marcspaz

Man, blast from the past. I just wanted to hop in and say I always loved Vertex Standard equipment, but I am shocked to see some being actively used and even finding software for it. Between going from Standard to Yeasu, to Motorola, and the back to Yeasu before finally being dissolved in 2012, support and software must be tough to come by. Have to say, with the talent here, I am not surprised you got the right answer so quickly. How are you liking the radio?

@wayoverthere I'm not surprised. These companies seem to not put much money into the software piece. Seems like none of them customized the windows at all, defaulting to the built-in colors and presentation from Windows, which gives them all the same look and feel.

I searched the database and found tons of very expensive fines for stuff like Pirate Radio. I guess I'm gone scratch that one off the bucket list now. ?

In some radio services the offset does vary in step and direction (+/-) depending on the frequency you intend to use. You may have heard/read discussions about those other services (which is occasionally discussed here). However, as mentioned above, GMRS will always be +5Mhz.

Ellicott City and Bull Run Mountain are both on the ch19 pair and accept the 141.3 tone for emergencies. But the regular users of Ellicott City use 7a and the regular users of Bull Run Mountain use 4b for day to day to avoid bringing both machines up at the same time.

Man, I had to screen grab this one for posterity. I call this "internet gold". LOL

I know you are not asking me specifically, but are you asking about how well FM works in other bands, such as lower portions of HF (20m, 40m, etc.)? The reason I ask is because the RF propagation is not impacted by modulation type. Modulation types are chosen due to their performance characteristics with regard to either efficiency or ability to carry data.

Both in VA and in FL, there are a lot of POTA activations on 2m and 70cm FM. They usually call on or around the calling frequencies so they are easy to find. With SOTA in VA, there are a lot of VHF/UHF activations. I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but around these 2 states, except for the GMRS and fox hunt aspects, it's already happening. I'm not sure if that is a good indicator that you will have interest from others or not.

I love 10m repeaters. Had a guy somewhat local to my home in VA with a 10m repeater. It was 37 miles away from my house and I could work it from home all day with only 5 watts. It was high enough that with 100w, it easily had 100 mile+ of LOS/Ground wave coverage and at solar maximum the world was the limit. The repeater is listed as private/off the air now. I'm not sure if the owner passed or decided to stop public access.

That Proclips mount looks pretty neat!

I have on an antenna, but not a dummy load. I definitely do not get full power at night. The short of it, if the battery drops to 12vdc even, when I key up my GMRS radio, the voltage drops to as little as 11.4vdc while transmitting and I see about 18w-20w output. My 100w HF radio will send the battery down to 11.1vdc and I'll see about 50w out. At night, I usually reduce power to get more run-time out of the battery and so I don't stress the radio as much with increased current. Depending on how busy I get this week, I can see if I can get real measurements on the dummy load, if you're interested.

I bought a Thunderbolt 100w solar kit from Harbor Freight. It comes with a controller, which hooks to the battery. I then hooked up a 100 amp hr battery. When the sun is out, the radio runs off the solar kit, but as the sunlight weakens and at night, it runs off the battery I got from Batteries Plus. Total out of pocket was about $500.

I like the post... just a minor point of interest here. It's not a Ham theory... the FCC rules say that amateur stations are limited to the least amount a power required for reliable communications, with maximum power limits. 47 CFR § 97.313 - Transmitter power standards. (a) An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.

Thanks for the kudos!

I bought a WayALife CB Bar. I have a 2020 Gladiator, but they make them for previous models also. Here is the part I used... just search their site if you have something other than a JL/JT. https://www.wayalife.com/store/proddetail.php?prod=PARTS-CB-BAR A few pictures of my Ham gear... The GMRS radio goes in the same location when I go wheeling.

I'm glad you have a good sense of humor.. I actually do just that on our trips. If there is someone who didn't bring a radio or doesn't have FRS/GMRS when everyone else does, I just hand out a cheap loaner while we're out on the trails. If you let someone use the GMRS radio,, unless the person using your handheld radio is an immediate family member, they can't use your license to go on the repeater. Also,, FRS radios are not repeater capable, so that prevents someone with an FRS radio from getting on a repeater as well.

