daschnoz

[my_opinion] Personally, I'm not a fan of "all-in-one" devices. If you break/lose the radio, you're also out your GPS, clock, and whatever other functions the single device covered. Now you're double/triple/quad... screwed. In addition to the quality radio, I would suggest a CCR that meets as many of the requirements as possible. If you're that far away from civilizaion, you need a spare. One is none, two is one... [/my_opinion]

Check out amateurradiosupplies.com for coax as well. They have Davis DRF400. Same specs as LMR, 20% cheaper. They'll put the ends on it for you as well.

Any SWR meter that will handle the 462/467MHz range will get the job done. Mine measures SWR, power, and frequency. They're not that expensive. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D86IKIQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 As for coax: RG-58 is fine if I'm messing around in the shack. For a permanent install I use nothing less than LMR-240 (including my HF antenna). The VHF/UHF antenna runs around the shack are DRF-400 (same specs as LMR, but 20% cheaper). For a mobile install, you're going to need to balance your acceptable coax loss with what is practical. I'm using LMR-240 in the mobile install.

[deleted] I should do more than just skim the OP before responding.

It's not HAM, you're right. But people still like to tinker with what they are allowed to. That said, for many people (myself included), the radio hobby starts on GMRS, and expands into HAM rather quickly.

Can you explain how a home brew antenna causes interference/noise/splatter in the business spectrum, and why it should not be used? The type accepance applies to the radio. Other than FRS, I have not seen anything in the regulations that mentions any type of antenna that is permitted or prohibited for GMRS.

LMR-400 is a must for UHF. Look for DRF-400. Same specs, 20% cheaper. Try to use the fewest number of connections and adapters as possible. Going from LMR-400 directly into an HT with an SMA connector will be akward. Try to get that adapter cable with the needed male/female connectors with no gender benders or PL-259 to SMA adapters needed. One end of the cable goes directly into the LMR-400, the other end goes directly into the radio. You won't go wrong with the Ed Fong antenna. Remember that you need to wrap it in 200psi grade PVC pipe. They are tuned for that and results without the pipe may be different. The BR-6157 (different than your proposed) has 4.5dBd of gain, which equates to a gain facor of 2.8... meaning that 5 watts of input power radiates as if you put 14 watts into a unity gain antenna. Antenna gain also works on receive to boost the incoming signal by the same amount. It is 32-1/2" tall (I don't know if that's a problem for you). ETA: Boxcar posted while I was typing. +1 on looking into a dual band antenna. GMRS is the gateway drug to a HAM ticket.

Running on a Baofeng UV-82... I have a 771 that I never use. With the radio on my hip, it's an armpit tickler. I run a 701C that works well. I don't know if it's any better than the stock antenna for GMRS. I never really tested it for range. I can easily get into the local GRMS repeaters with both antennas from my home QTH. About the biggest benefit is that it's flexible, so it has a bit of give when you swipe it against something.

A couple of the guys I know who have repeaters, both GMRS and HAM, are running flat pack duplexers like the one you are running. They noticed the same thing... reduced Rx range due to the insertion loss of the duplexer. Their solution was to insert a preamp in the Rx line between the duplexer and the RX radio. The cheap ones can be had from Amazon or eBay for under $25. +30dB, which may be too much, but you can usually adjust that by controlling the supply voltage to the module. There are better ones out there, but the price increases with the quality. For under $20, it may not be bad to try. If it works, upgrade to a better quality device if you want.

Be careful with those 3"-ish stubby antennas. Some have been known/found to have VERY bad SWRs, others are apparently pretty decent (I don't have any). I suspect that going cheap on these would not be a good idea.

I have a similar issue at home, except the constant signal is on 550. I have heard that there are some baby monitors that use these frequencies, or frequencies that are very close (462.555 for example). You may have something similar going on in your area. I'm going to be putting together a GMRS Quagi antenna to do some fox hunting (we have a tool bag messing with a local repeater). Finding the source of the signal on 550 will be my test for it.

Lost me at rechargeable. Dead battery, swap it out for a charged one. Back in business within seconds.

Step #1.... Determine if their license is still valid, or if they allowed it to lapse. That information should be available on the FCC site. If it has lapsed, they may be operating as they used to, and since it sounds official on the air, no one has challenged them. If their license is valid, you will need to find another frequency to use. If it has lapsed, you don't need to "throw them to the lions". Send them a nice letter, letting them know that their secret has been discovered. Give them some time, but if 6 months goes by with no change, send them another letter, this time let them know that you also sent a copy to the FCC (and do so). If it gets to that point, I bet the problem will sort itself out quickly.

Relating to power restrictions (that 75W radio mentioned earlier)- My 50W radio in the shack is connected to a Tram 1481, so my ERP is close to 500W (by the math). Even on the intersticial channels with the radio putting 5W into the antenna, my ERP is around 50W. If you have a 75W radio driving an antenna that has only 3db of gain, the ERP is about 150W. From distance, listening to your transmission, how is anyone going to know if your're putting more power into the base of the antenna simply based on what they hear on their radio? I get it - they don't want people using 1500W amps on the GMRS band, so they needed to pick a number. 50W is a nice round number and it's just as good as any other nice round number, so 50 it is. This is one of those cases where the spirit of the rule can get lost in the real world application and actual usage. Maybe they did intend to keep the ERP at around 500W, and since GMRS is intended for the more casual radio user who may not understand the more technical aspects of radio, they set the limit on the hardware because that's easier to understand.

