marcspaz

I fell for the advertising for the Abbree antenna too. I kept it because I am a Ham and can use it on amateur radio frequencies. On the GMRS 462 MHz frequencies, the SWR is 2.6:1 and on the 467 MHz frequencies, the SWR is 3.1:1. I definitely would not use it for GMRS. It will perform terribly and with prolonged use on the repeaters, you may damage your radio.

Is this while mobile or are you walking around/standing outside? Just my opinion, but I doubt any other antenna is going to help, even if it is advertised as having more gain. Every 3 dB is one signal unit. If you are on the very edge of the repeater where you are just barely out of range, you need to increase your effective radiated power to impact the receiver on the repeater 3 signal units to "possibly" be heard and understood. That is gain of anywhere from 9 to 12 dB gain... equal to about 50 watts of radiated power from your handheld... and that is assuming you are just barely out of range. It's not gonna happen. If those "dead spots" are due to terrain blocking your signal, being too far below the line of sight horizon, radio frequency interference, heavy woods or several buildings (or any number of other issues)... you won't be able to boost the signal enough.

I've mentioned this before, I think experiences are regional. I'm with several ARES teams and one of them is extremely active with supporting local, state, Federal and DOD with communications. I can tell you right now that, even with all of there high-end communications gear that have some people looking down their nose... every time there is a mass municipality response, no one can talk to each other directly. The government has been trying to fix this problem for 40 years and it's still a problem. Then, my team recently supported a DOD event for the US Marine Corps. There where several Marine outposts and checkpoints that lost 100% communications with command. If it wasn't for the amateurs embedded with them, it would have been hours before a communications path was restored... some locations had no idea their radios weren't working. Command later told me specifically that the reason we are invited to all of these events is because we regularly move more traffic, faster and with more accuracy than the Marines do. And we regularly get the same types of feedback from the local and state agencies as well. I think it sucks that some of you have bad experiences, but it's not everywhere and Ham radio certainly isn't a dead or an antiquated EmComm resource.

@gman1971 it is pretty awesome. I'll see if I can find someone to chat with and record it so you can hear it. I'll shoot a video.

No channels are reserved for anything except for repeater input frequencies being reserved for repeater inputs. Even that has some exceptions. § 95.1731 Permissible GMRS uses. The operator of a GMRS station may use that station for two-way plain language voice communications with other GMRS stations and with FRS units concerning personal or business activities. (a) Emergency communications. Any GMRS channel may be used for emergency communications or for traveler assistance. Operators of GMRS stations must, at all times and on all channels, give priority to emergency communications § 95.1763 GMRS channels. (c) 467 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, control and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. Mobile, hand-held portable and control stations may transmit on these channels only when communicating through a repeater station or making brief test transmissions in accordance with § 95.319(c).

In 2018 and 2019 I was addicted to 10m FM long distance contacts. Talked to somebody on an FM repeater in NY state. The repeater was full-quiet on my receive and the other guy (who was local to the repeater) said I was full-quiet into the repeater. Another person I talked to in Texas mobile to mobile. We were 60dB over S9 both ways.. it was like we were parked next to each other. Stuff like that is a blast. It's part of what made me upgrade to a General... the solar minimum rolled in and I still wanted to talk.

Good deal on the Flagpole climb... its a fun spot for sure. I would love to head out the Rausch Creek with you all... but I have family that will be here then. Hit me up on FB in either TKO Jeepers or Evolution Jeep Alliance. TKO is local to Prince William County and EJA is local to Rausch and AOAA. We can figure something out. Always looking for someone to wheel with.

The temp on the radio can get a little spicy under heavy use, but as long as you don't put it in front of the heat vent, you should be fine. Checked out the Jeep on IG... looking sharp! Since you are in VA and some of those pics are from Flagpole, I guess you recognized where my pics came from. LOL Once you have your license, come on back and register for the forum. There is a lot of good information in the private sections (need an account to see) and the folks here are very talented if you need/want any technical help.

