wayoverthere

One other anecdotal experience: when I first set up my ham antenna, I had it clamped onto the side post of one of those metal wire racks, which gave a swr around 3:1...not good. Moved it from there to the top of an aluminum tripod, away from anything else...swr dropped to like...1.1:1 with no other changes.

So...conveniently, I have a 5/8 over 5/8 wave Browning UHF antenna and Midland mag mount sitting idle right now, since the truck is in the shop. Dug out the Surecom (sw102) and got some numbers. Stuck the antenna/mount in the middle of the top of a chest freezer (nothing within 6 inches of the vertical, and only wood/sheetrock any closer than a foot to the sides). First round, all 15 (or 17, I forget) feet of cable was kind of lazily run around the floor to avoid any coils. This yielded 1.0 swr on channels 1 (462.5625) and 22 (462.725), and 1.06 on Repeater 22 (467.725). Second test, I coiled as much cable as I could between the radio and the antenna, ended up with 7 coils approximately 5 inches in diameter. Same channels/frequencies as before showed some minor change, though the cable routing near my computer screens and metal monitor stand to get the straightest routing (and most excess cable) might also have played into it. Second round numbers (with the coiled cable) were 1.09 on 1, still 1.0 on 22, and 1.07 on Repeater 22....still well within good swr range, all of them.

Nice!? I converted one of my always-on 12v receptacles to keyed and do the same with my mxt115 (when it's hooked up....i swap between that and using a HT for 70cm).

Is that an actual switch for on/off, rather than a power button? If so, I could see just leaving it on, and wiring it behind a relay that shuts off when the key is turned off, or a keyed 12v socket)

Split tones refers to using two different tones for input/output, but isn't specific to a tone. Travel tone is specific, referring to 141.3, usually both input and output.

The radio, by itself, does not have the ability to be a repeater. You could make one out of a pair of radios with a controller box, but the fact that the tx channels are hard coded kind of limits how you would be able to set it up..you might be able to use the extra channels (programmed via chirp) to set the receive frequency, with the tx radio set to a simplex channel. That aside, a v1 wouldn't be able to use a repeater set up with a negative offset, because again, the tx channels are hard coded for gmrs simplex, and for standard+5 offset on the repeater channels. Anything else programmed will be receive only.

Thanks for clarifying, G. I have the enhanced displays, so I'll edit my post above to make this clear.

I think we can call this thread moot now, as the main issue has been addressed, and most of the discussion stayed in the other thread.

Yeah, I saw the potential of a link between username and call sign (which has a direct link to public info) so deliberately used a username I'm not using outside this radio stuff. Realistically, while the forum is added a bit of a link between the two, the information issue is really with FCC and the amount of information available there, though that's something I've never been entirely okay with, just grudgingly accept as part of the rules.

Posting here as an extension of this post in the Private Discussion section. Other members have noted that many callsigns seem to be visible to all site visitors, even those not logged in (confirmed this just now in a different browser). I'll note that I had previously set my profile options to display my GMRS call as "ask", and it shows as such when not logged in; however, I went looking for the option now, and I don't see it in either the privacy options, account options or profile options. I do see that I can (and have) set my ham call to "ask" (it's an open text field), but nothing for the GMRS sign. Did something change in the site settings?

Interesting, I also may have jumped the gun then...i'd be curious how their certification dates compare to the implementation dates of that presentation and/or revised wording in the code, and whether theyre certified under 95a or 95e.

While I've seen the document before, seeing it combined with the code really adds some context, as the wording in the document fits with the bit of the code I was pointing out. I know it doesn't say QUITE what we want it to, in being able to equate part 90 approval with part 95 approval, but it's kind of interesting to see the statement they made in the document about dual approval being reflected in the code. The fact remains that, though there IS still some avenue for dual approval (would the 450-512 split radios qualify, since they'd officially fall entirely outside amateur bands?), it doesn't seem that any of the major manufacturers are making the effort.

I think this was the thread that was discussing this issue, and I want to say it came down to a firmware fix. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/2305-retevis-rt76p-programming/page/3/#comment-26430

My understanding is that the v1 (like my 50x1) already has all the channels hard coded, with rept15-rept22 already having the appropriate 5mHz offset set for you. Choose the right one for the repeater's frequency, set the tones, and as long as you're within range you should be good to go. One downside of how they did the hard coding is that anything you save (or add via computer) beyond the base 30 will be rx-only.

