tweiss3
-
Posts
814 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
16
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Classifieds
Posts posted by tweiss3
-
-
I thought about this thread last night.
I'm guessing (only a guess), that he isn't missing anything. I think what he is seeing on the radio is the CW ID broadcasting with no tone, and therefore he won't hear it with the receive tone programmed. This is how my repeater is programmed. He isn't missing someone coming back to him, or other chatter. The reason I think this, he hears the tone squelch when he contacts the repeater.
-
7 minutes ago, Wrvq441 said:
Do any of you that own repeaters use some type of auto ID?
If so, is it as simple as plug and play, or how does it work.
Yes, I spent some time doing a search on this forum and most likely used the wrong words because I couldn’t find what I’m looking for. I also searched the web and a few radio sale places.
Thank you in advance for your input.
The CW ID to identify the repeater? Yes, mine has it, it is built in, and set to 15 minute interval, but I doesn't broadcast if there is no traffic.
-
Usually the roger beep is overdeviated and can nearly blow your eardrum out if you are using a bluetooth earpiece. I've had that a few times where I ripped that thing off my ear cause it hurt. MDC & FleetSync tones are much more subdued, as are courtesy tones, usually at 80% deviation or less, and much easier on the ears.
- wrtq652 and timclark82
-
2
-
7 minutes ago, PACNWComms said:
Something else I "need" to have. I also wish more radios could be had with a handheld remote control head like this as well. Thank you for posting the link, I may have to spend some money myself.
They have only been available for about a month. I also haven't seen a good review of the microphone that wasn't directly by the reseller. I'm interested to see how well it works, and the battery life observed. It's been advertised as "coming soon" for over 2 years. I have my doubts that is because it was perfected.
I agree with you, HHCH should be an option for more radios. I thought about it for a while, but finding one is harder than deciding to spend the money on one, which is hard enough considering how expensive they are.
-
24 minutes ago, Sshannon said:
But do you need the isolation that comes from vertical separation if you have duplexers on each of the two repeaters?
I guess I could believe that transmitting on both repeaters at once into a single antenna would cause each other interference.
It depends on a lot of things. A mobile duplexer, or the little duplexer that comes in the RT97, yes, you will need the isolation. The notch is pretty big and may not be specific enough to provide isolation between repeaters. On sites that have multiple same band repeaters, some have combiners, some have duplexers & combiners to get enough isolation.
-
2 minutes ago, WRVD377 said:
I think I read somewhere that a person can put one antenna higher than the other in order to make that work and not get the desence. Again I am not an expert but I did find video about it in all my reading. That person claimed vertical separation rather than horizontal less feet and was not specifically about GRMS.
Correct, isolation can be provided by vertical separation. At 462MHz, you need a minimum of 25' horizontal space between top of lower antenna and bottom of higher antenna. Add in they must be direct one over the other, its a bit harder to do while thinking about tossing this up on a rain silo.
-
46 minutes ago, Lscott said:
There are different types and levels of encryption. How much of that is operational with other radios and manufactures?
I'll send you a PM.
-
I've got a XTS2500 for 900 P25. I'd like to eventually get up a 900 repeater, probably a quantar setup for both analog & P25, but that is a whole different battle.
-
22 minutes ago, pcradio said:
It would be good to have a sample sound output from the various digital modes made from same voice input. I do not like the sound of DMR and what it does to the human voice. For professional applications, sure, cram everything to utilize your limited frequency.
While AllStar is a linking protocol, and not a mode, at least it does so using VoIP codecs like G.711 (ulaw) which sound fantastic, G722 being the best. In my opinion, that is the direction we need to go as a group. When you hear a proper voice codec next to DMR or the other popular digital modes, you won't want to go back.
So I would like to see radios use G722 and then package that in a way for simplex and group repeating situations. We don't need to do what others are doing just because the word digital is being thrown around.
Digital, with limited sampling is not better, it is worse.
This is VHF, recorded direct to SD card.
P25:
NXDN:
I need to find a way to record DMR on one of these radios, I only have 1 that has the SD card recording entitlement.
-
3 hours ago, Sshannon said:
Of all those, which has the most pleasant voice reproduction?
