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If you look, there are open repeaters on the database. Many people leave 675 open nationwide with a 141.3 PL as it's a fairly common standard and open repeater. You're also not thinking about closed systems that get posted simply to show the pair is currently in use. It's a courtesy to those building repeaters in the area and shows them what splits and PL's they should avoid with their own repeaters.

Not required to have a IDer for GMRS or for many commercial services for the matter. Personally, I'd keep one off an open repeater (any abuse or misuse that goes through the repeater is your problem because you are technically IDing for the violators). Mobile radios are mobile radios…most are only built for a 25% duty or less at full power.

You really don't have to have a way to remotely disable a GMRS repeater. It's not actually stated in Part 95A like it is in Part 97. That is another thing I like about the 16 pin Motorolas though. You can easily configure them to disable TX based off of the built in signaling.

I've been looking into different forms of ROIP…NXU's aren't cheap ~$900 a piece but they are quite easy to setup. Asterisk is dirt cheap but takes some configuration. Zello just doesn't seem like a mid-priced option for a several repeater system linked over a period of a few years.

I generally stay off of the simplex only shared stuff…so much easier to hit the button for talk around in my mobile and go in at 25W (I have 40 + W radios…but have never seen a need to use more than 25W).

The manual might state that because the radios may be programmed to run full power (for the radio) on the shared frequencies which exceeds the 1/2W limit for FRS.

Probably better squelch circuits than equipment you're used to. If you had PL set, then most commercial rigs default to only open squelch (regardless of how tight the setting is) if the proper tone is present. If you want to operate a mobile based repeater as a simplex station (not repeater) just plug the output in both the RX and TX sections of the radio. Also works if you need console/dispatcher operation.

If you were concerned with power draw, the NHRC-µ would be the best option but it doesn't feature real stored speech. Both the Electra and 3.1 feature linking. I don't remember if the Electra can be programmed through a computer though. If size is a factor, the Electra is a bit bigger than the NHRC. Easiest way to do the simplex thing, when you program your radios, program the receive radio with transmit inhibit on 467.XXX and the transmit radio as a simplex radio on the matching 462 pair. Then just plug a Kenwood mic into the transmit radio.

I've had them both for about a year and still haven't gotten a computer slow enough to program them. Haven't even built a programming cable for them either. R100's versus a GR500 (same size cabinet just with two GM300's and a RICK inside)…the R100 has a much narrower passband filter on the receiver (it's about 1-2 MHz wide) where the GR500's GM300's has a receiver passband roughly 40 MHz wide (similar with most mobiles). They need a 486 or slower to program…they come in either PL or DPL (unlike GM300's which can do both). The thing they do offer over other radios, when they get to hot…they move to reserve power. Factory settings, a 10W goes down to 2W and a 25W goes to 10W (this can all be configured though). I lucked out as both of mine have the DB25 accessory connector on the outside. They are even setup for battery backups.

Where they went wrong in their petition was bringing up amateur transceivers. Any commercially marketed amateur transmitter (in the US) has to be type certified for operation in Part 97 and the receivers have to be at least Part 15. However, being amateur radio, any home brew or "modified" (this includes Part 90 gear running in ham land) equipment just needs to meet the technical standards of Part 97. Most of the current petitions out there (or most recent) are from hams who won't suck it up and get a radio without VFO. There is tons of surplus Part 90 (and 95) equipment out there that simply did not meet narrow banding. Ham's either A) trying to petition the FCC to allow Part 97 equipment or trying to petition the FCC to allow hams to use GMRS without applying for the licensing and using equipment that meets or exceeds the technical specs won't get anywhere. Also if you look into the emergency side of the statement, you'll realize that many of the guys who are a part of RACES/ARES and utilize GMRS also hang up their Part 97 FM transceivers in an emergency in favor of Part 90 FM transceivers because they are more or less idiot proof, much more rugged, and allow for easier interoperability between all emergency personnel.

Nope. Operation technically falls under your license under current rules.

