MacJack
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Posts posted by MacJack
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Nice ideas for RV... I do have sound system to connect other source... it maybe more noise then I want. Just want to hear kids playing. Now I was thinking of this antenna, comments for an easy up and down temp antenna that may fit in closet. https://www.ebay.com/itm/GMRS-HAM-UHF-5dB-gain-Repeater-Base-Antenna-/112813555663
Jack
Is the radio mounted inside your RV? Curious if it could be connected to an external speaker outside, as in the built in stereo speakers on mine (I don't do music in camp and run Bluetooth for any AM/FM/Online listening when cellular is available). Actually thinking I might install the mobile in the slot where my radio/CD player is in the 5er and connect to existing external speakers.
Is there a reason a 450 1/4 wave antenna on the roof wouldn't be sufficient? Of course it would require a ground plane. I could probably come up with a ground plane mount on or near the existing TV antenna (which I also do not use - all this junk is standard equipment these days).
I also like your dual channel programming for power usage.. but, unless you're TX/RX a lot, isn't the standby power draw equal? Maybe you're in an area with lots of traffic, I'm surely not.
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Sorry I beat you out of the GR1225. The seller is like you, full of helpful info for success. Thanks for your comments. I have added them to my GR1225 ideas and instruction sheet. As for solar my RV is all rigged out for that, BUT you offer an ideal if I put this out on a mountain top with no power.
Again sorry I beat you on this deal.
Jack
Did you just pick up that GR1225 I was eyeballing? You might want to wipe the drool off of it!
300 bucks WITH the programming set, and duplexer tuned is ... I wish I would have seen that before I did what I did! But if I HAD done that, maybe I wouldn't have learned that LMR-400 isn't good for the haul between the antenna and duplexer? So I learned something new! That's gotta be worth something right?
Anyway - if you're going for a mobile repeater, i'm not sure - but it MIGHT be better to get a feedline that's actually "less desireable" than LMR400, because it's supposedly the braid interface with the foil that causes the problem. If it's stationary, probably hardline is best. If mobile, maybe something that's "not as good" but also not dual shielded would be better since the dual shield is what I understand causes the intermod / desense issues with full duplex.
Now - the battery charging system - I can most certainly help you out on that front. I have a couple of solar / battery systems going right now, and I've been involved with solar (and low voltage systems in general) for a good long while - way before solar was "cool".
For a mobile temporary setup thats not going to see heavy traffic (and hence heavy battery draw) - especially if most of the draw is during daylight - you have options. If you're running 120v charge maintinence you're on easy street. With mains power, get a battery charger for cars that can stop charging to avoid overcharging the battery, that can auto switch between trickle charge and "mo powa" charging. They're about 100 bucks, and they're everywhere. If it'll ramp up to at least 10a on trickle (most won't go over that range even if there's a heavy draw and they're 50A capable for "start" function) you probaby have it made in the shade. if not? Add another battery and wire in parallel. Have somebody on standby to push the "mo powa" button if needed.
Solar is a bit more involved, but it's doable too. a 2x4 panel on a charge controller to a similar battery setup. As long as you're not jawboning through the dark hours, you could do solar without getting too crazy. -
That is a good idea, I will have to look into that.
Jack
So i have mine with 2 channels programmed. One on high power (25 watts) and one on low power (10 watts). When I have a 50 amp hookup its on CH1 HP when im dry camping its on CH 2 LP.
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I was ready to get a Retevis RT97 BUT my scope for a repeater has changed like your family need to be multi purpose. So I just picked up a GR1225 for $300 and power it to 25 watts for family at home then move it to RV and Jeeping (your hunting use). This new purchase can run on standby 12 volt battery and trickle charge off of 110v plus I have solar panel for charging in RV as well as an inverter that I will plug it into. So I can do RV site and solar thus I when bigger and not RT97. So I'm got a https://www.ebay.com/itm/GMRS-HAM-UHF-5dB-gain-Repeater-Base-Antenna-/112813555663 for the RV and Jeep and for the home base a https://www.commscope.com/product-type/antennas/base-station-antennas-equipment/base-station-antennas/itemdb404-b/
I'm open for comments as these items in the cart not purchased yet.
Thanks,
Jack
Edit: kb2ztx can you power down your GR1225 to less than 10 watts?
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I just picked up a GR1225 for $300 and power it to 25 watts for family at home then move it to RV and Jeeping. This new purchase can run on standby 12 volt battery and trickle charge off of 110v plus I have solar charging in RV as well as an inverter that I will plug it into. O and in the RV site plugged in... so not running battery dry. So my two KG-805G working off our family repeater will really work well for us.
