krvw

Height is everything.  The further up in the air you can go, the better, and longer range you will have.  On the roof would be ideal, if you can hide it somehow.  ...perhaps connect it to a vent pipe on the roof, and paint it some flat, light gray color so it doesn't show up unless you are looking for it.
 
The attic would be OK, as long as you don't have those metal-backed shingles on your roof.    Those will kill the signal.

They're far, far better radios than anything Midland or BTECH sell, sold, or will sell for the foreseeable future. WRAK968 is about right as far as pricing...880s are a commodity, nothing more.

V1 and V2 firmware ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE. This is because of minor hardware differences inside of the radio as well as some features the V2 radio has that the V1 radio doesn't. Overall these features aren't really used in GMRS and are more towards commercial radio For example enhanced fleetsync functionality and the available use of some MDT hardware.

I have several TK880's both V1 and V2. V1 radios I used to build a small portable repeater that I can set up anywhere, even in a campground. The V2 radios are installed in our vehicles and while we use fleetsync for radio ID and text messaging on my local repeater, there isnt much use for it when I go onto another system. This is because the Fleetsync codes we use may be different to other users.

Anyways, If the offer is right, $20-30 for just a radio, or maybe $50 for radio and mic in fair condition, go for it, Anything more and you could likely do better on Ebay.

Okay, I'm hooked.
 
I was walking out to our local crop share pickup today when a neighbor texted me and asked if I knew what the huge plume of smoke is rising from near Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing (yet) on the news.
 
I had my radio with me because I was doing a couple of antenna/signal tests anyway, so I hopped on the local repeater and asked for anyone nearby to provide a visual situation report. Within a minute, I had 3 separate responses.
 
Turned out to be a huge construction fire, now at 5 alarms.
 
The local news story hit their web site and alert system > 30 minutes later. (See https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/02/massive-fire-engulfs-fairfax-county-construction-site/)
 
No big deal, I suppose, but I will add that from my vantage point, the smoke was along the glide path into DCA (Reagan National) airport. I'm the son of a retired 747 pilot (and fighter/aerobatics RAF team), so big plumes of smoke near airports have always made me uneasy, since long before 9-11.
 
Anyway, LOVE my GMRS comms now that I've learned about the world of repeaters out there. I'll be taking my Ham technician class exam in a couple weeks as well.
 
I'm hooked.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken (WRFC318)
 

Okay, I'm hooked.
 
I was walking out to our local crop share pickup today when a neighbor texted me and asked if I knew what the huge plume of smoke is rising from near Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing (yet) on the news.
 
I had my radio with me because I was doing a couple of antenna/signal tests anyway, so I hopped on the local repeater and asked for anyone nearby to provide a visual situation report. Within a minute, I had 3 separate responses.
 
Turned out to be a huge construction fire, now at 5 alarms.
 
The local news story hit their web site and alert system > 30 minutes later. (See https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/02/massive-fire-engulfs-fairfax-county-construction-site/)
 
No big deal, I suppose, but I will add that from my vantage point, the smoke was along the glide path into DCA (Reagan National) airport. I'm the son of a retired 747 pilot (and fighter/aerobatics RAF team), so big plumes of smoke near airports have always made me uneasy, since long before 9-11.
 
Anyway, LOVE my GMRS comms now that I've learned about the world of repeaters out there. I'll be taking my Ham technician class exam in a couple weeks as well.
 
I'm hooked.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken (WRFC318)
 

You can build one: "https://m0ukd.com/calculators/quarter-wave-ground-plane-antenna-calculator" or you can buy one, aforementioned BR-6140, that I use above my roof. It is on newegg for $35, which is a steal. Cable, like LMR-240 or RG-8X will probably be as or more expensive, depending on the length you need to run to your attic. And it's all futile if you have this new OSB with aluminum foil anywhere on your roof. Or concrete tile. In that case you'd need to put antenna outside, but thanks for the short wavelength of GMRS, it will be trivial to hide or disguise.
 
And with regard to the cable, LMR-400 or RG-213 would be better, of course, but not really handy when connected to HT, because they are 1/2" thick (give or take). You'd need short patch cables with connectors that will drive up the cost. Of course, cost may be, or may not be a factor for your situation. Anyway, consult these tables for the loss: "https://w4rp.com/ref/coax.html"

Okay, I'm hooked.
 