Both DMR and C4FM make people sound like they’ve been drinking, sort of slurred. Those are the only ones I’m familiar with.
How do you use NXDN and P25? Are those for amateur radio or commercial applications?1) I will rate them in according to my preference on audio quality: NXDN - P25 - YSF - DStar - DMR. This does not indicate my preference for the mode overall, just how it sounds. Let me explain a bit more. Lets be honest, turning the volume up too high always makes received audio sound badly. This is often exacerbated by a quiet room/office and some auto reflecting off walls, ceilings, desks. Take that out of the equation, walking around the house, a shop, outside, or even in the car on the go, the above is how I think they sound. And it is not using a hotspot, though PiStar supports all 5, but using them either simplex, or via repeaters on local use (of local talkgroup). NXDN and P25 are very much almost the same great sound, I just can't get over the bandwidth use of NXDN very narrow, which also pulls it's lead ahead. Keep in mind, this is based on use in amateur radio, which also has other factors. Don't get me wrong the $15 radio has it's place, and it has helped a more wide spread support of DMR, but it has also ruined DMR at the same time. That being said, if I were to get business licenses, DMR would be one of the emissions types I would have on the application. It has it's place, but the cheap stuff people use is just not setup correctly, and ruins the experience.
2) I use these on amateur radio, and their use is nearly identically as DMR, but with some minor differences, and maybe 1 or 2 major. Forgive me if this is too broken down, but I'll explain. As you know DMR uses a color code (CC) as it's squelch (like CTCSS), has 2 timeslots, and you must pick a talkgroup. All 3 must be programmed for DMR to work. It's not that difficult, but yes, you can get lost pretty easily if you don't understand how and why. NXDN & P25 (conventional, we can only realistically use conventional in amateur radio) do not have timeslots, there is 1 voice path. If you are using a repeater that is based on PiStar, similar, or even a hotspot, both require talkgroups to be chosen. Same as DMR, chunk a TG and it gets linked, chunk the disconnect TG, it clears. The really cool thing about these two modes, the repeaters (if a true digital commercial repeater) can do mixed mode, meaning it can use both Analog/P25 or Analog/NXDN, and change on the fly based on signal received. There is a repeater northeast of me that I get in range every once in a while. In P25 mode, using my 5w HT, while driving, I cut a conversation short at 16.8 miles because I wasn't sure when my range dropped out, but the gentlemen I was talking to said I was clear the entire time. The other positive is when programming the radio, you can put in a NAC (P25) of F7E or RAN (NXDN) of None and it acts as carrier squelch, so you can listen to all digital traffic on that frequency and not need to track down or log a NAC/RAN. NAC/RAN is still needed on transmit if set on the repeater, but for listening to other stuff, digital CSQ is wonderful.
2 hours ago, Lscott said:How much did Kenwood charge you for the license keys for the different modes? I have a buddy that was gifted a NX-1300, the non display model, with NXDN only. I understand another license key, for DMR, can be loaded into the radio and the DMR firmware flashed. Then to switch between modes you have to re-flash the mode specific firmware. I was told the license doesn't need to be reloaded. I have the firmware for both. I have the programming software now I just need to find a display version of the radio, preferably DMR, but if not and it's NXDN I could switch it so long as I don't get raped on the license key.
The license is not much for DMR. If you really want to know, PM me, and I can point you in the direction I got my entitlements and approximate costs. P25 is the one that hurts. And FPP isn't exactly cheap, but worth it on VHF (and UHF if you need to change digital stuff around). But yes, once you add an entitlement to a radio, it is permanent to that radio serial after 72 hours. No need to re-enable it. You would switch by loading a new codeplug. If I remember correctly, the NX1200/1300 requires KPG-D3N, which is interesting.
-
I have D-Star, YSF, NXDN, P25 and DMR, each is covered in both VHF/UHF with HTs and Mobiles.
Current daily carry is NX5200 with P25 & NXDN and NX5300 with P25 & DMR. I have a dual deck NX5700/5800 ready to go in with identical programming as the HTs.