I'm assuming that you are looking for somthing to put on a tower. If you have the room for a 17-foot antenna, I suggest a Tram 1481. I have one on my garage and I can hit a 2m HAM repeater that is 70 miles away. When the conditions are JUST RIGHT, I can hit a GMRS repeater that is 40 miles away with a good bit of obstructing terrain in the middle. 8.3dbd of gain on VHF, 11.7dbd of gain on UHF. NOTE: That's dbd, not dbi like just about everyone else specs their antennas. From dbi, subtract 2.1 to get to dbd. So an antenna that boasts 2.1dbi = 0dbd, which is unity gain. I have mine tuned so that my HAM bands are close to 1:1 in the middle of each band. GMRS is up around 1.7:1, which is not great, but still usable. At 2:1 SWR, about 10% of the power is being sent back to the radio, so my 50W is really somewhere between 40-45W (coax losses not withstanding). The ground plane is adjustable and there is a good bit of adjustment remaining in the proper direction, so I'm sure that I could get the SWR lower in the GMRS band if I tried. If you do get one, get it from Staples. Yes, the office supply store. They have the best price around. Finally, don't go cheap on the coax.

Yeah, that pi$$ed me off too.... $250 radio, $100 to be able to secure it. My hunch... they're competing with Anytone, Baofeng, et al, on the price point of the radio. The Anytone is $225.... for an added $25 I get Icom quality... it's a no-brainer. Icom makes up the difference in the other stuff needed to make the radio usable. In the end, I did the same thing as you... just buy the right thing. Everything that I found, 3rd party, looked like junk. It's an Icom thing though. The 2730 isn't unique on this. You bought a radio, they sold you a radio. Peripheral hardware .... that's not what you bought, you bought a radio. Mention to any HAM that you're buying a new Icom, and you will hear "watch out". If it's not listed as "in the box", don't assume that it's in the box.

Whatever antenna you get, don't go cheap on coax. RG-58 is fine for HF and CB frequencies (under 30MHz), but at GMRS frequencies (462/467MHz) you're going to lose 30-40% of your power into a 15-ft piece of it, depending on the grade of RG-58. Spend a few more $$ and get LMR-240 at a minimum. With LMR-240, into 15-ft, you're going to lose about 17% in the cable. A magnet mount will most likely have some sort of RG-58, so a magnet mount with LMR-240 will most likely be a DIY project (mine was). Depending on how/where you're running the coax, if you can swing it, LMR-400 is even beter. Look for Davis DRF-400. Same specs as LMR, but about 20% cheaper. https://www.qsl.net/co8tw/Coax_Calculator.htm Welcome to GMRS. It's the gateway drug to a HAM ticket....

I don't mind RBs on a repeater, GMRS or HAM, generated by the repeater. It is a consistant tone, and definative marker to know that the other station has completed his transmission. A simple beep in the squelch tail is all that is needed. On simplex however, if everyone is using a different radio, generating a different tone, then it becomes a RB chorus. That drives me crazy. I do wish that the Retevis RT97 had a RB. I use it when we go camping, and I think a RB would keep my kids from stepping all over eachother. I ended up turning on the squelch tail (about 1 sec) and told them to wait for the crash before keying up. It seems like that was good enough.

ETA: I do have a flat-pack, 4 cavity pre-selector that would do what you are looking for. It has 5MHz bandwidth in the GMRS frequency range. It has a female N, and female BNC connector. I think I have cables for it to get you to PL-259 at minimum, MAYBE SMA (I'd need to look). Send me a PM if interrested. ------------------------------- original message below ---------------------------- The RT97 is spec'd. as 10W on high power, but on mine, I measured a little over 5W into a dummy load right off of the SO-239. I contacted Retevis about this. The duplexer that they are using is designed for a minimum 10MHz split. Though it can be tuned for a 5MHz split, that does increase losses. It looks like they're losing about 3db in the duplexer (my bet is on both ends, TX and RX). I was thinking of adding one of those cheap 30db pre-amps to the RX side, after the duplexer. How can they rate it as 10W you ask.... the output of the TX chip is 10W (before the duplexer).

FM on CB -- I wonder how that's going to work when 11m is WIDE open. The heterodyne is going to be noisy. Propagation will be interesting.

If you ever find yourself in central PA, dial up the 625 repeater out of Mt. Holly. Throw out your call sign. There is always someone listening and someone will usually respond, especially if it's an unfamiliar call sign. Rag chews are common well into the early morning hours.

That's how it would work. In my case, there is little 220MHz activity to my west, so I will mount the antenna on the east side of the mast. 1/4 wavelength at 220MHz is about 13". I will probably go with 2 feet. Since you're only talking about 6-7 inches for GMRS, personally, I would double that distance and find a "nice" number that is close (12"-14" ... 12" or 18" are nice numbers, a clean 1.0 or 1.5 feet). I think 1/4 wavelengh is minimum, but as we know, having more distance between the radiating element and a ground element is better.

Thank you. I expected that it would be related to wavelength. To keep this related to GMRS: Wavelength (in meters) = 300 / frequency (in MHz) Longest GMRS wavelength = 300 / 462.550 = 64.85cm Convert to your preferred measurement unit.

I know this question itself is about ham radio, but it can also apply to GMRS equally. I'm going to be mounting a BIG antenna (Tram 1481) at the top of the pipe, but I would also like to mount a smaller antenna off the side of the mast pipe. The 1481 covers the 2 meter and 70cm bands (and GMRS quite well). The additional antenna is an Ed Fong J-Pole that covers the 1.25 meter band. The question - How far from the mast pipe should I mount the 2nd antenna so that the steel mast does not interfere with the antenna?