JCase
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Posts posted by JCase
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Greetings everyone,
Ok, I don’t claim to understand everything associated with RF. Heck, there’s a lot of it that’s just plain over my head (pun intended).
But this particular surprise has me totally baffled. I was several new dual commercial band antennas that I just received in case any tuning was needed and since my mind was set to “dual band” mode I grabbed this inexpensive, lightweight, low power antenna and connected it to one of the Dakota Alert MURS 2 watt base units and decided I should check it also. I don’t mind telling you I couldn’t have been happier with my SWR reading, 1.0-1.1 right out of the package. I had a HUGE smile and thought perfectly, finally found an antenna that needed no tuning, not even a frogs hair amount needed to be trimmed off. I went back to testing the other dual band commercial antennas with several different mobile radios and it wasn’t until I finished and started putting my meters, adapters and various odds and ends away that I realized what I had done. I had connected a UHF only (433 MHz specific) antenna to a VHF transceiver, not only that but I got a picture perfect SWR & power level reading using it n a MURS channel (154.570).
My radio tech ALWAYS stressed that I should only use band specific antennas for the band they were designed for and by using a VHF on UHF and visa versa, So, why is this UHF antenna working spot on with a VHF frequency ? I have included a pic of the antenna I’m referring to.
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Check your private messages on here
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Ok, I had to dig one of mine out of the storage case and check, there are three ways of doing this.
1. PC (computer) programming. They’re listed as R-DCS which stands for Receive Digital Coded Squelch, R-CTCS which stands for Receive Continuous Tone Coded Squelch. Next you have T-DCS and T-CTCS with the “T” meaning Transmit. You choose which ever column you need, then click the arrow for a drop down list and click on the code you need.
2. Manually from the radios keypad. Assuming you have the voice prompt turned on, Press the orange button that is labeled “VFO/MR” until you “frequency mode”. Then press “menu”, 1, 0, this will take you to R-DCS or “menu, 1, 1, which will take you to R-CTCS. Which ever type you need to enter. For the Transmit input press “menu” 1, 2, for T-DCS or 1, 3, for CTCS. Once you get to the screen needed, press “menu” again which will enter your radio into the selection screen. You can then either use the arrow up/down buttons to scroll through the codes until you find the one you need or you can enter the code on the keypad. If you use the keypad method just enter each number and don’t worry about the “.” Dot. Once you have selected or entered the code you need, Press “menu” and the Press “Exit” on the keypad. Do the same for the transmit tone.
Example; Say you need to set 141.3 for the T-CTCS tone.
Press VFO/MR until you hear “frequency mode”, press “menu” press 1, 1, then press “menu”, the press 1, 4, 1, 3, then press “menu” then press exit. You have now entered the Receive CTCS.
I could break it down even more but hopefully this is enough for you to understand. However, if you still need help feel free to send me a message from my profile page and I’ll do my best to help you out.
Good luck
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BTW, the coax/SWR issue as on UHF, GMRS to be exact.
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Totally agree. A few manufacturers are starting to offer reasonable or less expensive models finally but only in the very small sizes.
In response to coax and power leads, excess coax can have a negative impact on your SWR really causing significant problems including burning up your radio. This goes for base, reapeaters, mobiles but if you coil it to store until you deploy and deploy the entire length while in use it shouldn’t be a problem. You can sometimes get away with a little extra in a mobile/vehicle as long as you don’t coil it or cross over any part. I’ve had problems in the past with exactly that. Once I shortened the coax so I had no more than a foot extra, my SWR reading was a lot lower and resulted in an acceptable level. Prior to cutting the excess it was 2.8 and higher. It drove me crazy and I ended up ruining an antenna thinking I needed to keep trimming the darn thing when all along it was my coax. On your power leads, the longer the run, the greater loss of voltage and the longer run causes more friction (I think that’s the correct term) and potentially overheating. A fused positive should protect from the risk of fire but it’s still a good idea to remove the excess. I’m by far no electrician nor am I a radio tech. These are things that a long time good friend (who was both of those) always preached to me.
Whatever you decide, I wish you success and would love to see pictures of your final creation once you decide it’s completed.
