TerriKennedy

I'm currently negotiating to put an antenna on the roof of an 800' AGL building here (and the ground it's on is the highest elevation for miles). Right now I am using a stick antenna on my house roof for my rather basic 50W repeater. Between recurring roof rights, tower installer, DB-420B antenna, Motorola repeater with network control, duplexer, and various remote control equipment this is likely going to be a minimum of $10,000 to start and $2K+/year to continue. At that point I'll be requesting optional donations to help defray expenses, either as a one-time thing or recurring, depending on the donor's wishes. Everybody will have equal access to the repeater, donation or not. If the roof deal goes through, on the new repeater each user will get a unique code for access, just to keep random people off it. I haven't ever denied an access request and doubt I will. The only reason it's by request is so I have a list of users I can notify when major changes happen (like the above roof deal). Based on other experience with fundraising for various other non-profit projects, I expect I'll be lucky to end up with $1000. It's more moral support, knowing that some people value something I do enough to contribute what they can, even if it's just a one-time $10.

I don't have a definitive answer. I believe a bunch of the "remember where we parked" stuff is in RAM and not written to flash. It may also be that since the ARM CPUs in these radios aren't the fastest, it makes for faster start-up times as it is already mostly set up. Or it might just be a random design decision on the factory's part. I can say that I have crashed the firmware on various radio models while testing, and turning the knob past the "off" click didn't do anything - I had to pull the battery to reset the radio as it was stuck on even though I turned it "off". I have a UV-17 with corrupted firmware that goes "ch ch ch ch ch"* when you install the battery, even though it's "off". It then gets reset by the watchdog timer and repeats indefinitely (or until the battery runs down). * It's trying to say "channel mode" but can't get it out.

Many of the blister pack radios come preprogrammed with various tones and don't necessarily even use the same channel numbering (often the channels above 22 just have different tones and claim "privacy"). So anyone with a FRS radio hoping to obtain emergency assistance from a GMRS licensee is likely to be disappointed - even if we're monitoring without a tone selected, they likely won't hear our reply because we're not sending whatever tone their radio is checking for.

The boxes are easier to stack and keep the right charger, manual, etc. with each radio. Some people put them in zip-lock bags in a plastic storage bin - whatever works best for you. One comment about batteries - at least on the newer full-color-screen analog Baofeng models, that click on the volume knob when you turn the radio "off" is just a notification to the CPU to go into power-saving mode - it is still drawing power from the battery (slowly). I run the radio down to 2 out of 3 bars (the ideal level for Li-ion battery storage), then put a thin insulating material over the battery contacts and put the battery back in the radio, and put a pre-printed "Battery Isolated" sticker on the display screen. BTW, if you plan on selling a radio, be aware that (again, on at least the Baofengs mentioned above) the radio menu "Reset all" does NOT clear all data back to the factory state. If you use the Baofeng CPS, write an empty config to the radio. If you use CHIRP, write your original backup image (you made one before making changes, right?) back to the radio. Note that even that will not reset the startup screen image or voices if you customized them.

The answer is "it depends". I try to answer (and approve) all access requests within 24 hours. Some people take weeks / months to answer, some never answer. I have a pending request to use someone else's repeater (listed here) that has been pending for over 10 months at this point and seems to have aged out of the "my sent requests" . For an area I visited last summer. In case anyone is wondering why, if I approve all requests, my repeater access is marked "by request" - it's so I know who to notify about antenna relocation and an eventual shift to individual repeater access codes.

