kidphc

Congrats!!!. I have the FT991a... it's an awesome radio. Well minus the menu system, 99 memory slots and lack of a true second vfo. I personally bought it for an intermediate radio. I wanted a 10m,6m,2m,70cm radio, really to utilize a lot of the technician license. I really hope to have the fan dipole, 2m vertical and 2m horizontal up soon. If you want something like that to grow into there is also the IC 7100. Then you have the likes of icom 706 mk2, Icom 7000, Yaesu FT857d that should be considered. Even a baofeng will get you on the air. As soon as you get your call, you'll be legal on the 2m and 70cm bands with that radio. Which you already knew. However, I would suggest you spend a little more and get something like a Yaesu 60r. If looking at HTs. Don't exclude some of the mono band mobile units for base station usage. Oh talk to club members. Again a lot of them will loan stuff till you get your own gear. Just to get you on the air.

Do you know what a forum like this would look like if they allowed dmr on those frequencies. Gmrs/frs were meant to be pretty much plug and play. Have Bob and his family trying to do a code plug would be a nightmare for all. Couple that with big companies saying how easy it is to program.. I have seen seasoned hams have a hard time with. I suspect alot more of the services being narrow banded to squeeze as much as they can out of the services. If you are talking about pre-installed code plug then maybe. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

You really want them to go nuts. After you tell them why, run a script that has it trying to track different sats. So the assembly is going nuts tracking and skipping to another sat and goes nuts again seconds later. Chance are they will grab a sledge hammer and help you tie down some guys through the asphalt.

Just tell thjem the white house asked you to put it up for the testing of their early detection of incoming UFOs. Once it starts tracking they may shut up.

MarcSpaz showed a portable antenna on a mast in the following post. He was kinda enough to put up the SWR number he was seeing both with the Diamond x30 and x50. I could of swore they made a commercial variant of the antenna designed for about the frequency of GMRS. Not sure what the numbers or model were. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1723-new-portable-repeater-antenna-setup-is-done/ It was laird and comet, that made antennas closer tuned closer to the GMRS frequencies. Not sure how well they work. . https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/comet-ca-f72gf-1067 You also have the likes of Ed Fong, who customize to your desire, you just have to provide the outer shealth (PVC), which is a jpole design.

A good 1/2 wave mounted to the roof. If you are going to use it on a mast, you are probably going to be happy with one that has radials. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

They do make power port passive diplexers. Not sure if that will help. The satellite hams sometimes but rarely use something similar. Not sure if that is any help. I don't know enough about the topic to really offer much. But this might lead you down the path till someone can chime in. Note this is 75 ohms.. really for satellite dishes not ham/gmrs use. https://www.summitsource.com/Channel-Master-4001IFD-Satellite-Diplexer-Separator-Mixer-VHFUHF-CM4001IFD-950-2150-with-DC-Pass-High-Performance-In-line-IF-Satellite-Diplexer-Digital-Video-Signal-Part-4001-IFD-P11530.aspx

There are some interesting set ups. I can't find the need for 4-5 2m/70cm setups, yet there are tons out there. Outside of tactical control. But eh each to their own.

Don't you live in a circle? I know where you could put your satellite antenna. Lol your neighbors might get the pitchforks out though. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

A ham in neighbor hood. Love the trees for his long wires. Hated it for the satellite work. The 2m uplink was fine but the 70cm downlink was constantly wrecked in the the summer due to the leafs.

Should also add don't forget the feed line losses of the given line of coax... that could easily sway which way you go. Any gain from antenna design could easily be lost by choose the wrong feed line or being cheap about it. Feed line loss gets pretty bad the higher up you go in frequency. A piece of coax might have a loss of 1.2db at 144mhz but at 470 it might be 6-7 db loss per 100 feet. That is without the connectors.

Ground plane is better then no ground plane. Uhf/vhf height is king. The oaks will attenuate and mask the signals a bit. It really is a wash. If you can set them up temporary in each location you might find which works the best. Me personally, open space with a mast with artificial ground plane.

I always though I can't tell which band did that come from? I guess in this car it is more which quadrant was that chatter on.

Gave a good chuckle

This image comes to mind.

Been told by multiple hams QRP is not for the new guy. They warned it can get frustrating and discouraging fast because of the lower power levels and you are still playing the game of physics. Although as a newer ham I see the appeal. The radios are often sub 500 new. Where even a good used HF rig can wack you for 800. So going to take practice. The guys that are good at it make it look easy. It looks like they throw wire and the ground and wala, 50 contacts half way across the country. You ever notice they don't pull out charts for band plans and such (I know I do), They seemingly pop on a channel and start calling CQ. With all the videos I have watched only one bother to even check to see if the frequency was clear before calling CQ. Miracle of editing I hope. A lot of this hobby, you are kinda expected to know some basic things. But like many things practice,and practice more.

Sigh... wasn't letting me add the JPG. https://i.imgur.com/mVih2uV.jpg

Just a photo they did why I was at work. This photo means the wife supports Pretty sure if they didn't support me it would be a picture of them with hammers over the radio.

That is indeed awesome. Wish we had that in my neck of the woods. Even with FRS or GMRS my kids are lucky to get out more then a couple of blocks due to house density, terrain and all the trees. Well except on one side where they can be heard up and down 270 for 1/2 mile.

Definetly do get the tech and general. Pretty much on a lot of hf bands there is a huge amount of digital. Band conditions you know. I am not going to lie. Uhf/vhf is like tripping down the stairs. A lot of it comes quickly and easily. Hf for a noob like me is more akin to falling down an elevator shaft both in knowledge and money. Just when you think you understand something you realize the shaft still has a lot further to go. Find the spark... what appeals to you...and let that fire burn baby. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

My psedu elmer ( he isn't really, just takes the time to answer occasional questions) has a similar setup. He moves every 2-3 years so alot of it always temporary. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

That what I keep saying about the gutter antenna. How bad could it be its 45 feet up next to siding and 45 feet down one leg. Whats the worst that could happen? Everyone gets rf burn and I have a 25:1 swr? Sorry didn't mean to derail the thread. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

You are correct it is just a fan dipole. Lowest band being 20m. In my case, 20/10/6.. i am short by 4 feet for 40m. Just scared of the hv at the tip sot snake it a bit at the ends. They still would be close to aluminum siding. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Still choosing gear. But yes the attic looks like it will be a nest of pokey metal and wire. The odd shape doesn't allow for a 40m fan dipole, does fit a 20m with easy. I have enough space to get an x300 in there with height to spare, but due to the radials and trying to get a dipole in also I am leaning heavily towards the x50a, the dipole won't come as close to touching. Even then for gmrs I would probably put up a x30a on the other end. Currently, the thought is the fan dipole, x50a for hf and uhf. A switch with a set of halos for 2m ssb. But as usual your information gives me info that I couldn't find anywhere else. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Wonder if the x50a can do the same with GMRS.... would lead to a lot less crowding in the attic if I didn't have to put another vertical up there.