WSEZ864

Their goals greatly differ from mine, but may suit some people who are familiar enough with the app to want to recommend it.

Agreed. As SteveShannon and AdmiralCochrane stated, VHF/UHF repeater use, while often active, is really not the main attraction in amateur radio. I hear about the same central Maryland repeater traffic AdmiralCochrane does and many of our local 2m and 70cm repeaters do have some very busy periods, but the real activity is on HF, where one can talk to people all over the world. It is very seldom that one can find an open HF band that doesn't have worldwide activity. I do monitor some of the local VHF repeater traffic and check into some of the nets (ARES & our club's), but my main interest is in making long range contacts. Like trout fishing, you watch for the rise (listen for a station down in the noise), then cast to the fish (try calling the station) in an effort to catch the fish (make the unusual contact).

I don't think a J-Pole is a "bad" antenna, but there are others that perform better. I think the performance niche for a J-pole is like Ed Fong's portable/roll-up, where it provides good performance with great portability. I have a rigid J-Pole made of copper pipe and tested it side by side with a 1/4 wave ground plane and the ground plane performed noticeably better.

Yes. Yes, and I believe they were pirated copies even before Yaesu discontinued theirs.

I made a 2 meter ground plane from doubled up solid #12 wire. Worked well, but bent easily, even doubled and soldered for the entire lengths. Birds kept bending the radials down. I'm using it indoors for an SDR receiver and it does fine for broadcast FM and up. @HHD1: A VHF/UHF ground plane is extremely easy to make using an SO239 bulkhead connector and pieces of copper wire. I think mine cost me about $8 to put together. https://mgs4u.com/product/so-239-uhf-female-4-hole-panel-mount-solder-connector-for-0-405-inch-od-coax-7511-uhf/ https://w6af.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/quarter-wave-ground-plane-antenna-building-instructions.pdf I was gifted a homebrew 2 meter J-Pole made of 3/4" & 1/2" copper pipe and it worked fine for what it was and was quite durable. The coax connection points eventually corroded and SWR went pretty high. Instead of repair, I just replaced it with a commercial aluminum ground plane, which seems to work better anyway.

"A lot of my friends wreck in beet fields, but I never touch them myself."

Is encryption even allowed here?

Yup. I used the HRO in Woodbridge, VA to make the decision on my first HF and they were super helpful. I had plans to ride out to the New Castle, DE store today, but cancelled because they are sold out of both radios I was considering (TS-590SG vs FTDX 10D (distant second choice)). Ended up ordering the TS-590SG from DXE this morning to replace my 11 year old TS-590S, mainly due to updated noise reduction and the ability to use with an SDR. @tweiss3 - I think I've seen you someplace before, LOL!

I think he already did a reset - said "fixed" in post #3.

I don't have an operator's manual for that radio, but it sounds like you want to do a factory/full reset. This operation will delete any data and settings you've put in, but should return the radio to original factory configuration. Look in your manual for "reset".

Nice! I have a similar setup for my FT-857 and auto-tuner, but used thin/cheap plastic cutting boards and drilled holes as required.

Thanks for checking that @SteveShannon. You're right, my number above is faulty - should be 0.675 dB (multiply the 2.7 dB per 100 feet from the specs by .25). Not sure what happened first time I calculated it, fat-fingered it I reckon.

NOTE: edited loss figure error in bold below. Not sure about the "KMR", but 25 feet of LMR400 would only have about 0.092 0.675 dB loss. I use and suggest the 'flex' version of whatever coax brand you like. I use TM LMR400 UltraFlex for almost everything. I realize it's expensive, but compared to the rest of the radio/antenna investment, it's not a big portion. We just talked about the difference between regular and flex type coax in another thread and the advantages of flex is that it is easier to work with (your advantage), can be bent into a tighter radius and can be more easily repurposed if you change setups. The LMR240/240UF is decent coax, but at GMRS frequencies, I think it will have more loss than you want (@450mHz - 5.3dB/100 feet for LMR240 vs 2.7dB/100 for LMR400). It IS physically much easier to work with and much lighter than the 400 series, but you'd still probably want to used the 'flex' version in either case. Specs: https://timesmicrowave.com/cables/lmr-240-uf-coax-cables/ https://timesmicrowave.com/cables/lmr-400-uf-coax-cables/ Loss tables: https://www.w4rp.com/ref/coax.html

