wayoverthere

Argh..good to know. Always a hidden trap with the seemingly easy solutions.

Alternately....what about going a little smaller on the hole, and put a so239 bulkhead connector through, with a pigtail between wall and radio? Then you can change out coax, or radios on the other side of the bulkhead pretty much at will.

Glad to help, on both counts. All of the cables I have from him have worked great (I have 3 or 4 now).

To the point of band split: if the model number (on the back of the radio behind the battery) ends in -G7, it's the 450-512 model, and -G6 is the 400-470. There is also a -D0 that is a vhf range (136-174, iirc).

Check Bluemax49ers on ebay or his .com . That's where I got both for my 539's.

That fits pretty well with what I remember from when I tested mine (mag mounted, center of roof of single cab compact truck). i generally aim for 1.5 or less, and i want to say 1.3 was about the worst i saw testing with a swr meter, not vna. it does seem to give up a little in exchange for that wide bandwidth though...judging on use, the sbb5 seems to do as well on the fender as the 2x4 did on the roof.

It's been a bit since I programmed one of my p829's (the VHF one), which required a specific software, (ce105-talon) rather than the standard package (I forget the number) that the uhf p824; I don't remember it particularly more difficult than the analog only radios, other than needing to set the channels as analog instead of digital.

With it showing active, I'd agree too...take a print to prove it was active and run with it till hearing otherwise.

Haven't run into that, but if you received the letter on Saturday and tried contacting them immediately, I suspect the lack of response is they just aren't there... government agencies and weekends and all. The website shows their phone hours as 8-6 eastern mon-fri, and that likely covers the online help desk staff too. https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/available-support-services

Started typing A post, but it looks like a few people beat me to mentioning looking at the antenna situation ahead of power increases. Sometimes just a little shift side to side or a little extra height can get you past an obstruction more effectively. Not only can that help the range to reach out, it also helps receiving as well, which more power does nothing for.

great info! when i got the BB4303 (tuned for 430-450), the cutting chart implied i should have trimmed it a little for most of my usage being in the 440-450 range, but the SWR meter (didn't have a VNA yet) showed 1.2 or less everywhere, so i left it as is.

They seem to be harder to find now, but I had good results with a Browning br-1713-bs. It's a little less gain than the Midland, still 2x5/8 wave, but trading the gain for wider bandwidth, I want to say it's rated for 410-490mhz, and a great option to combine 70cm and gmrs (dual certified LMR radio, perhaps).

There's a few threads on the topic if you search for 'username', the gist is the 'contact us' link at the bottom of the page, or a pm to @rdunajewskiare effective ways to get it done. Here is one thread https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/4406-user-name/

Other than some complaints of possible used items received from Amazon, I've seen nothing but good reviews for the mxta26. On the actual downside is the size, at close to 3 ft. If you need to go smaller for clearance, antenna farm has a good selection for gmrs (tuned for 450-470mhz), and Laird are usually a good bet, either the 12" 5/8 wave (I've had great results with the ham version of this) or the 15" no ground plane versions (whole category).

How about a quick sweep under the couch for the screw? https://www.amazon.com/Telescopic-magnetic-pick-up-lanyard-suction/dp/B081H92J68/

This page seems to have a pretty good description of the mechanics of each, analog (tone, ctcss) vs digital (code/dcs) https://www.twowayradiocommunity.com/differences-ctcss-dcs/ PL (or in this case, TPL) is ctcss, while DPL is DCS; either on the receive settings for your radio acts as a filter, only opening squelch for signals with a matching tone/code. CSQ is carrier squelch, and means squelch opens for any signal above a preset threshold (the squelch level setting).

Tagging this to remind me I need to try reregistering. I have a non commercial account. After trying to go the legit route to get software tomprogram a couple xpr6500's (that I suspect were upgraded to 2.0), was told they needed to convert my account to a business account...sent them the needed info, and nothing since (months ago, now), and no change to my account ?

That looks like the same radio that's sold as the btech 50x2, and a cousin (different firmware) to the gmrs 50x1 and 50v2...I know my 50x1 didn't hold up well (currently stabilizes at 25 watts or so on high) and another member had worse luck with the x1 and multiple x2's. Since the Kenwood's are A, a solid brand with a good reputation, and b, designed for that range for LMR sector (which uses that frequency range natively), I'd expect them to run pretty close to the advertised power if you get a solid example (risks of used gear and all).

With neither 246 or 523 being on the list... I'd be tempted to take a shot in the dark and try 245 and 532 inverted, just to see if there may be a typo in the repeater info. (Kind of a long shot, I know)

Does the list have DPL 523? This thread suggests 523 with the "invert" option checked can take the place of normal DPL 246. https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/inverted-cdcss-dpl-conversion-chart.8261/

That's absolutely possible/probable that the nearby signal from one radio is causing the other to desense enough not to receive audio. I've seen it with as little as 1/2 a watt from a Midland gxt causing the baofeng uv5r go completely "deaf" to incoming audio on simplex. It lit up like it was receiving, but no audio. If this is the case, some distance between them will help

Gotcha...was worth a shot. I might go looking for the previous posts when I get on a computer.

Was that now-former-member the same one that was warned previously about adding repeaters that weren't his?

Are there any of those vxr-1000 that work into the amateur bands? I've looked, and everything I've seen on eBay was listed as 148-175mhz.

The manual generally will state a current requirement, but 25 watts usually works out to around 5 amps draw. Picking a power supply that can comfortably handle a little more leaves some headroom for other things you might want to connect, or for upgrading to a more powerful radio later. I have one similar to this that I got on discount, seems solid so far, and reasonably priced. My primary is a 20a continuous rated Alinco, which cost a bit more. Others will have a variety of suggestions as well. https://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-PS9KX-Universal-Regulated-Converter/dp/B07KML5SCJ