wayoverthere
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Posts posted by wayoverthere
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In terms of after-action, i'll say there's room for improvement. wasn't going for points, so i was doing some hunt and pounce between 20m and 40m, around 0700-0900 UTC. For some reason I decided to play on high difficulty, and on top of the compromised antenna (end fed wire, sloping from 7ft up to around 20 ft roughly east/west), I was running QRP phone.
In retrospect, I should have either taken the effort to set up the interface box and computer for FT8, dragged out the 100 watt radio, or both. I heard club stations as far away as Indiana, Kansas, and Central FL, but nobody could hear me, apparently.
- SteveShannon and FlatTop
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Current plan is operating solo a bit Saturday night to avoid the heat. Recently picked up an Ultimax wire antenna (and the necessary tuner) and looking forward to testing that out.
Club wise...I can't find much. One local club is providing support for the Climb to Kaiser race, while the other, I only found references to a field day setup, but nothing public....the closest event listed with ARRL is 2ish hours away
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13 hours ago, VETCOMMS said:
How long is the Signal Stalk, 40"? Keep us posted on swr please. Thx for the pic, can you share one with most of the vehicle just to see how it looks?
looks like the small signal stalk (as the larger one has a bit more of a "salt shaker" base); just measured mine at 20 3/4" from the base of the plastic to the end of the whip.
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4 hours ago, CALO50 said:
This question became more complicated for my brain (I’m a biological science, not physical science guy). I would also like to mount the face plate to the outside of a Pelican case with the unit on the inside of the case, and concluded I will need A + B magnetic tape (face plate and unit will be separated only by the thickness of the Pelican case wall). Is there a way to test for interference without having to mount all pieces in place? Can I put a roll of A+B tape next to the unit and face plate as a test?
IMO, that should be sufficient to test, as that will give you basically the same setup as if it were mounted, minus actually sticking the adhesive.
Anecdotally (as it's not the same radio), icom's 2730a actually comes with (or might have been part of an optional mount kit..i forget) magnets that mount to the back of the faceplate to stick it to a metal mounting plate. I even ran that metal mounting plate on top of a magnetic phone holder for awhile, till I got a proper hard mount (panavise).
As far as I (and the signal reports) could tell, no ill effects.
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43 minutes ago, Guest Leo said:
It’s close to a month now and my call sign is still not recognized to allow me to register on here. Still no other resources for repeaters. I already Know how to use the radios I use Other types of radios for my job. I don’t talk to any GMRS users besides my wife and kids and want to test out the fars with and without a repeater. I know for sure I will Need a repeater to reach my mom from job sight over 20 miles away with mountains and hills in the way.
I'll go ahead and tag @rdunajewski on this, as he's the one that can take a look at what's up with the listings from FCC making it into the site's database to allow registration.
In terms of repeater listings, this site IS one of the best sources, but not the ONLY. While Repeaterbook was mainly focusted on Ham repeaters, there's also a fair number of GMRS repeaters being listed, so you may check there to see if they have any listed in your area till things get sorted on this side.
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On 3/17/2024 at 1:55 PM, WSAA635 said:
So there's no way to stop transmitting with this radio like there is with my Baofeng radios. I wonder why they didn't include this feature? I was able to get channels to "skip" so that when I scan only my DPS channel scan.
All in all this feels like a fairly well built radio. I'm sure it'll really grow on me once I get more familiar with it.
If it works like my FT4X, one option would be to change the "lock" settings to only disable PTT, so you can still change channes at will. then just unlock when you want to switch to a channel you can transmit on. this is the route i go with the FT4X since i don't have any public safety channels programmed, but dial one up on the VFO occasionally when there might be something going on.
alternately, what i did with the baofengs and the LMR stuff is set them for duplex, with the intended listen only (public safety/commercial/etc) frequency as the receive frequency, and either GMRS CH 1 (462.5625) or MURS 1 (i forget the frequency offhand) as the transmit frequency. Neither is strictly kosher, but GMRS1 is often a mess of kerchunks and call button tones from the kids with bubble packs (at least here), and I've never heard a peep on MURS.
CHIRP is pretty good about letting you just type in the transmit frequency directly, and calculating the offset, but if you're using Yaesu's you may need to calculate it yourself.
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1 hour ago, cwopinger said:
Hello,
I’m fairly new to GMRS overall but do have experience with radios from military and LE time. I recently purchased a DB-20G for my truck to augment my Baofeng UV-9.
