marcspaz
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Posts posted by marcspaz
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The MFJ 883 is way too much meter for what you want to do. A $50 meter to read forward, reflected and SWR in the proper frequency and power range is all you need. I wouldn't bother at all with the equipment you have. I'm a Ham and just happen to have it.
As others have mentioned, finding an older programmable radio such as a Motorola or Kenwood would be a good choice. There is a lot of talk of models on the forum. I would look around the threads and see what you may like.
The antenna I am using is a CA-2x4SRNMO. It is built for 2 meter, 70 cm and GMRS/FRS. I was looking at it for a couple of weeks, when another member recommended it to me as well. It works great.
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I do have the repeater channel turned on. It is showing rp beside channel 21 and also has a plus sign above and display shows also, T and SQ
Hmmm. Based on your reply and confidence that you are using the equipment correctly, I am thinking a few things.
1.) It may just be that you are outside the usable range of the repeater. Some get a 30-40 mile radius, others only get 8-10 miles.
2.) I had two MXT400's (still have one) and they are not the greatest. If you are using the Midland antenna too, you are really doing yourself a disservice. I have gotten much better performance on 440 MHz than on the GMRS 462 and 467 MHz frequencies, which tells me the Midland antenna is tuned incorrectly. I replaced my midland antenna with a Comet multi-band antenna and doubled my range, just on that change alone.
3.) As others mentioned, while the upper frequencies are allocated for 25 KHz bandwidth, your radio is filtered down to 12.5 KHz. Both receiving and transmitting. The problem there is, wide-band carries more noise and the narrow-band receiver is filtering out half of the wide-band signal being transmitted from the repeater. Less usable signal and more noise means you are reducing your effective range.
Without being there with my equipment, its going to be impossible to help troubleshoot beyond the few comments I have already mentioned. For what its worth, I ditched the MXT as my primary GMRS radio because I was very disappointed in the the lack of meeting the advertised power ratings and the lack of bandwidth on the upper channels.
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Are you sure you have your MXT400 on the repeater channel and not the regular channel? It should show "rp" on the left of the channel display.
If you are not dialed to the repeater channel on the MXT400, your radio will not broadcast on the 5 MHz shifted frequency, which would be the repeater's input frequency... you would be broadcasting on the repeaters output frequency instead of utilizing the repeater.
For example, the regular channel 15 (on your radio) will transmitting and receiving on 462.55 MHz. If you dial your radio to the repeater channel 15, the radio will only receive on 462.55 MHz. However, when you press the PTT button, your radio will transmit on a frequency 5 MHz higher, 467.55 MHz
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That's a heck of a lot easier to read than what I wrote! LOL
- revclstoner and coryb27
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- On channels 1-7, the power is limited to 2 watts under FRS rules and 5 watts under GMRS rules.
- On channels 8-14, the maximum power is 500mw, regardless if you are operating under FRS rules or GMRS rules.
- On channels 15-22, the power is limited to 2 watts under FRS rules and 50 watts under GMRS rules.
If your radio doesn't drop to 500mw ERP, I wouldn't recommend using it on those frequencies.
"§95.567 FRS transmit power.
Each FRS transmitter type must be designed such that the effective radiated power (ERP) on channels 8 through 14 does not exceed 0.5 Watts and the ERP on channels 1 through 7 and 15 through 22 does not exceed 2.0 Watts."
Also...
"§95.1767 GMRS transmitting power limits.
This section contains transmitting power limits for GMRS stations. The maximum transmitting power depends on which channels are being used and the type of station.
(a) 462/467 MHz main channels. The limits in this paragraph apply to stations transmitting on any of the 462 MHz main channels or any of the 467 MHz main channels. Each GMRS transmitter type must be capable of operating within the allowable power range. GMRS licensees are responsible for ensuring that their GMRS stations operate in compliance with these limits.
(1) The transmitter output power of mobile, repeater and base stations must not exceed 50 Watts.
(2) The transmitter output power of fixed stations must not exceed 15 Watts.
( 3 ) 462 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of mobile, hand-held portable and base stations transmitting on the 462 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 5 Watts.
© 467 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of hand-held portable units transmitting on the 467 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 0.5 Watt. Each GMRS transmitter type capable of transmitting on these channels must be designed such that the ERP does not exceed 0.5 Watt."
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Actually, that fine amount is not correct. It's listed in CFR-2010, Title 47, Volume 5, Part 95.
The fine is "up to" $500 per day, if found guilty in a federal court of law, for willfully and knowingly violating any FCC rule. Also, there is a maximum fine of $10,000, 1 year in federal prison or both, if found guilty in a federal court of law for willfully and knowingly violating any provision of the Communications Act.
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DPL is a squelch control... an alternative to carrier squelch, allowing you to have a more selective group that YOU listen to.
The only way to have "private" communications is to digitally encrypt your signal (and/or modulation). The equipment you have doesn't have that capability and that method is prohibited on the radio service you wish to use.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, the DPL code is only required to open the receiver on the repeater. With a different radio, you could embed multiple squelch codes and even multiple types of squelch coding... however, that only further restricts who YOU hear. Anyone running an open squelch or carrier squelch will still hear you.
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No, you don't need an amateur radio license to transmit with any radio on GMRS. You do need a GMRS license to transmit with any radio on the GMRS frequencies.
There are no license requirements to listen to any radio frequency. There are only restrictions and licensing requirements for actually transmitting, and those requirements change depending on what frequencies you want to transmit on.
For the radio specifically, the Baofeng UV-5R has a bandwidth utilization that is too large for FRS and GMRS. If you cause harmful interference with adjacent channels or services, you may have repercussions. Just something to be aware of.
