gman1971

Interesting, who would've thought that... I guess they prefer EARs to CCRs as well.

If you have a tap and die set, I would add more than the 3 radials to the VHF ground plain to improve performance and help ensure the filters are not overwhelmed. The more radials the better.

This is another reason why I try to tell everyone in this forum to not buy CCRs...  
G.

Appears same as the TRAM 1481 and most likely made by the same china company. Most of the multi piece trams fall apart after a few years. Basically a hoppy antenna. Mine last 2 months in NY before it snapped in the wind. Since them I only use commercial LMR antennas made by reputable companies.
 

Not to discourage you, but most GMRS users get their licenses only to talk to specific family and friends, or for a specific activity (like off-roading).  Most aren't listening for, nor will they respond to, people they don't know. It isn't personal; that's just not what they got their radios for.
You can try it, and you might make a few contacts.  I just want to set your expectations.

I was amused to see a Motorola radio prominently being used by the ski team in China yesterday!  Would that be an EAR (expensive American radio)? 
Come on you two, take a break.  Go to each other’s profiles and ignore each other. This is just an Internet forum, not a matter of honor, treasure, or life and limb.
 

@MichaelLAX Did repeating the same thing over and over made you feel any smarter today? or did it give you a headache instead? or is it just listening to yourself all the time what gives you headache? oh, must be the details.

This is another reason why I try to tell everyone in this forum to not buy CCRs...  
G.

The feeling is certainly mutual, Lets go @MichaelLAX !

Oh, one thought did come to mind. If the the radio can be read then compare the code plug that was written to the one read out of the radio. If the chip is buggered up the two should be different. That will likely settle the issue.

I've been working on this mast design for gmrs repeater and vhf marine radio (possible future vhf repeater)
I think it's a good way of optimizing vertical separation with the antennas i have.
Icom fr-4000 has 3 receiving cans / 2 transmit cans / transmitter isolator/circulator -plus 6 can Motorola tx/rx duplexer 
Future vhf will have same amount of db isolation before it's antenna.
messi 10 pro coax all n connectors
Any constructive thoughts on the plan???

Glad I could help,
Yes, you probably don't want to run the anaconda heliax to the radio. Sorry for leaving this important bit out... what I do is run the Heliax up to the main ground plate, where all the N bulkhead connectors are (this plate is usually grounded), and on the other side of the bulkhead N connector I run short 4-feet patch cables of RG-400 with silver N-connectors to the filters, and then another 3-4 feet RG-400 from the filters to the radio/repeater.
G.

The short explanation is that the current rules (95e) require a radio to be locked out of transmitting any non-certified service (ham). However, there are radios certified under the previous version (95a) that can. Overwhelmingly, these are dual certified (90/95a) commercial/lmr gear. Motorola and Kenwood have a few models between them, and I know of one vertex (vx4207). I believe Kenwood may still have some dual certified stuff in production, though not sure if it's 95a or 95e.
In all cases, if you're after dual use, you have to watch your frequency ranges; 450-512 or so are more common, good for gmrs but not for ham, though there is gear out there with lower ranges that cover both too (I have some 400-470 vertex stuff, which they usually append -G6 after the model number, while 450-512 is -G7, with D0 being vhf...my base is a VX-4207-G6).
 

There you go, the VX-4207 sounds like the radio I'll start proposing for GMRS from now on... thanks @wayoverthere it goes right through the CCR crowd argument to buy CCR trash because of part certification scare stuff... music to my ears... and I own a lot of Vertex Standard stuff... its pretty good, in fact, my main base digital link uses a pair of EVX-5300 radios... so there you go.
Here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/234009379037?hash=item367c0bc0dd:g:Q20AAOSwXFhgnvHz Its a G7, but it will work just fine for GMRS. And at 100 bucks its cheaper than most CCR trash too... awesome! I might have to get me one...
Just avoid all these cheapies that claim to offer more "flexibility" in the sake of a piece of crap receiver... piece of crap receiver = range measured in tenths of a mile, as opposed to tens of miles...
IMO, if you are going to go through the trouble of putting up a 60 foot mast/tower, might as well get a decent radio to go along with it. 
G.

Hi,
 60' feet above the ground, for just a mast, and not a tower, I recommend, like others, using the house or the tallest property structure for support and/or to start the mast there, so you can reduce the amount of actual mast you'll need to raise to get to the desired height. I honestly think going with a 2-bay or 4-bay folded dipole will also produce very good results even with something that isn't above 50 feet. Also I recommend acquiring a good radio to be mated to this antenna, as it will be exposed to all kinds of RF from nearby super high power transmitters, so a cheap radio might be more detrimental to your range aspirations.
If you must start on the ground, then I would use 10' foot galvanized water pipe steel sections, starting from the thickest diameter you can find, either 1 1/2 inch or 2 inch, etc, using the thicker tube as a sleeve for the next smaller section, like a telescopic antenna. At 60 feet, do not thread things with couplers, or they will snap, and trust me, its not pretty when that happens. As for guying, I would use two guy wires per direction, one at 40% of the height, and one at 95% of the height in a triangular 120 degree fashion. To raise this I would use a vehicle, along with a 10 foot section as fulcrum to get it off the ground, along with a helper so the pipe doesn't bend too much when first being raised.
Source: I've done this myself.
G.

