gortex2

My repeaters are used for specific items. Grab milk, on way home, etc. Mine are for family and friends. Not linked and no plans to. Also not advertised and not open to others. None of mine are areas we jeep in but when in Jeep we talk to other jeeps on the trail. For other stuff I go to ham or LMR.

Many of the MSI radios support ADP/ARC4 encryption. The APX series used to ship free with it but have since changed the model and its still a $0 option. I think RELM also supports it. I use a KVL - key loader for all keys, ARC/ADP, AES, DES, DESXL as that's the most secure way to operate. Never was a fan of typing a code in a computer. MSI does allow software key for ADP only. As to the use case alot of folks use it. All our SAR Radios support ADP and we use it when needed. Nope its not the best encryption but 99% of the scanner world cant decode it so for the "bring the body bag" or similar messages it suites our needs.

We took our Garmin In-reach when we were in the Grand Canyon, Moab and Boulder last summer. GMRS was pretty much dead the entire trip. I knew my Inreach could send and get messages.

I used these as it was easier to drill a hole for https://www.amazon.com/Installerparts-Shielded-Industrial-Bulkhead-Coupler/dp/B01D0N79K2/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=M7EU162QE6EB&keywords=rj45+bulkhead+mount&qid=1677613328&sprefix=rj45+bulkhead+mount%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=AS8F55Q7LYHA9&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMDJGSFIwR0VEMFZEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODY3MjUzM0RPN0JQWjBXT0hZQSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODAzMDk2UTcwSUVFR0EzOFVIJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I run the 275 in both of my Jeeps. I used Shielded CAT6 jumpers personally between the radio and the control head. They work great for my purpose. 90% of the GMRS use in my Jeeps are jeep to jeep simplex stuff. On the rare occasion I use my repeater they work fine at 15 watts. My repeaters are narrowband and I have no issues with them and the 275. I had thought about the 575 when they said it was programmable, but when it was released with no programming didn't think it was worth swapping out just for a bit more power.

Id spend a bit more and get a better antenna. The browning 6140 is about $60 and will outlast the J pole especially in your area.

Most likely its the radio. Remember the KG1000 is a CCR mobile and does not have narrow filtering like a single band mobile radio. Thats why LMR radios tend to work better as they are designed for a certain frequency range and not a 100-500 mhz windown.

I run 1/4 wave on both my UHF and VHF on my truck. I also run the LArsen Tri Band on my truck (4 of them) but I find the 1/4 wave does the bulk of my work and does it well.

I run a APX XTVA in all my vehicles. Not one has an amp. Never have needed it to be honest. 99% of the time a roof mounted NMO on the XTVA will do what you need. Something to think about. (I actually have both VHF and UHF amps in a box)

So not all repeaters are linked. So even if you had one in your town it may or may not be linked to another. Not sure what kind of traffic you are looking for but possibly Amateur Radio would be more of what your looking for ?

Correct. Most Itinerant frequencys do not need coordination but you should do your own. Getting a UHF repeater pair the same as the warehouse across the street is not the best. And yes it has been done.

Does not appear there are any closer than 50-60 miles away. What is your reason to use a repeater ?

To get a commercial license or LMR license you need a reason. A home repair shop is a valid excuse and will allow you to apply for a frequency. In the LMR world a license is mostly for 1 frequency. Not a huge block like GMRS or Ham. In public safety world you can apply for multiple as well as in business LMR. Location will dictate what frequencies are available in your area and what sections of frequencies you can apply for. All Part 90 frequencies require coordination so even if you fill out the 601 your self it needs to go to a frequency coordinator for approval prior to the FCC. There are various frequency coordinators for public safety, business, etc. Each one will require a fee on top of your FCC fee. When I did alot of these for work we would quote $500 for 1 frequency. Many came in around that but the last channel I did was $250 per frequency (460/465 mhz) so it was $500 just in coordination plus FCC fees as well as our fees for our work. Public Safety still pays coordination fees, but is exempt mostly from the FCC fee. The other major issue is location. Some locations have no frequencies available and frequency reuse happens. Also above Line A requires all FCC licenses to go to Canada. Our last SAR frequency was in Canada for almost 2 years until we got approval.

No longer is it a free be by many tower owners. Cash talks. You can get on many towers with the proper fees, however most now will require insurance as well as other requirements. One of my sites I'm required to pay for electric service. All depends on the site.

Linking is the problem with GMRS. I know many think its great but it does cause a mess in some regards.

They need to explain custom channel. There is no "other GMRS/FRS" channels other than the ones listed. My guess is maybe they use a unique PL or DPL tone on one of the channels to keep it to your group. Ask them what they mean by custom channel. Once you get that info we can help you program your radio.

I think alot of folks are coming to GMRS thinking its something it is not. Its not an emergency radio system nor is there predetermined repeaters all over for folks to use. There are alot of private repeaters and alot of open ones. I hate to compare to ham radio but I think many people think they can get a license and just use repeaters and they are all over. A "garage" repeater is great to help your area but very few large footprint repeaters are free to build and maintain. Anyway welcome to GMRS, but manage expectations.

Guess it depends on the system. None of my repeaters are open. I do a quick hands on training with those that use them (mostly family and a few close friends) and that is it. I guess it all depends on your use for repeaters.

Or just go to the top of the board...Dual 8500 all band radios with a E5 control head. Its a nice setup. In my old jeep I used to run the APX7500 with dual deck (V-8, UR1-UR2) with a single O7 head and had all bands. 90% of the time it sat on a TLMR Trunked system and VHF for SAR but was nice to be able to change bands and not take up a ton of room in a JK Wrangler. I still have that setup in my office although its been delegated to scanner duty for now.

To do Dual Brick on the XTL you need the W3 head, SP Firmware and a SP cable that's pretty hard to find. It will not work with the O5 head. Your best bet is a second O5 head if your going to add VHF into the mix. Your right VHF decks are not cheap these days. For a while they were pretty reasonable but everything went up in the last couple years. I've seen some APX decks for the cost of the XTL.

I love how folks get on forums and try to change services that have been in place for years to make it do what they want to do vs finding a service to do what they want to do.

If your all using handhelds 4 watt portables a 50 watt base wont receive them any better than a 10 watt base radio. Just something to think about.

All of my Bird wat meters have a chart on the back with F/R and VSWR averages. In the end F/R is really all that matters. If its same on both bad antenna.

I use TMI out of Georgia - https://www.tmicalibration.com/ but there are a ton of places that will do it. https://www.trescal.us/calibrate/telewave/44a/telewave-44a-calibration https://www.tek.com/en/calibration-by-manufacturer/telewave

Quantar can be programmed in W10. I have a cheap DOS only computer for some stuff as awell as a old 98 laptop for stuff. You can get them at garage sales for pennies.