gortex2

The FTM500 is not a GMRS radio anyway. I assume you want a ham repeater ? If so many better options out there but to stay Fusion the DR2 is all ou can use.

Did you reach out to them and ask what is up ? I'm not sure what group had those on the air but maybe they have other issues.

I assume the DRC was UHF correct. What was the duplexer tuned to ? They need specific tuning for the frequency you are trying to use. Also a duplexer can have close to 3db of loss. 3db is half your power so a 50 watt base would be 25 after duplexer. As far as ports yes normally TX Low (462) and RX High (467) on the duplexer. But again how was it tuned.

The industry standard handheld in UHF is 4 watts. Thats been the standard UHF LMR radio for as long as I have been in the field. All more power from a handheld does is drain the battery quicker.

The ham world has been linking for decades, first with RF and now internet just like GMRS. They can't get a decent handle on their stuff with "experts" that tell us what frequencies we can put our repeaters on and so forth. Its worse in the DMR side with hams. I dont see GMRS being any better if linking continues to happen. The simulcast systems that are out there and were out there where built by good techs and folks who know what thye are doing. Not everyone has access to Quantars, TRAK units and MLC 8000 simulcast stuff but some do and know how to setup a system. 99% of the GMRS community does not. We can't even get folks that do link repeaters to set levels right. As much as I think a true voted/simulcast system should be acceptable on GMRS (and was common before the ham lite crowd hit the service) I think all linking should be dropped from the service. For decades GMRS users used the service to do what they intended it for. Its only been the last 4-5 years its turned into this.

Sorry 38 vs 45 wont see any noticable difference. Folks get wound up over a 50 watt radio but dont account for losses in the duplexer and other factors. In the LMR world test gear and equipment is a 10% variable. Yes our gear is really good and normally wont be that far off but I have seen many 110 watt base radios only show 95 on a power meter and still pass all operational tests for the unit.

I run the midland mobiles in my parents vehicles as they are KISS and plug into the lighter jack.

SWR really doesn't mean alot for a duplex system other than TX power. You also need to receive on the receive radio and not have decense. What duplexer do you have ? What is the tuned specifications ? You will have a db loss in the duplexer back to your receiver. Depending on the duplexer there could also be decense in that. Lots of variables when you change from a standalone base to a repeater.

Are you talking about power out of duplexer or radio ? Duplexer will have loss with some almost 3db. What duplexer is it and what are the specs at the tuned frequency ?

Many folks have dropped their links over that and other stuff. GMRS was never meant to be long distance communications.

What do you think you are supposed to get out of the duplexer ? No radio that puts out 50 watts is going to give you 50 out of the duplexer also. Looking at your meter looks like your seeing 45 watts from radio add in duplexer I think 40 is pretty decent.

Correct 462.525 is in the industrial bussiness pool block and requires a part 90 license and part 90 radios to operate on. That is not a GMRS frequency.

Yup...but I love the Crescend amps. I just installed a site with a 250 watt amp on a LMR system. It wasn't cheap but they are out there. We used to use alot of the TPL unit but most of those max out at 125 watts.

No they dont but that doesn't mean you can use their system without permission. This is the issue with GMRS as of late. I spend thousands of dollars on my gear and use it for my use. Its not open for others. Your just as capable to spend that money and put up your own.

What you think of GMRS is way different than decades ago when GMRS was introduced as Class B Citizens Band Radio. This was in the late 60's. We only had 8 channels to choose from and licensed EACH frequency you wanted use of. Our license was at the time 462.600 as we couldnt use .650 where we lived due to canada. On the license it also had simplex of .675 for emergency use. That was GMRS and many used it. I dontk now the year my parents were licenced first but it was in the mid 70's. Back then you also didn't do stuff yourself. You went to a LMR shop and they did the installs and took care of repeaters. It wasn't cheap then but a very good service. It wasn't until the FRS world came to be that caused the interfearance mess we see now and we deal with all the folks who think no license is needed and can do what they want. This was made worse when the changes in 2017 came to be. Many of us still look at GMRS as the 8 original channels. I dont even program the others in my stuff. The midlands have it which is what I use for jeep events so thats all I need. Yes stuff changes but there are really 3 groups of GMRS users. The bubble pack radios that 80 % of the users use and are a PTT listen model, then you have the old school GMRS users who mostly still use part 90 mobiles and portables and use the service as a utility like myself, then we have the new ham lite folks who use CCR's, tell us they can talk 100 miles on a baofeng and need nets and linking for GMRS to be useful. My guess is this will turn into an unlicensed service before the end which is wrong, but the entitled crowd will bring it to that point. Then it will turn into CB with 250 watt base stations and useless air waves.