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That looks great if you ask me. I can show you a butcher job that I did building a 19” rack cabinet on wheels that holds a primary and backup repeater. It might not be pretty but it does the job and other than the wheels, I had everything else and decided to just use what I already had. It beats the price of a professionally built cabinet and I’m the only one that ever sees it. Now, if I end up having to relocate the repeater to a location other than my house, I’ll suck it up and spend the money on a real cabinet or ask you to build it lol. There’s no way I would want anyone to see my sad attempt at building one.
Yours on the other hand, I’d be proud to show off, exactly as it is. Nice job !
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Thanks for the feedback WRAK968
Thanks LScott !!!! You are absolutely correct. I didn't want to power the radio up until I was sure it wouldn't adversely affect it's operation but I never thought about the speaker. Thinking about it now, that would be very useful when a headset or earphones would be used (mainly when used as a base radio). So I powered the radio up, took a reading, reprogrammed it and then tested your "wild guess" and BINGO, you hit it right on the nose.
I really appreciate the feedback, suggestions and help that I always seem to find on this site. I for one, greatly appreciate everyone that replies and hopefully this information will help someone else out in the future.
My best to all,
JCase
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Hey WRAK968,
Thanks for replying. The wires lead underneath the top level and I can’t tell exactly where or to what they connect to without taking more of the radio apart and to be honest I’m just not comfortable proceeding any further but I appreciate your input. I think I have the answer but I’m waiting on a reply from the seller to hopefully confirm. I forgot the listing on eBay stated this radio was equipped with GPS. I’m guessing at this point that the switch is related to that. I find no external connection for an antenna of any type related to GPS but it’s the only thing that makes sense right now.
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Greetings to all,I have searched on line and within this forums on mygmrs and either I'm blind, my search wording skills are that bad or it hasn't been addressed before.
I Have two Kenwood TK-8180K radios but I'm new to Kenwood and know very little about them so far. The first one I've owned for a few months now and the second one I purchased off of eBay from one of those listings that basically told you nothing, I had to look up most of the information/specs for the radio myself. However, this second radio has a toggle switch mounted on the rear of the radio right next to the power lead. Nothing in the listing mentioned this switch and the seller had no idea, all he did was power it up to see if the "lights lit up". There are no labels and when I removed the top cover to gain access (had to replace the power leads since they had been cut down to a nub), I wasn't able to figure out what the switch was connected to.
Anyone have any clue ?
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That sounds like a mirror image to my repeater antenna which happens to be the DB413-B, UHF 450-470 and each element is, according to my measurements 11”. I will also agree that these are excellent antennas with a strong proven track record. As for the price, that’s something you would need to decide. The antenna on average runs just under $1000 give or take. If you don’t need to sell it for the maximum that it’s worth, you might consider a lower price in order to afford someone, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to, the opportunity to purchase and improve their performance for their setup. But, it all comes down to what the antenna is worth to you, what this particular antenna (in good condition with no issues) is averaging in the market and basically how generous your mood is lol.
One other thing to think of, to ship one of these antennas it’s no cheap. Don’t quote me but Even thought it can be broken down into two pieces, it will require “freight shipping” which is definitely not cheap. If you’re lucky, you might be able to find a “local”:buyer who can pick it up in person.
Good luck with whatever route you take
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I buy my programming cables for all Kenwood radios from this guy “bluemax49ers” on eBay. He’s a HAM who produces excellent quality cables and after you complete your purchase of the cable just send him a message and he will reply back with a link and download of the programming software you need at no charge. His cables are more expensive than most others you can find (avg of $30) but you get a quality cable and both cables and software for all radio models will work flawlessly on Windows 10.
It took me over a year to find this guy and eliminated any concerns from his 100% positive feedback with over 3000 ratings.
I’m not a sales person nor do I receive any compensation by providing the information. I just know how hard it is to find truly respectable sources for this stuff and when I come across seller’s like this guy, I can’t wait to pass it on to others if it saves the headache associated with finding what you need and knowing it was money well spent. Just finished programming my TK-8180K last night. I like the 8180 since it offers 512 programmable channels.