I provide infrastructure in an area of the Mojave Desert that has no cell service and landline service is no longer available. This is by point-to-point radio on mountaintops (solar cells and batteries) backhaul to Las Vegas, 100+ miles away. Internet, micro cells, POTS lines (translated to VoIP), etc. I put a GMRS repeater on a mountaintop so the duners 35 miles away can call ahead for pizza. I have an inReach Mini emergency transponder with me and used to have an old-school satcom rig (pre-Starlink) at base camp. All of these have their benefits, but sometimes the best answer is "none of the above". In 2019 I fell on a mountain while coming back down and broke both bones (radius and ulna) in my right forearm, with bones sticking out. I had to decide whether or not to use the inReach or self-rescue. Fortunately I had no major blood loss and I could still feel and move my fingers (even though my arm was like Harry Potter's after the inept wizard Lockwood removed his bones by accident). I threw some army surplus clotting powder on it, fashioned a splint by snapping one of my hiking sticks, and used a giant plastic Target bag as a sling, with my head through the handle and my arm through a hole poked in the side of the bag. If I did have major blood loss I would have had very little time to get a tourniquet on before passing out, and even the inReach wouldn't have helped. It took me an hour and a half to get back down the mountain, an hour driving across open desert and then dirt roads and another hour on paved roads to get to the nearest hospital (middle of nowhere, remember). Aside from the occasional scream of pain, that worked well. The alternative would have been to push the panic button, wait 45 minutes to an hour for the medical helicopter to arrive, set down on the flatlands, look up at the mountain and go "NFW!". They would then have called San Bernardino SAR mutual aid who would have carried a litter up the mountain to me, put me in it (while ribbing me mercilessly, since I know those guys and sometimes train with them), have the helicopter hover and drop a cable to hook to my litter and haul me up, and then fly me back to the same hospital I mentioned above. In retrospect, I made the right decision - I got myself to the hospital in 3.5 hours. About 6 months later a similar scenario happened a bit closer to "civilization" and it took over 8 hours from the emergency satellite call to when the injured party was on the helicopter (and not even at the hospital yet). I'm not a prepper - I'm prepared. Here's a picture of where I fell vs. where my Jeep was parked for reference. I'll skip posting the X-rays of my arm because I don't want to squick anybody out badly.

If it's listed here, and has a working "Request access" button, you can click on it and fill out the form. Response speed varies from "a few hours" to "never" - it's pot luck. If it is listed as "disabled by owner", then they either really don't want any more access requests or it got disabled by accident (happened to me once, no idea why). Worst case, you could always send a card to the owner's listed address (in the FCC call sign lookup) and see what happens.

My CPS software (unofficial for the UV-17 Pro GPS and related models, the official CPS for the BF-F8HP Pro) has a voice prompt editor that lets you use 7 other pre-recorded voices besides the factory ones, or your own .mp3/.wav files. I could have allowed editing the Roger Beep as well. Changing it to something like the roadrunner's "Meep! Meep!" would have definitely caused some people's heads to explode, so that isn't one of the things the editor lets you change. Sorry. Speaking of exploding heads, the startup message (normally "Channel Mode" or "Frequency Mode" isn't interruptable. Changing it to the 17-minute version of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"* would definitely be cruel and unusual punishment. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida for people too young to get the reference.

For mine exploring I use a UV-82HP w/ extended battery pack and a NA-771 antenna in combination with an Argent Data ADS-SR1 parrot repeater. If you're underground and can hear the parrot playing back your transmission, you know you can hit it. Likewise, if the people topside can hear themselves back, then communication between the underground group and topside is confirmed. Out in the open, parrot repeaters are a bit of a nuisance if there are other people on the channel who don't know that there's a parrot operating. It makes a nice setup and the parrot box velcro'd to the radio with an appropriately trimmed interface cable is quite stable, even on uneven ground. Info on the repeater here: https://argentdata.com/product/ads-sr1-simplex-repeater Note that this is product that has been available for many years. They did some development on a followup, the SR2, but it seems to have tried being "all things to all people" and development seems to have stalled as the company pursues other projects.