The antenna you bought is of the J-Pole variety. J-Poles are non-ground plane dependent antennas. They were originally designed by the Germans to be drug behind Zeppelins. They also aren't very wideband antennas. J-Poles by design are +3 dBd gain. To fool most hams and those who really don't know much about antennas, many people put antenna gain in terms of dBi…which is in reference to a non-existant radiator in the real world. The +5 dB is really +5.21 dBi which is equal to +3 dBd. The Ed Fong antenna is some form of 300 or 400Ω ladder line. They work okay, but they aren't the proper dimensions for a j-pole (a real j-pole needs about 3-4" of spacing between the 3/4 wave and 1/4 wave pieces). This narrow-ness between the two pieces can cause desense in a full duplex environment (in half duplex they work just fine). I've got one of these laying around…it was free so it gets used occasionally. https://www.tessco.com/products/displayProductInfo.do?sku=89263&eventGroup=4&eventPage=1 My favorite portable repeater antennas are these. http://www.wiscointl.com/decibel/dipoles/db404.htm I know a few guys who have had these made for portable repeaters with the break down option found in some of his larger antennas. http://www.jpole-antenna.com/shop/462-mhz-land-mobile-gmrs-j-pole-antenna/

I usually just ask the building or tower owners first. Explain what you'd like to do. Sometimes you can get away with not having to pay anything…sometimes you have to pay something. It helps when you have ties to a radio shop or county emergency coordinator.

I've been thinking about setting up some of my friends radio for MDC-1200 for fun. Kinda falls in the same boat.

The 3.1 is probably a little over the top but it'll work (I'd go with a 2.1). MDC1200 (the call select/PTT ID) has been standard on most Kenwood, Icom, and Motorola radios since the 90's. The one thing to realize, MDC-1200 isn't a plug an ID in…its a define an address book (and has to be done on each radio). If you have 0021 programmed in as Bob on your radio but on you're friends 0021 is Bill…it'll display Bill on your friends and Bob on yours. MDC-1200 does allow for select calling though (that may or may not be a need). You don't actually need a controller to run those as a repeater. What you can do is build a crossover cable to go between the two radios similar to the way instructed here (though this is for Icom's). I've got an Icom F420 repeater running like that. http://www.prestonmoore.com/repeater.html If you wanted ID, I'd go with the above setup plus a Com-Spec ID-8. Just wire it up parallel to the cross-over. It'll ID for you, give a courtesy tone (letting the TOT in the radios time) and can be programmed for hang time. I do something very similar with Motorola's and the cheap $10 repeater cable. I uses a vacant pin to program PL disable so when the system ID's, it disable's the transmit PL. You can buy the serial programming cable for around $15 online. A simple USB to RS-232 adapter is a good thing to have when you're dealing with older commercial radios (DOS has no definition of USB). You'll have to make sure two things are done before you can field program the radio. a) There is a little 0 ohm resistor that has to be removed from the control head of the radio (this requires taking the radio apart and a little patience finding the right resistor) you'll have to enable front panel programming in the software (all of my 880H's are version 1 so I couldn't tell you how to do it in the windows software)

There is a guy on RR who's been attempting it. It's not as flexible as doing it off of asterisk or something similar to IRLP (which is a combination of a repeater program and a VOIP program called speak freely).

Why waste a 200+ channel (trunkable) radio that can be programmed through the front face plate for repeater duty and narrowbands? The difference between version 1 and version 2 isn't the power output, its the programming software. Ver 1 requires DOS, Ver 2 requires Windows. The TK-880 is a 25W radio. The TK-880H is a 40W radio. (The heatsink on a H is longer than a non-H model). Also, good luck finding that connector in stock. Very few people still have them, and they generally want $40+ a piece for them.