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I know some members might cringe when I say this however, BTECH recently released a GMRS specific mobile & handheld.(two handheld models) that are supposed to be FCC certified and so far have received pretty positive reviews from users (most being licensed, experienced GMRS and HAM users) posting reviews on YouTube.
For the price, both for the radios and the accessories, the warranty and customer service, this might be worth considering. Especially as a starter radio. I have been told by my Retevis seller that they too will be releasing there GMRS specific version soon as they are currently in the process of attempting to receive FCC approval.
Other than the already mentioned tone code issue for the Midland brand GMRS specific radios, the MTX115 is known to suffer a significant receive problem limiting its range and I’ve never heard if that was ever corrected. The problem was limited to the MTX115 model only and didn’t effect any of the other three or four models that they offer.
Good luck with your choice !
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Berkinet, good afternoon & thank you for the reply and information. That’s not exactly the version I had in mind but I think I can make that work with what appears to be a simple modification. Thank you again.
John
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Good afternoon all,
Once again I need some help. I can’t seem to find either as a replacement part or aftermarket add on kit the button post that is most commonly used on hand mics for hanging the mic up. I have done multiple searches, called three National Communications retailers, the manufacturer of the radios I need these for and even searched multiple times over a three month period on eBay but have had no luck.
The mics I’d like to add these to come with the Retevis RT95 and various other makes and models (all appear to be China based radios). Instead of the most common button post for sliding into a mic clip on the dash or any other suitable location, these mics only have a small piece of metal at the top with a hole punched out requiring some type of actual hook in order to hang them. I have no use for this option and would like to modify/add/change to the button post. Any suggestions, or specific information would be greatly appreciated.
I have attached a pic showing the most common type of device and exactly what I’m trying to find.
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Howdy marcspaz,
I appreciate the suggestion, unfortunately I don’t have that kind of property.
Thanks again
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Howdy gentlemen,
I thank each and every one of you for the information and suggestions.
Jones, you’re not going to believe this, but that array of towers is actually the exact spot I had in mind if I ended up needing to go with the commercial tower option. That location is only a few blocks from my house which would make it very convenient when the need arises to perform general equipment maintenance or conduct any upgrades or repairs. I can’t thank you enough for the information and suggestions and am planning to take a drive to the site tomorrow during the day to see if I can locate the necessary information.
Radioguy7268, thank you for providing me with all of the information that you included regarding commercial tower sites. The potential and likelihood that the level of required high end equipment along with the lease/rental cost could and quite possibly will out price this as an option. But one never knows for sure unless one investigates and confirms so I still plan on making contact and seeing where it goes. However, I won’t be doing so completely ignorant and hopefully knowing in advance some of the extreme cost possibilities, I won’t react to an extreme price tag if those are the quotes I receive, with total shock and disbelief as my jaw hits the ground. I really appreciate your suggestions regarding high rise roof tops and could beat myself over the head for not thinking about contacting a building’s owner. I actually know the owners of one of the beachside resorts in the Shores and plan to make contact with them Monday. If they aren’t able or willing to rent space on their roof, maybe they can put me in touch with another building owner that can & will. I’m a bit embarrassed that I never thought about this on my own.
BoxCar, While I knew that towers over a certain height must follow certain protocols (I have always thought it was anything that exceeds 100’), I wasn’t familiar with the fact that the tower owner had to register the tower nor that the owner’s information would be available for me to access. I can’t thank you enough for the information.
Again, thanks to all of you for taking the time to reply and all of the valuable information. While I’m not new into using two way radios, I am new into GMRS and the setup and maintenance requirements, proper grounding and so much more involving a repeater system.
My background is 911 Communications and the Fire Service. We used the heck out of the radios and radio systems but programming, installing, maintenance and all the rest was handled by a different pay grade. I only thought I knew about this stuff and not until very recent did I find out the little bit of knowledge I actually did possess barely scratches the surface lol.
I am excited about the possibilities and cautiously optimistic that a reasonable solution can be realized, if not now, possibly in the near future. For now I am still planning to complete my tower installation and try running the repeater off of that first. Maybe I’ll have exceptional good luck and realize a better coverage area than I’m expecting. But hopefully I’ll have a fantastic option already in place should the need arise.
