gortex2

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

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.

It was the topic of the same question back in February:
There was also some argument over on Radio Reference:
https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/brc-hp-500-high-gain-460-470-mhz-gmrs-band-repeater-base-antenna-11-7db-gain.438247/
 

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

Went back through the links, and compared to my Amazon history; the second is the one I bought from, the description does mention being 95e certified (though the title is inconsistent, I know), and the FCC id does check out with a 95e grant.
In theory, theyre only shipping locked down versions to the States...in reality, one of the two wasn't locked down as it should have been. Which..I bought one of the two to be a ham radio anyway, so they saved me a step.

Sorry I use it on all my radios so I know which radio is being used. Each radio has its unique ID. With many users on a repeater its nice to keep track of who just called. JMHO 

It all went downhill when the phone company stopped charging .25 cents / minute for long distance phone calls...  nationwide "local" calls.   

The monster approaching in Stranger Things is the Information Age threatening to destroy Edenic ignorance.   

Mesh radio protocols like Bluetooth Low Energy / Internet of Things will increase surveillance of everything.

Dune's OCB: Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.

Who actually listens to FM radio on a CCR anyway ? Is that a thing ? 

Sorry to hear about that misadventure with the NMO. I always remove interior lights and use inspection mirror and tiny flashlight to have a good visual of the roof crossbeams to avoid this exact scenario.

Unless using a repeater, or on very open terrain, your range may be much less than 5 miles. UHF is considered a "line-of-sight" service -- for a radio held 5 feet (I'm presuming a "typical" person, if you are all basketball stars running 6.5' or more the numbers will change some) the horizon distance is 2.7 miles. Call it 2.5 just to clear the actual horizon and have the signal pass on... Open fields would then be you 5 mile range (person A to 2.5 closest approach to earth then another 2.5 miles to get to person B).
Woods and buildings will rapidly reduce the range (though UHF can get /into/ buildings slightly better than VHF -- the wavelength at UHF is smaller then many window frames; metal frames at VHF tend to act as a shield).
Frequencies? GMRS is (in current FCC regulations*) split into four channel groups.
462MHz GMRS Main (simplex) channels (in the current consolidated numbering scheme: #15-#22), allowed up to 50W output power, (wide) FM. Note that these are also the output frequencies for repeaters, so you may hear repeater traffic on these channels 467MHz GMRS Main (repeater) channels (#23-#30 on some units, or #15-#22 with an R/RP/RPTR notation on the display). Again up to 50W, (w) FM. These are transmit only frequencies, for 467.xxx you listen on 462.xxx 462MHz interstitial channels (#1-#7). These were channels created in the 90s I believe -- they are centered between the main channels and partly overlap the main channels. Limited to 5W ERP (not transmitter output, but effective power in the main beam of the antenna -- using a high-gain antenna with a 5W transmitter can exceed the 5W ERP!). (w) FM. 467MHz interstitial channels (#8-#14). Until the 2017 FCC reorganization, these were FRS-only channels. They split the Repeater input channels. To avoid repeater interference, these channels are restricted to 0.5W ERP and Narrow FM; use of any gain antenna will definitely exceed the ERP limit for practically any GMRS radio on low power (mobile radios do not have these as they typically have 5W as the low power AND have gain antennas). Unless you are working through a local repeater, you probably won't use ANY channel with 467MHz. Without a repeater no one will hear you if you are transmitting on 467MHz repeater frequencies; the 467MHz interstitials are too low in power to get through any vegetation at the distances you are considering (at close range -- say within a camping site -- 0.5W could be usable).
If everyone is running 5W HTs, the 462MHz interstitials would be candidates (if there are repeaters in the vicinity, you won't come into conflict). If mobiles are in play (or there are too many kiddies with FRS radios sending calling tones on the channels and you need to find a clear frequency), you might use the 462MHz main simplex channels -- a the mobile could use more than 5W power.
CTCSS/DCS tones (many manuals may refer to these as "privacy" codes) may not be desired for your use. The tones do NOT make your transmissions "private" -- anyone with a radio configured for "no tone" can hear you. What the tones do is /block/ transmissions from others that are not using the same tones.
You'll probably be keeping the channels in High power (5W vs 0.5W low) -- unless, as mentioned above, you are in a close range situation where 0.5W is sufficient.
High/Low BAND refers to UHF/VHF frequencies, and likely applies mainly to setting up channels for receive-only/scanning use.
Valid frequencies are listed in FCC Part 95 E. Simplex frequencies will have the same frequency for Tx and Rx; repeater channels will have 467.xxx for Tx and 462.xxx for Rx (note that main channels have 3 digit .xxx [or end with a 0 as in .xxx0; interstitials are .xxx5]).
 