I’m trying to learn how to program frequencies into the 20G for my local ham repeaters (I’m working on my tech license and want to monitor the repeaters for now). I have read the “manual” several times and have it available while I’m fumbling through my programing. Is it just me or does the programing require both the radio face controls AND handset controls to input the information? Also, it seems like I need to go in and out of the menus to get to all the settings.
Can anyone shed some light on this process? Maybe share a flow chart of the procedure?
I do have the software downloaded but I’m a Mac guy and my only windows computer is ancient computer I still run as a file server. It’s a bit of a pain to plug in keyboards and monitor just to work on the radio.
First, I'm not a Mac guy, so I don't have firsthand experience there. However, per others' experiences (and Linux/wine experience with other software), it should get along okay with emulator software (not sure what the Mac equivalent of Wine is).
Second, what part of the settings are you having problems with? In the software, I tend to program the basic frequency info (Rx, tx) on the main screen, then hit the carets >> over to the right side of the line to do the rest..ctcss/dcs, channel naming, and scan behavior (and disable tx on monitor only stuff). I'll.try to get on the other computer I used for programming later this evening for some screenshots if someone doesn't beat me to it.
I honestly havent tried much manual programming, it seems less difficult to just use the software,though I do have a dedicated Windows laptop for radio work ($150 refurbished Dell from woot.com).
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3 hours ago, drexel55 said:
Thanks I will recheck setup. I have tried the mic grounding and that did not solve the problem.
Gotcha. Settings are a definite possibility, but any chance of swapping mics with another working unit to test and rule out a fault there?
That was what clued me in on the broken wire in mine...swapping between one working and one not, and which part (cord vs mic) the problem followed.
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3 minutes ago, drexel55 said:
Just purchased a TK-880H and programmed all the GMRS frequencies into radio. I used KPG-49D software and everything works perfect but I can't get it to scan. I only have about thirty frequencies entered but it won't scan the channels. I have only one group programmed. Anyone have a suggestion for a change in software entries or anyother technical fix. Thanks D. Neal WRZL870 Georgetown, KY
Not sure what Kenwood would call the feature (others more familiar with kenwood likely will), but some/many LMR radios have a feature that may be referred to as "on hook scanning". I ran into this with my vertex stuff, and the fix was to ground the mic holder button to the radio. I also had one mic where the ground wire to the button was broken, but a quick solder and it was back to normal.
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5 hours ago, UncleYoda said:
Linking has similar issues on HAM too, except there we can usually switch to other repeaters. For HAM temporary, user-initiated linking is an alternative. I don't know if that is feasible with GMRS linking systems, but if so, would be better than permanent, full-time linking. Linking just at scheduled times is another option.
I don't see any reason, with the right hardware, that a dual pl setup couldnt be implemented similar to what CARLA has on the ham side. One pl, your audio goes to the whole system, while another pl repeats on that machine only. If you key up the local pl, linked audio is muted until a set period after local activity ends, and the link resumes.
- Radioguy7268, Raybestos, tweiss3 and 2 others
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20 minutes ago, WRXB215 said:
@WRYZ926 Was that from a spec page or was it a power test someone did?
It's in the product description (first paragraph) for the UV980P now, though I don't remember seeing that part in the past.
https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-uv980p.html
1 hour ago, WRYZ926 said:I have only seen the UC-920P listed as a dual band 2m/70cm radio. Wouxun did make a UV-920 that was 2m/1.25m, but I haven't seen one available.
https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-uv920p-a.html?___SID=U
From what I could find online, the UV980P is only 10 watts on 6m and 10m.
Yeah, it's been a couple of few months since I looked, the 1.25m version was listed last time, but I put off grabbing one...not there when I checked today.
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46 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:
Unfortunately the 1.25m (220 MHz), 6m, and 10m bands are all low power when it comes to tri-band and quad-band radios. And that is a shame since it forces you to buy additional single band radios if you want higher power output.
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I may have missed something, but I thought the version of the uv920p with 2m/1.25m was full power for both, but I can't seem to find anything solid now, and the 1.25m versions is no longer listed when I look today. I know a lot of the other tribands are low on 1.25, which was what had me eyeing the wouxun.
I don't remember seeing the 10w on 6/10m wording in the listing for the uv980p though, so entirely possible I missed it previously too. -
1 hour ago, UncleYoda said:
There's a very good reason to eliminate the extra payment IMO: it doesn't cost anywhere near that much to process, and HAM used to be free at the FCC end.
