tweiss3

Eh, haven't been on DMR in a while, jumped on 3100 yesterday on the way home and got nothing but crickets after announcing myself.

You are better off exporting to excel, adding what you want then import the excel file, instead of using the software to type out every channel.

The Tech license is really simple, and based on your comment, it won't take much to get you to pass it.

If you are close to Canada, north of line A (I happen to be 1000' north of line A) you cannot use frequencies 462.650, 467.650, 462.700 and 467.700 MHz as printed on your license. Those are channels 19 and 21, both simplex and repeaters. Your interference may be from Canada's commercial/governmental license pool and may be telemetry data. You must just accept it.

Could be a large multitude of things, from a new traffic signal to a cable box to an invisible fence. You best bet would be to get a 70cm yagi and do some foxhunting. See if you can find the offending item, within reason. If you get close but have issues pinpointing it, you can pickup a TinySA and try to locate it by frequency and db level.

146-174 should still put you in the HAM repeater inputs. Check that the channel is put on wide. Also, what antenna do you have? VHF antennas are pretty narrow, and you could be above 2.5:1 in the ham band if it's a tuned commerical antenna. Try your base radios antenna really quickly.

I have CS800D's in both cars, but I don't use DMR that much. Mostly I connect to the local multi-mode reflector (combines YSF, DMR & DStar), as well as the Ohio TGs (3139, 31391, 31390) and occasionally I will grab 3100 if its super late and I just need someone to talk to on the radio (like a month ago when I had to run to the pharmacy at 2AM to pick up a perscription).

I just stumbled across this thread on RR, maybe it is related: https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/tk-780-reception-squelch-issues.421410/

Yea, the most overlooked thing GMRS and HAM operators forget is power levels and RF exposure. Even if you are NOT required to maintain a RF exposure calculations, you must still maintain safe distances and power levels. IMO, stay away from Anytone, I have their 878 and it has some serious desensitize issues, even after being replaced under warranty. They claim part 90, but I'd avoid them.

Make sure in your programming that you have the bandwidth set to WIDE. Otherwise I would get it's hardware (feedline/antenna) or transceiver (needs tuned up by a shop with the proper equipment). Make sure your antenna is installed correctly and you have a good ground at the antenna and transceiver.

I was searching the ULS today, and its up in short spurts. Probably a huge system update they are working through.

It is finding my call signs, but it won't pull up the data when you click on it. I wonder if it's under maintenance. I just saw an active alert for the system: "The FCC is currently experiencing an issue with downloading authorizations using Google Chrome........ use Firefox at this time"

Are you having issues when scanning only? Or is it a problem parked on a channel as well? The Kenwoods are superior radios, but are not designed for scanning at all. He's, it does have a scan feature, but it's is slow, and not the primary use of the radio. Remember, they are professional LMR radios, and as such, the average patrol officer or EMS driver would remain parked on dispatch frequency, and likely not even have access to the scan feature. I bet the scan is just not fast enough to catch the little bit of traffic. I would still keep the Kenwood, it's a far superior radio with much better specs, including selectivity and sensitivity.

For antenna I have a Larsen NMO150/450/758 that does well on the ham bands and excellent on GMRS. It's a commerical antenna, so it is designed for commercial frequencies, but it is acceptable for HAM use. It also has a spring on it and survives parking deck hits and car washes. As for radios, keep in mind, by law you have to have a RF exposure evaluation if you exceed 50w in VHF. For reference, at 50W you need 3.5' distance for a controlled environment (ok as long as you aren't talking more than 50%) and 7.5' in uncontrolled. The two radios would work if you tossed in a diplexer. Part 90/95 UHF and a separate VHF. You will have problems with frying each other if you use two UHF radios, you can't get enough seperation to make it work unless you use an expensive high/low pass filter or commercial diplexer, even then it's not ideal. You could also look at Kenwood commerical stuff, you can run two RF decks on one head, but it's not cheap. There are also some quality Part 90 dual band radios that will work well, though they don't follow the letter of the law. I have a CS800D in my car, though I don't use GMRS in my truck, it's dead here.

The Moto DTR radios work pretty well and are license free. Great site radios, they use frequency hopping to stay private and interference free I. The 900MHz band.

From the pdf, its pretty hefty:

Please read this thread, pinned at the top of this section, first. I think it will answer many of your questions and more. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1402-you-just-got-your-gmrs-license-now-you-want-your-own-repeater/

Rugged Radios gets hit hard, see the FCC document. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-20-1395A1.pdf

The Surecom 102 comes with a plate: https://www.409shop.com/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=../uplimg/mb100556_4b6eced6b53f86636eddd2f77f010506_mainpic.img&w=350&h=350&bg=FFFFFF&fltr[]=usm|80|0.5|3 Its is attached on the antenna side: https://www.409shop.com/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=../uplimg/mb100556_5e8455bf70241d5788b5403472e8102c_addpic1.img&w=700&fltr[]=usm|80|0.5|3

You have to use the metal plate provided because inserting the meter between the antenna and HT breaks half the antenna. On an HT, the body acts as half the antenna system (ground plane).

You can tune it with a nanovna. It should be tuned in it's operational location, as simple road vibrations can cause it to fall out of calibration.

While the emission type is permitted (equipment aside) I honestly don't know if DMR text messages exceed the 1s transmission time limit. If you really want to do GMRS DMR, apply for a variance with the FCC. I know they have granted a few in CA for experimental purposes. I don't know the circumstances, but worth a shot. It does beg a different question, why? You could do a private DMR repeater in amateur radio extremely easily.

The rule is the radio must be Part95. That being said, my Anytime 878UV is a great radio that will operate on the entire UHF spectrum band and is Part90 certified if you keep it in commercial mode.

F1E & F2E would possibly permit DMR, however The above requires digital to be performed by an HT with no removable antenna, and it cannot transmit on the repeater input frequencies. This makes DMR impossible unless you are doing DMR simplex. Good luck finding part 95 equipment that can do DMR simplex. The intent was to allow some devices text on FRS HTs, which was a niche thing a little while ago.

Hamstudy.org is a great resource too. Our club is still doing in person testing, socially distanced in a parking deck this month. We are going to online for weather reasons only starting next month. Either way, we continue to hold sessions.