I would agree with @SteveShannon and @WRYZ926 and the only thing I would add is that I's suggest investing in LMR400 UltraFlex or equivalent. The reason for this is for ease of installation, tolerance of tighter radius bends and versatility if your setup changes. I use LMR400 flex for everything except short runs for HF, where I use LMR240.

While power usually isn't the deciding factor and line of sight typically prevails, in your situation I think you're overcoming the attenuation of the foliage, which is why the power IS the key parameter.

How do you like it? I'm shopping for a new HF and it's on my 'short list' (with the IC-7300 and Yaesu FTDX10D).

Many/most of the GMRS radio specs I've looked at say "xx watts max" or "up to xx watts", making it impossible to know exactly what they should deliver..

Channel 20 (462.675) may be a repeater output channel for one of your local repeaters, so if you hear them on 20 and try to talk to them, you're only transmitting simplex and not transmitting on the true duplex repeater input (467.675). IOW, they may be on a duplex repeater channel ("RPT20" on many radios) and you're only working the output frequency. I'd suggest looking up the GMRS repeaters near you on those frequencies and trying to reach them there. You will probably need to program in a CTCSS to open the squelch on the repeater. Good luck and welcome aboard!

I too hear this on the two local GMRS repeaters I can reach: a few regulars that seem to know each other and talk regularly. I usually have my radios on scan and hear them on a lot, but have yet to talk with any of them. One of the repeaters does have a net, but I only caught it once as it was closing down and I don't know their schedule. Regarding "use as intended", I set my brother up with a GMRS radio/PS/mag-mount antenna (on top the fridge) at his house so we can communicate outside cell service. Unfortunately, we cannot talk house-to-house directly and have to use a repeater due to intervening terrain, so the true emergency value is limited. I don't have to go too far his way to be able to talk to him from my truck, just can't do it from here in the hole. Could probably reach him with a CB, but traffic and noise here is ferocious. If I want to just BS, which is seldom, our club has a 2 meter repeater (W3CU) where I know most of the users and check into the weekly net, and an adjacent club (W3VPR) also has a strong 2 meter repeater, both of which are pretty active.

Knife-edge refraction?

If you aced the Tech, you probably would have passed the General at that time. You could likely study up a little and go pass it. Exams are usually given free, and while a new license now carries a $35 fee to the FCC, you can upgrade from Tech to General free. I think the "flash cards" option is the easiest way to study for the exam: [url]https://www.hamexam.org/[/url]

We normally would allow a candidate to take both exams IF they have studied for both. Otherwise it would be a waste of everyone's time. There is a lot of overlap between the Technician exam and the General Exam and we get a lot of people taking and passing both in the same session. The Amateur Extra exam is much more involved and covers materials that are not part of the two more basic exams. IMO, the General license allows one to access most useful frequencies and modes, and would provide about 90% of what the Extra ticket allows. I would encourage the OP to study and give it a try, but not to be too worried about it until they're more experienced and/or find the General license somehow limiting.

I'd agree that Marc's video is a great intro to GMRS. I'm not aware of any specific book on GMRS, likely due to it being a very basic service intended for family communications and recreational use. The ARRL has several good books that, while intended for Amateur Radio service, can still be a big help in understanding two-way radio use in general. As Steve had said, they might be a little more than you need, but IMO they WILL help you understand radio basics. You may be able to find them used or in eBook form. This is the basic operating guide: [url]https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/114292[/url] This is the basic antenna handbook: [url]https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/114354[/url]

The Scadacore site is interesting, but without antenna height input, I don't think it's as accurate as it could be. NVM, I just figured out how to input antenna heights.

Double tap...