To be fair, there were legislative reasons the fee for ham licenses stayed zero as long as it did, along with some administrative hoops to get their <stuff> together to justify the fees and get the payment processes in place.
It'd probably get more traction to argue the cost of administering gmrs licensing should be adjusted to reflect actual costs than trying to get a structure where the license costs nothing.
- SteveShannon and WRUU653
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14 hours ago, WRHS218 said:
I read the document. Wow, there is a lot going on there and I'm not talking about the technical aspects.
I am not sure I understand why anyone with an amateur license would need or want to make all these changes to GMRS. Everything the document proposes is available in the amateur bands and is not relegated to the small number of frequencies given to GMRS even with going narrow band to add channels.
The most disturbing paragraph to me was proposing people holding an amateur radio license could volunteer to be the radio police for both GMRS and the proposed GMRS+ services. I guess having an amateur license makes one superior to the folks on GMRS. I have a "HAM" license and a GMRS license and I am not better than anyone. I'm sure there would be plenty of volunteers for that gig.
Well put, and putting it nicely. It sounds like making more of a mess to me, and there's definitely an overtone of "hams are superior" in that document
While I wouldn't mind seeing digital voice come to gmrs, it'd probably be best relegated to a new channel or two (maybe require narrowband there), and for simplicity go with one set standard...there's already a good variety of radios out there with DMR, from cheap to LMR. Along that line, how about explicitly making part 90 gear a-ok too?
The one thing I wouldn't mind seeing that's definitely a concession to hams (and I'm not seeing any corresponding downside to gmrs, but let me know if I'm missing something) would be a pass on the 95e certification requirement IF the user holds both a gmrs license and a ham license, i.e. the ability to also use your ham gear for gmrs, subject to the usual power, mode and bandwidth requirements for gmrs.
Hey, a guy can dream.
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1 hour ago, WRHS218 said:
I was one who mentioned bring your own contacts. While that is true to a degree that shouldn't stop you from trying to make contacts if you want to. Pointing that out was to try to help explain why you may not be hearing much radio traffic. It was not meant to be a discouragement. Some areas have very little radio traffic and other areas have a lot. As someone else mentioned you can get a couple of cheap radios and let people use them that might be even slightly interested.
I've said the same in the past as well...not to discourage, but to moderate expectations. Some areas are a lot more social, especially where there are linked systems.
Mine is a bit lower activity, a little repeater chatter but other than the machine run by the ham club, not much "outside the group" traffic.
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32 minutes ago, DominoDog said:
What does the /!\ orange triangle with an exclamation point next to a repeater listing mean? Repeater in question is online and I can hear it identify on the air regularly.
From the forums, forums.mygmrs.com, I can find no way to get back to the main site. Not without typing mygmrs.com in the address bar and reloading it manually.
Apologies if I am just overlooking something simple.
For the main page, either the "Repeaters" or the "Map" links (near the top of the page on desktop, or under the right sidebar, accessed by the 3 lines in the top right, on mobile) lead back to the main site.
On that repeater icon, is there one specific you can point to that shows it?
- WRUU653 and SteveShannon
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Yes, some companies make antennas that don't require a ground plane; i'm partial to Laird. The main thing is that it covers the 462-467 range with sufficient bandwidth (the one linked covers 450-470mhz)
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12 minutes ago, Rex said:
I still have no idea who Terry sullivan is...
It's the OP, Kdcstks. May have been typing in the wrong field when posting the question
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23 minutes ago, WRXI335 said:
Just login or sign up as instructed to access the internal items on the websites.
This. I'll note that somewhere around the time of the original post (I forget if it was before or after) the logins between the two parts of the site were unified.
One may still need to login to the main page again, as it doesn't carry between the two (afaik), but the login should be the same for main site or forum.
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8 hours ago, SpeedSpeak2Me said:
Now, I do say "as a reference" because The Antenna Farm is closed until Summer of 2024, but they are still an excellent resource. An alternative mount, which I have yet to hear anything negative about is the Midland MXTA12 mag mount. It is also more readily available, and is 3.5" in diameter.
First, I've had nothing good experiences with The Antenna Farm as well, and hope to see them get back on track in the new year.