You are right, actually. The EVX-5xxxx radios use both, they use a regular double conversion superhet, with a traditional 1st stage, but the 2nd stage is a direct conversion Rodinia chip. I think the AT-578 uses a similar approach as well, but not Rodinia on the 2nd stage... some POS 2nd stage that allows intermod galore...
Its certainly not impossible, it only costs circa $13,000 dollars for a new IC-7810 radio...  or around $5,000 for a new APX8000 radio... or around $1k or so for a new XPR7550e... not impossible, just be prepared to pay for it. You won't find such luck in CCRs I am afraid.
Anything designed poorly (regardless of what it is) will have horrible performance...
G.

This^^^^

You are right, actually. The EVX-5xxxx radios use both, they use a regular double conversion superhet, with a traditional 1st stage, but the 2nd stage is a direct conversion Rodinia chip. I think the AT-578 uses a similar approach as well, but not Rodinia on the 2nd stage... some POS 2nd stage that allows intermod galore...
Its certainly not impossible, it only costs circa $13,000 dollars for a new IC-7810 radio...  or around $5,000 for a new APX8000 radio... or around $1k or so for a new XPR7550e... not impossible, just be prepared to pay for it. You won't find such luck in CCRs I am afraid.
Anything designed poorly (regardless of what it is) will have horrible performance...
G.

You are right, actually. The EVX-5xxxx radios use both, they use a regular double conversion superhet, with a traditional 1st stage, but the 2nd stage is a direct conversion Rodinia chip. I think the AT-578 uses a similar approach as well, but not Rodinia on the 2nd stage... some POS 2nd stage that allows intermod galore...
Its certainly not impossible, it only costs circa $13,000 dollars for a new IC-7810 radio...  or around $5,000 for a new APX8000 radio... or around $1k or so for a new XPR7550e... not impossible, just be prepared to pay for it. You won't find such luck in CCRs I am afraid.
Anything designed poorly (regardless of what it is) will have horrible performance...
G.

Guys lets get back to the Midland MTX500 stuff.
There is a section in the forums for arguing called Amateur Radio or Miscellaneous Topics

While I use Motorola CDM1550LS+ radios for GMRS, I know a few people that bought versions that were only 16 channel analog, so great advice here. Had I not owned them already (CDM1550LS+) I would have used CDM-1250's instead. They can be had for about $150 or so from SunnyComm, great vendor I have used a lot, and others online.

That appears to be the 160 Ch so should be the proper one. I don't have my programming PC in front of me to check a code plug with that model.
Some good info in this post from before also - CDM1550LS+

And also remember the cable cost. 60' mast means at minimum 75' of cable to get you in the house. RG/LMR is most likely not the best option here. You really want LDF hardline which will cost almost or more than your mast. As was stated earlier 60' is on the edge of a mast. I would start looking at tower sections. Rohn is solid performer and 50' with a 10' mast of aluminum would be ideal. Still needs guyed but will stay up much longer than pipe bolted together. Budget everything you need and decide if 60' is really what you need. 
 

And more quotes, with pun intended... btw, did writing that post give you a headache too?

Hi there,
as gortex2 stated, cable is rather important, especially at UHF or above freqs.
Personally, I would dump the RG-8/U and go with LDF-50 1/2 inch heliax with trimetal N-connectors. BUT.... big if.... if all you are going to do is simplex then I would entertain genuine LMR600. With either silver or trimetal N-connectors, especially for indoor runs. I wouldn't waste any money on PL259/SO239 for anything above 300 MHz, it can't hold impedance well at higher freqs, so you might end up going down a very deep rabbit hole ... not fun.
Personally, I run multiple 40 foot sections of LMR600 with silver plated N-connectors for my UHF GMRS base setup (no repeater) at home. Loss is very small. For anything else I have, everything is heliax LDF-50 1/2"
The Effective Sensitivity (or dynamic sensitivity) is not the advertised sensitivity figure on the radio. In order to determine the dynamic sensitivity figure you need to perform an isotee test on the radio. Nowadays, it seems that noise floor is pretty much the limiting factor as to how far you'll be able to hear the base.
As for Antenna, after trying over two dozens of ham grade stuff, I wouldn't waste my money on anything vertical, go straight to either a half wave dipole or a half wave folded dipole. You will not be disappointed.
G.