AdmiralCochrane

Citizen, my comment was not intended to point toward either side. People on both sides of the Apple/Microsoft lines are generally ignorant of the opposite mode. On smart phone applications I find all to be equally foul.

He's asking if the MXTA26 will work. It will work but there are better dedicated base station antennae. Many hams start out with mobile antennae on their first low budget rigs, since he is already dedicating more money than first low budget, he's probably pointing toward a better dedicated 65cm band antenna. Internet search is his friend; search for GMRS base station antenna. I would do all I could to get the antenna up higher. Another 10 ft could make the difference between useful and not so. Unless I am mistaken, the harder the surface rocks are the better chance of signal propagation into shaded/non line of sight areas via "knife edge" propagation. Soft soil and trees - dead zones in the non LOS regions.

Same here, I occasionally use keypad to change channel, volume, likewise vfo direct entry. There are many days I don't touch it

Doesn't mean they aren't the same hardware

Many people fear what they do not understand.

Most HT's come with a budget antenna to hold down the price. Another $30 worth of aftermarket antenna is usually a good investment. In fringe areas, antenna polarization is important. The transmitting and receiving antennas need to be exactly in the same plane (hold the HT with the antenna pointing straight up). Outside of that, we would need more details.

In the 65centimeter GMRS band, height means more than anything else for your antenna as long as your coax length is less than 50 ft, then coax quality begins to inch in, but height is still the prime consideration. If your area isn't generally flat, even a well elevated antenna will not propagate well in the obscured directions; a repeater does not overcome this unless it is located at a centrally located high ground location. The advantage of a repeater is to generally double the range of 2 mobile radios. If the repeater antenna can be located on a tower over 150ft high and the tower itself is on a locally high elevation the range between the repeater and regular stations can be 20 miles under perfect conditions. At 50 ft elevation the range of a repeater is more likely to be less than 10 miles, probably 5, sometimes even less with buildings and trees around. Good brands of antenna are Diamond, Comet, Browning, Tram, Ed Fong. There are many to choose from among these brands.

I worked on a demo job at a three letter agency building once, it was isolated as described above. The laborers carried literal tons of copper screen to the recyclers. One floor, maybe 20,000 sq ft and 10,000 - 15,000 fully wired telephone connections. Desks with headsets and typewriters - old school telephone intercept building.

So, you heard more traffic on 19?

The Lone Ranger rides again

A crappy rubber duck would also inhibit longer distance propagationand can limit it to UHF/GMRS wavelengths. example: My very nice Kenwood ham tribander is super with a good antenna, but near worthless with the rubber duck that came on it. I can hit repeaters over 20 miles away with proper elevation and the good antenna on all 3 bands, but only UHF under a mile away with the rubber duck.

I don't think its dual watch, but outside of that, its sort of what OP is looking for.

The simple solution is an FRS radio and a used handheld scanner from eBay. There were very few dual service part approved radios and I'm not sure any of them could be programmed to do what you want even if you could find one.

Remotely possible that you are hearing 3 different repeaters on the same frequency. Nothing to prevent it.

Its not an option, you don't have any more rights to the use the frequency than any other licensed GMRS user.

Same here. SWR on GMRS was slightly better than on 2m. All 4 bands were under 1.35

Waiting for the uneducated replies ?

No reason for Midland to lower the price when they are selling all they can make. Many people remember the Midland name from CB's and scanners from the 70's and 80's and have no knowledge of better Japanese brands and fewer still can sort between the wheat and chaff of equipment made elsewhere in Asia.

I do. There is the clarity at distance - until it drops out. The idea works for me.

VOIP radio is the future of the internet

I'd buy and put up a tower to use simplex before I bought a repeater. People spend fortunes on other hardware, but in truth, RF comms are more dependant on the antenna and its placement than any other component. Without a well placed antenna over it, a repeater is just money in someone else's pocket .

Starting this week there wil be a discussion net on the Towson 600 repeater in central MD. The repeater is located at pretty high elevation on a tower in Towson MD and has a large coverage area. It comes in clearly as far as Edgewater to the south and the PA line to the north. To the east it propagates well into western and central Cecil and Kent Counties. Not sure how far west it works, but I would imagine most or all of Howard County. Perk up your ears and if you can hear the net, give a try to check in. We will be listening!

Always depends on the exact location. There are places in Alexandria and Arlington that you can hardly reach a mile with 50 watts because of structural obstacles

In my area not all agencies have moved to P25 and there is still a lot for a kid to listen to. I still use a BC245XLT from time to time. I bought it on eBay a couple years ago, since 245XLT is no longer state of the art, it can be had cheap

Its called "kerchunking" the repeater. Technically its not legal, but people do it all the time.