Jump to content

deputycrawford

Members
  • Posts

    61
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    7

Everything posted by deputycrawford

  1. Very cool. nice to see another. I have one in Toledo, Ohio and there is another one next door in Oregon, Ohio. You might be able to use the one in Oregon. It is on 462.575 with a PL of XXXXX Give it a shot. [staff Edit - Please PM Jerry for access codes] Jerry.
  2. Hello, my name is Jerry. I am an extra class ham and a GMRS license holder. I have a repeater up on 462.600. I should have it back on the air tomorrow. There is another repeater on 462.575 in my area. Oh yeah, I'm in the Toledo, Ohio area. PM me and ill get you the PL codes for the two and you can use them when you are south of Detroit. Welcome and have fun. Jerry
  3. I know this has been inactive for awhile but Sean got ahold of Tim and got into the system. We have also given him a few free reprograms to keep him on the air. Anyone in the club, or area, that wants to use the system legally gets all updates and any help with equipment for free, as long as we have to parts and equipment. We just love a super large group to be able to talk to. We love having Sean on our system. He has been wonderful. Jerry
  4. I would set up some "N" connectors at each end of the feed line and have much less insertion loss. Jerry
  5. If you have to make the long run then go to 7/8 hard line and use short 1/2 hard line jumpers at each end. I would run electrical to the garage and use a much shorter run of 1/2 hard. Putting electric in the garage isn't that hard, very rewarding, and makes the property more valuable if you ever sell. Plus you can use a 50 amp run with a junction box and run many other things to fix a car, lighting, etc. I ran all of that to my garage, including a second run of cable and phone line to mine. Now I can use internet and find repairs for my car, watch the weather come in, and even use it for get togethers when I also added a furnace. Just start with electric and use the shorter line. You may go into using the garage for many other things in the future. If you don't want to do all of that, which is fun and rewarding to do, then run the 7/8 hard with the 1/2 hard jumpers. Get all the height you can get.
  6. I wonder since they are using call signs that don't match a data base and the other mumbles his that they may even be using the repeater system without licensing. Just a thought. Many ham radios can scan for PL codes but if you don't have one that will be useless. You can turn on each PL code in your radio on receive and watch for the signal. If no audio then go to the next. When audio pops on then you have found it. Then ask them if you can use it. You might look up Bluecomm on Facebook or somewhere and try to find them. They might not have anything listed to keep it a closed, private repeater. Many thing to think about there. Jerry
  7. You can try the water towers around you. When you find the property managers tell them about the volunteer nature and emergency communications that GMRS is for. Then tell them about personal comms, and that the manager's family is all covered under the license, and no test to take. Offer him, or her, to jump on the repeater. Talk with the Ham community and see if they know of spots to put it. They may even let you on one of their sites. Then their family's can use it without a test to take. Ours here in Toledo has gotten several people to take their ham tech tests. Tell everyone that GMRS can lead to many things. Hope this helps. Oh, and get rid of that RG8X and get some LMR400 at least. There is a huge amount of line loss in the coax you are using. Jerry
  8. Our Black Swamp Radio Society repeater id's once every hour and again every 15 mins while it is in use. That reminds us to id in the proper amount of time. The morse id only says "time to id." LOL It is so busy that it ids all the time. We have well over 30 licenses on it and most of us are hams too. We all get along and have a good time. Jerry
  9. I have a 14 year old kid in my neighborhood that heard me on his bubble pack radio and called for me. I answered and told him about the GMRS thing. He now listens to ch15, our receive for our repeater pair, and pushes his call button on ch1 when he hears me get home. I talk to him all the time now. I told him to tell his parents what he is doing and keep them informed. He knows who I am and what I do, and has confirmed it with the deputies at his school. His parents are fine with it and he is really getting into radio because of it. I found him a scanner for next to nothing, and have cleared it with his parents to give it to him. He wants to be a police officer and really likes talking with me. I think he is even going to join my office's explorer group. All that from hearing us on a bubble pack radio. Sounds like a next generation radio guy. Jerry
