gortex2

So the midland antenna requires a ground plane Not sure what you used with it. I would get a TRAM UHF base antenna and LMR400 for starting point. As said as high and you can go the better but keep your cable as short as possible. Dont coil 50' of cable behind the radio. 

In the middle of unpacking and found my old GMRS base from my motorhome. We had it mounted in our 5th wheel with a 1/4 wave UHF whip on the roof. When we got the Motorhome I had it on a try band larsen that I would use for the scanner when needed also. Cool part was it would run off the DC power pack if we had power, a 12V cord or batteries. I ran rechargeable in it and when at NASCAR races it would charge all day on solar or generator then run all night on battery. It went off multiple times while in Charlotte one year when the track got warned for a tornado. Had it go off for other severe weather events at other tracks and campgrounds over the years. The antenna was a BNC so you could use the one on it or the mounted antenna. Definitely a cool box for the day. Maybe some day I'll use it again.
 

In 20+ years of GMRS we never had chatter of nets. It wasn't until the ham lite crown came over to GMRS. Remember GMRS used to be a service for a family and was never used in the ways it is now. Its not a bad thing just different than why I got into GMRS and many did in the early years. Been in public safety for 20+ years and have never heard a net on any public safety system either. It may happen but in the NE you wont hear it unless you scan the ham bands. 
I guess I look at the linking thing as a change also to GMRS thats not always good. HAM did alot of this and I know of repeaters that are now usesless as all you hear is ragchewing all day from half way across the US. Kinda killed some repeaters for local use. 

Nope. Sorry Im not a fan of nets. They should be on Ham radio in my opinion. A national net just ties up repeaters when no one is listening to them.

So the midland antenna requires a ground plane Not sure what you used with it. I would get a TRAM UHF base antenna and LMR400 for starting point. As said as high and you can go the better but keep your cable as short as possible. Dont coil 50' of cable behind the radio. 

In the middle of unpacking and found my old GMRS base from my motorhome. We had it mounted in our 5th wheel with a 1/4 wave UHF whip on the roof. When we got the Motorhome I had it on a try band larsen that I would use for the scanner when needed also. Cool part was it would run off the DC power pack if we had power, a 12V cord or batteries. I ran rechargeable in it and when at NASCAR races it would charge all day on solar or generator then run all night on battery. It went off multiple times while in Charlotte one year when the track got warned for a tornado. Had it go off for other severe weather events at other tracks and campgrounds over the years. The antenna was a BNC so you could use the one on it or the mounted antenna. Definitely a cool box for the day. Maybe some day I'll use it again.
 

Brings back some memories, had a few of these myself. As well as the Uniden handhelds. I found out that the base station units had been donated away, as the wife thought they were old cordless phone bases. But, still have many of the simple Uniden handheld radios. Two digit display and rubberized case that was larger than comparable TalkAbout series Motorola radios at the time, meant easier to hold. When used with these Audiovox base units, spread across the farm, they worked great for a couple of miles, or until the Uniden batteries got low. Base to base was great though, and they were left on all the time between outbuildings and sheds. Wish these were still available, or something like them. AC powered, big buttons, and decent size display. Was easy to teach others that they were a "wireless intercom" rather than a "radio" at times. 

It was narrowband only. My parents had the FRS-1000 unit which was basically the same but with the 14 FRS frequencies and no removeable antenna. Sadly they left it mounted in a 5th wheel they had when they bought a new one. Both did what they were intended to do. We would use them to talk from camper to camper, camper to hand held and use weather alerts. That was the case use so they were ideal. Never had to search for a handheld or find batteries when it was dead. Unit just sat there working. At the time we were running Uniden GMRS mobiles in the driving area/truck and rarely had issues talking to each other via Uniden and this box. 

It was narrowband only. My parents had the FRS-1000 unit which was basically the same but with the 14 FRS frequencies and no removeable antenna. Sadly they left it mounted in a 5th wheel they had when they bought a new one. Both did what they were intended to do. We would use them to talk from camper to camper, camper to hand held and use weather alerts. That was the case use so they were ideal. Never had to search for a handheld or find batteries when it was dead. Unit just sat there working. At the time we were running Uniden GMRS mobiles in the driving area/truck and rarely had issues talking to each other via Uniden and this box. 