I was walking out to our local crop share pickup today when a neighbor texted me and asked if I knew what the huge plume of smoke is rising from near Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing (yet) on the news.
 
I had my radio with me because I was doing a couple of antenna/signal tests anyway, so I hopped on the local repeater and asked for anyone nearby to provide a visual situation report. Within a minute, I had 3 separate responses.
 
Turned out to be a huge construction fire, now at 5 alarms.
 
The local news story hit their web site and alert system > 30 minutes later. (See https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/02/massive-fire-engulfs-fairfax-county-construction-site/)
 
No big deal, I suppose, but I will add that from my vantage point, the smoke was along the glide path into DCA (Reagan National) airport. I'm the son of a retired 747 pilot (and fighter/aerobatics RAF team), so big plumes of smoke near airports have always made me uneasy, since long before 9-11.
 
Anyway, LOVE my GMRS comms now that I've learned about the world of repeaters out there. I'll be taking my Ham technician class exam in a couple weeks as well.
 
I'm hooked.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken (WRFC318)
 

Okay, I'm hooked.
 
I was walking out to our local crop share pickup today when a neighbor texted me and asked if I knew what the huge plume of smoke is rising from near Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing (yet) on the news.
 
I had my radio with me because I was doing a couple of antenna/signal tests anyway, so I hopped on the local repeater and asked for anyone nearby to provide a visual situation report. Within a minute, I had 3 separate responses.
 
Turned out to be a huge construction fire, now at 5 alarms.
 
The local news story hit their web site and alert system > 30 minutes later. (See https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/02/massive-fire-engulfs-fairfax-county-construction-site/)
 
No big deal, I suppose, but I will add that from my vantage point, the smoke was along the glide path into DCA (Reagan National) airport. I'm the son of a retired 747 pilot (and fighter/aerobatics RAF team), so big plumes of smoke near airports have always made me uneasy, since long before 9-11.
 
Anyway, LOVE my GMRS comms now that I've learned about the world of repeaters out there. I'll be taking my Ham technician class exam in a couple weeks as well.
 
I'm hooked.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken (WRFC318)
 

Okay, I'm hooked.
 
I was walking out to our local crop share pickup today when a neighbor texted me and asked if I knew what the huge plume of smoke is rising from near Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing (yet) on the news.
 
I had my radio with me because I was doing a couple of antenna/signal tests anyway, so I hopped on the local repeater and asked for anyone nearby to provide a visual situation report. Within a minute, I had 3 separate responses.
 
Turned out to be a huge construction fire, now at 5 alarms.
 
The local news story hit their web site and alert system > 30 minutes later. (See https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/02/massive-fire-engulfs-fairfax-county-construction-site/)
 
No big deal, I suppose, but I will add that from my vantage point, the smoke was along the glide path into DCA (Reagan National) airport. I'm the son of a retired 747 pilot (and fighter/aerobatics RAF team), so big plumes of smoke near airports have always made me uneasy, since long before 9-11.
 
Anyway, LOVE my GMRS comms now that I've learned about the world of repeaters out there. I'll be taking my Ham technician class exam in a couple weeks as well.
 
I'm hooked.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken (WRFC318)
 

Okay, I'm hooked.
 
I was walking out to our local crop share pickup today when a neighbor texted me and asked if I knew what the huge plume of smoke is rising from near Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing (yet) on the news.
 
I had my radio with me because I was doing a couple of antenna/signal tests anyway, so I hopped on the local repeater and asked for anyone nearby to provide a visual situation report. Within a minute, I had 3 separate responses.
 
Turned out to be a huge construction fire, now at 5 alarms.
 
The local news story hit their web site and alert system > 30 minutes later. (See https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2020/02/massive-fire-engulfs-fairfax-county-construction-site/)
 
No big deal, I suppose, but I will add that from my vantage point, the smoke was along the glide path into DCA (Reagan National) airport. I'm the son of a retired 747 pilot (and fighter/aerobatics RAF team), so big plumes of smoke near airports have always made me uneasy, since long before 9-11.
 
Anyway, LOVE my GMRS comms now that I've learned about the world of repeaters out there. I'll be taking my Ham technician class exam in a couple weeks as well.
 
I'm hooked.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken (WRFC318)
 

You're welcome.
 
Yes... the antenna works great for me on GMRS. At the power levels GMRS works at, any SWR 2.0 or less, you are safe. 1.5 or better, you should get good performance with minimal power loss.