  10. I have been told by a radio specialist that the 1/4 wave antenna has the flatest radiation take off angle. The 5/8 wave might give you that extra mile or so at the edge but the take off angle is higher. I have run them both on NMO mounts. I have not seen a difference so the 1/4 wave stays on. A little 6in or so 1/4 wave on a magnate mount NMO with 6 in or so of ground plan will do you well. The center of the roof is best in my opinion. I have a clip on NMO on the trunk of my convertible and drilled a hole in the roof of my truck. What can I say, I'm a diehard. I've drilled holes in many of my cars. Jerry
  11. Hello Randy. Welcome to the site and GMRS. Have you checked your area for repeaters you can ask to jump onto? You should have some fun with this radio service. Read up all you can on this site and you'll be a pro in no time. LOL Jerry
  12. Uniden, many of us here have lots of experience with radios. Pastor can answer anything. I am also a ham so get your license there also. Lots of opportunities. Jerry
  13. Sean, this is Jerry and I am on the Toledo, Ohio repeater. Look up Black Swamp Radio Society on Facebook or BSRS.ML and we will help you. Jerry
  14. Tim put his MSR2000 repeater back together with a 1225 radio in line. He set it at 6 watts, added a 10dB intenuator in line to drop the power to 1/4 watt to excite the amp. Then set the amp at 50 watts and programmed for the 550 and tested it until it was ready to put up. HE THEN GAVE IT TO ME. We swapped it out with the Icom repeater and let it rip. We went from 25 watts out to 50 watts out. WE are going up Wednesday to do some antenna work and put the Icom back in line wit the 575 in it. They will both be over the 400 ft mark at the same site. Kewl I tell ya. Always a work in progress. Jerry
  15. Those things just might start causing a bunch of illegal operations if people figure out how to use them to their potential. Jerry
  16. One reason I can think of is that LMR400 is a solid core coax cable which does not flex well, and at a 1 foot length, you have to be careful to keep the looping to a wide relaxed bend. When it is flexed it likes to return to straight so the loop will cause a permanent stress on the connectors, so check it from time to time. Also, if I remember correctly, do not cut any jumpers at 3 foot. I think with the 400 MHz area the harmonic at that length can cause the jumper to go hot and radiate RF. I can't remember exactly so as a rule I just never cut jumpers to 3 feet. Please someone chime in if I am wrong. Jerry
  17. I am not sure why anyone would need to use AM or Vestigial side band modes but it would be neat to try them out. Jerry
  18. I re-read my earlier post and forgot to answer your "A line" question. The "A line" is a map line showing the restriction of using the 462.650 and 462.700 because of a treaty with Canada. It is defined in 47CFR 95.45, which references 47CFR 1.923 and 1.924, explaining the use of the 462.650 and 462.700, and the repeater offsets of 467.650 and 467.700, North of the A line, and east of the C line in Alaska. There are 18 states listed that are affected by the A and C lines. I heard of it because I am also affected by it, and had to research it to pick a repeater frequency pair for Toledo, Ohio. Jerry
  19. On average VHF travels farther at 5 watts than UHF at 5 watts, but UHF has MUCH smaller dead spots than VHF. Dead spots on VHF can be 5 to 6 feet long where UHF dead spots can be 4 to 6 inches long. I would use UHF for it's much better foliage penetration also. I do like the idea that you get licensed for commercial so you can use 5 watt UHF radios for everyone in your group under your license. The radios will be a little heavier, but weight versus life makes it a mute issue. You'll spend a bunch of money to get set up, but will feel great when you can keep an eye on everyone much better. Have each group carry GPS equipment so you can get locations if things go wrong. I like that you are really thinking about safety and security this hard. Keep up the good work and let us know what you find out. It will help all of us out to learn from you. Jerry
  20. I figured it would. I also found a guy today that is a ham operator, but is also a certified K-9 search and rescue operator. He has a 30 foot trailer that is full of computers, radios, generator for power, and screens that capture his 2 K-9 dogs GPS locators, and the Go Pros they wear on their collars. He volunteers for the southern Michigan Police, Fire, Sheriff, and the area office feds. I told him about the GMRS repeater and society we started and he is jumping on board with a license within the next week. I flagged him down while passing me at a traffic stop. We talked for quite awhile. He is with Skywarn, A.R.E.S., Red Cross etc. His wife even runs the other dog as they are both certified to run operations. His trailer has things tied to an automatic radio logging system that records every transmission, area in which they are searching, what they found, and prints it out so he can hand it to the Officer in charge of the search. His name is Ernie and we exchanged information so we can contact each other about setting up training secessions to start Community Emergency Response teams in the area. I have been monitoring the radio system every minute of the day I can and live to get people involved. It looks like we might bring a couple of big wigs on board now. I'll keep posting. Jerry