USB has been plagued with user annoyances and interoperability problems since Day 1. I had high hopes for USB-C, but it has its own issues. Ignoring all of that past stuff, a USB-A charger with a USB-A to USB-C cable will generally charge USB-C devices (in some cases, more slowly than with a USB-C charger). USB-C chargers are a different issue. The only officially sanctioned USB-C to USB-C cable is male/male. As you can imagine, that cable with a charger on either end with both plugged into wall outlets could lead to Bad Things. So the default of a USB-C charger is to not provide any power until asked. There are two ways to ask. The first is a simple set of resistors on the CC1/CC2 pins of the USB-C connector (CC is "Charge control"). You can get "classic" 5V at 500mA with the appropriate resistors. But a surprising number of companies who should know better get this wrong - for example, the first few production runs of the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B computer had their charging pins set to "I'm a pair of passive headphones and don't need any power". A number of Baofeng batteries were also manufactured with incorrect resistor values and won't get power to charge. The second is with a dedicated power control IC, which can negotiate with the USB-C charger for higher voltage and/or current. This is a more expensive solution and isn't normally seen on inexpensive devices like Chinese radios / batteries. Another "gotcha" with USB-C is that some manufacturers violate the spec. One company who shall remain nameless ships a charger that looks like USB-C but always outputs 20V at 3A. Plugging that charger into an unsuspecting device will destroy the device.

My repeater uses both input and output tones (different ones, to make it a little harder for people who kerchunk every possible tone to gain repeater access). My repeater IDs in the clear (no tone). I recommend to people that request access to my repeater that they not set a Rx tone. That will keep them (and my repeater) from "stepping on" other traffic on the same channel, ant to only set the Rx tone if they find that other traffic or the repeater IDs annoying.

Left to their own devices, most HOAs will devolve into petty dictatorships because most people just want to go about their lives. The few that would always be looking over the fence, writing down license plate numbers, etc. are the ones that naturally gravitate to HOA leadership. However, in some cases the community developers are not only also legislators writing laws favorable to HOAs, but are pre-filling HOA boards with their chosen candidates. Look at these two articles (paywalled, but disabling JavaScript takes care of that): https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/conflicts-and-interests https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/growing-disillusioned-with-hoas I though I'd posted this here previously, but I don't see it so perhaps not: Some 15+ years ago, a developer was selling lots in the literal "middle of nowhere". I got the plot map and prospectus and made an offer to buy the whole thing, lock stock and barrel, for a bit over the asking price of all the individual lots (adding up to a couple square miles) IF the developer would void the deed restrictions (harder to get rid of than an HOA). The developer declined. Today, 5 lots have been sold, 2 of which have houses built on them.

I try to get back to people with requests within a day, two at most. My experience with other repeater owners has been... not so good. In March, I requested access to 3 repeaters in a city I was going to visit a month later in April. One owner got back to me a month after I was back home, the other two never got back to me. So, "Your mileage may vary".

A good-quality adapter will likely perform better than any of your first few attempts to put a new connector on your existing cable. Something like an Amphenol 242155 - https://web.archive.org/web/20250814035314/https://www.amphenolrf.com/242155.html (archive.org link as the Amphenol web site is broken at the moment) Since the SO-239/PL-259 fit isn't waterproof, you may want to get some weatherproof heat shrink tubing (commonly used to protect underground electrical splices) to put over it. An installer's trick is to wrap the mated connectors with high-grade electrical tape (Scotch Super 88, for example) since the heat shrink tubing will have heat-activated glue on the inside. This makes taking things apart easier if you ever need to do it - slit the heat shrink tubing and remove, then unwrap the electrical tape. Without the electrical tape, the glue will get onto the connectors and make it very hard to disassemble. HOWEVER: Since your existing PL-259 on the LMR400 isn't waterproof, if it has been in use outdoors, you may have water intrusion into the LMR400. If that is a concern (and you have sufficient slack in the cable) you might be better off cutting it back a bit and installing a new connector.

For example, https://www.ebay.com/itm/257105853217 However, this is definitely a case of "know the product, know your seller"*. There are some other ones on eBay that have ben completely trashed - cavities missing, a mishmash of inappropriate cable types, "untested - as is", etc. I buy from a tech who is authorized to set up Motorola UHF equipment and has a side business testing, tuning and selling used duplexers. He has the test equipment needed to properly configure these and provides actual SWR plots showing the tune with each unit. * I have not dealt with the seller of this eBay listing. It just looks to be in decent shape, has all parts present, etc.