Jack
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I took your advise in reverse.... even you did not give it... I just picked up a GR1225 for $300 and power it to 25 watts for family at home then move it to RV and Jeeping. This new purchase can run on standby 12 volt battery and trickle charge off of 110v plus I have solar charging in RV as well as an inverter that I will plug it into. O and in the RV site plugged in... so not dry like you are talking about.
Jack
I plan to order the same repeater for my motorhome this spring. I run a GR1225 now but the power draw when im dry camping is more than this one so my plan is to swap. I already have my GR1225 turned down to 10 watts so think it will be a nice plug/play swap. It should be an ideal little repeater for small coverage locations in a campground or from your vehicle.
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The short answer no FRS repeating... No on GMRS repeater if your handheld as not set to do offsets for repeater channels. If you want to do your own repeater will be based on the location that will cover your area of need as well on placement of antenna and wattage going out the antenna. Now I like all the features of Motorola T800 BUT what I see they are not Repeater Able... I do not think they do GMRS channels as well, nor can they do the offset +5 that is needs for repeaters. But do reach out to Motorola and ask them if it is repeater capable (I have no clue and others will comment who have this same issue).
I have a KG-805G as well and it is a killer on local privately owned repeater... plus the 2 plus miles just on a GMRS channel. I get 30 plus miles in the mountains of WNC as the repeater I have access to is on one of the highest plus well located mountain. So no need for me to put up a repeater as this is great owner and group of folks.
So I like and looked at your Motorola T800, they are great for hiking, campground, looking for your wife in the Mall, all within a few miles (I wanted more coverage as we are short on cell coverage). Do you have a repeater in your area... otherwise check out all the chat about setting up your own repeaters in this forum.... (do not spend more then $5-600). O and get another KG-805G and program it with cable and software to your needs like your own repeaters or others channels.
Hope this help, the above is IMHO and non techie... Just what this newbie has learned from some of the great mentors on the forum. I'm like a translator for those that have all the technical jargon and I'm just more practical and how do I make it work for my family needs.
Jack
So my wife and I live off grid with no cell service. We purchased a pair of Motorola T800s. They have a really nice feature that allows location to be transmitted at the push of a button in an emergency. The problem is they are a bit weak and need a range boost. I then purchased a Wouxon 805 that easily covers the area we want, but the location safety feature found on the Motorola is not on the Wouxon. I was thinking of using a repeater but didn't realize the step issue needed for the repeater would put it on the FRS channel at .5 watts which would alleviate the repeater. Looking for solutions.
Edit.... We winter in Fort Myers... I looked up repeaters in your area... https://mygmrs.com/repeater/291 and in Fort Myers https://mygmrs.com/repeater/2391 Turn on your 805G on and listen to channel 15-21 and if you hear morse code CW sound, get an app for your iPhone and pickup call signs for who repeater owner is.
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I did not know you had a KG-UV9P already. You had done a great review of the KG-805G good and bad. Thank you for your review of your KG-UV9P in your reply. This helps me see what I should look for through your eyes and usage. Thanks so much.
Jack
Good Day MacJack.
No, I have no intent to purchase the KG-UV9P Radio. Why you ask?
It does not appear to offer better receive performance than the 805G. I already own the KG-UV9P which has the exact same innards and often times I have both the 805G and UV9P side by side tuned to same frequency or scanning the same frequencies. More times than not, the 805G receives the same or slightly better.
The radio is not physically built any better than the 805G.
The screen is not usable outdoors during daylight hours.
The couple of features it has that are of interest don’t make it worth twice the price to me.
While I love the true dual receive capability and appreciate a radio with it, the UV9 does not mute the second channel while you are actually talking and thus interferes with your transmissions, so it gets turned off frequently because it is a hinderance.
I don’t need another scanner.
Hope that helps.
Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM -
Radioguy7268, you nailed. I downloaded a couple iPhone apps and got enough of the CW to find out it was the local repeater. What a surprise as I ask the owner if he was sending morse code out months back but being a newbie did not ask the correct way since he is a Ham... So proud of my repeater owner is following the rules... In fact, I like what you wrote below for three reasons why... I would have never thought of those reasons. I would think reason 2 and 3 first as 1 would be last in our area.
Thank you all for this lesson. This has been a great learning and understanding, hope others are picking up these golden nuggets.
Jack
Some operators would choose to ID every 15 minutes with no breaks as a way to advertise their "presence" on a channel. If you were trying to locate a repeater to use in your area, picking the ID off of the one you hear the best could serve as a way to put you in touch with the owner of the machine. Not everyone posts their info on MyGMRS.
Also, if you're going to invest the time and money to put up a genuine high elevation repeater with good coverage area, having a constant ID would serve as a way to Mark your Territory, letting others know that you're already on that channel.