When I had a shack at home…it consisted of a VHF Motorola GM300 (I later traded that radio for a UHF GM300 to fix a GR300 so I went to a VHF Maxtrac), an Icom F221s, and I had a surplus Dell running Mint 14 with a Cinnamon desktop. The Maxtrac went to a Tram station antenna on a 10 ft pole outside and the F221s went to a dipole I had taped up in the closet. Now my mobile shacks…are a slightly different story. Both are in the middle of some upgrades though. My daily driver… http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg586/zap_uh_lack/Mobile%20Uploads/50F9BE84-84CA-4BFB-9261-B55BA727E425_zps28rilj0v.jpg A Yaesu FT-2990 (on the dash, it's replacement is sitting on the console, Vertex VX-5500). A Icom F221 (Probably going to be replaced with a Kenwood TK-880H) I'm pinching pennies for a console. I'd still have a Motorola GTX, a VHF/UHF crossband repeater (I'm thinking either A) cross banding the Vertex and Kenwood or adding a SM120 and cross banding it to the Vertex), I've got a Kenwood TK-690 with remote head but I think I'm going to go with a 25 year old Motorola Syntor that I recently acquired (they only made 1200 of them), and I've been debating a VHF packet/aprs radio. Ideally I'd like to wire most everything into a common mic switch. My Jeep [http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg586/zap_uh_lack/Mobile%20Uploads/F4739079-FEBB-4B5E-AD2E-2FE7FC6E421E_zpsg3c7s6oc.jpg http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg586/zap_uh_lack/FD173CE2-A804-45B5-9EC1-BE7A5501CADC_zpskfezggfr.jpg This one has a Anytone dual band (the radio is actually under the back seat), a Cobra 25 and a APRS SM50 in the back (wired into the ignition of course). The Anytone is coming out…I'm going to grab a remote mount VX-6500 I have (the Vertex version of the Kenwood TK-790) and swap the remote portion over to a VX-5500 and then use one of my NIB M1225's for UHF. Update: Found these on my Youtube channel. Apparently I never took any photos but I do have video. They were running on a scrapped PC power supply.

Older post but I almost get the sense that by the definition of fixed station that the FCC is trying to say a station with a directional antenna...which would make sense for a 15W limit. Control/shotgun link. Internal duplexers are a technicality as very few repeaters actually have duplexers that aren't a separate unit from the repeater and just hidden in the case. I'd say 50W at the output of the PA amplifier.

I think the biggest thing is that GMRS and VHF/UHF amateur are (even today) heavily influenced by the commercial market. Commercial AM has been dead since the late 50's above 30 MHz. I can think of a AM/CW/SSB Part 90 Motorola and Kenwood but you'd need a transverter to get them above 30 MHz.

Anything Ubuntu based that doesn't have it pre-installed simply open up a terminal. sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-hams-updates/ppasudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install chirp Also, add user to dialout sudo usermod -G dialout (your username)

I try and keep to the old saying, a pistol is for fighting your way back to your rifle. Or in this case, a HT is for talking your way back to a mobile.

Splat! is a favorite of mine. 20 MHz-20 GHz

To link multiple systems, you need a full duplex link repeater. You could do a point-to-point from one repeater to another on a simplex system but to add more than that you'd need a full duplex system. Their are two ways to easily perform multi-system links. Build a LAN network with 802.11 protocols using something similar to these… http://routerboard.com/RBMetal9HPn http://routerboard.com/RBMetal2SHPn http://routerboard.com/RBMetal5SHPn Or you could add an extra "link" radio to you're repeater that has the input/output of another repeater (this is easy to duplicate to link multiple repeaters together requiring a regular repeater for a hub and a link radio with the next closest repeater pairs on all the other repeaters you wish to link in). That is the only way I know to do a multiple link system wirelessly (there's always the running wire method).

I talked to a guy on our 675 repeater using the Motorola MSR350. He sounded okay, he was about 5 miles closer to the repeater than I was though. Little quiet, which would leave me to believe that the Motorola bubble packs are all narrowband radios. What that means, the FCC claims that 2.5 kHz deviation is equivalent to -3 dB of signal with 5 kHz deviation. Some 3rd party repeater contractors have shown the number to be equivalent to nearly -6 dB in real world tests. So using a 2W narrowband radio is equivalent to a 1W wideband radio (per the FCC) and no better than a .5W wideband radio per 3rd party testing. Personally, I'll stick with my 4W Icom and Motorola's. As far as the BF-666/777/888 goes…some of them won't actually narrowband and none of them have Part 90 grants. The FCC has acknowledged and stated that they are not interested in pursuing people using Part 90 approved (or even older Part 90 wideband only) equipment on GMRS as long as they are using it properly within power limits and not causing harmful interference. I own a BF-888, though I haven't hooked it up to my Bird (have to find a low power slug first) I have calculated the transmitter through FSPL to be closer to 3.5W and not 4W or even 5W. I did find with the 888 that it's a 3 dB improvement if you use a $8 Motorola Jedi series UFH antenna.