tweiss3

I had a BF-F8HP that I bought for listening only at the beginning of the year, before I new any better. With my few days experience, I will be keeping this D878UV I definitely, even if I don't use DMR as much. I'm able to RX signals from much farther, and hit a surprising amount of repeaters from inside my house, both Analog and DMR. I've been listening to a barometer net on my way to work for about a month. Today, I was able to check in. Unfortunately my HT doesn't pick it up till half way through my commute, but I am able to check in and listen via the echolink app untill I'm in range. I also was able to continue listening at my desk after I got to work with my HT and it's all clear. I can also hit 3 DMR repeaters with ease. I do think I need to upgrade the trucks mobile to a CS800D so I have VHF and DMR at 45/50W with a true antenna. I'll leave the Kenwood installed so I can swap back when going hunting and GMRS is absolutely necessary.

pseudo electrician - I'm an engineer, and technology/electrical hobbiest. I knew 80% of the tech stuff from school and past experience.pseudo astrophysicst - not sure when i'll get into HF. First, its expensive, secondly, I can't properly get into a base station at home because I have to replace my whole house wiring(pushmatic box with no grounds), add a sub-panel in the garage (easiest way to rewire the second floor of my split level where my office is), on top of replacing plumbing issues and the need to either reside or repaint the house.pseudo mathematician - I due trig almost daily, engineering and stuff.pseudo audiologist - I'm not sure when, if ever, i will learn CW. I'm not great at languages, and often have trouble doing the translation with enough speed to even think of holding a conversation. Right now, I'm having enough trouble remembering a call sign that just talked so I can respond to them. I'm also terrible with names, it usually takes me a few days/weeks to remember.pseudo botanist - I currently have 2 large pin oaks that are at maximum height next to my house (4 total) plus a few other trees that I don't trust.pseudo camo expert - no HOA, and local zoning allows towers/antennas up to 50 without a permit. Yea, if I had to know CW, I'd have been screwed. I also, at almost all times, have a million other things working in my head that make it impossible to focus enough of the listening/translating that CW may be considered a pipe dream right now. I've thought about just going computer generated/translated to see how I like those contacts. Still need a base station in my office to make that happen.

Very well put. Its the reason I decided to get my HAM as well.

Thanks Marc! I'm not sure if I am just lucky, but there is a pretty good hotspot of activity where I am, with many different clubs. I have a daily morning net and a few evening nets. 2M & 70CM activity is pretty good, as well as there is a huge DMR presence. I see there is a pretty good 6M group as well, but I don't have anything that can even monitor that right now. I have a AT-D878 being delivered tomorrow, figured if I was going to spend real money on a nice HT, it minus well have one of the digital modes, and DMR seems to be the most common here.

There were multiple reasons: Good easy way to start into radio. License is a family license. Seemed like the ideal ticket for hunting use.

Punched both tickets to jump straight to General last night. Since the library is still closed, they held the test outside in a parking deck. We had to bring our own chair and table, plus wear masks and gloves. It was pretty hot, but I'm just glad they still held a testing session. License showed up on the ULS this morning.

I was referring to the Tram antenna the OB posted. I knew yours was a genuine.

Also, look at the thread here, it looks like a knock off of the Larsen Antenna that Lscott reviewed here: https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1924-larsen-pulse-270-sh/?do=findComment&comment=17016

Members have had ok results with fender mounts (Comet RS720) on jeeps. Make sure you get a water proof NMO mount/cable that has the sealed bottom, or corrosion will ruin your antenna mount within a year. I would suggest spending just a few more bucks for a Larsen NMO150/450/758 antenna, its great on 2M, 70CM and is wide band enough for GMRS. Below are my results of this antenna with a magmount on the roof of my car: VSWR updated by tweiss3, on Flickr

Unlicensed user + telephone interconnect. Thats a double whammy.

I'm especially impressed that the hardware is in the $100 range. Though, you do have to be into digital, with the exception of AllStar and Echolink (by my understanding). Do I want to get into digital (DMR most likely), yes. Is it really going to be usable when things fail? I doubt it. With the internet outages, cell phone outages, etc. going on recently, and the other mess of destruction people are bringing, can't count on anything. I have a feeling some of the local repeater towers would last without commercial power, but then you are still stuck to that RF range. I understand one could do DMR simplex, but the chances of finding someone out on DMR in a bad situation that have the same color and talk group programmed on the frequency is highly unlikely. EDIT: What do I know though, I don't even have my license yet (testing next week), so I can't speak on the actual difficulties of digital and linking.