Well I am pretty confident who you think it is is not the person. They did not have any repeaters out of NY. As said before at some point the rest of the info will be shared. As for the KML data 99% of us have no use for that so guess thats why I had not seen it.

Got it when I was old enough to do on my own. PArents had one for years. We used GMRS for a long time before cell phones and email. Still use it for what we did then but added off road stuff as well.

Explain this. What map are you talking about ? Better yet if you know who it is just share it if its that easy to find.

@MarkInTampa I'm familiar with the Florida system and there are a few county wide systems I know of across the east coast, but the point was most stuff is not done in a LMR style fashion on ham and certainly not GMRS. The ones that do exist are a great asset. But they are few and far between.

So whats odder is back in the old days when we had a repeater for home use we had a "remote" at our house for control of the repeater. It used a RTL (Radio Tie Line) from our house to the mountain top. I know in those days it wasn't cheap. Autopatch was a thing then on ham big time but you could not add that to GMRS. But wants needed as Dad would call and mo would tell him to get xyz on his way home. Later on control stations took over for remotes. Just funny how stuff progresses. Isay just enjoy GMRs for what its built for and fdont try to make it something it never was. Jeep riding, talking to kids in a park, hiking, caravans home use is what 90% of the folks who use GMRS use it for. Its only folks here that have to have linking and nets.

Techinically you can cover an entire state but I know what you mean. Here is one scenario - County simulcast system with multiple sites and voters. Coverage needed in XYZ area. Add single base radio and use same "simulcast comparators technology as the simulcast. Technically from a "equipment" standpoint its still simulcast. From a user perspective if I talk on the "city b" radio everyone hears me in "city a" and i am voted even if its only one repeater. On the subscriber end you could do vote scan in the MSI world and the system would be concidered "multicast". Ive installed a few of these. While not desired sometimes thats the only way to do it. Our SAR system is almost exactly this as we couldn't license the same frequency in b county. So 4 site simulcast with a 5 site on another frequency. With proper equipment its pretty simple to do. Knowing the area the issue took place a well as some some of the players I'd probably done the same thing. For guys who work in the field you dont want to be at odds with customers and definately with the FCC. Think we are on the same page here @WRKC935.

This is just another of the 300 reasons I wish there was a moderator on this forum...

Not sure why you think GMRS in an emergency is better than cell or ham. First off 99% of the linked repeaters are using hot spots on cellular or a ethernet service from your local spectrum, comcast verizon company. If its down for you its down for the repeater also. Secondly i would venture 75% if not more of the repeaters listed on mygmrs are not on any emergency power. I know there are a few and ones done very well but most are far from that. to be honest HAM is not far behind. Yes alot of HAM stuff is in a state, county, local agency shelter at times with generator backup but the internet linking is still like everyon else. In the past a true land line is what alwasy gets thru. With folks relying on Voip home phones those are down also. I'm glad I still live where we can get copper phone lines to a house. Anyway back to topic. I've said over an over linking should go away. It was never there and for what GMRS was no need anyway. Ham guys are the ones who brought the tech to GMRS and tried to create another service. Go back to just using the radio for what it is.

800Mhz use -45mhz and VHF there is no standard split. Also remember the NIFOG channels are programemd in Commercial LMR Part 90 radios. They dont ask for splits, they ask for frequency.

It was a voted simulcast system using commercial LMR equipment. Nothing to do with Zello. They did state they had put one repeater .back on the air with a zello connection but my guess is to monitor it.