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I just wanted to take a moment to follow-up on my research and testing. Just so everyone knows there is no bias, I do not work for, nor have any connections to Comet or any other two-way radio communications companies. This is a totally unbiased opinion.
I actually found a great, multipurpose antenna (Thanks KD2NCN / WRCR872 !). I bought a Comet CA-2x4SR NMO and its performance exceeds my expectations. Comet advertises this antenna for this very purpose and they did not let me down.
My dedicated GMRS antenna (Midland MXTA11) had a 3:1 SWR on channels 1 through 7 (shared FRS/GMRS) and 15 through 22 (GMRS only). On the FRS channels it had a SWR of 2.5:1. Likely due to the extremely low power of the handheld, otherwise it would have be 3:1, too. On the 70cm frequencies, that antenna actually did very well, with a 1.5:1 SWR. On 2 meter, it was over 5:1.
The Comet antenna has a 1:1 SWR on 2 meter, 1.2:1 on 70cm, and a 1.5:1 on all FRS and GMRS frequencies. In my simplex testing on channel 15, while using the old antenna, my mobile to mobile between my two trucks was a max of about 2.6 miles in the suburbs. The new max is 8.3 miles in the same suburbs. Also, I got a signal report that I was "full quiet with loud audio" on a repeater that was 28 miles from my test location, while using a full 50 watts.
If there are any Hams looking for a good 2m/440/FRS/GMRS antenna, I highly recommend this one.
Hope this helps someone.
Spaz
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That's good to know. If that's the case, I'll likely keep both antennas in the truck and just swap them as needed.
I appreciate the reply.
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I am wondering if anyone has used a Diamond SG-7900-A-NMO on their vehicle, on GMRS frequencies? If so, how did it go?
I am looking at getting a better mobile antenna. A radio I just ordered covers 2 meter, 70 cm and GMRS frequencies. I am thinking about getting a Diamond SG-7900-A-NMO for 2m/70cm use. I had one before and it worked great for its intended use.
The antenna is pre-tuned and not adjustable. The Ham UHF frequencies stop at 450 MHz. I am hoping the antenna will be tuned close enough to get good performance and have a good SWR on GMRS frequencies as well. It will make life easier if I don't have to swap antenna's as I move between Ham and GMRS.
Any feedback on your experience on this is much appreciated.
Thanks,
Marc
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Not really, you can fight Midland to take them back as others have.
I appreciate the info. Much appreciated.
I have 2 Midland MXT radios, (275 & 400). I belive the reason that Midland MXT radios score high on GMRS mobile reviews is there are few, if any other FCC type 95 mobiles out there.
That actually makes a lot of sense. I appreciate it.
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The MXT400 is narrow band and overall is not a great performer. I get 10 solid miles simplex on the highway using a Motorola XPR 5550 and a 1/4 wave thru mounted in the roof of a 2015 GMC pickup. The MTX400 and others in the lineup have been discussed in the equipment review section of this site.
That's bad news and a serious oversight on my end. I can't believe I missed that. Midland micromobile came up in the top 5 recommended GMRS radios is a bunch of online reviews.
Is there any options other than selling this radios and buying a pair of widebands?
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Hello, I am in a bit of a pickle today. I am getting what I believe to be sub-par simplex performance with my new GMRS mobile radios. Though, I may just be at the limit of the service. I am hoping someone may have a recommendation or some information for me.
I have 2 trucks that I put Midland MXT400's in. I am using the Midland 6 DB gain antenna. Both antenna's are hard mounted to the windshield cowl, about 8 inches forward of the windshield and vertical. The antenna base on one truck is 60 inches off the ground and the other antenna base is 54 inches off the ground.
I have a UHF SWR/Watt meter. Both vehicles are reading about 1.1:1-1.2:1 and there is zero reflective energy on either setup.
With both radios, I can successfully talk to repeaters 20+ miles away and they sound great. On simplex, in as straight of a line as I can get on any road around here, I can only talk about 2.5 miles with 5 watts scale (3.7 measured). When I bump the power to the 40 watts scale (35 measured), I don't pick up any more than 25 to 30 yards of more range.
I tried buying a couple of magnetic mount antenna bases and put both antenna's in the center of each vehicles roof and gain zero performance. I also saw about the same forward and ref energy reading as well as SWR.
I am a HAM and on 440 (70cm), on a 5 watt hand held, I am getting about 7 miles on a 5 DB gain antenna. With my 2m/440 setup in my car, I get about 17 miles on 440 simplex with 35 watts. I am having a hard time believing that the small jump from 440's to 460's is crippling my simplex performance. Especially since I am able to use repeaters 20+ miles away.
Any suggestions? Is this what I should expect out of this part of the UHF band or am I overlooking something? I feel like I am probably making a simple mistake and I am just missing it.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Marc
Little Disappointed
in General Discussion
Posted
We have similar active license density in Virginia, too. There are 1908 active users out of a population of 8.5 million.
In my experience, FRS and GMRS are used by families on a pretty casual bases. There are a lot of GMRS users that just don't get a license. I am the only person that I know personally that uses GMRS and has a license.
People have all kinds of reasons for getting into radio services. Endless numbers of reasons. My recommendation is, don't get into radio for the sake of getting into radio. Use the services... integrate them into your life, to make your life better/easier.
Me and many of my friends go 4 wheeling, use multiple vehicles to go to cruise-in's and car shows, and our car clubs go on cruises. Radio makes all of that easier and more fun. There are many places were we play that do not have any cell phone coverage. That makes radios critical to communications.
Then of course there are COOP/Disaster response benefits too. I was an assistant emergency coordinator for ARES for years. Radio was critical to day-to-day and in emergencies. Especially during power outages and when commercial comms are not available.
A combination of HF, VHF and UHF communications capability can save lives as well as adding to fun.