  21. I heard from Tim that if he turns in the FCC form, takes it to the Detroit Office and has it tested for emissions, it will certify all Baofeng 888 radios for use in GMRS. We just don't know how much the fee is to do it. If it's a bunch we won't do it but if we can swing it then I will let everyone know when it is complete. Jerry
  22. Pastor Gary, I know that many here help out a lot. Thanks for mentioning them because I tend to forget screen names or call signs. Dutch, I will try to forward a list of the radios, or Tim, WQTT-240, can post them here. He lives to research radio info. I know he found the list on an FCC website, so I will check on a link or something also. I believe Tim's form should be for his 888's, but not for everyone's. Any radio that is direct entry capable is not eligible for Part 95 certification. Tim is rocking up his bat wing 2000 repeater, and possibly putting it up on the big site as a second repeater. That way we can chat on one and leave the other for more neighborhood watch kind of things. Just talking about it, but it would be nice to have two repeaters with this kind of coverage and saturation. His 2000 will be battery back up also, but I think the building is on generator backup anyway. I will post updates as things happen. This is still fun and growing. Jerry
  23. Hey everyone. We have about 30 registered possible users on our repeater. There are between 22 and 25 licenses registered in the area and some have family members that use the radio service. We have had about 8 to 9 users on the system at once, with everyone taking their turn and using it correctly. The repeater is in use not much longer than 30 mins at a time before it goes silent for awhile. It is working well and we are teaching new people how to smooth up their operation all the time. We have created a monster here. We have everyone with a license checking into this website for information and reading the posts to learn more. I am co-founding member, and the second repeater could go back on line again and keep my call sign. Everything is going well here. Thanks to Pastor Gary and all who have put information here, as well as any posts that keep this site going. I am having a great time in this radio service and hope to keep it going for a long time with positive results all the time. Pastor Gary, I give people this site, and your screen name, all the time so that they can learn more and stay interested in the radio service. I hope you are O.K. with this. All of your positive words keep many of us going in the right direction, if I may put words in some people's mouths. That's what I get from everyone's posts anyway. Thanks to everyone who keep this site interesting and the radio service growing. On a side note, WQTT-240 has been doing a lot of research, and found out that around 850 radios have part 95A certification. He even told me that all Kenwood's have Part 95 certs. He might post the info here soon to let us all know that we can stay legal by getting the right radios. I know we all try hard to stay on the honest side. WQTT-240, Tim, also said he contacted the Detroit Office of the FCC and has the correct form to certify the Baofeng 888 radios so that they will be certified soon. I have said before that I am an Extra class Ham that can do many things, but I have more fun starting something new, and found a new home in the GMRS radio service, and this website. I monitor our area repeater every minute of the day, and welcome everyone that keys up. Just an update. I hope to have more updates soon. Someone post with ideas. I will help this grow in our area as much as I can. Our repeater is believed to be the first one in our area, and hope to add possibly four more, because we have the sites and equipment to do it. Jerry
  24. Thanks for all the info. I know the Camp Pioneer in Williams county has their own VHF Part 90 repeater 200 feet on a tower. It's flat land so it is doing fine but they said we could put up a GMRS repeater for other uses. Jerry
  25. Ok, thanks for the info. I was wondering if the couple Boy Scouts that volunteer at Camp Miakonda here in Toledo can obtain their own individual licenses and use the repeater to get tools and equipment across the 160 acres of woods via radio. They are trying to run simplex VHF and are not making it through the woods very well. They would be using the repeater sometimes for their day to day operations so I'm not sure they can do that, but was wondering. Also, the Red cross people that would be using the system would all have their own licenses, and would only be using it at apartment fires, storm disaster sites etc., while the emergency was going on. They would be calling for other trucks to bring more bedding, food etc. The Toledo Red Cross has their own radio system but I don't think it is high profile so I will check on that. Just want to help but do not want to start no no's. We have close to 20 registered users of our repeater here now. It is growing and working well. WQTT-240 is swapping out the repeater for a bigger one that will be 50 watts and have battery back up. Trying to set up for the future. Thanks for all the info. Please keep it coming. Jerry
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Guidelines.