marcspaz

I have had great luck with the Diamond X50a and X200. The IMAX is an HF antenna and won't work for GMRS. It has also been discontinued for a very long time. You likely won't find one new.

It's not perfect, but 100% a step in the right direction. Like I said earlier... In a situation of a GMRS user, I doubt many law enforcement officers would waste their time to see if you have a license or what service you are using. It would defeat the spirit of the law. Of course, that is just my opinion. Also, the law states that licensed hams are exempt. It does not say they are exempt only on ham bands/gear. So Hams can legally use their GMRS gear. It's really easy to get an amateur radio license. My wife was a Code Tech at 11, and I have talked to several kids that are 9 to 11 that have their Extra class license. If it is a desire, someone can simply get a GMRS and Amateur license and then it's not an issue. Amateur radio does have better lobbying power... but Amateur Radio operators and the community at large has been, and continues to help the US, State and local governments since the late 1800's. They are a widely recognized part of the emergency response community in this country, and many others. So it make sense that State governments have exemptions that would normally only extend to law enforcement and emergency responders. A great example of that is, in Virginia, Amateur radio operators can have and use emergency strobe lights in their vehicles. We have to use amber and/or white... but that exemption was made.

^^^ That's awesome!

Would that be technically classified as texting? LOL

I also wanted to add that the ARRL does have some minor resources about this subject, under their Regulatory and Advocacy section of their website. http://www.arrl.org/local-regulations And this is a really cool article to read about Montana legislation. Its a little dated, but relevant. http://www.arrl.org/news/montana-governor-signs-legislation-to-protect-mobile-amateur-radio-operations-from-distracted-drivin

So we don't completely derail this thread... https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/2068-state-laws-operation-of-mobile-two-way-radios/

Nothing in this thread is considered legal advice. All information is strictly to use at your own risk. If you have serious legal questions, I highly recommend consulting an attorney. This subject came up in another thread. I didn't want to derail that thread and it did seem like an interesting topic to discuss. So, I figured I would start a new discussion about it. I live in Virginia, and there are a couple of laws that I found pretty interesting. This law is about "personal communications devices". § 46.2-1078.1. (Repealed effective January 1, 2021) Use of handheld personal communications devices in certain motor vehicles; exceptions; penalty. It not only makes it illegal to send or read text messages, it makes it illegal to even hold a device capable of sending or receiving text/email messages in your hand. There is no exemption for PRS or Amateur Radio operations. However, most PRS and Ham radios cannot send or receive text messages. This law had a 10 year sunset date. It was not reconfirmed and will be automatically repealed in a few months, Jan 1, 2021. The replacement law for the one above... § 46.2-818.2. (Effective January 1, 2021) Use of handheld personal communications devices in certain motor vehicles; exceptions; penalty. Section B4 says the provisions of this section shall not apply to "...The use of an amateur or a citizens band radio..." Unfortunately, there is no reference to PRS or commercial radio. I have an opinion that many law enforcement officers won't be able to tell what radio service you are using and likely wouldn't care due to the spirit of the law. Below is another law that is supportive of the radio community and does a better job of defining devices as "handheld mobile telephones". It also limits the law to apply only to commercial vehicles. So, for folks who drive a commercial vehicle for a living are also exempt. § 46.2-341.20:5. Prohibition on texting and use of handheld mobile telephone; penalties. This law states " 'Mobile telephone' does not include two-way or citizens band radio services." So, are you aware of any laws in your state that revolve around distracted driving that either specifically include or specifically exclude the operation of two-way radios while operating a motor vehicle? Share below!

Yep. I am in VA and distracted driver laws do not apply to two-way radios at all. Licensed or not.

Fantastic! Sounds like you are learning a lot and having fun doing it. An yes, I LOL'ed about the Moses reference. That was funny!

Who wrote the software?