In the middle of unpacking and found my old GMRS base from my motorhome. We had it mounted in our 5th wheel with a 1/4 wave UHF whip on the roof. When we got the Motorhome I had it on a try band larsen that I would use for the scanner when needed also. Cool part was it would run off the DC power pack if we had power, a 12V cord or batteries. I ran rechargeable in it and when at NASCAR races it would charge all day on solar or generator then run all night on battery. It went off multiple times while in Charlotte one year when the track got warned for a tornado. Had it go off for other severe weather events at other tracks and campgrounds over the years. The antenna was a BNC so you could use the one on it or the mounted antenna. Definitely a cool box for the day. Maybe some day I'll use it again.
 

Makes sense to me. It appears that the Quantars have more shielding to them though. Probably why they can be stacked 10 high in a big system and not interfere with each other.

Also if you don't want to work with hardline for 100 foot runs LMR600 can work well. Hardline is still less lossy.
Have you tried adding an extension to your mast mount? This could help with far receive. Having a good antenna helps, but uHF really likes height. Even with that said, its a matter of luck sometimes. Sounds like you were experiencing some light ducting in the early morning, that wasn't there at night.

I have heard a ton of digital on GMRS. Get near any port on the coast and its non stop. As I go thru DC and Baltimore I hear it on and off in the cities. Alot is simplex but I know of locations with repeaters on the air. Sad part is people buy CCR DMR stuff and just program away not knowing anything about rules or caring. When they sell stuff on amazon to anyone who has a CC its going to happen. When I was at a radio shop in the past they put a IDAS/NXDN repeater on GMRS for a school "cause they have no money" for licensing. I wasn't there much longer. All we can do as GMRS users is try to follow the rules and encourage others to do the same. 

^^^^^^^^^^^ 
I hate linking for that point. And its the same conversations on ham or GMRS. The only GMRS repeaters around me are run by hams and just use it as another ham repeater. Drives me nuts. 

Yeah, I have had several of these that I have worked on.  Kenwood turns off the oscillator when they are not keyed.  Motorola, Vertex and some others just turn the PA on and off.  It allows for a quicker keyup time if the oscillator is already running on frequency.  Now that delay isn't typically very long, but with trunking radio systems it can have an effect.  The other thing is if it is still locking on frequency when the PA turns on there can be an audible tone heard on the air as the frequency stabilizes which can effect the signaling the transmitter puts out to the subscriber radio letting it know it's on the channel and transmitting.  That stuff happens pretty quick but any delay is still a delay that the user can see and complain about.  ANd if it effects the outbound signaling word on the trunking system, the call can be lost by the subscriber.
 

Obviously you missed this since we are still discussing it. 
It's NORMAL.  That's the way the Vertex works.  And Vertex isn't the only repeater that does this. 
Some others strip the PL.
MTR's and Quantars have a programmable REST frequency they revert to when they are receiving so this doesn't happen in situations were the repeater is located close to where portable radios are going to be.  But again.  This is normal and expected.
Look in the programming and see if there is a setting for a REST frequency.  If there is it's probably set to the TX frequency of the repeater.  Change it to something else but DO NOT set it for the receive frequency or it will interfere with the receiver of the repeater.  Once the issue goes away, program a radio up for to receive the rest frequency and you will find that it will hear the repeater generating a signal on the rest frequency.  And when you key the repeater, the signal will go away.
Or you can continue to connect and disconnect your antenna's, walk around the house and see where you can hear the signal.  Ask more questions and get told more nonsense about what is NOT causing it and continue to wonder what it is.  Even though I have told you.  And since I believe I am the only one on here that does this shit for a living.  I just might know what the hell I am talking about.  Maybe...  But at this point, it's anybodies guess.
 

So I'm all for reading the rules but GMRS is a mess now. Even if it is totally illegal and the FCC puts out a report and order or rulemaking paper saying it can't happen that will change nothing as there is no enforcement. Its no different than DMR, P25 and other modes being used on GMRS daily. All we can do is help make GMRS useable. To be honest I'm hoping this is a fad and all these CCR Linking folks will loose interest and go away....Sadly I dont think that will happen. 

The repeater is constantly generating low power RF with PL by design.  The final PA is turned on and off to facilitate actual transmit. 
You are picking up that RF signal and it's opening up your radio.  This is completely NORMAL and is not a concern.
MTR and Quantar repeaters do the same thing. 
 

