kidphc

Generally, a no ground plane antenna will work better then one requiring one and fabbing one. A no ground plane antenna will work even better with some ground plane available. I would do the 10". Make sure the rack has continutiy to the bed and cab. In which case make increase the available groundplane. I would expect some radiation pattern biases due to proximity of other metal surfaces ie, cab, bed trunks and the bed.

Anyone buy anything from them? How was the after sales support and kits? Thinking about picking up an Anytone 6666 10m rig for the truck. So I can **cough also listen to 11m. Got to thinking how cool would it be to have a tiny digital SWR meter with remote display/head for easy of mounting. Welp, I understand the basics of the SWR meter. Not experienced enough to just pickup the project and jump on a scratch build. Ardunio or otherwise. Even the kits on EBay seam a little on the daunting side. From sourcing the parts to tools/skill to calibrate the bridges. So after searching found the Fox Delta site and they have SWR kits. They don't use ribbon cables so it should be easy to expand the display leads. Anyone have experience in DIY SWR meters or Fox Delta? Fox Delta's Site

Definitely, do that. You don't know what odds and ends you might end up pickup there.

The ground for the radio should be going back to the battery. Well at least what I do for my installs. It sounds like a ground loop was created. Check the resistance on the grounds of the amp and the ground location.. The power leads, signal leads and speaker wire can act like antennas. Is this only occurring when the amp is on? The antenna, grounding wire from the mount to gate to the frame. Aren't for electrical grounding. Essentially, you created continuity between those components to create a larger ground plane. Think in the terms of a reflective surface for the radio waves. In actuality you are basically creating the other half of the antenna. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Not completely surprised. I mean I have read about guys with beer can, light bulb antennas and such Dx'ing. Although, quite a bit further then I thought it would go with a dummy load. But it does have a perfect SWR. I know, I know J/K. What frequency were you using? Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Currently, it's attached to my ac unit and ft991a. Shielded by the aluminum siding of the house. Getting reception from a repeater some 30+ miles. On the truck/van it worked. Wasn't thrilled with the performance. But to throw on my wifes van and get 5 miles is ok with me. On my truck I am running a larsen 2/70. Not optimized for gmrs, gets kinda high in swr at that frequency. But I don't care if it blows up the baofeng. It served its purpose. Might get an STI flexible whip for gmrs on my truck. BTW the sma to so239 adapter cat tail is garbage. The ones packaged with them. Had 3 where the center just slipped out of the sma connector. Using sma/239 solid adapter, much better. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Get your tech. Far more contacts with just the repeaters. Most of my GMRS stuff is now for standby and family usage when out and about. So much so, just to get usage out of it, I hand a radio to my oldest who sits in back of the truck. More to keep her up on how to use it. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

For those that don't know..... From Reddit. A song from an antenna:

Went from a 1/4 magnet to 5/8 drill nmo. Yes, you will get improved transmit. You may be shocked at the reception difference as well. Just keep loading coils and such in unobstructed locations. That alone then make a huge difference. Edited: plus you get the join our club. Where your antenna starts making music as it walks things.

No license necessary for frs. lot of the kid toy walkie talkies are on low frs channels. Daughter's old pickachu walkie talkies was on channel 5. Around here it is a bunch of business using them, kids or Spanish people (seams landscaping companies love them). Ignore and hit scan Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

You could mount it up higher on the hatch. You could also remove it for the non rc car look. Yes, you will get shadowing, it is less then ideal for ground planes. But no drilling either

I had big gains going from a 1/⁴ to 1/2. Looking at fold over super gainers now. You have to note that a puck antenna if it doesn't clear a roof rack, is going to be a poor performer. You never said on what type of car this would be going on.. I would think a ⁵/8 on a hatch mount would work better. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

How's about a fold over or a cap. You put the antenna when you have the car. Take it off when she has it? Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Yes. It is the reversed. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

General rule of thumb. UHF performs better outside in the woods. Attenuation through wet leaves and such is better. Where VHF performs better in an urban setting. It has a better chances of bouncing and penetrating walls/ glass then UHF. Although personally I don't see it nor can say I have seen quantifiable gains to support. They both seam to perform about the same. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Most repeater owners are pleasant. You can try to email them. Ask nicely they usually will say yes. Most also want people to use them. Or simple make a callout on the repeater. You may not even get an answer. The only ones I steer away from are the emcom repeaters. Usually in this area they are run by groups like REACT. Even then they have notes saying REACT members only, or REACT members have priority. Down here most of the repeaters have that one guy who is always monitoring it. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Pretty much it. Think it also had the option for a bit more ram. It really was incremental increase with emphasis on connectivity. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Sounds like you have some buttering up of the new landlords. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Kinda why repeaters get expensive. Its all about the isolation. On tower for the antennas you often see one upside down if it ia close in frequencies. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Yeah rg400 can be tough. I found a easy way. Take scrap 2×4 drill a whole so the center conductor can slip easily through the center. Before you cut the sheath, slip the shrink wrap, ferrule, and the ring. (Using pl259 here). Proceed to cut the coax, slip the ferrule part way on to the shield wiring. Slip on the pl259, place the rest of the shielding around the connector. Take the crimper and gently grab the ferrule. Place the whole thing onto the 2x4, make sure not to damage the center lead. Using the crimper as a vise push down till seated. Finish the crimp and check for shorts as usual. Kinda works for n connectors as well. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Hopefully, they are NOT physically connected to the same antenna at the same time. If they are on two separate antennas make sure there is a lot of separation between the antennas and feedline Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Will come down to as mentioned above. How long, how flexible and budget. Nothing like spending $$$ on a high gain antenna to lose all the gain in the feedlines. For short jumpers, where you may want flexibility i go with RG400. Not to be confused with LMR400. I would like to run at least LMR400, but it does not like to be twisted into "s" or other odd shapes. Note the losses on this chart for 450mhz per 100. This isn't even with connectors which can add up. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://static.dxengineering.com/global/images/chartsguides/d/dxe-400max_ks.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj2-4GO8MrsAhV5l3IEHYysDnoQFjAAegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw105dYs19Vh6HLaokTPN5i8 NOTE: these numbers are with quality know coax. Not some crap you find off of Amazon. I personally recommend Rfconnection.com up the street from here. Price is competitive, owner is a ham who has operating the shop for 40+ yrs. Stands behind what he sells. I paid $171 for 100' of LMR400 the same crimp kit on dxengineering and 4 pl259 connector with tax. 100' was 69.00, about $.20 cheaper then I could find anywhere else and is LMR400 equivalant spec'ed. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Still tweaking it but very close to the last photo. Almost all the text is grey, except on the right side. Mostly because it was limited by what eqsl.cc would let me do.

Around the 9-10 minute mark you will hear the Roger beep the a burst of static. The burst is the repeater tail. Closing the connection. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

No. But I have heard some repeaters send identifiers at the end of someone's transmission. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk