marcspaz

Exactly! While everyone else is a NY Strip, we're a Ribeye. LoL

Quick question, if there are so many ham repeaters that it's so difficult to add another one, why would you need to? Just use the existing repeater network.

OffRoaderX beat me to the punch because I'm a little long-winded today. LOL Unfortunately, it can be, depending on where you live. It's not like CB or Ham radio, as far as the social aspects are concerned. I typically tell people its a "bring your own contacts" type of service. Just my opinion based on anecdotal experience, most people who get into GMRS are either looking for 1 or more of 3 things. 1.) Emergency/backup family communications where cell service is poor. 2.) Communications with family and friends while doing outdoor/adventurous activities. 3.) For community service. Providing repeater service for the community and putting together emergency planning in the event of a disaster. It's not really a rag-chew type of service... though in highly populated areas, there is a little of it.

@gortex2 the 03 is sharp, for sure. This was a deal I couldn't pass on and im very happy with it. I am also going to get a separate VHF unit to compliment this UHV model. I was using a MXT500, FTM300DR, and an FT891. The 891 will stay for now, but even at the age of these radios, they are way better than the new amateur radios on the market. Since the FCC has grandfathered in these radios, I'm going to use it as an opportunity to improve my mobile setup with something much more durable.

I wanted to share a quick video. I picked up another XTL5000 a few days ago. Got an amazing deal from a friend of mine on a complete system. I did a quick bench test and I am very happy with the power output. The receive sensitivity is amazing, too. I ran this on my bench for about an hour on GMRS and Ham and the unit is still cool to the touch. I am 100% replacing my gear in the Jeep with this.

I'll take a solid pass. Way, way to much money, even though I'm positive it's a great radio. I used a pair of ICOM MURS handhelds and couldn't get 1 full statute mile out of them. Measured output was 1.2w on high. I sent my son the the school parking lot and he went out of range before he got there. Just for grins, I called out to him with my bullhorn and he could hear that. Could make out what I was saying, but he heard it, which was better than the radios. So, while you're mileage may vary, it's a whole lotta nope for me.

I was telling Steve (and may have mentioned it earlier), my original FRN was created for managing my amateur license. I created a second FRN for the GMRS license so my wife and kids could each have their own FCC login account to view/manage the GMRS related items without them having access to my account associated with my amateur license. Since I lost my GMRS license info and FRN, I just requested a new license under the FRN I created for my amateur account. Technically, I had two concurrently active GMRS licenses under 2 different FRNs. Though, after Steve helped me with information I needed, I was able to recover my second FRN account, but there is literally nothing listed under it anymore. I have no idea what happened to it.

@Sshannon I appreciate it!!!

@Sshannon that is the same issue I ran into. It's like my old FRN was erased from CORES. i can't see anything about my old license in ULS or License Manager. I tried looking it up by name hoping after I created a new account, I could seize ownership of my old FRN, but only my original amateur licenses was displayed. After not getting any help from the FCC support team, I just gave up and started over.

Yes. It is listed in public search results for a license in the ULS.

I actually did this exact thing. I lost my old FRN and old GMRS license information. I couldn't recover my account because the email service provider I registered with went out of business and I lost access to my email account. So, I applied for a new GMRS license under the FRN I created when I got my amateur license.

@OffRoaderX I am by no means an authority on this, but this information may help. From what I found, it used to be against the rules, but it isn't any longer. 47 C.F.R. Part 95 Subpart A, specifically 95.131(a) stated "An individual may be licensed as the responsible party for only one GMRS system." Everything I have found suggests that the restriction on having only one GMRS license per individual was removed as part of the FCC's efforts to modernize the GMRS rules in September 2017, primarily to make it easier for families to use the service.

Everything actually sounds good. I have to agree with a few things that @wayoverthere mentioned about the cable and a dummy load. Unless the patch cable is some really obscure cable that is incredibly high loss due to a bad connector attachment, etc., the patch cable is likely not it. I would replace the patch cable with some LMR400 (or equivalent) just as a quick test. Also, get a dummy load to test with. I use this one and its pretty good for the price. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Mcbazel+Surecom+0014-0156&i=electronics&crid=1PHJLEIZFR33P&sprefix=mcbazel+surecom+0014-0156+%2Celectronics%2C59&ref=nb_sb_noss

Where are you measuring the power? At the radio or at the antenna side? How long is the coax between the radio and the meter? Is the cable between the radio and the meter also LMR400? How long are your power wires? What gauge are the wires? Are there any connectors on the power wires between the power supply and the radio. What method did you use to connect the power cables to the power supply? (Lugs, power poles, screw-downs, etc.) The more information the better.

Have I mentioned my poor impulse control? LoL

Wow, someone voted down my comment? Sheesh... so much for trying to help. Guess someone missed the "don't get but-hurt' part. As far as your comments, Steve, I agree. Unfortunately true communism as you mentioned would be perfect, but human beings are inherently selfish and lazy. I guess that's why it has never worked. And yes, ignoring it or a PM would be better, for sure.