I'll throw a note of caution on totally trusting that fccid.io site, as i've noticed a few glitches in the data (they list a couple of my radios as 'part 9', when FCC lists them as part 90). it takes a little more doing (breaking up the id correctly), but you can search fcc's database from this page: https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm?calledFromFrame=N here is the listing for that TK8180 a couple posts up: https://apps.fcc.gov/tcb/GetTcb731Report.do?applicationId=mQJdXuk4NgS25wdTS%2BjTOA%3D%3D&fcc_id=K4437313110

If my memory serves me, you want REPT21 (as @WyoJoe said, it's probably programmed in channel 29) for that one. Repeater output frequencies are the same as the simplex channels, with the input frequencies 5mHz higher, and the REPTXX channels in your radio should be pre-programmed to account for that. REPT21 should receive on 462.700, and transmit on 467.700 (the repeater's input frequency). on tones, i believe the menu item you want will be called T-CTC (aka PL or CTCSS) or T-DCS (aka DPL or DCS), depending which type the repeater is using. if it's expressed in hz, it's CTCSS/PL; if it's a 3 digit number, or 3 digits followd by I or N, it's DCS/DPL.

If you're going the Zello route (because there's no repeaters in range linked to the net, you're skipping using a radio and replacing it with a smartphone app or computer program. In this scenario, Zello is a means of access to either a repeater that's linked to the net, or a radio that's set up to access a repater that's linked. Ideally, if you have a repeater within radio range (even an external antenna will make a difference with the Btech), that's the better route, as it skips the lags inherent in the app. Some of the permission thing really boils down to the repeater owners wanting to keep track of who's using the repeaters, and covering themselves on making sure the users are licensed. It's not impossible that the repeaters youre looking for are there, but inactive....though it's also possible they're no longer there and someone just didn't remove the listing.

I don't think the mygmrs one is linked to a node. Fairly sure the Tucson group has one (that is password protected), and I think there may a Midwest one and one in either Bronx or New Jersey that is either linked to a repeater, or linked to a node with access to a repeater.

There's a couple options to join the net; first is if there's a linked repeater in your area (check the map), and if so, whether it's linked in for the net. i CAN vouch that CHIRP absolutely can assist with inputting the codes you need to access a repeater (CHIRP is just programming your radio; you tell it what tone you need, and it generates them as needed in use), but you will need to know the appropriate code for the repeater you want to use (which, if the owner is making it available, will be listed on the map/repeater listing. aside from repeaters, it's possible to join the net via the zello app..i know there are 3 or 4 zello nodes that are either repeaters linked in, or a simplex node that's able to access a linked repeater; some of the groups will allow users access via a protected zello channel to join the net (but protected to ensure only licensed users have access to the actual radio hardware.

I'll check in a bit and edit if needed, but I believe the menu option you want for DPL is called T-DCS, you can enter R-DCS if you'd like, or leave it off to receive everything on the channel. edit: yep, T-DCS is what you're looking for to get into the repeater; usually if it's given without the letter, it's assumed to be the normal version of the code (411N) rather than inverted (411i).

That's the story over here too, a few mixed mode (analog/p25) linked to other analog and p25 machines. I have 1 dmr radio (radioddity gd73), 3 potentially dmr capable (evx539) and 1 p25 (vx-p824 uhf). Haven't set up the gd73 And hotspot yet, but the p824 is one of the two I grab for out and about, though I haven't really gotten a good test in with the p25.

There's definitely been some learning curve with all of this...other than messing with Chirp and a couple Baofengs I grabbed for cheap scanners, I only really started digging into all this last March during the shutdown/shelter in place, and then dove into the deeper end with the commercial gear in January. It's definitely taken some trial and error and learning. On the narrowband thing, it looks like 1/1/13 was the deadline for most of the public safety/commercial to be rolled over to that, and i'm sure the software would have been pushing it leading up to that date. on versions, i finally went digging through my computers (it's spread across multiple, the CE76 doesn't get along with one of the other versions), and it looks like i have: CE59 ( Export V5.04, for the vx4207 & vx924), CE76 (US V3.12, for the p824), CE115 (US & Export V5.01, i think this was said to work for the EVX, but only worked for the prior version) and CE151 (US V1.12, for the enhanced/dot matrix display EVX539s I have). on the CE59, i believe i bought that from The Antenna Farm, $49 with a cable (as Bluemax49ers didn't list that cable). quality2wayradios.com also has a good selection of software, and are where i got the software for the EVXs, though some of their stuff is explicit that it's the US/Narrowband version.

Hello from down the hill! The Auberry machine was getting a little activity not too long ago, though I haven't been listening a whole lot lately so I'm not sure if it's died off...I've been hanging out more on the 70cm side, on a couple repeaters linked to a network along the coast around Monterey/ Santa Cruz. I think the Tenmile one is out of range, so not sure how much activity that one gets. Haven't heard much on the Central one (coalinga) though.

It took me a couple tries with one of them, I had to make sure the automatic time updates were really off before changing the time, then change the time, THEN open the software again. No solid info, but it wouldn't totally surprise me of the very latest versions (after narrowbanding went into effect) shut that loophole. I'll try to remember to check after work to see if ce49 is one of the versions I have to compare version numbers.

I still have to check what cps versions I have ? some of them you can fool into letting you have wideband by shutting off automatic time updates, and then setting the system date back to like...2005, though not so much for the evx539.