I did not know that... That is a very handy piece of info and may be a good compromise. Kiel / OP... definitely checkout this YouTube channel. I think this may be the "Hobo" in question... https://www.youtube.com/c/NotaRubiconProductions <Spaz giggles in radio geek>

Glad the information helped. And yes, you are correct. Out of the box, hookup power and and antenna and just start talking. Out of the box, it is completely compatible with all FRS and GMRS radios, with no need to adjust/change anything. I had a 2016 JKUR before the JTR, it could be a massive pain in the six to put the windshield down. Pull the 2 wiper blades. Pull the corner caps (4 bolts each side). Then you have to remove the two roll bar segments that connect the windshield to the 4-point roll bar (6 bolts each side). So, 22 bolts/nuts to remove. The goo thing was, if I was going to fold the windshield down, I would do it for days or even weeks at a time. When I needed the glass in place for driving, I would push the windshield up, screw the corner caps down with forward pressure on the corner cap bolts and zing the bolts down. Then, when you close the doors and latch the soft top, the windshield is very stable. It shakes a little on hard bumps, but it was worth it to now put everything back together, because it does take a long time to do.

You need an RF Field Strength Meter that can read the magnetic and electric fields at X # of meters from the antenna and compare the output to another antenna install on the vehicle with a direct-coupled antenna. They are about $400 for a meter worth buying. You also need an antenna and coax cable analyzer. They can measure cable and connection losses. Good one will even tell you exactly how electrically and mechanically long a cable is. Expect to spend about $550-$600 for a meter worth buying. EDIT: Forgot to add, there is likely such small loss anywhere in that path (since its in a car and the runs are so short), that there is likely no room for any measurable improvement. Even if you make a measurable improvement, there will likely be no practical improvement that will be distinguishable by the operators on either end.

So, a couple of problems with your wants/needs. To the best of my knowledge, there is no GMRS radio with a remote head AND is water and dust resistant. I spent months researching different radios and didn't find one. The other is... the power has very little to do with how far your signal can be heard and how distant a signal you can hear. It just so happens that I am a power junkie, so I own a couple of 50 watt radios, but several friends of mine have 15 watt radios and they can't hear me any further than I can hear them. 15w vs 50w, the "usable communications" range ends at the same distance in almost every instance I personally have tested. So, while the additional power may help a bit with filling in some holes in coverage, I wouldn't necessarily make that a deal breaker for you. With that said, in my own personal opinion, the two best new over the counter 50w mobile radios on the market are the KG-1000 and the Midland MXT500. The KG-1000 has a remote head and is "feature rich", but it is not dust or water resistant and will take a bit to learn to use compared to a more simple radio. The MXT500 is dust and water resistant, has many advanced features for experienced users but is very easy to use out of the box. However, this is a solid body radio with no detachable head unit. I am a ham radio operator and I have a tone of experience with advanced feature radios, and I absolutely love the KG-1000, but I wheel my Jeep with no roof and doors, and I fold down the windshield. I bought the MXT500 and I removed my amateur radio equipment from my Jeep for the season. If Jeep life is a concern, that really would be the model I recommend, too. I'll get a photo of it in the Jeep later tonight. I let my son take the Jeep to work, so I don't have access to it right this second... but this is how I wheel my Jeep. Primary and Secondary GMRS Antenna (Secondary is in the back for when the windshield is folded down.

I have one and out-of the box, as long as the squelch is at least 1 or higher, it scans when I press the scan button. Don't do a press and hold. Just do a quick press and release. If there is a dot between the second and third characters, that means the channel is included in the scan. If there is no dot, then the channel is excluded. You use press and hold if the scan button to add or remove channels from the scan bank.

I wouldn't call it lazy. Just another part of the the community. Every once in a blue moon, I'll do C4FM through a Wires-X node and do the same thing.

All phone. I am not a digital fan an I haven't done any CW since 2002. Plus, it's hard to do anything but voice while driving. Some guys bang the paddles on thigh rigs, though, which is pretty darn impressive. I lost interest in digital pretty quickly when I found out people set their stations up and then go make a sandwich, go to work or even go to bed and just let their computer rack up hundreds or even over a thousand contacts in a day.

@WRQC527 you did a much better job of saying what I was thinking. LOL I have only been working HF since November of 2019. I have worked 90 confirmed countries from my Jeep, using an FT-857 for a few months, but primarily with a 100w FT-891 and a Diamond HF20CL hamstick.

