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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm starting to gear up for this winter's outdoor activities. I currently use Howard Leight electronic hearing protection. I enjoy my hearing and would like to keep it, but it's nice to hear what is going on around me. They currently cut out with my phone on speaker if I answer it, which is annoying, so a radio would likely have the same issue. They do have a stereo 3.5mm input, which I think would be perfect for a lapel/surveillance type radio input (instead of the earbud), and would allow me to clip the lapel mic/ptt in a good place while moving around. The problem is, I can't seem to locate that type of headset/external connection. Where should I be looking? I suppose I could do an external speaker mic, then connect a headphone connector from the mic to the ear protection, but I would think someone makes a plug and play kit.

Sounds like any option is going to be an experience. The real question for you is, what are you expecting to get out of a digital mode? More traffic? Talking around the world? Something to tinker with? I'm afraid you will be disappointed if you expect to have a significant more amount of traffic. Many of the "north america" or "america link" groups don't ragchew, its 90 seconds on, make the contact, move on for someone else. If you want to talk to someone in another country, its great for that. Heck, there is a local multimode reflector (DMR, DStar & YSF all linked together) and there is less traffic on that then the analog repeaters. Just manage your expectations. You should also reach out to the local repeater owners and see what is available, many of the YSF are stuck on a single room, and the DMR repeaters have a pre-set of allowable groups/timeslots permitted. As for your next radio, any of the main brands will be perfect for you. And for anything that is NOT DMR, I highly recommend spending the $25 for RT Systems programming software, its much much better than any other software in my experience. Don't sleep on 6 meters either, you have full permissions there as well, though getting below 2 meters does get expensive quickly. I would suggest reaching out to the local radio groups as well, see where the activity is, maybe get a weekly rotation of nets to join.

Thinking about this more, I think we also need more input from you. When I am home, all digital work is done through hotspots, just lets me have full control of what I'm listening to and how long, and it doesn't annoy anyone. When I'm out and about in the car, I have a YSF mobile that is running APRS full time and 95% of the time is analog on the other bank, but in 90 seconds I could switch over to the DMR radio also installed. What radios do you currently have? What do you like and what don't you like about each one? Knowing this information could also help us point you in the correct direction for you.

P25 is widely available, as that is really pushed as THE public safety mode now, and as such, all the manufacturers have built P25 equipment. Motorola, Kenwood (and Kenwood Viking), Icom, Tait and L3Harris all have P25 offerings, both Phase 1 and Phase 2.

I put in an offer on that MH25 listing, exactly what I need, otherwise I'll bid on it towards the end, 5 days left. Also, I figured out the software only after I built a Windows XP Virtual Box.

Thanks, they don't make the MH-25 anymore, but I read the MH-67 will work, and if its too quiet, there is a capacitor mod. I just picked up a lot of 3 VX2500U, which have part 95 approval, so I can toss them in family members cars for trips this coming year.

Yes, that one does YSF too. You have to make all the commands via DTMF tones, not that it's an issue. The screen is also limited, but for the $ difference between the two HTs......

You can also do YSF with the FT300, FT400 and FT100 as well.

YSF sounds like the logical choice. Look for FT3DRs, since the 5 came out, there are at least 3 for sale a day on QRZ.

Those that have access, can anyone tell me what the model/part number for VX2500 replacement microphone/cord?

What is the MOL website, maybe I'm mistaken on where I need to create an account, but they are frustrating. I was in fact getting it setup to look at the Vertex software. You can PM me if you don't want to post it out in the open.

@gman1971 I would never compare commercial (Moto, Kenwood, Icom, Vertex Standard) to CCR. My comment on antenna being more important is when comparing the very minor differences between sensitivity and selectivity on the same emission type and bandwidth for the commercial brands. Oddly enough, I tried to make an account with Motorola, and now I'm getting this error message: Typical Moto, I remember having a hell of a time 15 years ago when I just wanted the driver for my wife's (then girlfriend) Moto Razor phone so I could update contacts with the computer.

I did find this in a PDF online:

As noted above, the maximum data is regulated by timeframe (1 second). With that 1 second maximum, FM packet has a realistic maximum data rate of 9600 baud, but more commonly used is 1200 baud, similar to APRS. Since the messages aren't just sending message characters, but require a header to include destination, and maybe some error correction, you are limited to 10 characters. This is all based on the bandwidth of FM radio, time, and the ability to decode/encode the data to AFSK sounds (think your 56k modem sound from 1996).

I came across the Normal/Tight settings for my Connect Systems radio. The actual squelch levels were tucked away in the radio settings where you put the radio identity in. Might be similar in Moto CPS, though for Digital its not used, on in analog channels. You and I have two different uses and surrounding areas. I'm not really bad mouthing Moto, though their acquiring of Vertex Standard and killing the line all together does seem to leave a bad taste, as I liked that lineup. That may be because I'm partial to Yaesu. Based on my intended operational area, VHF low band and/or 6m is and will continue to be part of the plan. I also won't ever give up 2m or 70cm ham, thus the 3 RF decks. Sure, I could put multiple heads/radios, but that only further expands the power problem. Again, I don't have a commercial license (yet) so our uses remain very different. I also never intend on putting up a full time repeater. But for receiver performance, in digital modes, the signal is there or it isn't, and a proper antenna in my experience is more important than the minor differences across the commercial options. I've thought of getting Moto gear numerous times, but the thing stopping me is getting support, documentation and software.

If I can stand Sunday (I'm putting in new LVL headers and roof section on my in-laws garage myself tomorrow) I have grass to mow at two houses and I think my wife tacked on a screen door install. I unfortunately won't be making Findlay.

The mobiles do all 3 at once, the HTs are a pick 2 digital modes. Power isn't an issue with a 2-3 deck single head unit because only one is active and the others are standby. It does sound like you should have looked into vehicle repeaters, there are tons of great solutions that the police use, and probably doesn't cost much more than your setups. I just looked at the APX8500, and its P25 only. To buy a moto without DMR (what they are really good at) seems silly to me. Yes, the NX-5000 mobiles are mono band decks, but you can pair up to 3 RF decks with a single head, or do 3 decks with 2 control heads.

See, that's kind of a deal breaker. If, you could put together a Kenwood NX tri-deck with VHF Lo (110W), VHF Hi (110W) and UHF, all with P25, DMR, NXDN and Analog on a single head.

Is there a good place to find information on Moto products? Kenwood will at least let you see all the models and options you can get, Moto seems to only want you to make a decision based on whatever your dealer tells you, true or not. I'd like to know if there is a dual RF deck, single head option.