kidphc

It can help and hurt. Most springs are calculate into the length of the radiating (active) length of the antenna. For instance, the comet 2x4sr (think this post is the one you are referring to) is about the same length as the section that is removed to install it. It would not affect anything. You can actually tune the antenna by unlocking the allen grub screws and increase or decrease the length of the antenna smidgen. But because of it being a collimeter design it can be a bit tricky to do right. Which is unlike cb antenna steel whips. Which are technically too short, most commercial whips are about 102". By adding the 6" spring to the base it brings it closer to the natural resonance length. Give or take with spring it's 108". Resonance is about 108-112" (true 1/4 length) for 11mhz/cb. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

It will work just not well. It's just a really kinda compromised antenna. 2m-70cm and gmrs is a real big stretch, bandwidth wise. So the swr values I got it was close to 2.1-2.5 give or take swr on the gmrs repeater. Some got lower swr, but my ditch light mount where the antenna is located is a compromise location. So take it with a grain of salt. It heard gmrs better then my Larson 270. But the Larsen is up on the car. Why? Well the Larsen is extremely flexible and can/has taken a beating. Some con with the 2x4sr. One it is thick (how it gets its bandwidth), tall and stiff. The other con is the hinge (mine started to loosen up in about a months time) as well as I found water starting to go through to the coil. If you do get it expensive. The spring (Highly recommend it) adds cost and isn't included. Mine at least whacked everything. The thickness a benefit to bandwidth, made my antenna move way to much. It rocked the mount violently with every bump, one of the main reasons I went back to the Larsen. In short if you don't need to have 2m/70cm you are better off with a dedicated gmrs 5/8th over 5/8th antenna. Sorry for the long winded post. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Sadly. Don't use the repeater is the answer. The only way to stop a tone decoder is to not have transmissions with the tone encoded. Hell we have one local guy, sits in a tow truck between calls and tries to find repeaters. He is proud of finding hidden repeaters. He has every tone programmed on every repeater pair. Basically tried to brute force method to find repeaters. He gets a repeater tail and he is happy. Just be prepared to change tones if someone starts interfering. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Yes, you are over thinking it. The mag mount should provide enough capacitance. Provided there is enough sheet below it. Even in hf, you would be better served by grounding chassis component of the car over going through the antenna mount. Mainly due to the wavelength in hf. Think meters to tens of meters to hundreds of meters for one full sine of rf wave. Gmrs is only going to need a disk roughly 9 inches in diameter. To accomplish the same. Stick the magnet on the center of the roof and enjoy. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Not sure if that is possible. I haven't seen any network talkgroup ids that are linked. Plus it's not in the same service, so what are the legal ramifications? Would this be a violation (maybe multi violation)? I mean cross repeating two separate radio services? You know gmrs radio transmissions to an ip network over to an amateur ip network, then over to potentially retransmitted to amateur frequencies on a hotspot? God my head hurts thinking about it. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Agreed. But it's expensive for a mobile antenna Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

I have done a little research. Not a huge amount. Mainly because I thought I could do ham, lmr and gmrs on the same antenna. Which you can't i would have to buy ham antenna, lmr/gmrs antenna. Which would have been $$$. It uses what looks foil like flaps arranged in a circular pattern with dielectric material between the flaps. So it looks like it creates a circular polarization pattern, great for fm radio and satellite comms. Although I am really skeptical about some of his claims. Josh from ham radio crash course did a comparison of it to some tried and true dual-band mobile antennas. It in fact did seem to reach out and hear better than most of the whip style. I have no experience with it. Why didn't I plunk monet down on it? 1. I needed flexible antennas. Parking garages and trees. That antenna is a rigid tube. 2. Couldn't tune the damn thing. Not a deal breaker if done properly from the factory. But i like tuning mine and being able to get replacement parts cheaply. Guess if you really want to know you will have to whack the crap out of your credit card. Personally, that is almost as much money as used Motorola mobile or mid tier to high-end radio. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Yeasu's hf mobile motorized screwdriver. Works directly with the likes of a ft891,817,ft991a without the need for a controller. Gets shit on a lot due to weather seal issues, motor issues and missing features of its competitors. Frankly, you cant compare it to the competitors. Simply because even a baby tarheel is going to start at 350 or so, then if you want memory for the different bands, almost as much as the antenna a quality controller. Then there are the scorpions, easily 3x the atas cost for the screwdriver alone. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Barely tunes 2m. So I would venture no. But you can try, would have to cut the antenna pretty fierce. I figure the internal coil is too long. In fact I haven't seen a screwdriver antenna (commercial) built even go to 70cm. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Do you hear a repeater tail after you key up? Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Legally/technically.. you would need a FCC approved device for each service. 1 radio for gmrs/frs 1 radio for amateur uhf/vhf 1 radio for amateur hf ( they have base stations that do 2m/70cm and hf) 1 radio for cb 1 radio for public safety 700-800 Yada yada and so on. Fun part most antennas can't do multi services well either. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

No. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Whatever antenna you choose. You are going to want it roughly 100 feet up. Make sure there is nothing in the way, you will want to try to clear as many trees, hills and buildings. The less obstructions the better you are. Really helps if the repeater antenna is just as high or if not higher. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Gmrs is 462-472 mhz.. so yes unless you mod the radio all you can do is listen to the gmrs bands. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Don't think by default the 60re can transmit on gmrs. Not at least without a cap mod. Since it is amateur radio ht. Not a gmrs ht. EDIT: yup just confirmed transmit is 430-450 uhf and 144-148 vhf. Ham 2m and 70cm bands. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk