tweiss3

I can see this both ways. Both as a "does it matter if I spend the least possible" and "does it matter if I spend hundreds". The real answer is spend what you are comfortable spending, as long as it has all the features for your situation. And remember, GMRS is BYOC (bring your own contacts), so you pretty much have to be ok with buying at least 2 of everything to talk to your wife/kids/granchildren/etc. That being said, ignition sense in the commercial radios is a huge advantage. My wife's car, it just comes on when it's started, and turns off 10 minutes after the car turns off. With the right settings, she hears nothing but me when needed. I don't have to instruct her or get her to remember anything. Grab the mic and respond is it. Worth spending the few extra bucks for the setup in her car.

If you have a ground plane (radials, through hole mount on roof of a car, cookie sheet, etc.), then you can use almost any antenna design, 1/4 wave, 1/2 wave, 3/4 wave, 5/8 wave. If you do not have a ground plane, or your ground plane is too small, you must use a no-ground plane antenna, such as a 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave. Of course, both of those work better with a ground plane. This is a good article to describe the radiation/gain patterns for the common types: https://practicalantennas.com/designs/verticals/5eights/ Of course, the benefit of 1/4 wave is its the smallest of the designs, and is very wideband, but the 1/2 wave is only 12" for UHF and can cover the entire UHF band (380-512) acceptably as well. 3/4 wave is 16-18" and is more narrow band (but can cover UHF ham and GMRS), and 5/8 or 5/8 over 5/8 is the largest. The ultimate decision depends on which compromises you are willing to take. Since I already have a 1/4" wave VHF antenna (at 18" tall), placing a 1/2 wave UHF (12" tall) 20" from it wasn't much of a compromise, I got gain, a better horizon radiation pattern, and didn't increase my clearance requirements. I do only use antennas with a base spring because he 18" VHF hits on parking garages I regularly have to park in.

3/4 gain have like a 30 degree up tilt, and negative gain at the horizon. It's why I have a 1/2 wave installed for UHF instead of using a diplexer to put both decks on the NMO 2/70sh

No, RF ground and voltage ground are two different things. You can still use the mount, but use a 1/2 wave antenna, it will be about 12" in length. I am currently using this antenna on my car https://www.arcantenna.com/products/bmwu4002s

Incorrect. The NMO mount takes the shield of the coax cable and creates the ground plane with the roof of the car. When you have it above the the roof on a roof rack, the shield doesn't get to roof to make the ground plane. You can use a 1/2" wave on a roof rack mount https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/cma-rs-660u. You can also use a ground plane disc if you wanted better performance, or to use a 1/4 wave whip https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/antennas-mounts/antenna-accessories/misc-antenna-parts/11713-taf-disc346-detail

This is an old photo, as I now have the 1/2 wave UHF 19" to the passenger side from this antenna, but I have my VHF antenna (Larsen NMO2/70SH) about 12" in front of the aluminum roof rack cross brace. I haven't noticed any issues since it's been there for 4 years. This is a great alternative. I've even seen a 56" x 36" rectangular plate, closer to the roof level, that could hold 2 antennas and a light. As long as it's 18-19" in all directions for VHF and 6-8" for UHF, it should be a sufficient ground plane. Antennas noted as no ground plane will work without one (such as 1/2 wave), but with a ground plane the work better. My UHF 1/2 wave is noted as omnidirectional without a ground plane but with a ground plane it adds 4db gain.

Couple of options, local handy man, a electrician, or lookup one of the local radio shops that service the public safety guys, they can point you in the right direction to an antenna installer/tower climber. The handyman will be the most economical of the the lot.

No, you print the official copy, as the FCC will not send a hard copy of any license anymore. GMRS and ham are 1 page (ham has a place on the bottom to cutout and make a wallet carry version), but commercial licenses can be multiple pages.

As stated above, the NEC is minimum, the R56 manual is significantly above the minimum, but is a industry standard designed to protect the millions of dollars of equipment in the RF shack at the base of towers as well as prevent damage to other infrastructure connected from outside. Note, in the event of a lightning strike to a site built to R56, the antenna will be destroyed, and likely the coax on the tower will need replacement, but the remainder of the equipment should survive.

No. However, it only indicates that the operator has an amateur radio license, not that they are operating within amateur radio service. If one were to get pulled over the following apply: 1) There isn't any way for them to know what frequency/service you are using. Show them your amateur license from the FCC, that's the end of discussion as written. 2) It's probably going to take some overzealous cop 3 amateur radio licenses submitted during stops before they ignore radio usage all together. 3) It's pretty clear they are targeting cell phone/tablet/computer usages. They very clearly allow cell phones used for GPS navigation only, allow cell phones for calls/texts when integrated through apple play/android auto on the dash, as well as they recognize that e-logs are a thing for CDL drivers and they can't say a thing because the federal DOT is requiring their use. Don't be stupid, it will be fine. It also is a good call to just get your amateur tech license to maintain your exception status.

