gortex2

99% of the users on simplex are narrowband. Its a simple fact. Every FRS radio is narrowband. Why would midland change it when every other radio is narrow. I guess Im wrong by running my repeaters in narrowband then huh ?

Once you unlock the radio it is no longer certified for the service. It would not be legal to use on GMRS.

Have you checked the VSWR on the mobile yet ? I'd verify it is good also. What is the VSWR on it ? NMO mount on the roof or some other place ?

What he said. Your biggest hurdle will be the permission issue. If they allow it they are going to require insurance and other stuff that most people can't provide. You may want to try to find a private individual that owns a piece of property there and work with them. The TR97 would be ideal for your use case.

You mention your base but what is the car using for an antenna ?

As said depends on use. I run a 1/4 wave on the JK on the front fender. Was at JJUSA this weekend. Both days everyone on my trip that had a mobile had the Phantom antenna. We had no issues on our trails. Half the group had handhelds and I could here everyone on my trail with no issues.

I would imagine something of pretty big nature would have to occur for SAR Sat to not get an activation. Garmin has its own dispatch center that will reply to any SOS from an InReach. Additionally many of us have multiple contacts setup for a trigger to an SOS (SAR Chiefs and Officers, Spouse, other important folks) that is in addition to Garmin/SAR Sat folks handling the emergency. The actual devise communicates directly to the satellites in range. The Mission Control centers are in 6 different locations around the world. For actual use I can say in a normal incident area (hurricane response) I have sent a message via my InReach and the other party got that message within 5 minutes. This was a message only and not an actual SOS Emergency trigger. In everyday use I have seen messages populate on my cell (text and email) within 5 minutes in testing and training missions. For those that are in the rough country and routinely don't have cell signal the units are very reasonable for safety plans. I have one in each vehicle all the time now. Lots of the US that has little to no cell still. Garmin has a video on this that we show to new users -

SAR in NY is on licensed public safety frequencies. Very little ham use in SAR in NY other than chit chat. With all the other training folks do very few go after ham. And to be honest its normally not worth it. The SAR Repeater system is as good as public safety in some areas. Most of the command posts have marine in a bank but its not common at all.

Who said anything about NY ? Thought he mentioned Wyoming. But being you brought up NY, many SAR folks carry Garmin Inreach for emergency contacts. Very few if any will monitor GMRS/FRS unless it is known the subject has one. Most only carry a VHF radio as thats what SAR uses.

Sorry looked like the link got doubled. It is fixed. But all the links above are all the same manual. There is a new manual but wont see it in the online world for some time I imagine.

This comes up here and there so thought I'd share a PDF on best practices. This is the older manual but many of the items are helpful. Especially for repeater sites. Motorola-Standards-and-Guidelines-for-Communication-Sites-R56-Manual

Substantial discussion over on another forum last year when this was announced. As said good and bad. For those in that area its good. Just dont expect it to be in every area.

I agree the GR series wasn't a power house but works well for a home GMRS repeater. I still have 6 of them on the air. All are 45 watt models moved down to 25. I wouldn't put them at a tower site with other equipment but we did have an LTR system with those for 15 years on the air with TPL PA. My only complaint with the XPR-8400 is its essentially the same as the GR series using 2 mobiles in the box. I have bought a few where the decks got swapped because one PA was burnt out. That's the biggest complaint with those. An MTR or Quantar is the best choice if you can swing it. -If you still want to use the GR repeater just spend $20 on a back to back radio cable and its back on the air. Its really only 3 wires that are used from each 16 pin. (Ground-Ground, PTT-COR, Mic High-Discriminator).

LDF4-50A CommScope 1/2" hardline is 1.4db of loss at 450mhz. LDF4-50A I said before use the LMR and the ham radio antenna and find out how bad it works. Then either leave the hobby disappointed that it doesn't do what everyone on here says a repeater can do or go spend funds on he proper stuff to do it right. I'll leave this topic and go back to real radios now.

To be honest you can probably get a GR1225 for the cost of a decent controller so if your looking to upgrade that may be the route. Otherwise just throw a cheap controller in the GR and deal with the ID.

The issue in the end is not money or lack there of. Its location. If your repeater is on a 5000' mountain then inferior equipment is made up for height. Most folks are installing a repeater on a garage or house in town. IF you look at the true loss of cables and adapters you will see noticeable differences and may sour the hobby taste. Very few folks are on sites that have LOS to hundreds of square miles but I guess on youtube anything is possible. The repeater in question is about 5-7 watts leaving the antenna port. 25' of LMR at 460 is about .75 db of loss. Now add .50db for each adapter you use. Your rapidly up to 3db which is about 1/2 your power. So when your repeater on your garage is only transmitting 2-3 watts then folks ask why they handheld inside the house can talk to another and not thru the repeater. But I digress I keep forgetting the hobby is about doing it as cheap as possible as hams do in this new age. BTW you can grab 1/2 LDF jumpers on ebay for under $50 if you do some searching. I just sold 6 1/2" commscope superflex jumpers for $30 each with N (M) on both ends. So you can find some decent stuff if you look.

Yes. CTCSS or DCS/DPL are the Input and Output tone you need in your subscriber.

There are many posts with the issues with LMR style cable and the interference it will cause in itself. In the end it performs poor. As someone who has been in the commercial/public safety world work for 30+ years I have seen it over and over. I try to help folks not spend funds on stuff that they will replace in the end. LMR is ideal for base stations and any simplex operation, but in duplex operation especially in the UHF band it will suffer. I run it on all my control stations at home but anything with a repeater I use different cables. The RT97has the advantage of a waterproof case. The best install is a short LDF jumper to to the antenna and mount the actual repeater on the mast. Run DC to the repeater. That is how 90% of the cell sites out there as the radio is within a foot or 2 of the panel antenna. A 2' piece of LDF40-50 would be ideal. Just another option.

@MozartManNone of them you listed are GMRS radios. If thye can TX on any other frequency they are not certified GMRS radios. Those are all ham CCR radios that can be modified to use on GMRS. The only marketed radio in that format is the DB20-G. I can only assume the G is for GMRS. I'm sure all these hams will give you all sorts of reasons why buying any of the above is fine. Personally I think they are ruining the service.

Understand that LMR 400 is not good when it gets moisture in it for repeater use. If your going to use it make it as short as physically possible and make sure to seal properly the connections. Many thread on duplex use of LMR and why not to use it. If this is for a temporary situation it can work OK.

I have a thread here with various antenna solutions - Remember you get what you pay for. Manage expectations. A cheap antenna and poor feedline will sour your taste in GMRS and waste funds.

Not alot to be honest. If you look at the maps there is one near Kerr Lake however from 85 I can't get into it. I am west of that area and my travels across 58 are normally pretty quiet. If your looking to use the radio to chat with folks you may of picked the wrong service. https://mygmrs.com/repeater/6282

The DB20G is the GMRS version as stated on the sites. It specifically states is is a scanner on VHF and UHF. But forgot CA guy do what ever they want.

As reference that piece is plastic where his antenna is mounted. There is metal behind it but the cover is plastic. In the jeep world many antenna's are mounted in that location and work ok. Remember the ghost antenna is like a dummy load. Works fine for close by or a proper repeater but not much more. Its not uncommon to not hear boo on GMRS. GMRS is not ham. Its for short private comms. On the trail it will work great with other users on the trail. I live in the country. I have a DB404 on a 60' pole and scan all the GMRS main channels. I hear nothing except a hunter or two now and then.

I would just put it on the hood and be done.