-
How do you plan on carrying this "field kit"? If it's in a trailer and you have room to mount large coils on the wall or in a drawer? The reason I ask, my HF kit for the field has 20' of RG-8x, which is pretty bulky if you are going to carry it. For UHF, beyond having the radio connected directly at the push up mast, you will need at a minimum LMR400, and probably hardline, like the 1/2" LDF mentioned above. Going to 1/2" hardline reduces your loss at 100 feet from 2.7 to 1.5, which is huge.
-
Motorola's R56 is often referred to the tower bible on how to set things up to reduce failure and meet/exceed the NEC. It will be way more than 99.9% of users will meet, but it's a great goal to move toward.
-
1 hour ago, Sshannon said:
Exactly- you don’t (and shouldn’t) need a bunch of radio theory to use GMRS, but you have agreed to follow the rules (cryptically written though they may be) so a licensee needs to know and understand them.
Correct, being that the exact allowed frequencies/bandwidths and power levels are directly outlined, it's must simpler than amateur radio. The point of the Part 95 rules for type acceptance is so that the average joe can buy the license and purchase an off the shelf radio and be within the rules.
While the concepts are identical between ham 70cm and GMRS, there is more responsibility on the operator in amateur radio. This includes coordination of repeaters/operating frequencies as well as RF exposure evaluations. The idea of GMRS is that frequencies are not overlapping/spaced too closely, and the FCC has already done the RF exposure evaluation in a general sense. Not saying there won't be someone trying to use a 45w mobile with antenna attached directly to the radio placed 4' from the user, but they did a good job simplifying it.
- Sshannon and wayoverthere
-
1
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, pcradio said:
Do you still have the radio? Did the bugs get worked out? I see they have a AnyTone AT-D578UVIII Plus variant of this radio.
On another board, i saw someone mention that 1.13 FW completely blocks SFR with a "not supported in MISC mode" message.
-
-
I use GMRS out with the family unit all the time. Be it car to car, or handhelds out and about at events. I have had a few "rag-chew" conversations with a friend (ham and GMRS) who's neighborhood was using GMRS as a way to check on each other, and we were having a conversation to get his neighbor more comfortable being on the air.
I do know what @marcspazmeans though, I've run into a few grumpys on the air that were just not pleasant to deal with. One was while I was driving a part of the state I was not usually in, but had repeaters programmed. I was trying to find any repeater to talk on. One I could key, and clearly hear the other goober yelling at me because he couldn't hear me. I tried at 5 mile intervals for a while, and he was just needed to turn up his hearing aids (presumed) because there is no way I could have heard him as clear as I did for as long as I did without making into the repeater clearly at some point. I have also run into some people that were just not a pleasure to talk to on GMRS, but I've learned quickly, not worth the time and I just move on.
-
Wow, I ended up with one. I didn't pay for it, it was just an extra in a box of a radio I bought. Same serial, last 4 of above the barcode is ATNT. Makes sense why I won't charge.
-
-
Now that I think about it, I have one that I haven't used, but I put on the charger and it keeps going into a conditioning cycle immediately after it completes charging. I'll look at it tonight if I remember.
-
Also, remind them that anything said or done on the radio isn't private, anyone can hear it. That usually brings some perspective.
-
2 hours ago, Lscott said:
I don't care if it's crowd sourced. If I have to pay money to access various features it should be more reliable/accurate. Otherwise just stick ad's everywhere to pay the costs and let people use it for free. In that case I wouldn't care.
I remember the "change" about 6 months ago. The site now refuses to run ads (other than the scannermaster banner) and there might have been a few changes that came along with that. To be honest, most of the stuff doesn't have input frequencies. Unless the submitter also includes the input frequency from the license, most of the time they can't hear the users on the input.
As for the rest of the stuff, I only listen to the Calls platform when I am trying to follow a single incident, or listening to all the snow removal crews from my commute route.
-
What is paywalled now? I provide a feed, so I don't notice. I thought you could always get to the database, but "downloading" the information required the subscription.
icom or kenwood
in Equipment Reviews
Posted
I use Kenwood TK-8150 for mobiles in the car and in the shack. Great radio, and sounds wonderful. As a plus, I have the remote head kits.