 
* If you haven't, I recommend perusing FCC Part 95 E https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E [use the Print/PDF item to get a local copy]
 

I don't disagree that things that are blatantly against the rules should NOT be encouraged.  Equipment modifications are a no brainer for crap you don't do.
And yes, the linking seems murky, but the linking seems to get people on the air.  Which gets people to buy radios, get licenses and renew licenses.  An issue the ham community is fighting with above 50Mhz currently and one they seem to be loosing.  This leaves people that wanted to TALK on the radio (what a concept) bored and lacking enjoyment of the ham radio hobby.  I realize that talking on the radio is PART of the ham radio hobby, but it's the most important part.  Because at the end of the day when you have built some cool new antenna, or radio accessory, or even possibly a radio you want to test it and show off your accomplishment.  And if there is no one to talk to about it, whats the point.  Part of feeling accomplishment is recognition.  Again, take that away and for many there is no longer a point.
 
And while I agree with the statement that lack of enforcement is not a license to forget the rules and turn things into a free for all.  I would NEVER encourage someone to do stuff like operate DMR or P25 on GMRS.  But I sure would like to do it myself,,,, legally.  Which of course isn't possible at this time.
 
 

Many people lately are asking to change their myGMRS username from their callsign. Seems that they think this is providing some kind of extra security, but it really isn't. Any site user can easily look up a username to see the associated GMRS callsign or vice versa, so picking a different username provides no extra security.
I've been using the PO Box method for many years now, and it's really the best way to go if you're concerned about your home address being visible. However, as others have mentioned, you might want to Google your name first and see all the websites that publish a copy of your public records such as your property records and phone numbers. These websites are much more dangerous, and you should go to each one and request they remove your information. There's usually a "Do Not Sell My Information" link in the footer of the website and you can fill out a form to have the information purged. It'll be available for a while in Google, but eventually it'll be gone (notwithstanding websites or people that already grabbed the information).
And if you're worried about the Federal government using any of these tools to "find you", you've been living in a hole. If they really wanted to know, they could know which room of your house you're currently in and all your dirty secrets from over the years. Unless you're living off the grid with no technology, you're very easy to find. So try to be a little more rational.

Welcome to the forum! Congrats on the perfect first post.
Look everybody, another trooper from the NotaSingleclue Brigade.

I would not. Buy a real antenna and cable. The antenna is the most important part of a repeater. Manage expectations. You wont talk 50 miles with a JPole (well unless your at 5000'). Remember the RT is low power =/- 5 watts. Shorted antenna line and antenna they better.

Well just because you can hear the repeater doesn't mean you can always get back to it. Most repeaters are not balanced as they should be in the GMRS or ham world. I would get closer with a radio and test locally to the repeater before you can determine if its your setup. 

Well just because you can hear the repeater doesn't mean you can always get back to it. Most repeaters are not balanced as they should be in the GMRS or ham world. I would get closer with a radio and test locally to the repeater before you can determine if its your setup. 

Trident had their own terminal program called Tcomm. I have a copy of it around somewhere. As I recall, it was from Win95 era, but would run on WinXP. I would NOT recommend using a Trident Raider panel unless you've got a copy of the manual (along with a few hours to read it).  Trident was selling those for LTR use, and as I recall, you have to assign the user an LTR ID# - but then tell the panel that particular ID# was going to be using conventional PL or DPL - and then use a translation table to assign the particular tone code parameters to that ID#.
I can tell you that the Raider panels are reliable - I still have a few in service that are approaching 25 years with zero problems.
i20r panels still pop up now and then on Ebay. They were nice to use with the GR series repeaters, but I wouldn't spend big bucks to flog a GR300 back to life. There's better alternatives out there nowadays.