Contrary to common beliefs, once you step away from the keyboard and ignore the internet, you will find a vast number of Hams are GMRS operators and vice versa. In the hobby portions and in the community service areas, GMRS and Ham not only coexist, but work together with great success. At least when I have been for the last 20+ years. Now, there may be some individuals who don't play nice and use GMRS v Ham as an excuse to show their behinds... but that is a "them problem".

Hmm let's see if this thread comes to life. LoL If I could only pick one, it would be 20 meters. FM line of sight performance is great and many of my local friends have both mobile and base stations for rag chew on FM. During solar minimum, night time performance is trash for skywave, but you can work the planet all day with a fairly small antenna and just a few watts. But that's only for a couple of years. As we roll into the new solar cycles, night time performance becomes very good, too; with very little Blackout time per day. I would say 40m would be a ridiculously close second for me. Only because I love DX and for the most part, I hear folks that are state side more than anything else. There are a fair amount of DX stations on 40m, but nothing like you see on 20m or even 17m. The only reason 40m beats out 17m for second place is because of reliable NIVIS during most of the day. Even right now, at 10:30 PM Eastern, the MUF is over 7.5 and extraordinary is over 8.5. Now that we are coming out of solar minimum, I noticed the MUF is consistently over 3.5... usually not dropping below 4 MHz. During solar minimum, I had a hell of a time using anything over 1.9 within 2 hours plus or minus twilight everyday.

@gortex2 I really need to get to TN. Between the Tunnels and Winrock, I am missing out on a lot. I have never been to a JJ event. They look fun, but always seem so crowded and I have trouble justifying the money, when I can wheel the same place outside of JJ either free or really inexpensive. What do you have done to the JT? I have a Metalcloak 3.5" True Dual suspension, Adam's drive shafts, Fusion 4x4 2.5 ton AL steering and some 37" Mickey Thompson ATZ's. Working with a local shop to build some custom East Coast Dana 60's for the front and back, with 5.13's and Ox lockers. Once the 60's are in, I am going to either a 40" or 42" tire.

That's awesome! Do you use Ham or GMRS to support events? Ham is really popular around here, but occasionally I see REACT and a few others use FRS/GMRS. I love working the bike events. We have one coming up soon. 100K fund raiser for Willing Warriors. Can't wait for that one.

@gortex2 that's awesome that you have so much time in. There are not many people I have met that stay that dedicated for that long. Stinks to hear SAR in your area is lacking. That is such an important role. Honestly, the last SAR/USAR training I have done was over a decade ago and the actual use was almost 21 years ago. About 3 days of rescue and about 3 weeks of recovery. I hope I never have to use those skills again, but with the weather we get, we should still be training. The JT and JK sound like they are decked out very well. If you ever do any offloading and want to make a weekend trip to Rausch, AOAA, Uwharrie, etc.. drop me a note. I am a member of a few clubs and we do a group trip at least monthly. I use a Z Automotive Tazer to control my factory lights, auto park, and some other features. All of the commercial lights came from LED Outfitters in NY. I have been using their hardware for about 5 years and I am very happy with them.

I've shared on a few occasions that I do volunteer work using amateur radio to help out. The other day I did some volunteer work with the Marines, supporting the Marine Corps Marathon Historic Half Marathon. Part of what I did for the marathon is sweep the course to make sure everyone was clear and safe. I know I have shared pictures of my radio setup before, but I also have emergency lighting. Since I work with DOD as well as law enforcement and other emergency services, I can legally run yellow and white strobes while assisting the served agency. Unfortunately I was way too busy to shoot any pictures or video while I as working, but when I got home I popped a couple photos and a quick video of the Jeep with the lights going. Thanks to the repeater in my Jeep, I was able to run my HT most of the day. It was a really good time. Does anyone else volunteer? Any pics or video you want to share?

I am just south of you in Woodbridge. A friend of mine has 5 unlisted repeaters in Seven Corners, Gaithersburg, DC and Haymarket/Gainsville. They are all pretty quiet. One is used by a local CERT team and even that one is pretty quiet. The one my friends and I use is the one in the Haymarket/Gainsville area. If you PM me, we can put some time aside and test on one we can both reach. Also, I can give you the details on the Haymarket/Gainsville machine and you can see if you can reach it. He just doesn't what the info on any websites.

@Blaise , send me a PM if interested.

but... but... but... it's the internet. I'm pretty sure its mandatory. LOL