Also, having a unit throwing out an ID constantly can serve a "heartbeat function", letting the owner know that there's power to the site and the transmitter is still able to transmit.
Those are just 3 of the reasons I can think of, there's probably more.
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Good math... and perspective.
Jack
Ok, let's try to keep this in scale. If one were to renew for $70 the day before the new price went into effect. The total extent of the "damage" would be $3.50 per year over the 10 year life of the license. That is $ 0.0095 per day, $0.067 per week, or a whopping $0.29 a month.
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I think you nailed it berkinet for me.. Since I only hear him on Ch 15 every 15 minutes he may want to set his controller as you said when "actually in use". As for the penalty and his conscious is good to know. I'm not loosing any sleep, was just curious as I'm studying my need for a repeaters by learning the rules beforehand.
Again thanks you guys for your knowledge you are willing to share.
Jack
As a practical matter, most repeaters identify whether they need to or not. If someone is not following the rules, I'd say that is their problem and I'll let them worry about the potential penalty. But, since you were concerned...
Under 47 U.S.C. § 502, any person who willfully and knowingly violates a regulation of the Federal Communications Commission is subject to a maximum fine of $500 for each day on which a violation occurs.
BTW, note that many repeater controllers are programmed to only ID when the repeater is actually in use. There is no requirement to ID when the repeater is otherwise idle. So, you may hear nothing for hours or days at a time.
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IMHO, it is reported in the federal register calling for comment by the public on or about Dec 28. So from my days reading the pink sheets as it is called, 30-60-90 day so makes it Jan, Feb or March. Then as you said will take them 30 days to make the changes on the web site. Welcome to the "I paid $70 Club".
Jack
IIRC, as a federal regulatory agency, it will be 30 days after they officially announce the change that it will go into effect. They said that in their response as well. Unless I missed it, I don't believe they have officially announced the change yet so my renewal would pass by and I have too much set up with our call sign to let that happen.
- Hans and mainehazmt
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Good point "Back in the days" County dispatch keep the radio log of each operator on duty and car ID in service. At change of shifts which was how the saw the rules 50 years ago.
Jack
Public safety radio operations and GMRS are vastly different. For instance on public safety radio, the users are not required to ID themselves with a call sign where GMRS each user is required to send their call. If for some reason the FCC chose to start enforcement it could be an issue, however, since users are required to ID themselves anyways, 30 minute ID times for the repeater are acceptable.
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You bring up several good points and I can see your and Michael points of view. Because I see this as an issue of interpretation until clarified by FCC. I retired from reading the rules to someone else. Thanks for the info on CW decoders, I will look into that.
Jack
I would like to know which rules the repeater is breaking that the operator of the repeater needs to "check them." GMRS stations are required to ID every 15 minutes.
~~( a ) The GMRS station call sign must be transmitted:
~~~~(1) Following a single transmission or a series of transmissions; and,
~~~~(2) After 15 minutes and at least once every 15 minutes thereafter during a series of transmissions lasting more than 15 minutes.
Some do it a little more often, for instance my repeater is set to ID after 10 minutes which is my personal preference. CW is a form of ID,
~~( b ) The call sign must be transmitted using voice in the English language or international Morse code telegraphy using an audible tone.
As MBrun said, this is only optional if the stations users have properly ID'd themselves. (Not sure why the first stipulation was in place as they would still be required to identify themselves even if they are owners of the system)Now, if you are trying to figure out how to "read" the CW call, there are various CW decoders including FLdigi which will listen to the "Di" and "Da" and spit the letters out on screen, however I wouldn't send them a lecture on rules and regs until you yourself have a firm understanding of them.
Edit: Does anyone know who can take an audio file with the CW code and decode signal. Thanks.
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Thanks Michael, I knew could count on you to find the references and summary of what it means. So those who allow the non family public use of their repeater who do not do the 15 minute Call Sign, breaking the law and what is the penalty. In fact, how many know this fact and just do not do it?
Jack
If a GMRS repeater is open to the public and/or used by other the individual and family that owns it, then the repeater is required to identify per the FCC rules.
Section 95.1751 provides the rules for identification. In that section in clearly lays out that all transmissions must be identified.
95.1751 c provides the only exclusion for a repeater. It reads:
“© Any GMRS repeater station is not required to transmit station identification if: (1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and, (2) The GMRS stations whose communications are retransmitted are properly identified in accordance with this section.“
Based on that wording (and take note of the word ‘only’ and the joining word ‘and’), if anyone other the licensee (or licensee’s family) uses the repeater, then the repeater would need to identify according to the same 15 minute interval required of individual users as stated in 95.1751 (a).