For this reason, echolink is the devil. It's a nice occasional alternative, but some people should be barred from it.

Its the requirement of Part95, mobiles/bases cannot transmit on 8-14, so they firmware lock those from transmit.

Should be able to imitate a roger beep with one of the voice keyer memories.

If this 800MHz antenna is connected to a scanner, you should make sure you have plenty of separation and/or insert an RF limiter between the antenna and scanner to make sure you don't fry the scanner front end.

I guess it depends on which year Miata, but GMRS could be as simple as a 6" whip middle of the trunk lid with an NMO mount. The CB will be harder. I'm not sure how effective the stock power antenna is, or how well it will resonate for CB, even with a matching coil or tuner. Ideally, you would be looking at something with length, like the Larsen NMO27B (49") on the trunk lid. There are other options for CB, but the real trick to CB is getting a good long antenna that resonates. For radio choice, I can understand wanting a handheld control head for space reasons. You may have to mount external speakers for each under the seats you can hear them, wind noise at highway speeds can really drown out the radios.

From what I understand, local computer programming has been available for quite a while, however, the intilization of the APXNext requires connection to the cloud for activation, then you have enable local programming, then you can program with your computer like normal. It's not very desirable. And yes, the RF professionals is a small circle, everyone knows everyone. Heck, I know who has a specific RF combiner bought from surplus, as well as the original tech that installed it 20+ years ago.

I'd be interested to know if the interference stops at some point when you get closer to the site. It would also probably be helpful to plot where the interference is first noted and when it disappears to get some vectors. Either way, beyond not being able to hear other radios in your party, I'd say its a good test showing selectivity and rejection of your Moto vs. other inexpensive radio on chip designs.

So you can't hear it on I10, but you can at Red Cloud? That could mean it is directional, like the microwave links, could be a bad horn causing a mix of something else and transmitting it only south. It could also be some of the SCADA equipment making a heterodyne, or a bad 932MHz pager transmitter. If it's that bad, I wonder why there isn't one of the UHF systems guys up there all the time trying to figure out why their repeaters are deaf/desensitized.

Holy crap, there is a ton of things licensed there, 2 FM stations, 1 AM station for Ontario Int Airport, 3 AMR trunk systems (2 vhf, 1 UHF), ATT Cellular, State of CA 800, VHF, UHF Trunking systems, VHF low conventional, microwave links, Riverside County VHF, VHF low and 700 systems, plus a ton of private companies. Could be a mix of that much RF, or could be UHF over the horizon radar, or both.

The "by the rules" answer is the manufacturer has to ask for it to be certified for Part 95 for it to be certified. That other sentence is acknowledging that commercial UHF radios have the ability program more than just GMRS frequencies, and also the fact that the technical requirements of Part 90 meet and/or exceed the requirements of Part 95. That being said, as some have said, and other have concluded, there isn't a currently sold new commercial radio that carries Part 95 certification, and meeting or exceeding the requirements of Part 95 (frequency accuracy, deviation, etc.), nobody is going to notice unless you do something stupid. The asterisk here is that ham equipment is not certified for frequency accuracy, and not certified for use outside of the ham bands. UHF commercial radios are usually 380-470, 450-512 or 380-512, which just happens to have GMRS within it's certified limits of operation. Using modified ham equipment is problematic and should be avoided.

This tracks. I never thought about the crossband as links to eliminate duplexers though, that's a good back pocket solution. By the numbers, to get 50db isolation: @145MHz, you need either 700' horizontal separation or 24' vertical separation @440MHz, you need either 22' horizontal separation or 8' vertical separation 50db isolation isn't great, but a repeater will probably "operate" at that level. A decent duplexer will exceed 60db isolation: @145MHz, you need either 2100' horizontal separation or 43' vertical separation. @440MHz, you need either 650' horizontal separation or 14' vertical separation. When discussing separation, it is from the closest part of each antenna, usually clamp to clamp for horizontal separation and top of the bottom antenna to the bottom of the top antenna.

This will be annoying when I have to travel there. Another reason why I wish Kenwood didn't discontinue the KCT73/72, which would be completely "handsfree". I hope it gets shot down. I know there are other exceptions beyond ham in other states. I think the real problem is a few highly urban cities have issues with all laws being followed, yet they actually account for less than 5% of the state area.

For an all in one deck radio, the 100M is hard to beat. I can now test VHF Lo, but I haven't had the time or equipment to mess with it, as I only have the 1 100M. I still love my NX5700/5800 dual deck setup, but it also helps that I have scanners also installed next to the Kenwood.

221-229 is way off from the bottom end of UHF 380, no it won't go that far. I still love mine.

Check the pin layout and give it a try. It is likely to work with an extended cable, but you can't know until you try.