Second, most of the mag mounts I've used have been the mxta12's, and they've worked well for me, both on that 32" 2x5/8 wave Browning, and the 36" long comet 2x4sr. They've hung on fine on the roof of my little truck even close to 90mph, along with dragging a signal stalk across all the ceiling beams in the 7' clearance parking structure at work (5 or 6 floors worth, depending where I found a spot). The only time it actually came off in the year I had it up was once, with a direct hit on the comet on a solid (2"+ diameter) tree branch
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10 hours ago, kidphc said:
It is rough for us Hams because the 70cm and GMRS bands are to close to use a duplexer for separate antennas. But far enough apart that anything that cover both bands, that we either sacrifice part of each band, or have silly SWR at the ends of both bands. Personally, I shoot for about 450-453 Mhz, when tuning them to try to get the most bandwidth. Usually, start ending up with 1.67-1.75 on the band edges. Acceptable, for a really compromised antenna.
Easiest route is to go 1/4 wave for either band and usually will cover both bands with below 1.6 SWR. Lowest SWR will end up being in the commercial band. But they are the broadest bandwith designs you will find. I don't use them because the roof rack shadows too much of the antenna, I end up with worse performance then with a 5/8 wave and coil design.
The one antenna I've found that actually did well on both was a Browning (br1713bs, 2x5/8 wave), rated for 410-490mhz, iirc. When testing, both on 70cm and gmrs, I never saw higher than 1.2:1. I never tested it without SOME ground plane, but to be fair, my little truck isn't a ton of space either (center roof, single cab compact truck). Unfortunately, some poking around looks like it may be limited availability or discontinued.
Tram does also have a 1/4 wave they rate for a similar frequency range, though I haven't used it, so I don't know the model number offhand.
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1 hour ago, BoxCar said:
There are numerous YouTube videos on how to program virtually any radio using any software. Try looking on YouTube for videos and learn from them. It's really easy as the Midland radios are rather dumb and lack a lot of options. You'll need three things, the Midland or compatible software, a programming cable for your radio along with your radio being connected to your computer through the programming cable.
So...I haven't worked with the newer mxt115, but i don't believe they're computer programmable, at least at the consumer level.
The key points with the older 115 I had were enabling the repeater channels via the menu, tuning to the right "XXRP" channel for the frequency desired (which is programmed with the offset needed for repeater use) and then setting the code that corresponds to the tone needed for that repeater. I understand the new 115's have TX and rx tones separate now, and TX tone is what you need for the repeater...Rx is optional.
https://cdn.accentuate.io/81031332017/1623709961570/MXT115-Owners-Manual-11-16-2020.pdf
Page 23 has the instructions to enable repeater channels, 18 and 19 have the past about setting tones, and 27 has the table of what code corresponds to what tone.
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5 minutes ago, Sshannon said:
Yeah, I have one of the ft4x radios also and I really like it. It’s small enough that I can easily carry it in a pocket. I put a stubby Diamond antenna on it too. That doesn’t improve the reception, but it’s sure convenient.
Yeah, I have a little stubby flexible rubber comet antenna and a signal stick for mine too. The comet is great for around the house (or vehicle) hotspot use.
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8 hours ago, wrci350 said:
The FT-65 is a SOC, not superheterodyne. That's not necessarily terrible; with the proper filtering a SOC radio can be a good performer.
On the other hand, I have a couple superhet radios I am very unimpressed with.
To add to this...in a very general sense, it can be easier to make a good performing superhet than SOC, and there's some cheap bad SOC radios out there. There's also some really awesome (and priced accordingly) SOC radios, and some meh superhet ones.
That aside, I have the little brother to the ft65 (the ft4x), and it's been solid, and is the one I grab most often for handheld use. Holds a charge well, little to no drain when off, and decent filtering. Even took it up on the hill by the repeater and commercial fm sites, and was listening to myself and the convo on the repeater there, while talking into another repeater across the valley on the mobile. Meanwhile, the baofeng uv5r I also had along was stone deaf, acting like there were no signals present
- SteveShannon, WRUU653 and wrci350
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ARRL Field Day - This weekend
in Amateur Radio (Ham)
Posted
I was hoping late night would make it a little easier to get through (and there seemed to be some gaps to get into), but I think I just piled too many compromises together to be very effective.
On the upside, running between midnight and 2am PDT meant lower temps...it was more like high 70's instead of the 107/108 highs we saw Saturday and Sunday...when I went to pick up food Sunday afternoon, the display in the truck read 135F.