WSEZ864

https://www.krakenrf.com/

I think this is all spot-on. As a relatively experienced ham and relatively new GMRS user, I see GMRS/FRS as a highly individual service, focused on family and small groups using it for local commo. To look to GMRS for linked repeaters, higher power or social groups is trying to make it something it wasn't intended to be. Some of these ideas would actually be detrimental to the core users for the reasons discussed in their respective threads. When someone suggests these expansions of GMRS are already well-covered by the amateur radio service, I see ham criticized as being elitist, hostile and difficult to enter, yet I also see complaints of the same (human) behavior here in GMRS land, like this thread. For anyone interested, ham is very easy to get into these days and already offers ALL of the things that some GMRS users, especially new users, think would benefit GMRS/FRS. Want to work with repeaters? Ham repeaters outnumber GMRS repeaters 10:1 or more. Most repeater operations are local, but that can vary as desired. Want to participate in nets? Ham radio nets occur just about every day, often several times a day, on all bands. VHF for local and HF for longer distances. Want linking? Ham repeaters not only link to other ham repeaters, but also offer "Echolink", where one can participate in repeater nets with only a computer. Want more power? Amateur radio offers a power limit of 1,500 watts on most bands. Want more range? When propagation is good, one can literally talk around the world on a simple wire stretched up in the trees. Want to socialize or join a club? Ham radio clubs abound, and most have many activities. Want to help out in emergencies? Many hams are very active in emergency and community service contexts. Ham has ARES, RACES and works closely with the National Weather Service during weather events. Our reports go directly to the NWS for distribution to the public and equipment calibration. During any emergency, surviving repeaters are dedicated to emergency service. Individuals maintain battery/generator operated equipment that supports their stations and can continue working during grid-down situations. The equipment for UHF/VHF is about the same as GMRS and many devices can operate in both arenas. There are three levels of the amateur radio license: Technician, General and Amateur Extra. The technician exam is pretty easy and requires a minimum of study, which is well-supported by many 'practice exam' sites. I am a Volunteer Examiner for the FCC and our club give exams almost every month. We seldom see people fail the Tech exam and have had kids as young as 9 years old pass the exam. We are very welcoming and encouraging and are honestly disappointed when someone fails the exam. We give new Tech free membership to our club for the first year, and some clubs provide free radios to new Techs. Help and technical advice is freely given, although, just like here, you will occasionally encounter a person who insists that since you got you license you should therefore know everything needed. As one progresses through the several license levels, privileges are increased, but even Technician offers all of the things I mentioned above, except perhaps talking around the world on a piece of wire. It is true you will find some elitist, grumpy old hams (not like here where everyone is jovial, friendly, welcoming and non-critical), but the clear answer is to simply spin the dial to another of the almost unlimited frequencies. Ham radio is not channelized like CB or FRS/GMRS and there are plenty of good places to be. Bottom line: If the GMRS radio service doesn't fit your idea of good radio, there may be another radio service that does. Instead of trying to change the service to match your ideas, it is likely better to find a radio service that actually serves your needs.

^^ THIS ^^ in a nutshell... Linking would completely occupy any given frequency pair, making it unavailable to most other users in the coverage area. It would not take many linked repeater owners to monopolize all of the repeater channels in any area. Even ham radio, with it's many more available repeater frequencies, seldom links distant repeaters for longer than it takes to run a net. Some clubs run repeaters in two locations on different frequencies and permanently link their own, but it is still very local and only two transmitters. W3VPR does this with their 2m system, almost doubling their footprint. Others link between 2m and 70cm, but again, it's local and limited. I am seeing this desire to link with many new GMRS users here and I think that some of the appeal is to increase capability on an intentionally limited service due to the lax licensing requirements. "Limited service" and "lax requirements" go hand in hand. Anyone wishing to have longer range capability than GMRS currently offers should investigate Amateur Radio, which allows greater power, much more flexibility in frequencies and equipment. The FCC dropped the Morse Code requirement and the entry-level 'Technician' license exam is relatively easy.

Any progress or further interest in this?

LMR-400 is an excellent VHF/UHF cable, but has a solid center conductor and is very stiff. LMR-400 should not be unrolled/rerolled/bent/unbent very much due to damaging the dielectric. A better choice for portable with similar loss figures is LMR-400 Ultra-Flex, which has a stranded center conductor which tolerates handling much better. I use LMR-400 for my base/home installations (even HF) and LMR-400 UF for temporary/portable/mobile use like Field Day setups, etc..

Agreed. There is a LOT of overlap in material between the General exam and the Technician exam and General is relatively easy if you've just wrapped up Tech. I'm a VE (we actually have a monthly exam session tonight) and I very often see the same Tech candidate pass then come in the following month for their General and pass that too.

** IF ** we wanted to use a park pavilion, it looks like HoCo parks do offer pavilion reservations: https://www.howardcountymd.gov/recreation-parks/rentals The smallest one (Waterloo Park) is for 25 people and is $145 to rent/reserve. Centennial Park is pretty decent and only a few dollars more ($165) for a pavilion there. I've fished Centennial Lake quite a bit and it's not far off I-95 x MD-100 or I-70 for those that might come that way. For inside venues, our ham radio club has about one "club breakfast" a month at the local (Arundel Mills) Golden Corral buffet. They don't do anything special for us, but do let us grab a couple tables in back for our group (15-20 people). Food is regular price and no one ever gets very sick. I'm sure there are other spots like this around. As mentioned by WRJY601, we could reserve a table in a restaurant. I'm not that familiar with what's in HoCo, but I'm sure there are plenty spots around with a "banquet room" or similar that we could reserve. I guess it's really going to depend on how many attend, right now we could all hit a drive-thru in my truck... If we're going to do this outside, it's probably best to wait until September for the temperatures to get reasonable again. If inside, any time. I have business deadlines that come and go, but should be available if we don't have a compressed bid in progress. Thoughts?

Should work for me, I'm in AA near BWI.

I'd likely go. What area?

You're likely right. I just put an RTSystems package for a newer Yeasu radio on my W7 machine and it did exactly the same thing as the OP's setup. All their other software has run fine under 7. After RTFM/system requirements, I realized I had to put it on a W10 machine to locate/load the driver and program the radio.

I just came back from our club's Field Day exercise. I spent about an hour as a control operator with an unlicensed operator, showing him how to make contacts and a little bit on how to operate the radio (tuning, notch filtering, RF gain vs AF volume). He had 22 contacts on 40 meter phone (7.2-7.3 mHz) when I turned him over to another licensed operator, most across the country and a couple in Canada. He was very excited and was having a great time.

Purportedly.

Good rule for Poison Oak & Ivy, but not sumac. Poison Sumac is not three-leaved and is entirely different looking. Sumac leaves are "pinnate" (resembles walnut leaves), with 7-13 paired leaves on a stalk. Sumac is also usually found as a small tree with a woody trunk. [url]https://www.healthline.com/health/outdoor-health/poison-sumac#identify[/url]

Probably more money to be made on capitals.

Please keep asking your questions and ignore the noise. There is not one among us that knew it all starting out, and probably not one among us that knows it all now.