Citizen

No reluctance here. Yes, I use repeaters with a PL to talk to friends outside my area. But more importantly I use simplex to talk to family members (who are almost always within simplex range). But family members just are not radio savvy, and so not to confuse things, I preset all radios to simplex with a likely unused PL. That way I can hand anyone a radio and the only thing they have to worry about is PTT, and there I am on the other end of the line. In fact, (mostly) the only time I use no PL at all, is when everyone else is asleep, and I start scanning frequencies to keep boredom at bay. ...

I’d like to add the following comments, not about GRMS per se, but related to the OP’s suggestion about writing an iOS app when there is already a myGMRS.com Android app out there (which I have, and I use, and I like a lot). I am a member of a few local car clubs, and as a computer programmer by trade (retired now), I wrote and still maintain their websites. When the need for mobile apps arose, I researched how to do it for them. The following points are what I discovered, and may be appropriately superimposed on top of the suggestion of writing an iOS version of the myGRMS Android mobile app: 1 – Market Share In my research (at the time, circa spring 2020) I found that market share for Android vs. iOS mobile apps were somewhere around 77-87% Android, to 12-23% iOS, and <5% Windows (the number changes all the time, so it doesn’t seem add up to 100%). Now in fairness, last I checked, iOS market share was gaining on Android, but it is slow and still had a LONG way to go to be close. 2 - Cost Android Studio (AS) development software is open-source and is free to download for use on a Windows PC. I downloaded it to my existing laptop PC and it runs just fine. I hooked my smart phone via USB for testing. So, using AS for free, my existing PC, existing monitors and existing smart phone, I successfully developed two Android mobile apps for almost* no additional cost. For me to have developed my same two apps on iOS, I would have had to research, choose and then purchase an iOS development tool (hundreds of $), purchase a new Mac (thousands of $), probably learn a new programming language (thousands of $ in lost time), and buy a new iPhone (~$700-$1200). EVERYTHING Apple sells is grossly more expensive than their Windows and Android counterparts. It's not even close. *In fairness though, I did have to upgrade my Windows PC memory to 4GB (cost about $25) and register as an Android application developer ($25). So there’s that. 3 - Political As people continue to use Apple products, remember that Apple has always been proprietary (remember when the Feds asked Apple to help them crack terrorist’s cell phone encryption, and Apple said no because it was an intrusion on their privacy?). (I hesitated including this point, but the political aspects of Apple are hard to ignore now given the culture they and our political leaders have imposed on us against our will, JMHO). 4 – Efficacy And finally, by writing an Android app first, one would clearly capture most of the need, as I did, and at a much lower cost and time to market. AND, subsequently one may find that an equivalent iOS app just isn’t needed (who doesn’t… even iPhone owners… now own an Android tablet?) In conclusion, after writing my Android apps, I did get a few people asking about providing an iOS version. But unless my time constraints diminish and market share and costs change significantly, I just don’t see how to justify it. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but regarding an iOS version of myGMRS, great, if Rich has the time, money and desire to do it. …

Coming across a split tone repeater should be pretty rare. And as I understand radio proximity, you should not have any trouble with an HT in the same vehicle as your vehicle mounted mobile. When you say Cobra MXT90's, I believe the MXT90 is a micro-mobile and is from Midland. ...

Thank you for that clarification, that explains it. I didn't know it was the antenna that got disconnected (I thought it was the RX electronics that got temporarily shut down). Makes sense now, and I feel better that I'm not frying my side-by-side radios. This info also alerts me to not try to share an antenna (like with a splitter) between radios. Thanks again! ...

You could buy a cheap bubble-pack GMRS HT (~$20) for monitoring only, and set it to the correct frequency/PL tone for listening. Battery would last a long time if you are only monitoring. That way, you could keep the MXT275 on the repeater TX frequency/PL without having to change it, and still hear all the repeater return traffic on the HT. ...

