tweiss3
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Posts posted by tweiss3
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I don't listen to SW too much, but occasionally I will tune around SW on my IC7300. I have an old 1934 RCA Victor C7-6 (6 tube) "wideband" (540kHz-18.0MHz) receiver that I collected from my grandfathers estate that I need to have someone put on a varriac to see if I need a to recap the whole thing or not. I'd love to have it as a centerpiece in the shack one day.
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I'll add, based on your current footprint and what you are trying to accomplish, you need to bring in a professional that can discuss specific sites and coverages. Your scenario and goals exceed "recommendations" available on a forum. You are now in a detailed design stage, and all of your moving parts need identified and you need to realistically look at cost per site to see if you are willing to spend the money to achieve your goal. From a 10,000 foot view, you appear to be at the go/no-go decision point between leave it alone and spend 6 figures to get started in your linked enterprise.
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So there is significant overlap in "communities" that have more than 1 repeater. You may have to do some prioritization of which repeater is linked. You will not be able to link all "4" repeaters to the other systems, as they will clash and you won't hear anything. If you have to have each, lets call them cells, cell completely linked, you will need to simulcast that cell. You don't need to simulcast each area, as those without overlap will be able to operate as an independent repeater.
You should be able to link all communities together, simulcast or not, without too much of an issue using an asterisk system like MyGMRS uses, just point it to your master "server". But it sounds like you will have issues in quite a few areas that will require a true simulcast operation, which is not inexpensive.
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Reading back through this, I'm not 100% sure you need "simulcast". Do you have significant overlapping coverage of multiple repeaters or do you just have a ton of coverage pockets without overlapping? If the second, you wouldn't need simulcast, just need some version of linking. If you do have overlapping coverage, you would need true simulcast with GPS sync and voting. The RTCM module is only part of the simulcast solution, but it does require IP links.
Another option is new hardware. I can't find a definite answer, but the NXR-1800e has simulcast capabilities baked in (its a license feature), and will permit IP or RF backhaul. Just remember, if you are doing RF backhaul, you must remain within GMRS frequencies, you cannot mix/match the RF link with ham or Part 90 frequencies.
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Simulcast is not cheap. You can "roll your own", still about $1000+/site with https://allstarsimulcast.com/. Note, you cannot link into Allstar/Echolink.
Second option, which is widely commercially available is JPS: https://jps.com/products/snv-12/
I would also suggest you reach out to your Motorola vendor and discuss if there is a Moto solution to simulcast on analog for your chosen hardware.
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The coordination thing is pretty big. The same Line A & Line C that cause issues with GMRS cause more issues with business band licensing. This should be discussed with the coordinator. If you have to coordinate with Canada, that can take months to clear, and if there is a conflict, you pay for coordination again.
If you want to go down this path, I would recommend reading all of eCFR Part 90 top to bottom, then read it again in 2 days after you had time to process it the first time.
The number one thing you will hear from your consultants is to not buy the equipment BEFORE you get licensed, and I agree with that.
Lastly, there are fees you pay to the coordinator, then there are fees paid to the FCC. If I remember correctly, initial filing was $205, and a major modification is $105. Also don't be surprised if your license pops up with conditions of approval noted.
It's not necessarily hard, but time consuming, and the actual application on the FCC website is not well designed.
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I have a MyAntennas EFHW for 10 through 80. I have mine between two trees, but the feed side is only 25' up, and the far side is up about 40. It's no where near as tall as recommended, but it's logged nearly 5000 contacts. You don't have to have the far tree right at 160', it could be 200+, just use paracord to finish the bridging.
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19 hours ago, WRUE951 said:
Voice Scramblers works well, especially in the Hytera radios.. But problem with that, everyone needs a like radio. Other problem, if anyone worries about it. FCC Illegal for GMRS. But still quite a few still use it.
Voice scramblers (inversion scrambling) won't prevent the tones from being scanned. Audio will just noise, but the tone still gets transmitted in the same place.
