gut a lot of interior plastic out from behind the seats. The only place back there any radios would fit.... my FMT-300D and FT-891 are already there. I have been staying out of water and mud holes for the past few years. I figured they would be fine for now. I am going to seal the floor pan from outside to help prevent water infiltration. Yeah... LOL probably should have shot the video with roof panels on so I could run a slower shutter speed.

Well, it took a bit of work to finish installing my two XTL-5000 radios. A total of about 14 hours spread over a month. A big part of it was making it look as clean as I could. The transceivers are pretty well hidden under the front seats. I had to move them from under the rear seats because they took up too much space. I am much happier with this setup. From left to right: UHF XLT-5000, VHF XLT-5000, Yaesu FTM-300DR VHF/UHF w/Crossband Repeater & APRS, Yaesu FT-891 HF. It may seem odd to have 4 transceivers in 1 vehicle, but they all serve a specific purpose; each a role that none of the others can fill.

I have had a lot of people ask me about affordable Watt/SWR meters and the SureCom SW-102 comes up a lot. It's not my first choice, but the SW-102 can be a good, inexpensive meter. It is not exactly calibrated from the factory. It is really close in most instances I have seen, and "close enough" for most uses in the GMRS community. In this video, I calibrated the SureCom SW-102 against my Daiwa CN-901. Out of the box, the SureCom was within a couple of watts (a little lower than) the Daiwa. Also, the SWR was only 2 points off. Even after calibration, there is only 1 point variation. I adjusted the UHF power, as shown in the menu at the end of the video, line 5. When you adjust the power reading, you are taking power away from the reverse power value and adding it to the forward power value. This is the way the SWR reading is calibrated as well. In my case, out of the box, the SW-102 showed 41w compared to the CN-901's 44w. The SW-102 showed an SWR of 1.4:1 compared to the CN-901's 1.2:1. Honest, anything under 3.0:1 is safe to use and anything under 2.0:1 is in the "good" category. An SWR of 1.5:1 or better is considered great. Based on the differences both before and after calibration, and price points of $50 vs. $300, I would be confident in recommending the SureCom SW-102 to use as a tool that is definitely "good enough". Don't let Perfect be the enemy of Good. If you have any questions, let me know.

Bring your vehicle out and have your mobile radio checked out! We will check your power output, antenna tuning and the antenna system SWR. Along with testing your systems, we can make recommendations on improvements and if the opportunity exists, help make some improvements. We are going to meet in the Target parking lot, on the far end away from the building, near 5 Guys (shown in red circle). We'll bring out a table, canopy and some tools. Let me know if there are any questions.

I feel attacked!!! LOL

QFT!!!

Programar utilizando Bluetooth no es lo mismo que usar un cable y Chirp o RT Systems. Solo se puede crear, eliminar o modificar un canal a la vez. Debe conectar su teléfono mediante Bluetooth y utilizar la aplicación para editar el canal. BTech tiene el manual en su sitio web para que lo pueda descargar. También puede comprar el programador universal Tidradio, como mencionó @Sshannon. https://baofengtech.com/product/gmrs-pro/

Congratulations... you wrote the dumbest thing I've read on the internet today! You should be proud. You beat out a lot of competitors.

In context, it makes a lot more sense. I appreciate the follow-up.

They use them here a lot. mostly because the U/SAR teams are run by the government, but have a huge civilian volunteer base. The agencies I help keep a bunch if inexpensive radios on hand, but usually the volunteers bring their own.

I don't know if I'm misreading the post or everyone else is, but that reads that the SAR team is using FRS/GMRS to talk amongst themselves while conducting a SAR operation. They aren't telling civilians to carry radios and use them on 3 for emergencies, which wouldn't make sense. The SAR team isn't using the FRS radios until AFTER a mission has started. This says it all... "Backcountry SAR teams in Colorado do not actively monitor FRS/GMRS channels but most will be able to utilize FRS radios once they have been alerted by a 911 dispatch center and have arrived in the area of the incident" The write-up is not saying it's a tool for the victim to use in an emergency. The write-up says the responders are using them. Now, this may be news for this Colorado area... but U/SAR teams in my area have been using FRS radios for decades. And it's mostly because so many volunteers shows up that there is no other practical way to help everyone stay in touch during the mission, due to the licensing and equipment restrictions. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but the whole thing seems Business As Usual.

Like the others, I don't pre-program any simplex tones for no reason or as a generic default tone, nor do I know anyone who does.

This happens a lot in areas that have a high population or are heavily commercial. There are all kinds of crap electronics being used in private and commercial settings that emit spurious emissions on frequencies they are not intentionally transmitting on. I have this problem driving around in many parts of Northern Virginia, Richmond, Tampa, and Orlando. Near my house in VA, I have a fire house that has some kind of RF link to another FD building, on 462.000MHz. Once I am within about 1.5 miles, that link is all I can hear on every FRS and GMRS radio, unless I have tone squelch enabled on every channel. Even then, if someone transmits a tone, the FD transmitter wipes the other station to the point that I have no idea what they are saying. Sadly, complaints fall on deaf ears. Once it starts I just turn the radio off until I drive far enough away from it.

Nice!!! I am going to try that! Should pickup about 12dB?

I'm going to help you out on this one...

I'm out of likes ? that is funny though!!!

Man... I don't know why everyone raves about Ghost antennas. This one has no range. Once I'm a few yards away from the other radio, I can't hear them and they can't hear me. Weird part is, the cable is fine and the SWR is spot-on, 1:1. Picture for attention. [/TROLL]

This is very similar to what I plan on running Field Day. There will actually be an additional mast. LoL I thought about buying an inexpensive used pop-up travel trailer. Depending on how the year goes, that may happen next year. I've been eyeballing a motorized cart with big inflatable tires and a 500 lb capacity. It costs about $1,000. Maybe as we closer to the end of the year.

@pcradio... that is a great radio.

Very, very kind words. Thank you.

@kidphc I appreciate it, man! Yeah, setup and tear down combined was about 6 hours.

@kidphc that is exactly what the next time will look like! LOL Seriously though, it was 40 degrees and raining... and we were there for about 30 hours. The heat and shelter was a must.