My question is about radio proximity. A modern day transceiver (HT, mobile) is both a transmitter and a receiver built into one unit. And I understand that RX is automatically shut down whenever TX is initiated, thus saving the receiver internals from being fried. (Pros can correct me, is this true?). Many, many years ago (and in a place far, far away), in the Air Force, I was a radio man. Mostly we used HF-SSB and some VHF. The transmitter and the receiver sites where massive facilities and physically located literally miles away from each other and thus didn’t have the problem of frying receivers to worry about. And further, as a kid I remember my dad’s old ham setup. The transmitter and the receiver were in separate metal chasses, as were the power supply and some other equipment he had, (filled up his entire 72" wide radio/hobby table). I think each unit must have been shielded because they weighed about a ton each. I don’t recall the RX being shut down when he transmitted, but I was a small boy, and did not understand the equipment…one of them could have been some sort of switch that shut down RX as needed, I dunno. Today, in my “shack” (a 24 inch wide, 2-level shelf I built), I have several mobile radios physically mounted right next to each other and a couple of power supplies. My question is, if any two or more radios are on, and I transmit on one, will it fry the internals of the those receiving, because they are physically located right next to each other? Comments please, and thanks! ... Edit: Should have ready 72 inches, not 72 feet.

Sorry to have to ask this, but I'm still learning so I need to ask... On a vehicle, if an NMO requires actual contract with the ground plane, then how do mag-mounts get away with inductance (not directly connected to ground-plane because of vehicle body panel primer, paint. clear-coat, wax) ?? ...

I have an MXT115. I too searched the manual and could not find that you can set up a channel to skip during scanning. I also have an MXT105, which does have this feature. So I thought it might be similar, so I tried some key combinations, but I cannot get the MXT115 to skip a channel. Sorry, nice feature that Midland seemed to have forgotten. ...

I did the same thing (created an Excel spreadsheet) of call signs/names/locations in my area. Only I separated the first 4-letters of the call sign from the last 3-digits and put them in separate columns. This is so I can sort all of them numerically by the 3-digits, because it's much easier to catch them that way when listening or find them when looking them up. I've only had one case of duplicate 3-digits (of course the 4-letters are different). I also use a different tab for which repeater I'm on. Now I have about 90+ entries and am considering putting them in an Access database. ...

Well, when I disconnect the antenna, I get no audio at all, and because the radio is receiving no modulation, there are no blasts. The radio is completely silent. I tried to time the blasts, both in duration and interval. There was no precise pattern with respect to when they occur, except that the seem to occur about once every minute or two, but ONLY WHILE SOMEONE IS MODULATING (silent otherwise). And, the blasts last from 3-6 seconds. And...people listening to me report that they hear the blast only sometimes during my transmission. No pattern reported. Thanks for your post. I decided to order up an RF sniffer (wanted one anyway), which should help me identify where the static blasts are coming from, IF they are coming from my own home. The sniffer should arrive by next Monday, then I'll make like Sherlock Holmes and see what I come up with. ...

Thanks Michael. I had not considered shutting down various other home AC power circuits for my tests. I’ll try it somehow, but it will be difficult (wife probably not going to appreciate me shutting down her internet/satelliteTV/phone/lights just so to test my radio system, but maybe I’ll wait till she’s napping, ha). Some good nuggets there and your hybrid method seems like a sound approach. And thank you also Gman and Admiral: I am 11.2 km (6.95 miles) LOS from the Greater Houston antenna farm. Wow! I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before. Here is some info from the internet about the farm: “…eight antenna towers that provide television and FM radio broadcast capabilities for the Greater Houston area, serving 46 television stations (including digital, low power and translator stations), and 23 FM radio stations.” Two of the towers there are about 2000 feet high and so must be some of those “angry RF firebreathing broadcast towers” Gman was talking about. Being only 7 miles away, it’s likely I’m being blitzed as you suggested. This does explain some things, but it also leaves me with a few more questions. Are the static blasts I’m receiving simply bleed-over from other frequencies, and not actually on 462.650?What triggers the blasts? They only seem to occur randomly while someone is modulating, never during standby, and only last for 3-5 seconds, maybe once per minute or two.Why only is my one antenna is being affected? Is it because it is the highest, and is external to my house/roof and thus the best for receiving? The lower, inside the attic mounted antenna is not picking up the blasts even when I swap my primary radio to use it.I didn’t know what intermod was, or a preselector, but after you mentioned it, I Bing’d it and now have an idea. I found THIS article on Intermodulation. It is a long read, and way over my head, but the first section on “Symptoms” helps me understand things better. A preselector could be a solution (albeit not a cheap one). Such is my luck living so close to the fire-breathers (Gman, you've coined a new phrase). And thank you too WRAK968. I did try shutting down and moving my cell phone away from the radio (but not my wife’s phone because she stores it some 25+ feet away from my radios, but perhaps I’ll revisit that). And I did move the Wifi as far away as I could, about 8 feet (side note: this seemed to have helped for a day or so, static burst volume was reduced, but not eliminated, and the test was inconclusive because the higher volume bursts returned the next day….I don’t know what to think of that). I’m not giving up. The fight goes on. Thanks much guys, for all your input. I very much appreciate this myGRMS.com website and you pros who respond to people with issues like mine. Thomas …