I had 3 of the MXTA26 antennas on 3 different vehicles/radios. They worked well when they worked, but they didn't last long. The all mechanically broke. One was horribly bent from driving and the wind. Another, the based shattered from the sun heating it and having the base expand faster than the plastic. The last one, the upper element was stripped when it was manufactured, and they just glued the upper element in place and shipped it to me. That was pretty disappointing. I switch to Diamond, Comet, and Tram/Browning antennas. They are all better performing and have been very durable.

LMR is okay... better than many. 9913 has the same performance stats, if you ever have trouble finding the LMR400.

I'm glad I have been a positive and helpful voice... but are you sure you are thinking of the correct site? You are not a moderator or admin so you can't delete posts or threads and this site doesn't have a "block" feature. The most you can do is hide someone else's posts from your view. Even if you hide someone else's posts, everyone else can still see the posts and you can still select to see any individual posts you want, by clicking on a link where their post placeholder is. Just trying to help and find out what's up.

Did I miss something? Seems like civil responses here.

Your power levels are so low and you have so much going on, a dummy load and power meter won't tell the whole story. You need an antenna and feedline analyzer. If you can find a used one cheap or a friend who has one, it would be worth checking both antenna circuits at the house and mobile. If there is a Ham or CB shop around, they may have one to test with, too. I think your expectations are more than reasonable for the gear you have. Either the HT's are too poor of quality on the receiver side or something is broken.

You obviously have an adapter of some type, going from the HT's (assuming SMA or reverse SMA) to the antenna cables (N/SO239/etc.). I am curious if one of the adapters are damaged or has very high losses? I would find a shop that can test them for you. I live in an area where the average elevation change for about 40+ miles in any direction is about 200'. Depending on where I am, my handhelds talk anywhere from as little as 1 mile with noticeable static on the back half of the mile, all the way out to repeater 22+ miles away. You have to keep a few things in mind. Assuming all your gear is perfect, you are only going to talk a max of about 15% further than the visible horizon. Also, in densely populated areas there is a lot of RF interference from homes, businesses, electrical lines, even traffic lights have two-way radios on them now. All of this will desensitize your receiver and your transmitted signal gets harder to hear. So, if you are 5'5" tall and you hold the radio in front of your head, on a perfectly flat location, the RF horizon is only about 4.5 miles. If you have a 100' high hill a mile in front of you and you want to talk to someone on the other side, its not going to work. I have seen mobile to mobile comms with 200+ watts on each end, fail on Amateur radio UHF band segments, with as little as a 150' hill being between me and the other station.

Repeaters make the service a very powerful tool. There is a repeater 22 miles away from me, about 1100 feet higher than me, with no obstructions. I had a 5 minute conversation with someone, yesterday, using a 5 watt handheld. Peer to peer (simplex) can be kind of tough, though, depending on the terrain where you are. Have fun!

I hope it works out for you. Feature-rich radio, for sure.

No... that is not correct. A fixed station is determined by its intended and actual use, not its hardware. An example would be to RF linked repeater controllers talking exclusively to each other. Two stations that are base stations and have high gain antennas are not the same thing, since you can (and likely will) talk to mobile and portable stations as well.

LOL QFT!

This is only because most people have no idea how to pick a proper antenna and install it correctly.

Just connect the main power and the power sense wires to the positive connection of the power supply.

Yes... in fact, I have had some potential customers that were using CB radio and opted to stay on CB after the sticker shock. Very few of my non-government customers actually follow all the way through. I've all but stopped servicing private business because the penetration rate was under 20% for more than a year.

Okay... I'm tracking now.

I'm not sure if any of you ever got a communications license for a business before, but it is really expensive and time consuming. I charge customers around $3,000 per site, for a single frequency, and I'm not even the final coordinator. They charge as much as another $500 per application. I have seen applications take months... even beyond a year in some cases, if the FCC asks for changes or amendments in order to come into compliance. And you can't legally operate until the license is approved. That means all of the engineering documents are submitted, surveys are submitted, etc. You could spend $10,000-$15,000 for a small, local commercial radio system for just one frequency and a few radios. Many businesses find it much easier and cheaper to stick to free services like FRS and MURS for that very reason.