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tweiss3

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Everything posted by tweiss3

  1. tweiss3
    Actually, it works quite well with the rubber duck on 6m, exactly like the 818/817 does. This is a good option, will work in GMRS/MURS frequencies without a modification, but it is a DMR radio, and I can't find anything on the water resistant rating.
  2. tweiss3
    Look used. QRZ has tons of decent deals. There are 3 FT3DRs for sale a day with the new FT5DR on sale. I will amend my previous statement, you can get coordinates displayed, but it's not as nice as the D74 for GPS usage at all. To be honest, if you are just looking for coordinates, and not for using it within the radio (APRS) then you are better off with a standalone (hiking GPS or activity watch). Unless you are completely set on new with warranty, I do suggest looking used. Make your list of radios, check eHam and QRZ a few times a day, and grab the one you find the best deal on. I stopped hiking with the D74, while it may be water resistant, the antenna I have in it is huge and it's doesn't seem near as resilient as others. I do hike with my FT3DR and my VX7R, my current favorite being the VX7R for the inclusion of 220 and 6meters. Honestly, you list of possible radios is pretty large if you remove the GPS requirement, and many have full submersible ratings instead of just resistant.
  3. tweiss3
    I missed that the D74 is IP54 water resistant. I do consider it the best radio overall for GPS/APRS/Packet and use it for 220 all the time, but it's battery life is atrocious. Also, performing the MARS/CAP mod on it to work in MURS & GMRS is significantly more difficult, and you can't get it new anymore. I do think it's durability is significantly less than other options, my keypad lost a key somehow, and I was still babying it.
  4. tweiss3
    The FT3DR doesn't really she you the coordinates or gris square, the D74 does, but isn't "waterproof". Both do APRS adequately.
  5. tweiss3
    I'm just interested in more information, there really isn't much out there at all. A buddy that works for the local power company mentioned he loves it cause you just toss it in there and still have coms car to car (they get stuck using talk around cause in many of their convoys get out of the state trunked systems range). I'm just trying to understand the option, its limitations and see if its worth looking into down the road.
  6. tweiss3
    FT3DR, VX-7R & VX-8DR are IPX5, 3' submerged for 30 minutes. How much waterproof do you need?
  7. tweiss3
    Modified, yes, it will meet all your requirements.
  8. tweiss3
    I will say, you are going to have one heck of a time finding that, and its not going to be new. Keeping on that we all know this isn't going to be type accepted, the amateur radio market seems to be where you should look. The professional radios don't do both VHF/UHF in portable, though a handful do VHF or UHF with 700/800MHz. I have a FT3DR, and its a good option, battery life is pretty decent, and it has APRS built in, but you have to do the hardware modification to get GMRS & MURS. Yaesu VX-7R can do a software mod to get those, but it hasn't been in production for quite some time, and doesn't have GPS. I just picked one up not very long ago, and really really like the radio. VX-8GR had the GPS on top of VX-7R features, but I'm unsure about the software modifications.
  9. tweiss3
    In order to keep the Part 95 certification, VFO transmit has to be disabled for anything other than the GMRS frequencies, my guess is its easier to disable VFO transmit all together, which appears what they did.
  10. tweiss3
    To tag onto you Moto guys, anyone with any experience with the APX Vehicular dock? The one that turns the portable into a mobile with external antenna.
  11. tweiss3
    The midlands are narrowband (11k vs wideband 20k), you need to turn the GM-30 to narrowband.
  12. tweiss3
    Yea, I'm about 100 miles NE of his tower. I was only noting I found another DMR repeater on GMRS, separate from the ones he has found. This does bring up an interesting point. I did just see a post about an ID5100 that will pass P25 traffic through the cross-band repeat feature. Would any other normal repeater with CSQ pass DMR/NXDN or any other digital mode as well, if it just needs a carrier? There isn't anything significantly different than passing packet or any AFSK mode through a repeater.
  13. tweiss3
    What are you looking for? Study materials? General discussion? Radio Reference has a pretty solid Amateur Radio section, and the one on this site at the bottom isn't too bad either.
  14. tweiss3
    This is what I use https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BD6DRI6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 with these label cartridges https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074JZ6NWV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I label each HT behind the battery, and each battery gets numbered. Cables get it either on the plug, or right next to the plug on the cord, and wrapped in packing tape.
  15. tweiss3
    First: Btech GMRS-V1 (Still have it, hasn't been turned on in over a year. Current: VX-800u, 2 - VX-427, VX-417
  16. tweiss3
    The official response was pretty generic
  17. tweiss3
    There is one up here too in the NE. Most users are 4 digit IDs, but two hams that are on the system use their ham ID and have never had a GMRS license in their life. I have a name, FRN, home address, recordings and everything and the FCC brushed it off.
  18. tweiss3
    You do need to maintain some form of control. Typically this is done with DTMF tones so you can shut down the transmitter, and you do need to be able to get to the site to maintain the equipment reasonably.
  19. tweiss3
    Agreed, it is still in effect, especially since it is listed on your license. I'm 1000' north of the line, so it does affect me.
  20. tweiss3
    Cord came in, tested it, works great, but only in one ear. I'll live with it, it at least got me operational without taking my ear protection off.
  21. tweiss3
    I'll give that a shot, I also bought a mono version. Will report, but I'm not going out in the field without a radio anymore. Some places I go don't have cell reception.
  22. tweiss3
    The Ed Fong is a great antenna, and reasonably priced. I have one in 220 and one of the dual bands. The 220 might get used again soon, but the dual band is now a scanner antenna. Its biggest downfall is there are some Tram verticals that out perform it for the same price.
  23. tweiss3
    I remember a local club did a dual band J-Pole project. Presentation/directions: https://w8wky.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Building-Simple-J-Pole.pdf Plans: https://w8wky.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Dual-Band-J-Pole.pdf For GMRS, shorten the "middle" rod in small increments until the SWR bottoms out.
  24. tweiss3
    It's not too bad. You need a radio (power supply, antenna, coax), I used Direwolf on a Raspberry Pi4, you need an audio card, and a way to hit PTT, or use VOX on the radio. This is the writeup I did about my iGate: https://www.ke8owx.com/projects/aprs. Mine is a 2-way, but has digipeating turned off.
  25. tweiss3
    Ed Fong has documented how to build a dual band J-Pole here: https://edsantennas.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/3/5/29358461/dbj-1_qst.pdf That should get you started in the correct direction, but it's going to be a build and test, tweak, update, test again.
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