I want to describe a problem I am having with my GMRS communications, so maybe the experts on here could offer some ideas. Out of respect for everyone’s time, I’ll first describe the issue, and my setup, so no time is wasted asking. I’ll also describe a number of steps I’ve already tried (nothing worked), again so no additional time and effort is wasted suggesting something already tried. Problem Description: Mystery Static Bursts during RX/TX During Standby: No problem, no static detected, squelch not broken. During RX: Occasionally I will receive a burst of static while someone else is modulating. It seems to happen at random, maybe about once per minute and last for 3-5 seconds. It is not enough to completely obliterate the receiving transmission, but enough to seriously degrade it. It sometimes will also happen during receipt of repeater Morse code identification, but not every time. Time of day does not seem to matter, morning, afternoon, evening, as this happens most times someone else is modulating. So far, this only seems to happen on 462.650/467.650. It is difficult for me to experience or verify this problem on other channels/frequencies due to little or no traffic on them in my area. During TX: Others have reported that while I am transmitting, occasionally they will hear a static burst on their end, similar to what I hear during RX, and sometime this static is strong enough to completely knock out my transmission. It seems to happen at random, and again last for 3-5 seconds. During long transmissions, the other person will hear me ok at first, then I may drop off completely mid-transmission, and then resume. My Radio Setup: Setting: Single family style residential brick home in typical subdivision Primary base-station radio: AnyTone AT-588 – Power output setting: Middle (25w), WB setting: 20KAlternate radio: Midland MXT115 – Power output setting: High (15w)Antenna: Tram 1486 (trimmed for 462mHz), roof mount, approx. 20’ AGLCable: LMR400 (approximately 36’ length, PL-239 connectors)Power Supply: DuraComm (measured voltage 3.9v, constant)Excellent repeater reception/access (Dickenson Texas 650), with correct tones, LOS distance 15.5 miles Other Notes: Wall penetration for cable routing to attic/roof contain 4 cables: 1) Primary GMRS antenna (Tram, outside roof mount) 2) Alternate GRMS antenna (factory cut for GMRS, attic mount) 3) Scanner antenna (attic mount), and 4) CB radio antenna (attic mount).Cable grouping above possibly runs near electrical outlet wiring.Tested with all radios off except one being tested.Tested with primary radio on, scanner on. Radio experiences static bursts, scanner does notTested after swapping primary/alternate radios. Problem persists on new primary.Antenna cable routing is same for all radios and terminates in attic; except for the primary antenna cable continues higher to roof a penetration. All equipment is fairly new (within 3 months old)There are two laptop computers (one uses Bluetooth) and one printer nearby, but typically these are off during radio traffic.900 mHz wireless telephone base nearby, originally in immediate vicinity but moved 8 feet away from radio and antenna cables. Solutions I Have Already Tried: Replaced primary radio. I sent the AT-588 back, and they sent me a new one (verified by different serial nbr). Problem persisted. Replace alternate radio. I had a second MXT115 in my truck, so I swapped them. Problem persisted. Grounding antenna: Ground wire run from antenna base to attic mounted ground (distance to house earth ground impractical to reach). Conductive isolation of antenna from mast and removed ground. Normally per instructions, antenna is bolted to metal mast with supplied connectors. Thinking the mast may be holding static electricity, I insulated the antenna from the mast using pieces of rubber. The mast itself is bolted to wooden roof with composition shingles. Alternate Radio, but using same antenna/cable: See primary and alternate radios above. Scanner backup: Using a separate scanner tuned only to 462.650, the scanner does NOT pickup the static burst. Moved home Wi-Fi router and wired hub away from radio and antenna cables. Previously in same vicinity, move to about 8 feet away. Attempted to (temporarily) shield radio from WiFi signal using aluminum foil. Moved home wireless phone system away from radio and antenna cables. Reroute antenna cable in attic by unraveling/un-coiling excess to help eliminate possible bleed-over. Swap out power-strip feeding power supply/radios. Things I Have NOT Yet Tried: Moving primary/alternate radios some distance away from the power supply (due to time or practical matters). Currently power supply is right by radios. Complete shutdown of all electronics (including lights) in radio room. Replacing LMR400 cable (could be needless expense, since the one I am using seems good) Replacing antenna (same as above, could be needless expense) Recap and Summary: I am experiencing unidentified static bursts on frequency 462.650/467.650. Appears to be isolated to antenna/cable, or some type of nearby house electrical problem. I’ve been dealing with this for some time, and am running out of things to try. Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer suggestions. This is truly frustrating. ...