I think if you go through present and past threads on various topics it will be obvious who those people are. Two are on my block list because I don’t want to waste my time getting posting notifications when they post their garbage.
The linking discussion pertains to GMRS not Ham Radio. The question about it’s legality is murky since the rules are a bit ambiguous so it’s a gray area. Until the FCC clears up the language there is the possibility they will unambiguously make it clear one way or the other, maybe flatly prohibiting it by name.

Other rules are rather straight forward, however some posters encourage operating practices, equipment modifications (software - hardware -programming), that leave little doubt it violates the rules. Demands for “proof” of enforcement actions, and lack of any, is not permission to ignore them because it’s “really” ok. Essentially the poster(s) are looking for acknowledgment from others their actions are OK to excuse what they know is wrong. I’m not playing that stupid game.

WiFi when you are using your call sign as your SSID and transmitting or exceeding the ERP allowed in part 15.  You also have to be using the correct channels.
This is a sticking point with MANY hams but the question has been asked directly to the FCC a number of times and they have said it was acceptable to encrypt data links that were ONLY supporting ham radio activities. 

Oh, I can't agree more.  If you are looking for a relative measurement the cheap meters are great.  And if they are 10% or even 20% accuracy, they are enough to tell you that you are squirting RF out of the radio and the SWR is close or way off.  And I have some of that stuff too.  
I run an Anritsu 412LMR Master and a 50dB Connecticut Microwave 100Mhz to 1Ghz directional coupler for doing high power readings.  And I am expected by both my employer and my main client to check the loss of the cables I am using and do my power calculations with those loss numbers in mind.  In fact the client saw me doing it and when they ask what I was doing and I explained it, they required everyone else in the state to do the same thing.  So my coupler is 50dB down from the actual signal level.  So a 100 watt signal (50dBm) would register at 0dBm without that cable loss but at 800 Mhz that cable has 2.7dB of loss so it's significant, and will through the readings WAY off if not accounted for.  Of course it all got questioned until I connected the 3 thousand dollar Roade and Swartz watt meter up in line as was within 1.5 watts of what I had on the paper for my reading.  At that point they were all happy and rewrote the procedure for doing RF power readings at an RF site. 
Now I don't break all that out to check the SWR on a mobile antenna for a vehicle install.  I use one of my Bird meters for that. And it's MORE than accurate enough to do that work.  
 
And maybe I was a bit harsh on my reply,  but I thought my head was gonna explode when I read that.  Not your answer to it, but that it's a topic even being discussed. But I get a LOT of that.  I had one today, guy was wanting to know why his vehicle repeater was not working when he was driving down the street.  I wanted to tell him because whoever installed it actually did it right.  They are connected to the park neutral switch so they specifically DON'T work when you are in motion.  That's what the mobile radio in the vehicle is for..... the one connected to the VRS (vehicle repeater system) that you talk through when you are on a fire ground and OUT of the vehicle.   I honestly told my boss what was up and to explain that the system is designed that way to keep from causing interference while responding and driving past another working incident where they were also using a VRS to extend their coverage. 
 

That's true. I occasionally catch some DMR traffic on one of the GMRS simplex channels where I work. I verified that by using the digital monitor function on my D878UV  I took into work one day just to see if I could identify the source. Nothing was said that I could use to figure out who was responsible. It doesn't happen often enough to bother checking frequently.
About the rules you have a point. There are several people on this forum who have the attitude if the FCC hasn't busted anybody for an obvious rule violation then they mustn't care so it's OK to continue doing so. The worst part is when they encourage other users to do the same.

What a fantastic fairy idiot! Look everybody, magic outside of Hogwarts.

I wonder if i still have procomm plus on one of my old 90s computers, boy i feel old now.