gortex2

The stock antenna is junk. Go online and order a NMO magnetic mount and 1/4 wave NMO antenna for starters. The Jeep is bad for mounting antenna as your on the hood for a magnet mount. Still on the cowl in front of windshield a better antenna should help out. The factory antenna cable is very lossy and is really only good for close by comms.

It would be nice to have a "professional" and hobby section. Over the last year the site has become a CCR/Ham radio site. I left RR because I got sick of the send me a code plug, help me program, etc junk stuff. There were some good guys involved in the past that work in the industry and it was nice to bounce ideas off of. I realize new folks here is a benefit, but some more professional GMRS areas would be helpful.

As said the cable you used is not good in the 460mhz world. I would replace the cable with a LMR400 cable and get a commercially made UHF antenna and not a put together ham radio antenna.

Depending on the area you may never hear back from them. It appears folks think its cool to have repeaters and put them in the database and never seem to really have a reliable repeater and loose interest because of it. Your best bet is to listen and see if its really online. If it is then try above and see if you can get them.

Sorry this isn't ham radio. Many manufacturers sell commercial gear for GMRS. Its in the business LMR spectrum and parts can be very reasonably purchased. I respect those who like to build stuff but to me its no for this service.

Think of the ghost antenna as a rubber duck on your portable. Unless your in range a good signal its going to sound rough

I would only put code plugs online for certified GMRS radios. Putting code plugs for other CCR style radios is just promoting no compliant radios.

True I always forget the added the FRS crap to GMRS. For years we only had the 8 pairs. Anyway...back to normal programming

First radio is not part 95 certified. Second there are only 8 GMRS frequencies. I would imagine it wouldn't take to long to add those.

The map doesn't show them unless they have been updated in the last year

NMP is on a full TRBO system now. All old gear was sold so not surprised to see that in the wild...

By the time you buy 2 KG1000 radios and cable you can purchase a good used repeater on line. You still need a duplexer and feedline and antenna. Those will most likely cost more than the repeater. a 35' tower will require around 50' of feedline depending on how close you can put repeater to your tower. Grounding of said tower, cable and repeater. Just things to think about.

Where on your license does it say GMRS 20. No where does it list frequencies any longer (As reference my old one did) It specifies - "Effective 2/16/99 the GMRS rules have been amended and you may operate on any of the primary or interstitial channels shown in section 95.1763. Exception: Licensees who operate North of Line A and East of Line C may not operate on channels 462.650 MHZ,467.650 MHZ, 462.700 MHZ and 467.700 MHZ unless your previous license authorized such operations." Additionally going to the FCC site for this section does list frequencies. No numbers. https://www.fcc.gov/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs As for radios I realize a lot of the new stuff does go by a certain scheme but I have quite a few old Uniden GMRS radios. They have channel 1-8 with RPT/TA. That's all we had for years and many of the older GMRS radios were like this. When I started SAR channel 1 in our radios was 462.675 as that was the local channel they used. Took us many years to go to the national standard of VHF and real licenses. In the end we are talking about something that is not needed nor will ever come to be. We seem to keep looking for solutions for problems that there is not. If your traveling down the highway and want to talk to someone leave the radio in scan. I have radios in all my vehicles including my motorhome. While I don't hear a ton anymore if i need real info im looking to turn up my CB and not my GMRS radio. Normally I I'm stuck in a backup that's where info is. If there is chatter on GMRS its normally FRS users talking to the car in front of them.

The issue with GMRS20 is what defines 20. My license doesn't show GMRS 20. So for many of us with true GMRS radios we only have 8 GMRS only channels. I get the idea but not all radios are programmed identical. I know they should be but not always....

Officially I think there are few running DMR. Unofficially there are a ton running DMR on GMRS. I hear it all the time while traveling over the east coast. I think the majority are unlicensed and being no one does anything about it will continue. Not saying its right but it happens daily. I would like to get one in P25 on the air in the near future.

Its a waiver on everyones license however many do not read it nor care and do their own thing anyway... "Effective 2/16/99 the GMRS rules have been amended and you may operate on any of the primary or interstitial channels shown in section 95.1763. Exception: Licensees who operate North of Line A and East of Line C may not operate on channels 462.650 MHZ,467.650 MHZ, 462.700 MHZ and 467.700 MHZ unless your previous license authorized such operations." So 462.650 and 462.700 are not to be used above Line A. That's about 100 mile stretch from the boarder.

1/4 wave UHF is ideal. Unless your working good repeater the puck antenna isn't that great. They are designed for transit and public safety on systems.

They had radios for sale. No one on my ride had a radio. I was in scan all day and only heard one other user. Lots of chatter on CB still.

Normally you can turn the lobes without cutting the tape. It should spin 90 degree's with no issue. Last resort use Scotch 33 and you would be OK. Just wrap extra wraps on it.

if your trying to use the radio as a repeater its not going to work. If your trying to set it up to use a repeater then check programming.

How do you know it has a 40 miles range. If your going by the website be leary of range. Its not normally accurate. I would drive closer to the repeater and test.

most commercial repeaters do not do this. Its probably a ham repeater controller. Hams tend to think repeaters should announce everything under the sun.

The antenna must be tuned. If your using the larsen go by the cut chart. Personally I'd just order the UHF 1/4 wave. If you do go by cut chart you should see it at about 6"

There is no requirement for ID from the repeater. It is the user who is supposed to ID. Therefore no reason the RT97 should have it to get Part 95.

For reference most of us that have P25 repeaters on the air dont have them connected to a ham reflector. Most are used as a P5 repeater, Frequency and NAC. No talk groups no nothing. Some have them linked to other P25 machines but thats it. It costs money to play. For me I already have P25 gear for work and public safety so throwing a Quantar on the air is easy.