I checked and the stated output is 13.8 volts and 2.5 amps. I now know that's very low for my GMRS radio, but it does seem to power my cheap CB.

My base GMRS radio inside the house is getting its power from a relatively new DuraComm power supply. Its measured output is 13.9 volts and everything seems to work fine. For my mobile radio, I notice the in-car voltage is 13.8 volts when the car is running, and somewhere slightly above 12v when the car is not running and there is virtually no load, with the measurement taken directly off the battery. My mobile GMRS radio works fine in both cases. Finally, I have a very old power supply that I would like to make use of inside my house for a second radio. Like my other base unit, It would be a mobile rig, but used as a base indoors. Unfortunately, when I measure the output voltage it is showing 14.5 volts. The question is; Would a 14.5 volt output power supply harm the GMRS radio (or any other mobile radio) that only requires 12 volts? I looked for a way to calibrate the old power supply so to lower the output down to say 13.8 volts, but the only control other than the On/Off switch is a reset button on the back of the unit. There may be a rheostat inside the power supply that I could adjust, but I would have to open it up. The brand name of the old power supply is “Micranta”, aka Radio Shack, vintage 1970s. It's old, but its output is steady/constant, so I believe it is a good unit, I just don't want to damage a good radio. Thanks in advance.

Apologies sir, won't happen again.

Sorry to hijack but....regarding getting a ham license; is there any sort of practice test? When I was going for my private pilot's license, and specifically the ground (written) test, there were practice tests you could take beforehand, which had "similar" questions as might be on the "real" test (of which was online and the questions are randomized). ...

I am online now, and have asked for Signal Report...nothing heard (my simplex radio is not picking up the signal, so I know I'm NOT hitting a repeater, also no repeater trailer sound at all).

Forgot to mention; the Navasota repeater indicates tones 110.9, so I will program for those. I will also have a backup radio set for simplex on channel 22. T.

What antenna/cable are you using? I have an AnyTone AT-588 UHF. Although the radio seems fine for short distance/simplex, I have trouble reaching fairly close repeaters. Wondering if my problem is my antenna or cable. Thanks.

Thank you very much for responding and your willingness to help! I am in the Pearland/Manvel area, and so I checked the RF Line of Site website ( ) and it shows the Navasota 725 repeater is 71.4 miles to my northwest. If you back-off the 13 miles you are closer to me, that's still 58 miles. My antenna is about 20', and I don't know the height of the repeater but assuming it is at least 50', I'm afraid there are a number of obstructions between us (including terrain). However, like H8SPVMT indicated, I am patient and willing to try. I suggest at 6 PM (local) this evening (10/21/2020), I will be on Ch30 (462.725/467.725) and call for "SIGNAL REPORTS". If another time is better for you, please suggest and I will do my best to be at the radio at that time. Anyone else in H-town feel free to chime in here or on frequency. Thanks again, Thomas WRHV686

Ok, yes, I do hear a VERY SHORT burst of static at the end, on repeater 1 (Ping test #2 at Med power), but definitely no Roger beep. I had been hearing this before, but didn't know what it was and didn't know it was significant. See, ya learn something new everyday! ...

Well, there is a very short pause after the Morse code identifyer, and then a single Morse code character sent. I believe it is dit-dah-dit ('R') best I can tell (can't read the others, too fast). And it seems to occur every time I go on frequency to request a radio check. Is that what you mean by repeater tail? It doesn't sound like static or a Roger beep. ...