Thanks Marcspaz,
 
I'm far from expert, but this seems to me that the X50a would perform acceptably well on GMRS? I really appreciate your guidance. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a newbie in the RF world. Just want to have a good emergency comms plan in place with my wife. (And enjoy a new hobby at the same time.)
 
Cheers,
 
Ken

If you are on a budget, you may want to look at these antennas, I have one tuned for GMRS and it works well on the Ham band 70 cm. I'm able to trigger repeaters 30 miles away from inside my ground floor apartment with a 25W BTECH mobile. https://www.jpole-antenna.com/

i posted this a while back, the DB-404 is an amazing antenna for the attic. Living in a CONDO i know all about the HOA as I am the president of ours. I am able to work simplex 15 to 20 miles and repeaters 45 to 50 miles away. If you scroll down I included some photos.   https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1367-antenna-for-base-in-apartment/

Both are goo antennas for ham radio use, however I believe both are tuned for 440-450 where GMRS is 460-470, you may have SWR issues due to frequency mismatch which could lead to damage of your radios. There are some antennas with wider bandwidths but usually they are single band rather than dual. I'll defer to other more experienced hams on this as I'm still a little new when it comes to antenna tuning and matching.

 

Well, part of the issue is you are trying to push through ll the wood, walls, exc. to get out of the house, so the fewer walls, beams, plywood sheets, and definitely drywall to get through the better. The easiest way to test is to place your antenna in the attic and let the wire dangle down from the ceiling and test it before figuring out a final install plan. Chances are if one antenna cannot get out under low power, most wont get out and you might need more power just to overcome the construction. I found an area in my fathers attic (Hes in an HOA as well) where a plastic vestibule was placed and stuck an antenna in there which increased his range dramatically, so also study what your install options are. Another thing to look at is the height of your attic, if your attic peek is only 10 feet up, your range wont be that good. You should be able to hit the repeater fine, but simplex operations will likely require you to build a "hidden" antenna you can place outside. if your building is 2 or 3 stories up you should find your simplex range adequate and not need an external antenna.

One last note for when you are ready to purchase your antenna, look for one that requires little to no ground plane to work as this makes things a little bit simpler when you do the final install. I think I used this one at my fathers place;
https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/browning-br-6140-3571
We did not use a ground plane and at 20W output the swr is 1.3 which is acceptable.

Greetings folks.
 
I'm new here and to GMRS in general, but I'm glad I found out about GMRS.
 
I'm trying to set up emergency back-up communications between myself and my wife, for those times when power, internet, and cellular are out especially. Yes, not often, but it has happened. (We're in Virginia and have lived through 36+ hour power outages due to hurricanes, etc.)
 
My goal is to work towards simplex communications with my wife, but for now, I'll settle for a local GMRS repeater. Her office is about 3 miles away, and the terrain is fairly flat suburban area.
 
I'm working (for now) primarily with handheld radios. BaoFeng UV-5Rs. I plan to upgrade to at least having a base transceiver at home. (One that does 2M and 0.7M HAM as well.) But, for now, handhelds.
 
I have a GMRS license (WRFC813) and am sitting for my technician class ham license in a couple weeks. (I will NEVER get my wife to go ham, so don't go there. Hence, GMRS for the two of us, but ham for my own hobbyist fun.)
 
So, that in mind, here's my issue...
 
I can communicate with a nearby repeater just fine. That is, just fine from one of the handhelds when I'm outside my house. I also have a mag mount antenna on my car roof and can hit the repeater pretty much anywhere in my area.
 
But, when I step inside the house, I often can't quite get there.
 
I tried the car antenna (Nagoya UT-72) inside the house, and it doesn't seem better than the whips (NA-771). Then again, inside the house, I do not have a good ground plane steel plate on which to mount the UT-72...
 
I literally step out the front door or back door onto my deck and I can talk with the repeater. Inside, not so much.
 
Suggestions for a home antenna rig that will improve this? I'm in a HOA, so I really don't want to bother with trying to get permission from the crown to install an outdoor antenna. I have an attic crawl space, but if I'm going to go that route, I want to be pretty certain it'll work.
 
My preference is something that can sit here in my living room and still be enough improvement of the NA-771 that I'll be happy. Perhaps better mounting for a UT-72? Suggestions?
 
Thanks.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken (WRFC813)