tweiss3

Also note that they can woods don't actually show the channel it's looking at when it scans unless it hears a signal.

The nice thing about a Jpole is you don't have to worry about a ground plane. That being said, if you are familiar with other HAM bands, it's not much different from 70cm. Both a quarter wave whip 6" and the Jpole will work well. In both instances, you will likely spend more on grounding than for the antenna. I have an EDfong in my attic right now that is full quiet into a VHF repeater 17.5 miles away from the house at 7w, and has no issues into a UHF repeater 11 miles away at 5W (I had a PS failure and am stuck with my HT to the antenna until Wednesday). Height is king, get to the top of your roof with either option and good feed line, and you should be ok.

I was looking at that. I can't find that software offered by Midland anywhere. I wouldn't download it from someone's Dropbox that I didn't know.

It's just background noise from just about anything. I had a similar issue with only select channels on my 8150 and the issue was eliminated when set to 5 or higher.

You need to adjust the squelch mode. In the software it is: Edit -> Optional Settings -> Conventional tab -> Squelch Level to 4 or higher, 1 will cause you problems.

Actually, NEC requires you to bond all grounding together, antenna, house main, everything.

Actually, NEC requires you to bond all grounding together, antenna, house main, everything.

You need to look at the National Electric Code (NEC) and meet those requirements at a minimum.

That is the enclosure I plan on using. Thanks,

I'm asking this here because it does also apply to GMRS, and I know there are people here that deal with the NEC often and can help translate how to apply the code. In looking into the NEC and reading a ton. My house currently has an outdated (1960s) electrical system with no ground. While it is a long term project to replace the entire house wiring, it appears that won't prohibit the installation of my shack/antenna according to the code. Attached is my sketch of what it would take to meet code. Can someone confirm this? Also, do the grounding straps from my transceivers inside get tied to the grounded utility enclosure as well? Of course, when the indoor wiring is updated and grounded, it will all be bonded together with #6 between ground rods, and minimum of #10 inside. Thanks!

If you wanted super wide band usage, then a trim to SWR was a poor choice. Should have chosen a pretuned option. Typically trim to tune only have a bandwidth of 10MHz, where as wide band options with a coil can cover the entire UHF band (400-512) like the Larsen NMO150/450/758 which does a great job on all of UHF as well as VHF and the 700/800 band.

I know the pain. I've driven my RX7 to Poughkeepsie, NY without working cruise control for the OCC car meet (8hrs). Back on topic

Fair enough. I'm an engineer as well, spending my days in front of a CAD station. I must say, DMR does have its benefits outside of analog radio, but being that its too related to your work, it might be annoying. For me it's enough of a step sideways from my work, its a fun challenge (not really a challenge). I agree F2F is preferred, and I don't think you and I are too far apart, however, I'm currently not traveling, for various reasons.

It seems many of you who have the experience are also HAM. Are you guys on DMR, that's an easy way to get some round table discussion in a Tac channel, being we are not all close together. I'd be interested in talking with a few of you guys.

While I understand this, starting out I did not. I appreciate your description. It should make it easy for anyone to understand. People must understand, you cannot make energy appear or disappear. It can be lost by converting it to heat (via line loss or SWR). While many want to "squeze the most" of out their radio by getting high gain antennas, they must first evaluate their operating conditions. Cases where no gain (1db) would be ideal may be mixed use (both simplex to another radio and repeater usage) as well as high elevation changes where you drive or ride (such as here in Ohio, most of PA, mountainous areas). Places you might get away with high gain antennas include the great plains, FL, places you can see straight for miles and miles. I would like to add, for the above reasons, if you don't want to think about it and have great consistent all over use while driving, wheeling, riding, etc, perhaps stick with no gain antennas. Remember, even if you can get 30 miles simplex, the other station must also be able to respond to you for communication to work. Even if you can squeeze that extra distance, the other party may have a no gain antenna and may not get back to you. Keep in mind, for GMRS 1/4 wave antennas are approximately 6" (462.00MHz = 6.39", 467.00MHz = 6.32") and provide wide bandwidth and 1db gain.

What are you looking to learn? The ARRL has a ton for great books on radio. If you want some general overviews, start with the Technician Guide. It covers enough to pass your HAM technician test as well as provides a great overview on the entirety of radio, leaning towards how it it applies to amateur radio, but the principles apply to GMRS as well. If that bites your interest, you can graduate up to the General and Amateur Extra books which get into more theory and application. If you want to learn about a specific topic, there are ARRL books on those as well, such as antennas, power supplies, etc.

To clarify further for you guys, that 200' limit is the cutoff for requiring FCC/FAA filing and paint/lights. You can go above 200' if you want to deal with the hassle.

I'm not sure how the CHIRP software works with the Kenwood radios, but I would suggest springing a few bucks for the Kenwood software, so you can change all the other stuff in the radios, including zones. I found my software for $15 on ebay, worth every penny. My TK-8150 doesn't get hot enough to melt anything at 50W. I have a pop up blind in a nylon bag that rests against my radio in the trunk, has not melted yet.

I've been looking for quite a while, and the HK models across the board are hard to find. Used Kenwood prices have been going up, but when I purchased, I grabbed my two TK-8150's from a local police auction for about $140 for both (with remote head kits included). You really have to do your research and find a deal anymore. Ebay prices are stupid. I had been looking at Ham HT's and Mobiles, and the price is 70%+ of the new price, which at that point, get the warranty, quick shipping and peace of mind.

Yes, TK-8180HK is 45W. Edit: FCC ID: K4437313210

I just bought a CS800D for the truck, the HT just doesn't have the VHF range I'd like to check into the morning net until I am on-top of work. I did see Jerry is also selling those G20 radios, and holy cow, that is one heck of a radio for the money. I can always do SSW in 10m locally, probably where I would start. I'm not sure I could fit a 1/4 wave antenna in the attic vertically though. I do still need some form of grounding established. Thanks for the recommendation, because from what I see, it will cover nearly all the bases in one nice compact form.

Kenwood: TK-8180-K------(30 watts) FCC ID: K4437313110 Part 95 certified. You do need kenwood software KPG-73D or KPG-89DK, which can be found online for $75.00 or less.

Went out of business, some say because of all the fires they caused. Ask any electrician, and they cringe when they hear the name. I think most of the problems were in higher voltage/industrial uses.

You can still get new replacement breakers, I had to get two last year. My furnace and my drier wouldn't stay on. I do have a quote to replace it, just haven't pulled the trigger yet. These boxes are the absolute worst though.

Lucky? Or unlucky? House was built in 58, so I have the challenges of that. The house has no ground what so ever, none to the water, none to the panel. It needs replaced, even without the radio component. I still want to talk to a grounding/lightening specialist before I finish plans on the electrical update. I have seen some of the starter HF CW kits. Cool concept, but, again, without knowing CW, its almost pointless for me. I'm trying to see if I can fabricate one up what connects to my computer via USB, and use software for generating/decoding. Still something I'm looking into.