No, I only hear the Morse code that seems to respond whenever I key-up the repeater. I'm not sure I know what the repeater tail is. What should I be listening for? ...

I was just wondering if there is anyone in the south Houston Texas area that would be willing to schedule a few on air radio checks. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes if we can agree on a precise time and frequencies. Since being new to GMRS, I’ve been able to setup & program my radio (repeater capable) and tune my antenna. I’ve double checked just about everything but can’t seem to make contact with anybody. Here are a few tests I’ve run: Ping repeater 1 at low power, nothing received Ping repeater 1 at medium power; Received repeater CW identifier, but Morse code too fast to copy Ping repeater 2 at medium and high power; nothing received Ping repeater 3 at medium and high power; nothing received Ping repeater 4 at medium and high power; nothing received Ping repeater 5 at low, medium and high power; nothing received. Notes: Repeater 1 - distance: 11.3 miles; antenna height: 350’; CTCSS: 141.3 Repeater 2 - distance: 4.6 miles; antenna height: unknown; CTCSS: 141.3 Repeater 3 - distance: 15.5 miles; antenna height: 450’; CTCSS: 141.3 Repeater 4 - distance: 9.15 miles; antenna height: unknown; CTCSS: 67.0 Repeater 5 - distance: 9.6 miles; antenna height: 450’; CTCSS: 141.3 When I say “Ping”, I simply call for a radio check on frequency, with proper published CTCSS tone input to the repeater. My Tx power for Lo/Med/Hi are 10w/25w/45w respectively. My antenna is a Tram 1486 and is roof mounted at about 20’. For test 2 above, I received identifier loud & clear on the base radio (antenna is on roof) with no Rx tone set, but nothing heard on a HT inside the house. I do receive some local traffic on GMRS Ch 1, but that’s not repeater related. I have received network linked traffic from both Arizona and Oklahoma, but of course I couldn't make contact with them. Both my radio Tx and Rx have been verified for the repeater channels above using a separate HT and a separate scanner. So I don’t understand why there is so little traffic in this large metropolitan area (perhaps there is but just I’m not receiving it). Comments/suggestions/volunteers welcome. If this request is successful, maybe we could setup a thread for others in specific metro areas around the country. Unless I am the only one experiencing this. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. ...

I have a 50’ length of LMR400 cable that has sustained some insulation damage. (If you don’t mind, I won’t go into how it became damaged – will save that for a later post). I’m wondering if it is performing as well as it needs to be for GMRS use? Maybe there are people on this forum with some experience in using a damaged cable that can chime in. Here’s some needed information before you can answer: Description of cable: As I said, the cable is 50 feet long. It is 50 ohms, LMR400 equivalent (labeled Bolton400), heavy-duty, low-loss coaxial. It has N-type male connectors on each end. I use N-Type to UHF converters to connect to my radio and antenna. Approximate price: $60. Description of damage: The outside insulation damage appears to be about 1 inch long by about ¼ inch wide (does not go all the way around the cable). The braiding layer appears to be scratched, but completely in tact (not torn through to the next insulation layer). Here are four possible solutions: Possible solutions: Solution 1: Do nothing. The cable works now (although performance is in question). Price: $0. Solution 2: Abandon the cable, bite my lip and purchase a new cable. Price: $50-$60. Solution 3: Cut off the bad section of the cable (about 10’ from one end) and the other connector as well, and mount two new PL-259 (UHF male) connectors on both ends leaving 40’ of pristine cable, which is still about 10' more than I need. Replacing the N-Type connectors allows the elimination of the two existing converters at either end. Price: $20 (per quote received from a local cable company that specializes in radio cables). Solution 4: Same as above, but leave good side N-Type connector and mount new N-Type connector on cut-off end. Price: Uncertain (but should be less that solution 3 above). Additional Information: Solution 2 involves ordering, substantial cost, waiting for shipment, and then installing new cable. Time consuming, but doable. Solutions 3 and 4 involve removal of the old cable, driving about 25+ miles (each way) to cable shop, and re-installation. A fair amount of time/work. Right now, the cable seems to be working, which leans me towards solution 1. But I’m basing this on my own (imperfect) perception of Tx and Rx performance. I don’t have any meters or test equipment other than a standard VOM. On the other hand, if the cable is in fact NOT performing as well as it would before being damaged, should I pursue one of the solutions 2-4 above? Thank you in advance. …