SeldomSeen

Marc et all: I think you just boosted the gain on my motivation.

I've been studying for the Technician exam for a couple of weeks now. I'm sure I could pass it right now. Last week I purchased a very good GMRS HT with full repeater capability and a mobile antenna. Listening to both GMRS and the 2 meter band on my scanner, I can not tell any difference between the efficacy of either. If you already have a good GMRS stetup, the Amateur repeater bands seem redundant. Sadly I am beginning to lose my motivation for the latter. Are the Amateur repeater bands just a somewhat glorified version of GMRS? Sure, Technician class is a stepping stone to General privileges but I am definitely not interested in HF. The equipment poses an endlessly fascinating prospect but the great majority of participants there do not appeal. Their average age seems to be about eighty, they all sound like the late great Ben Johnson (of John Wayne film fame) and only talk about their equipment or Conservative ideology which gets pretty vitriolic at times. The VHF/UHF folks are an order of magnitude more eclectic. Incidentally I am a moderate so neither paradigm appeals to any great extent. Both bands are obviously geared toward mobile communication. Neither have dedicated base rigs. I wonder how many VHF/UHF proponents actually use their mobile units for a base station. Sitting in a comfortable chair in front of a nice warm fire listening to and or commenting on casual conversations is what I am interested in. So once again I ask, Is the Technician class really worth It?

The pristine newish F250 is basically my wife's. Drilling a hole in the roof would not be in my best interests. I chose the Midland mag mount for the convenience of using it in some of our other vehicles. That 32" antenna would sure look funny on top of my '72 Alfa Romeo GTV.

What the heck is a band plan?

I just received a Wouxun KG-805G HT with a mobile antenna, got the okay from the Front Range GMRS repeater group and programmed the radio (very simple both manually and with the computer interface). I got on the repeater this morning and asked for a signal report with just 4W. To my great surprise I actually got a response. The responder said my signal was fading in and out but he understood most of what I said. YAY! Now it's tempting to get a 40W or so mobile unit and set it up as a base station. A funny thing happened last night with the new rig. The magnetic antenna mount would not stay put on my 2017 Ford F250. It turns out that in order to save weight the body was made of aluminum. So I had to make due with my old Ford Ranger.

I live in a valley in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. My house is completely surrounded by hills and mountains that are anywhere from 400 to 1200 feet higher than my home elevation. The nearest GMRS repeaters are about a dozen miles away across those hills. I can hear repeater traffic on my scanner loud and clear. Does that imply that a good 4W HT or mobile radio used as a home base unit would be able to access those repeaters? I don't want to purchase until I can verify that this can happen.

The Kenwood radios that cover the UHF amateur bands sound like the way to go because I want to take the Technician exam. Many years ago (and I mean many) I worked as an electronics tech. That was when all of the ICs were TTL. Mosfets were just barely getting a foothold. Surface mount PCs were unheard of. Still, the test questions don't look that difficult even now. Hopefully I can take the test this summer if the current conditions get much better. Even if I never really get into ham radio, getting the license and call sign will be something I've always wanted to do. But getting into such a complex hobby at sixtly-nine might be asking a lot of this old brain.

I just noticed this radio online and it looks like a winner. Does anyone here have any experience with it?

Thank you WRAK968. I noticed that there are a few on eBay today.

I just got my GMRS license a few days ago and would like to purchase a current production handheld with at least a genuine four watts of power and be repeater capable. Provision for a good external mobile antenna would be a plus. Forgive me if this topic had been covered but I have done so much research lately that my head hurts and I may go blind. I already have an old pair of Midland GTX1050 handhelds but something with the above attributes would be more desirable.