marcspaz

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.

@kidphc It looks a lot worse than it was. I didn't get to see the site ahead of time, so we had to hump it all by hand. Thankfully it was only about 50 yards from the road. We just parked roadside to unload and load. FWIW... even at about 50 yards, it still kinda sucked, and that was with 3 people carrying stuff.

LOL I had a 5 day cooler with a bunch of food and drinks off to the corner of the tent.

Here's a quick video of my portable shack from over the weekend. Worked a 24 hour foot race. 2m, 70cm, HF and GMRS.

Gen 1 are not capable of it. Gen 2 is capable after reprogramming at home, but not from the factory. Not sure about newer generations.

Heck, yeah! She is awesome. Been following her for years.

I appreciate it... The photos where taken by Sam Norton. He is very talented, for sure. Most of my work is videography, but a do shoot some occasional stills.

Well, it may be bad for radio, but the view of the Aurora Borealis in the Virginia mountains is pretty dang awesome. Second time this year, too.

It's already over. They don't typically last that long.

If anyone is thinking their radio is acting up... it's not. This is the worst storm I have ever seen. All bands are in terrible shape and I have never seen an S9+ noise floor.

Nah... let's let this jem get revived a few more times... especially in about 2 years.

My primary radio makes 18w at the output. It works fantastic in my area. We have about 300 feet of elevation variation for about 100 miles in any direction. I get 25 to 35 miles from any given repeater with 80%+ reliability. Once I stretch past 35 miles, going to 48 watts is very helpful in many cases, but doesn't even come close to punching through "every time" I drop out with the 18w. Long story short, I think 15w is great for many applications.

@KAF6045 That looks awesome! If you plan to use it soon, can you let me know how you like it? I took my MFJ out this morning (rain finally stopped for a couple of days) and the needle is stuck. It was only $100, so it's not worth it for me to send it in to repair. I was going to buy another one, but for $300, that looks like a much better meter. If you think it's good, I would definitely get one. I was looking at another MFJ or EXTECH, TENMARS, and a couple of others, including the LATNEX HF-B8G. The only one I have seen that I can afford that I have knowledge of is the MFJ. I don't know anyone else using anything except a newer Bird that I definitely can't afford. Some feedback from you on the LATNEX would be awesome.

Not gonna lie, the scanner is pretty bad ass.

After @OffRoaderX posted a thread asking about a good meter, I start doing some research. After looking into some real-world experiences and consulting with some pros, I bought a new Daiwa CN-901. I have to say, this meter is fantastic. I like it so much, that I am seriously considering replacing my Swan with a 2,000w HF version of this meter. I got it home and did some testing, comparing it to my other meters. I compared it to a Diamond and a Bird and it looks to be significantly more accurate than the Diamond. This unit is usable in passive mode in RMS Power/SWR mode in a 20w or 200w scale. On 13.8vdc, the unit will measure PEP and can be illuminated. I like the cross-needle function, with a large display and it provides a good amount of light. You can turn the meter off, using it in bypass mode. It's tucked into a nice size package, so you don't give up much desktop surface. The frame is wrapped in rubber dampeners which helps reduce damage due to mechanical shock. It's simple operation, positive feedback on the controls, large easy to read face and a price just under $200... this unit is a winner. Light on. Light Off. Back.

I'm pretty sure you're right. That or UV5R's.