tweiss3

Making me jealous

That is Kenwood's stuff. All the kenwood softwares allow you to program a codeplug without the radio first. BTW, RPM14 from Harris is very interesting. Take what you know about motorola and kenwood combined, and toss it out the window.

Like I said, It's not a need to have, and I have the time to sit and wait. I don't need Phase 2, just U+V without wideband disabled.

That must be missing some features/entitlements, otherwise that's correct for hardware. I paid retail for my 5800 deck.

The NX series isn't hard to get. If you are really interested in the wideband, let me know, I can point you to the dealer I used who was very friendly. He also helped @Lscottwith entitlements.

This sounds almost like early version of Armada (for the Viking series radios). I haven't actually used the software yet though.

Exactly. I'm not exactly itching to buy one, its expensive and a bit outdated. I'm really looking for the $800 range, but I don't have the cash burning a hole in my pocket right now either. It's also pushing the cost towards the line in the back of my head "just get a VP8000", since I have someone to help me with issues, and I've actually held it/messed with the menus.

Yes, I have been looking for a 100P for my collection. I have figured out how to program, but haven't found one to buy yet (for reasonable prices). The problem I see is half of them have Wideband Disabled on the entitlement list, which is a deal killer. Programming is very very interesting, as is having multiple mission plans (having a rotation of codeplugs to swap out on the go without a computer as far as I understand it).

I think you are over thinking how to get to your designated simplex. Look into a pair yagi antennas pointed at each other to use just for the hard to reach family. You will also hear the other much better as well. Look at the numbers: Your 25W into an assumed 6db gain omni antenna = 99W EIRP Take the same antenna, boost the power to 100W and you get 398W radiated, but in all directions, and no improved receive from your intended family member. Take your same 25W radio into a 10.2db gain yagi = 261W EIRP, with better ears and less likely to cause interference to anyone else. There will also be more benefit if you don't have 6db gain on your current antenna. This is taking zero line losses into account. Edit, if you get one of the Yagis that has 12.2db gain, you end up with 414W EIRP with your existing 25W radio.

Are these "no ground plane" antennas, cause based on your photo, you don't have nearly enough ground plane under that antenna as installed.

TK890H. Just be careful if you want to also use it on ham frequencies. It's designed for 450-480, and needs additional heat dissipation on the final if you intend to use it below 450.

You aren't going to get survey grade location with anything unless you are running a survey instrument (such as a Trimble R6 running VRS to be on state plane with a complete data collector). Anything you will get in the retail market will still be 3m (10 ft) accuracy at its best, which would be enough for your use. If it were me, I would just use a basic tablet and a spreadsheet. Put columns for northing and easting, get a radio that can measure the signal in db or dbm, and put that in column 3. Add other columns for comments and note readability or not. Compile when you get home, then add to your software.

I run Larsen (NMO2/70SH and NMO150/450/758) both because they perform well and the spring. My truck roof is 6'7", and I regularly go in parking garages that are 7'2" without a place to stop and remove the antenna. I wouldn't waste your time retuning your existing antenna with a spring (spring is about $25), just get one with the spring already. The NMO2/70SH is centered on the ham bands, but is not bad on GMRS. The NMO150/450/758 is centered on the commercial frequencies, is better for GMRS, worse for ham but still acceptable.

I have the KMC72 which sounds amazing, and is nice and loud for noisy environments, but it has the Kenwood data port connection.

Back on topic. Thank you for this write up. It does demonstrate what has been said before, but the pictures are worth a thousand words. How did you hook up the TinySA? Are you using a bias tee or an attenuator? What equipment do you have for that. I have a TinySA, and do like it for the features to price ratio. I just don't have all the proper connectors to make hard connections without blowing it up.

This doesn't have anything to do with the base premise of this thread, which we should get back to.... But, @WQWX838, I have to disagree with your above post. As a licensed PE, I take no except to @marcspazmaintaining a title of engineer, be it senior engineer, engineer II or another. The distinction is the title Professional Engineer, the license and what you can and cannot do (i.e. stamp plans/calculations). I have a few young engineers under me that are not yet licensed, but they are still engineers. I also know plenty of other engineers in adjacent fields that the PE is not needed in their role for their engineering practice, and therefore may never get the licensure, yet sure are engineers. As a side note, in those fields, though the PE is not needed, it is often the gateway to move up into management, even though it will never be needed. @Sshannon correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I see it.

Well, that's why the good ones, like the NMO2/70SH is colinear 3/4 design for 70cm.

I hear this. We are very much the minority. Then again, I can't stand the price point for what the Anytone 578 provides. I do think the FTM400 and TM-D71GA were worth the money, but I don't see a justification for the newly announced FTM500 (price or features). And this is coming from a guy that paid list on a NX5800.

You may have to ask a dealer that does a ton of volume. I really like the dealer I first placed an order with, but with the market as it is, I asked the local dealer that serves the whole state (and does pallets of radios a month). They usually get priority, and can make another one appear on the truck. The big downside is you pay list, and that price has been adjusted 2 times in the past 6 months that I'm aware of.

Mine is set with no tone on the ID, so you should never hear it, but it is compliant.

The Kenwood TK radios above do have Part 95 certification. They aren't terribly large, and in fact, they are what I give the kids for most activities (ski, field day, etc.)

A used Kenwood TK3140 would be a great option for your requirements.

This thread does bring up a point. Do answering requests count as activity?

Yea, I don't understand how the VHF stuff is so expensive all of a sudden. I just picked up an XTVA with the HHCH for an absolute song to play with, since I have a XTS5000 in UHF, and wanted to see if I could get a VHF and about choked at the prices.

Re-reading the rules for something else, thought of this thread: 47 CFR 95.1733(a)(9) Prohibited GMRS Uses: Messages (except emergency messages) to any station in the Amateur Radio Service, to any unauthorized station, or to any foreign station;