Sorry... I have to.

I think, worse case, you don't get the performance you are looking for and the radio runs a little hotter than normal. I had a customer who installed their own mobile UHF radios and hired me to troubleshoot why some of them weren't working. Go to find out their installer pinched the antenna cable in the exact same spot on several vehicles, putting a dead short in the antenna cable. Not only between the leads of the cable, but crushed the cable causing it to short against the body of the vehicle. I ran new cables through a different part of the vehicle and the radios worked fine. It's been 2 years and they are still going strong. The video @OffRoaderX shared is a great real-world example of the types of margins you have with protective circuits. Even some of the most inexpensive transmitters have automatic power limiters which help prevent you from breaking your transmitter if there is a bad, broken or no antenna. These are called Automatic Limiter Control or ALC. Manufacturers do this to reduce warranty claims and unhappy customers, even if its the customers mistake. Coincidentally, it also helps prevent fires. They also install them on radios used in a service where things like power limits and spurious emissions need to be controlled.

@WRPQ991 welcome! Glad you joined the site! Don't worry about understanding the geek speak. It comes with a little time behind the mic and keyboard. I recommend using the search function, as many questions from new users have been answered in great detail. However, if you don't find specifics, don't be afraid to ask questions. Many of us are here to help new people as well as learn from each other.

I actually go offroad with a small group of Hams... there is usually much less conflict over what frequency we use. The conflict with GMRS is some radios don't cover all FRS channels or there is a lot of congestion. Especially at big events like the Boy Scout Jamboree, Mustang Week, Beach Week, etc. In Ham radio, if we adhere to commonly accepted spacing, there is an equivalent of 267 channels, plus digital voice, analog voice in AM, FM and SSB. On top of that, we still have hundreds of squelching combinations. Plus all amateur VHF radios cover all the same frequencies. It's pretty easy to just agree to use a quiet frequency. Me and my group usually use 147.525 MHz, C4FM modulation, group code 16. The chances of us hearing anyone else while noodling around the mountains or downtown Daytona are almost zero. That said, FRS and GMRS makes life a while lot easier for a family. Again, why I use it... mainly to talk to my family and a few very close friends and their families. The ease of use is what's so attractive for many families.

I have seen 5w and 8w handhelds and 30w to 100w mobile radios for Hams. The legal limit for an unlicensed operator is 800mw, but a licensed operator can go to 1,500w pep with no limit on effective radiated power. I'm unaware of anything else in the license free spectrum (outside of the Ham bands). This weekend, during the VA QSO party, a fellow club member made a contact at 75 miles. Outside of knowing he was using a mobile, I'm unaware of the rest of the working conditions for either operator.

I'm guessing he is more well suited for a guest appearance in the role of "some people".

@WRPG591 What's your problem? You are new to this public forum, but I am guessing you're not new to the internet. @Sshannon provided an answer, @PACNWComms expanded on the why, and then a couple of us confirmed those points made by the first two. If you don't like it when people try to help or contribute content, this group might not be a good fit for you.

As an avid off roader and someone who travels a lot to do it, I am not even 100% convinced of this. LOL I mentioned before that I know that there are groups, clubs, circuit series, etc., that have adopted a specific frequency/channel for their respective activities, but many of the groups I wheel with around the country just pick some random frequency/channel that everyone seems to agree on. Even professionally guided trail rides I have been on, the trail guides tend to use random channels between 8 and 14. The one time someone I was wheeling with didn't have a radio capable of being on channel 8, the trail guide told everyone to got to channel 7. So, it seems all over the place.

(insert anecdotal experience disclaimer here) The little traffic I do hear while traveling is little kids playing on channels 1 though 4 or the occasional retail store near the highway on 1 through 7. Hardly someone to "chat" with while I put miles behind me. In a real emergency I'll use a cell phone, 2m/70cm or HF radio. However, if every single one of them are broken or somehow not functioning for me, I'll call on channels 1 through 7 for help, because a little kid can get a parent to help me or a store clerk can call 911 in an emergency. Everything else seem like a ghost town.