In summary, if I had a repeater, used it to talk only to my immediately family, and family members always identified, then our repeater would not need to self identify. The moment we use the repeater to talk with non-family members the repeater must self identify.
Hope that helps.
Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM -
Try sending a PM to CFD521. He not active on this site nor do I see a call sign... I would say it not working and may be down.
Jack
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Hans and mainehazmt, wait for the last minute or next to last day and see if it will be reduced before Feb 2021. I'm a member of the "I paid $70 Club" and for $7.00 a year it ok... Well work taking your call sign if you like it..
Jack
I'm right there with you. I missed the 10 year rule change and it looks like I will miss the fee reduction because mine expires in February 2021.
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Question wayoverthere... can you take one of the 30 preset channel like a FRS and cut and past a repeater channel in that slot since one is frozen out of adding more than 30 presets.
Jack
Unfortunately, yes, that appears to be how it's programmed, anything past the base 30 presets is receive only. It's one of my biggest complaints with this radio.
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OK your radio has Total Channels: 256. What I did was go to the repeater channel I wanted do duplicate and copy it. Then set CHRIP to show empty channels and pasted the cut channel line to say space x. Then changed the mane to Macon of the repeater. You may need to contact mfg and ask them. Hope that helps. Was easy for my KG-805G.
Jack
I have the BTech GMRS-50x1. In CHIRP, I first downloaded the initial load, then after I was done making the repeater tone settings, I used the Upload to Radio method. Did that do a reset of some sort than obvious?
The repeaters on all the channel slots are working right now. It is when I want to add another one with the same frequency, not sure where to put that. And like I said earlier, perhaps you just can't do that. I get the 8 channels and that's it. If I wanted a different repeater using the same frequency but different tone, then i would have to go in and change the tones all the time. Seems counter-productive but maybe that's the way it is built.
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So in WNC on channel 15 I hear morse code every fifteen minutes... I have read some posts that Ham repeaters need to transmit callsign but not GMRS repeaters. I would like to be educated to encourage this operator to check out the rules. I should add that I do not hear anything on the repeater channel 15 with no PL code.
What tools can I use to find out what this is. Now why I like myGMRS is because I see friendly and very talented and knowledgable Hams willing to take the time to offer us GMRS family guys your wisdom. Thanks.
Jack
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Jaycee, what radio do you have? This is a dumb question, in CHRIP software you did go to top menu Radio and select Upload to Radio? Your radio did a reset?
Jack
Edit: Not all radios allow you to have take up channel slots... CHRIP allows it but not all radios. I have a KG-805G which I have 3 repeater channel slots with different PL codes.
Hey. I was trying to save two repeaters in my radio the other day and it didn't work so well. I have all 8 repeater channels in memory with freuqncies and tones saved. When I tried to add a second repeater output which was already taken up by one of the other repeater channels, I tried to create a new frequency line using CHIRP, and it saved like all the other did, however, when I go to transmit, the radio doesn't work there. I just get a dead key. I assume because on a GMRS dedicated radio, we only get channels 15 to 22 to use. So what do you do if you need more channels? Do I end up having to delete one and enter the other just to use that one?
Is there no way to save the same repeater multiple times when the channels are all used up?
If that's the answer, that we can't, well OK. I am curious if anyone else has run into this and what you do?
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So Michael are you getting a KG-UV9G? If so please wrote a review like you did for the KG-805G. I looked at the list of KG-UV9G channels, impressive... https://k5q5c8s7.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/BetterSafeRadio-Wouxun-KG-UV9G-GMRS-SHTF-Custom-Programming-Chart-v1a-880ch-071920.pdf The only thing missing was CB, joking.
Jack
The Wouxun KG-805G, of which I own 2, has 128 memories for storing your choice of GMRS repeater pairs and squelch codes. Each memory can be custom named as well.
The radio has full legal access to all 22 GMRS simplex channels plus the 8 main GMRS repeater input channels.
Wouxun also has a new one expected to be released in October. A web search will turn it up. It is the KG-UV9G, a GMRS specific version of their KG-UV9D amateur radio.
Michael
WRHS965
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk -
I read a post and I think it was CCR or CCP, referring to Chinese radios.
FISH - First in still here.
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SMH is smack my head or shake my head...
I will add TBH to the list, thanks.
I did not know what SMH meant, so I just stuck it under 'radio', but now I know so will move it to non-radio for my next update... WTMB (whenever that may be) : )
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Retevis RT97 Portable GMRS Repeater 5W
in Technical Discussion
Posted
Thanks for confirmation on DB404. Yes the RV antenna is a Ed Fong.
Jack