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32 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:
True. I use my HTs when I'm hiking, usually attached to the front of the shoulder strap on my backpack, with a speaker microphone. I suspect that the speaker mic cord "sort of" acts as a counterpoise, but when I set my HT on my desk with a speaker mic attached, the reception actually gets worse. Antenna theory is voodoo science if you ask me.
No, the RSM cord is not used as a counterpoise. On some it was used as an extension for the antenna to get RF above the user (see @Lscott above), but it's designed to be isolated from the RF. Kenwood actually had to redesign the KMC-45 to the KMC-45D to add additional isolation because the DMR TDMA RF was causing issues with the audio circuit.
The reason you are probably getting worse reception is due to its proximity to your computer/monitor/etc. You have to remember, almost everything today that has electricity running through it does and can cause RFI and make "radio" frustrating to use and track down this interference.
For example, I live 1.5 miles south of 1350AM (5kW) and 98.1FM (50kW) and 1 mile north of 1150AM (5kW), and boy does their mix cause an issue on some bands.
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Here is the thing, how often do you actually think you will need to use your repeater? Your actual need will be much less than you think. Most things times its used, simplex works just fine.
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My club offers an online course every few months, both for the Tech and General. It's done via Zoom, and allows for questions and discussion.
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8 hours ago, marcspaz said:
I am a huge fan of InReach and think everyone should have one, but if I could only pick one, it would be HF. And it would be for the very reason you cite as a shortfall of HF. People put way too much faith in satellite communications.
Per a survey by the Satellite Interference Reduction Group (SIRG), 93% of satellite communications suffer from satellite interference at least once a year. More than half experience interference at least once per month, and 17% see interference continuously during the day. Often, equipment failure or malfunction, operator errors, even the antenna being block by terrain can cause failures. There is even interference that can be generated by aircraft between the base station and the satellites.
I typically recommend both SatComms and HF, especially if you are using some kind of transportation (truck/SUV, horse, bike, etc.). When SatComms is working, it is much faster and can provide details much easier with things like text and beacons. However, an all-band HF radio and a wire long enough to adjust for each band from 80m to 10m is a fantastic solution because if there is interference one one band, unlike an InReach, you can change bands to one that is working. Also, unlike InReach, I don't have to worry about my device being properly ID'ed by the network or if my plan is actually configured and working (going back to operator errors).
Which InReach device do you have. I've been meaning to get a handheld GPS for various trips, and was looking GPSMAP 67 with the InReach included.
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Look at hamfests or ebay. I paid $400 for my TKR-850, and I've seen a pile of them at the past 2 hamfests for only $600 (I bet they would haggle).
Three examples................
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Just now, WROZ794 said:
Yeah, cool story bro. Now do you have any constructive comments?
I would consider his comments constructive. Iirc, he himself tried at one point, and there are about a dozen other people here that tried. It's not worth the effort as it never works out. Besides, as he pointed out, you could have just bought an actual repeater for the costs of the 2 radios you just bought.
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Could be input tone changed, could be leaves are growing and your line of site is gone now. You could be hearing simplex users on the same frequency as the output.
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If everyone gets their tech license, you can use it anywhere, and may be able to use nearby equipment (repeaters).
There are tons of BSA troops that have commercial licenses on business itinerant frequencies. Troop owns a fleet of 20 radios, and they go to any group stepping away from the camp. That is also an option.
No matter what, it boils do to your troop needs to have a communication policy in place, make it well known and USE it.
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Often called a double. Usually ends up with a mess that is incomprehensible. Sometimes it's unknown and unavoidable, but it's one reason you should pay attention to other traffic around.
- Webslinger and WRQC527
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11 hours ago, CJK said:
I was inquiring as my father in law (80 something) might have some difficulty. Was looking for a way for him to not have to. Now not doing it.
I've gotten labels put on the front of my GMRS radios with the call sign, so its visible when they are speaking into the radio. That might be an option. I used this guy: https://sites.google.com/view/kc8gl/anytone-call-sign-sticker
He can make custom labels. If you place your radio on a scanner, and send it to him, he can measure and make one for whatever you wanted.
Microphone Extension
in Technical Discussion
Posted
Check the pin layout and give it a try. It is likely to work with an extended cable, but you can't know until you try.