YES!  Linking is about done to death on GMRS as it has been on ham for a while!  It has become a major annoyance on 2m/70cm ham.  When I got on ham in 1996, I joined a club that had a great three (and sometimes 4) repeater linked system.  In that day, before everyone had a cell in their pocket, it was a great conduit for family, friends, and social interaction in a 3-county region.  Over time, the linking has gotten out of hand.  One ham radio group I am thinking of has some great, and some not so great, repeaters covering part of two states.  There are around a dozen.  In my state they have a UHF repeater that has phenomenal coverage for that band.  As such, many locals like to use that repeater, but since the owner group insists on 24-7-365 linking, whenever we use it, it ties up the system for all, including those in the other state.  Ditto when they are on there complaining about their hemorrhoids or whatever.  There should at least be a publicly known DTMF de-link/link code for these times.  I know GMRS is not ham, but I see the same problems coming to GMRS because everyone is suddenly link-happy.
I am a member of a GMRS paid group with repeaters in two states, because it is paid, traffic is not very heavy most of the time.  Individual repeater coverage could be better, but they have a decent system.  Every Sunday evening for a couple of hours or so, the system is unuseable because it carries a nationwide GMRS net.  Were I broken down on the side of the road and needing to use the radio to get help because my cell was in a dead spot, I would be a very unhappy camper having to wait for this net to go off.  Some people love hearing the voices from across the country coming through the speaker on their ht, mobile, or base.  After a while, the novelty wears off.
With only eight pairs available, I would much rather see repeaters carrying "local" traffic from a bigger footprint than duplicating a conversation being had 100 or more miles away and stifling local comms.
 

^^^^^^^^^^^ 
I hate linking for that point. And its the same conversations on ham or GMRS. The only GMRS repeaters around me are run by hams and just use it as another ham repeater. Drives me nuts. 

Based upon the manual, the US version of the Maxon is also NARROW FM ONLY.

Leave the hat at home.. Awwww.... That hurts!

I miss the "old" GMRS days. It was much simpler and no one was on my repeaters unless I wanted them on them. And when they were they had a real radio.

Short distance, and primarily with users all under the same license (family farm, small business) -- licensee to licensee was extremely rare if not actively discouraged. It's really only after the FRS fiasco that the "General" in GMRS took primary aspect (rather than the "Mobile" -- it used to be that base-station to base-station was not permitted at all, and base-station to repeater was [and may still be depending upon how one interprets that "base-station" is listed under the 462MHz simplex category, but not under the 467MHz repeater category -- essentially, the base-station would have to BE the repeater with a microphone front-end attached... and again that means only 462MHz outputs ? [) also not permitted.

Alright,,, damn.  Make one little comment about ham radio membership not being what it once was and y'all are looking to burn me at the stake.
So lets preface this.  In 2024, 2 years away, I will be renewing my ham license for the second time.  Which of course means in total I will have been a ham for 30 years at that point.  And I have sat and watched the technical abilities of hams decline over the years.  Now, do I think it will kill ham radio?  No, I don't.  And I will NOT be one of the asshats like those that sat around complaining about the dropping of Morse Code and how that would turn ham into CB radio, or that the decline in actual radio knowledge will do it in either.  But in 30 years, I have met a bunch of hams, some of them are damn knowledgeable.  But I am not seeing that as much any more.  And I am not hearing serious technical discussions being had on the air.  Of course, I don't hear much of anything other than on HF any more.  And I am not seeing much interest in learning about radio in the ham community either.  The move has been to DMR hotspots where the sum total of the RF communications begin and end in less than 20 feet.  Using the Internet to bridge the distance.  So as long as you can program a radio and configure a hotspot, you can communicate.  For all of 20 feet.  You realize you don't even NEED an antenna to talk that far.  And yes, I do find all that disheartening.  And what really gets me is all that demand for knowledge and wanting to learn is right here in GMRS and the service is limited to less than 1 Mhz of total frequency allocation and is ONLY wideband FM.  We have no SSB, digital, packet, none of that.  And we are fine with it.  And I am good with it too.  I just wish since there is so much interest in radio and how it all works here, that we have one little bit of one band to mess about with.  Mind you, GMRS ain't ham radio.  Never will be.  I just wish that ham radio had the sort of participation that GMRS is now enjoying.