I agree with you that it shouldn't count for your State/Country search, but the fact that you can do it and still technically be on the radio and working on your contact skills is pretty intriguing.

This one? https://www.retevis.com/duplex-wireless-intercom-system-business-calling-device-rt57/ Manual lists Rx in 463.XX and Tx in 409.XX

Look for a used Kenwood that is part 95, I love mine, excellent audio quality.

Your problem might be Midland is narrowband and the Btech can be either. Connect it to CHIRP and you can flip them all over to FMN, you might then get better decoding of the DCS tone then. Narrowband can sound "soft" on a wideband receive and might not be loud enough to decode.

This is because channels 1-22 are the SIMPLEX channels, meaning they go straight from device to device. For example, looking at Channel 15, it transmits on 462.55 and receives on 462.55. Channels 23+ are your REPEATER channels, meaning, they are designed to transmit on a frequency 5MHz higher than they receive. Channel 23 is also know as Repeater Channel 15 (sometimes Repeater 550). It transmits on 467.55 and receives on 462.55. Your Midland device is looking for a signal on 462.55 while your Btech is transmitting on 467.55. The same happens the other way around, when the Btech is transmitting and the Midland is listening. These repeater channels are designed to be transmitted to a third piece of equipment called a REPEATER which then re-transmits the signal for all to hear on the frequency 5MHz below. See the below visualization on how it works from HamRadioSchool: https://hamradioschool.com/simplex-duplex-offset-and-split/#:~:text=If%20you%20are%20talking%20to,and%20the%20repeater%20transmit%20frequency.&text=Repeaters%20operate%20in%20full%20duplex,transmit%20at%20the%20same%20time. NOTE: The frequencies noted are VHF, not GMRS, but get the idea across.

It should also be noted that the radio you have will prevent any transmission out of the GMRS frequencies. You can listen to as many as it allows you to program, but can only transmit on those hard coded out of the box.

That's what I thought. Seeing as I'm not licensed yet (test in 2 weeks) I will just sit back and listen.

I wasn't aware that GMRS was permitted in Field Day. I was planning on listening to the local HAM repeater, but I wasn't going to be able to participate without a license. I may have to leave the GMRS HT on as well this weekend.

All components appear to be excellent choices. 1) So your 10' antenna is on top of a 20' mast, for a total height of 30'? or is the 20' mast on your roof? Many places, houses can be 30' tall and would be blocking your signal. 2) If the seller is offering to reprogram the duplexer, I'd let him give it a look. 3) What frequency are you using? Have you checked to see if there is local interference on this channel? Is there FRS using adjacent frequencies that could be causing problems. All three items could simple or difficult, but need to be addressed.

While my view aligns with marcspaz, I understand where the FCC is coming from. In general, the Part 95 devices have zero field programming on the transmission side (apart from tone adjustment). There are minor exceptions (Kenwood Tactical add-on) that a dealer would only install if they know the operator won't get out of their allow frequencies. Overall, this makes sense, because GMRS is a commercial system, you typically have a group of people operating under one license, such as a family camping trip, the licensee would hand out a bunch of hand helds or program UTVs with the GMRS frequencies and thus a non-knowledgeable kid/family member couldn't screw up and accidentally go to the local FD frequency and get in big trouble. Same could be said for a business, you don't want a crew member going off frequency. That being said, I wouldn't be opposed to addition of an exception to allow Part 90 equipment, either by license rule (if you have a HAM and GMRS), or if you have to apply for the equipment exception. Personally, they way I have my Part 95 radios programmed, while I can monitor the local PD/FD, I did not input a transmit frequency and thus locked myself from a stupid mistake on those frequencies.

I had to email 6 different groups, 2 are testing, 3 are not yet and one never responded. Luckily the closest one is a Laurel sponsored and I was able to get signed up. But, I know the struggle, some are sacared, others are just having trouble finding a place to hold the test. I was told I'm going to have to take the test in my car, but it's happening.

Does your county have a GIS system in place? USGS will get you in the ball park for free, but if your county has a GIS system, you can make your map with county flown topo. Either will work without actually having your area surveyed. I do an incredible amount of drainage design with county information.

USGS: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#4/39.98/-99.93

Tone Mode should be Tone for a PL tone. Tone is for the tone into the repeater, the tone you should change that to what they gave you.