kb2ztx

DB408 is my go to antenna for a tower site. I do run some DB404 but the 408 has a bit more gain. In NY winters they have lasted for years.

It also shows more reflected power on highpower. at that point the meter reading is not as accurate. If this is in a dummy load then its bad. If its in the antenna I'd find a dummy load. A $100 meter will be around 10% as said above and looks accurate

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.