scottmckinney67

I understand that my radios aren't all that, especially when it comes to receive sensitivity, but that line of sight app link that I posted contradicts that it's solely a radio problem. I do appreciate the feedback, and I will get better radios at some point.

I did buy an analyzer, its the AURSINC Vector Network Analyzer 10KHz -1.5GMHz HF VHF UHF. Do you know of any videos of how to tune the diamond x50a? I assume that I'd cut the 70cm section slightly? Cut radials also? With the SWR that low, I'd think I'm safe for not blowing up my radio, I may buy that and give it a try as is. The added height may be all that I need...

I'm sure that your theory is valid, thanks. But I think this map https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/ program is my core issue. When I plug in my location and my son's I get red with my antenna less than 7 meters and his less than 2 meters tall. I located my antenna in the attic at a little over 8 meters high on a 15 inch pizza pan for a ground plane. When I test I'm in a honda accord with the antenna on the roof, which is probably very close to 2 meters high. We can hear each other and understand most of what's said but it's noisy and can get garbled at times. I'm going to get his antenna off the ground by a couple more meters first thing. If that gets improvement, but not enough, I'll get him a taller antenna (still undecided on what) and better cabling. My plan is to get our tech licenses and then broadcast vhf or uhf to a local repeater, which I can easily hit with my ladder line antenna and my baofeng. So, knowing that, I'm trying to upgrade his antenna once, and not buy a GMRS specific base antenna. Looks like Trams are tunable, but not sure about others at this point. I originally had looked at elk and arrow because they seem to be pretty wide band and are directional. I figured with those, I may be able to get away with one antenna buy for him. Stay tuned for new results and keep the comments coming guys, I appreciate the help. I am disappointed that there don't seem to be any open repeaters in Columbus Ohio. When I checked the repeater section here, it showed 2. Both say private only and one says its down.

Thanks. I am using the crap midlands with the light cable. I could go with an omni uhf antenna but want one that will cover more than just gmrs as I don't ever want to not have a repeater option. There are plenty of UHF repeaters in my area and no gmrs repeaters. Go figure.

That's what I'm talking about! I'd like to keep the antenna at 10 feet or less and I'll use fence top rail for a mast to clear the roofline. I'd like to get a quality antenna that I can tune, then tune back after we get our licenses. Any recommendations? Also, if I drive the fence top rail 4 feet in the ground, would I need a separate ground rod? I'm sure it's not up to code in some areas, but I don't want to start tying into her electric boxes or mess with her ground rod. I have enough issues with her without being blamed for blowing her electric service I would use a lightning arrester.

Thank you.

No worries. That map is just the link. I'm literally less than 3.5 miles as the crow flies. I think that's why my experienced buddies said it should be no problem. When I place my antenna at 6 meters and my son's at 2 meters, the line shows red. I go up to 7, it goes green. I did get my antenna up to 8 meters high in my attic, drove to the area where my son's house is and we can talk, but the noise level is very high. This is with the antenna on the roof of my honda accord, so probably close to 2 meters. This is why I think the issue is terrain and elevation between us. I bought the radios before finding that site and used the standard line of sight calculation and thought it would be no problem. So I think even an antenna that's not exactly resonant on GMRS but close with a decent SWR a few meters off the ground will do the trick on his end. Make sense? I was looking at the yagi on his end to aim at me originally, but figured in the long haul, a comet, diamond, tran, omni would be a good choice since we plan on getting tech licenses.

I thought I stated my goal earlier, maybe that wasn't clear. Based on the advice of other ham operators, who thought this wouldn't be an issue, I bought these small antennas and cheap radios and obtained a gmrs license. It's not a gmrs issue, it's a line of sight and lack of gmrs open repeater issue in my opinion. If you look at the link I posted and put in some antenna heights it gives what is a usable range based on some sort of path study parameters. We're on the hairy edge. I understand your mileage may vary when doing this but a few miles is kicking our butts at the moment. I do appreciate the advice. We don't give up, so one way or another, we'll make it happen. I just spoke to my son's mom and she's ok with an omni above the roof line. I'm going that route with standard dual band antenna that has a relatively low swr on grms and we'll make due for now. That doesn't work, tech licenses and I already have a diamond dual band mobile that I can stick in the attic after we get the licenses.

I don't have the expendable income and don't want to buy something that will be obsolete once we get tech licenses. I'm going to raise his antenna and go from there. We should have just skipped GMRS in the first place and got the tech licenses. No open repeaters that I can find in my area. Thanks again.

Thanks for the responses guys. What about an omni 70cm/2M that would have a decent SWR on GMRS frequencies? If I got a taller omni on my end, and could possibly raise his whip some, think that would work. I don't plan on GMRS being our band of choice but it's what we're licensed for at this point.

Hi guys and gals, I'm looking to buy a directional antenna for GMRS that will also work on VHF when I get the tech license. I've been looking at elk and arrow. I love the portability but don't want to sacrifice too much performance. Are these on par with say a cushcraft or some other brand of dual band yagi for GMRS? Are there any specific antennas that you recommend? I'm in a residential area and currently have 2 40 watt mobiles connected to midland 6dbi whips with ground plane plates. Trying to talk simplex with my son that isn't far but we're marginal on height restrictions at his mom's house. Right now we can talk, but it's pretty noisy and annoying. I used this calculator https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/ and it confirms we're on the edge height wise. I will be able to raise his slightly, to maybe 3.5 meter height. I'm around 8 meters high at my place in the attic. I understand that height will trump pretty much everything but ex's rule in this case as far as my mounting at that location. I'm hoping to keep antenna cost under 200. Thanks!

I just got two of the retevis rt99's which appear to be the same thing. About 150 each off ebay. Pretty easy to program, pairs well. Not sure how to gauge the performance as this is my second radio. Other's a baofeng hand held. I like the idea of no programming cables, etc. I'm using them with the midland mobile 6db antennas at the moment. Still testing and learning.

Hi. I'm in Columbus. I'm trying to find an open repeater that me and my son can use. I looked in the listings and I saw one and requested access but no response. Fairly new here so I'm not sure what I'm hearing at this point Sorry for the hijack, just saw some Columbus folks and figured I'd ask. Thanks!