I wanted to stay out of this, but it's bugging me too much. LOL @Wrvq441 not attacking you... just my opinion... I interpret this as this whole thing 'originally' had nothing to do with politics (per se) and more about @Sab02r tried to make a political statement with his signature (which in and of it self was not so much the problem) and was obviously confusing Socialism with Communism. Socialism aims for gradual transition to a socialist society through democratic means, whereas Communism aims for a revolution to instantly establish a communist society. Socialism is a form of democracy, verses Communism is usually born out of war, driven by extreme Socialists desire to leverage Socialism to lift themselves (or their group) into a tyrannical positional of power, of which the only way liberation is found is either by war or total collapse of the nation-state. And THAT was the point. Not my forum, but I say have all the political conversation you want, if you can be civil. Politics does play into this radio service, just like everything else in our lives. understanding people's opinions and where they stand on certain ideologies can help guide a conversation. Just be sure you have an accurate understanding of what you are talking about and don't get but-hurt when someone corrects you for it if you don't. It's part of being an adult. JMHO And the answer is still "No."

@Extreme my flexible antenna is a Comet SSB antenna. There is an SSB1 and an SS2. The 1 is a bit shorter than the 2. They are both available in NMO or UHF mount options. As for NotARubicon and the 1/4 wave antennas, while I haven't seen the video you mentioned, the general statement is not wrong. Generally speaking, a 1/4 wave antenna will be the lowest performing antenna with regard to overall gain. There are other benefits to a 1/4 wave, such as better coverage in high eleven variations, for example. Now, I wasn't at Randy's house or Chris's house while they were performing the test in the the video that's linked above. However understanding that the quarter wave antenna is better for elevation differences versus the Nagoya and the Midland high gain antennas are design for longer distances, I'm not surprised to see Randy's results. Randy is up on the side of a high hill or mountain while Chris is down in a valley. I would assume that the results between the 2 high gain antennas compared to the ghost antenna would be dramatically different as the two radios became more level with each other elevation wise, as well as when the distance increases, or a combination of both. The ghost antenna would not perform as well distance wise, if the comparison had been done with both in the same elevation plain. However, there is nothing wrong with that. The antennas fundamentally are designed for different purposes. Randy did a great job demonstrating that the ghost antenna isn't trash, as some imply. I am pretty sure that was the whole point of the video. Just my opinion, but basically the reason the ghost antenna did as well as it did at a lower gain level than the other two is because the radiation pattern was simply more well suited for the elevation differences. The reality is, I am very surprised the 2 higher gain antennas worked as well as they did, comparatively speaking.

No, it a UHF mount. I can't remember is it's by Diamond or Comet. I'm going out in about 30 minute. I'll grab the make and model number. Works great out in the woods truck to truck, but I wouldn't try to get much distance out if it, even though it has a good match. It's not bad, it's just not great.

I absolutely hate these style antennas. Just person opinion. A 1/4 wave antenna is about the smallest pure mechanical antenna you can have and have it be reliable. Antennas like the one you linked are 1/8th wave antennas and have a capacitance hat to kind of 'fake it' for the other 1/8 wave required. My problem is, in my personal experience the design is way more susceptible to failure due to damage and aging due to weather, and even over-driving the antenna with too much power. Me and friends of mine have own many of them over the years and there has been a 100% failure rate among us. Sometimes they broke within weeks. The longest anyone I know personal who had one that worked was about 2 years. I also think they are ugly. For whatever that is worth. LOL A 1/4 wave is literally just a 6 to 7 inch piece of stainless spring steel. Unless you use tools to damage it, the 1/4 wave will last several lifetimes. One of my 1/4 wave antennas is older than I am, and I have 3 grandchildren. Still looks great and works perfectly. I have a 5/8 wave rubber ducky antenna fir when I'm wheeling and I don't want to risk breaking the mount or stripping the antenna off the mount.

Nah... my family is from Italy. Those Spetznaz boys are crazy AF.

No.

I have to say, I haven't been to my Florida home for almost a year, so I cant speak to any weather issues happening now and my experiences. However about 10 miles base to mobile is normal for me when i am there. This is when I am in Hollywood, Altamonte Springs, and St. Pete. Also, depending on geomagnetic activity, troposphere activity, etc. I have gotten hundreds of miles during Spring and Fall months. That said, there may be something going on that is boosting distance right now. I'm in Virginia right now and yesterday I made a simplex contact at 32 miles and another simplex contact minutes later, but even louder, at 48 miles. It's always fun when odd stuff like that happens.

It is technically possible, but I sure wouldn't do it. There is so much loss running duplexer that the idea of adding a diplexer to share the antenna sounds painful. Like, depending on the quality of parts, your talking about reducing your transmitter and receive signals by 24dB to 30dB. Real world, one of my duplexers has 10dB of loss and one of my diplexers has 14dB of loss to provide 60dB of separation. With a station that only has about 20w to start would give you 0.3w... one third of a watt is nothing.

With GMRS generally being a "bring your own contacts" type of service, I doubt there is anything geared directly towards it. However, I would assume you can simply use a traditional logbook or use an application from the amateur service, such as N3JFP, and just log it as any band you want. 70cm/UHF would be the closest option.