It’s refreshing to be associated with a group of folks so freely willing to answer questions and offer guidance to a newb and seemingly without judgement or attitude. I wish I could bottle that and share it with quite a few organizations I’ve been associated with in the past so that there new entries could have the same experience that I have had so far.
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Thank you BoxCar, that is very helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
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Greetings to all,
My question is this, how do I find contact information for the multitude of commercial radio towers or high rise buildings that lease roof top antenna space in my area ? I have spent countless hours now conducting endless on line searches, rewording my search criteria and I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I have had absolutely no luck at all. I have even contacted the local county government’s communication engineers to see if they could at least point me in the right direction. Sadly, they weren’t able to shed any light either.
Now before I start receiving multiple replies about why, especially as a newer member of the GMRS community, am I so worked up about placing a repeater on the air, understand that there currently are NO repeaters that I have been able to hear or even find listed anywhere in the entire county that I live in So, while my initial plan was to acquire permission to access already established repeaters that wasn’t an option. My second option was to just finish installing my 50’ tower and place a private repeater on the air for my family, friends and myself to use but a very good friend of mine (who happened to be a HAM) strongly urged me to reconsider and place my system on for everyone in the community to use which would further strengthen the growing network of GMRS systems available in the state, especially since there aren’t any currently in my area. So, that’s what I am attempting to do and my good friend was guiding me along until a couple of months ago when he suffered a massive stroke and passed away. In HAM terms, my friend was my “Elmer” and one of the best and nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. Long story longer, without his knowledge, experience and guidance in this attempt, I have been struggling to successfully complete my plan to get this system on the air. My 50’ tower isn’t going to provide the coverage needed to make this repeater a viable option for others to use and unless I can come up with a solution I’m afraid I will fail at placing a public system on the air and I really want to keep my word to my friend that I would try my best to successfully complete the endeavor. So, while I could put a local private repeater on for my personal use and most likely have that repeater work just fine for my personal needs, I gave my word that I would attempt placing a public system on the air first and only if that failed fall back to plan B.
So, this is why I attempting to find the contact information. To be honest, while I have the repeater, duplexer, hard line and DB413-B antenna, I realize there will still be more expense in setting everything up and that there is the reoccurring expense of the space rental/lease and even possibly a certified tower installer if placed on a commercial tower. When it’s all said and done, I might not be able to afford what’s needed to make this plan a reality, but I have to at the very least, try.
Any contact information or guidance would greatly be appreciated.
In case the information is needed, I am in the Daytona Beach, Florida, County of Volusia
You can contact me through my profile here on myGMRS or direct at
repeaterdaytona625@gmail.com (I can’t remember if posting a direct contact is in violation of this site or not) I’m sure if it is, the powers that be will remove it and I’ll be notified of the violation. Let’s hope I didn’t violate the sites rules.
Thanks for taking the time to read my mini novel and I look forward to future replies.
WRDM373, John here
433 specific antenna working perfectly on MURS ! ? Huh ?
in Technical Discussion
Posted
mbrun / Michael,
Thank you for the reply and the valuable information. My tech friend never explained this so discovering, even more so accidentally, that this is the case (no pun intended) is pretty exciting. I’ve been involved with radios since I was in my early teens but most of my experience has just been on the average “user” end or level. In the fire service and 911 communications we tend to utilize the equipment as tools of the trade and if there was any kind of problem we reported it to the techs and they worked their magic and eliminated the problem. I always tried to stay clear and let them do their work and honestly didn’t see any reason to learn all of the components of how or why since I wouldn’t be authorized to “fix” the problem, only notify the appropriate department to arrange for them to handle. Since retiring and joining a volunteer, non profit organization and since losing my good friend who was also my tech, I’ve been on a mission to learn more about the “how and why” so that I am able to hopefully solve the problems that occur from time to time. If I can save myself or the nonprofit from incurring an added expense then it’s a win win.
Again I thank you for taking the time to reply and providing an explanation that even I am able to understand lol.
Best regards,
John