WRKC935

There is something else that I believe contributes to the GMRS interest exceeding the interest in Ham radio. That's the persona of HAM. Ham radio in at least some instances has been portrayed as nerdy. It's connected to big towers in the yard with big antenna's on top of them. Have you ever even seen GMRS portrayed in a TV show or film? If it's radio related, it's always ham. It's some desk full of radios typically with the operator being some level of eccentric, or otherwise odd socially. Since GMRS isn't put on display in any fashion, people don't understand it, and therefore don't believe it's going to make other people think they are some mad scientist if they get involved with it.

It sounds like you are doing range tests from a vehicle. First issue with a yagi, it's directional. Please don't be offended if you knew that. And I am working from an internet post here so I don't 100% understand what's going on. It doesn't seem like you are trying to take to or hear a specific repeater, but that might not be the case. Because the yagi is directional it's only going to work good in one direction. The higher the gain of a yagi, the tighter the front end of it is and the narrower the pattern, meaning a narrower path of coverage. Second thing is are you testing from a vehicle with a portable or a mobile radio with a mounted antenna. Might seem like a silly question, but with all the BS radio distance ratings of radios, if you are new to this and have unreasonable expectations based on what the box or the manufactures advertisements indicate, you certainly will NOT be the first to be dissatisfied with the real world performance.

Straight forward instructions here download the image from elsewhere here on the site download and install WinSCP on your computer download the .sh file below open the .sh file with wordpad on your PC and edit the NODE NUMBER and PASSWORD with the information you got from the site. rename the file once edited and saved to 'repeaterfinder.sh' follow the directions for creating your SD card for the Raspberry Pi. insert the card in the Pi and boot the Pi up. Login to the Pi with the standard credentials provided in the network book (this is also downloaded from this site) Once the Pi is booted and connected to the network you PC running WinSCP is on, connect to the Pi with WinSCP via the IP address of the Pi. Once you are logged in, you will need to copy the 'repeaterfinder.sh' file to the /home/repeater/ directory. When you have copied the file to the Pi, you will need to login to the Pi and navigate to the above directory. Once there type ./repeaterfinder.sh or bash ./repeaterfinder.sh The script will run and configure your Pi as a node with the provided number and password Once the Pi reboots, login into the Pi again, the password this time will be repeater. You will need to change this by typing 'passwd' You will be prompted to type a new password at that point. Remember that you have to make modifications to your router / firewall to allow connection to your node. This information is in the workbook as well. If this is not to be common knowledge please delete this and let me know it's gone. repeaterfindernew.sh

I had grand plans to operate at the tower site, then view the eclipse. Never got to the tower site today at all.

Keep getting this. Sometimes it makes my node unlink No such command 'node-23903*CLI> rpt fun 23903 *321800' (type 'help node-23903*CLI> rpt' for other possible commands) No such command '[Apr 9 00:17:01] NOTICE[673]: chan_iax2.c:9712 socket_process: Registration of '23903' rejected: '<unknown>' from: '34.194.144.228'' (type 'help [Apr 9' for other possible commands) No such command 'node-23903*CLI>' (type 'help node-23903*CLI>' for other possible commands) node-23903*CLI>

Roger beeps interfere with operation, no, typically not. DTMF ID, possibly. Might put a repeater controller in some odd state and lock it up. Again, possible but not probable. MDC CAUSING issues? No, I can't see any way that would happen. However, there is something called ANI or RAC that uses an MDC sounding code to access a repeater. And there are controllers that will look for specific MDC codes that are in a database to allow access to a repeater. So if you are on a system like that, the MDC is a requirement to access the repeater in question. Mind you these are not common at all. But I have seen it both commercially and here on GMRS. All that being said. The repeater OWNER is going to have the final say on any of the three being used on their repeater. A lot of owners don't care for roger beeps. I am personally one. If I wanted a courtesy tone on the repeater (roger beep) I can add that myself. I do support the use of MDC on my repeaters, but don't require it and I don't run RAC / ANI access on my repeater since it's an open repeater.

If the owner has multiple repeaters, you should probably request access to all of them. Now I would be all for giving the ability on here to grouping repeaters together for access requests if the owner / owners choose to do that. But outside of that happening, I would advise you to request for each one or put in the request if it's ok to access the other repeaters and let the owner make the decision.

If you are spotty into the repeater, a directional antenna with higher gain could help. Downside to that is it's going to be directional and only effective talking to that specific repeater. If you only use that repeater, then it's not really as big of a issue. But you need to get a commercial frequency antenna and NOT something for ham. And more elements leans more directional gain. So look for something with 6 or 8 elements. Going from spotty to solid signal into the repeater might not be possible though.. But it will be an improvement. Of course, use the best cable that you can reasonably afford and will work with your installation.

Well, this sort of nonsense is a result of a non-engaged repeater owner. As a repeater system user, paid or not, you have no real say in what that repeater carries for traffic. Ultimately, if you don't like it you can make a comment about it if you choose to but your final say in the matter is when you change the channel or turn off your radio. You have NOTHING else to do when it's not your gear. If the repeater owner allows that sort of conduct, then that's how it is. But an engaged repeater owner that pays attention to what's going on with his / her repeater should be dealing with that. Telling people that they are NOT going to argue, cuss and act the fool on the repeater and to either stop or go kick rocks is the way it needs to be handled. And if they refuse, you shut off the repeater for a while. And the repeater owner can record the traffic, get call signs if the users are actually saying them and file a complaint with the FCC. If it's a common thing for these people to act up and break the rules (causing interference) then the FCC might get involved. But end users really have no say in the content. And people shouldn't just throw up repeaters that they don't pay any attention to and let others act foolish on them.

For a commercial license, you are going to want to request Itinerant frequencies. And you will need to request them for coverage in whatever area you are going to be operating in. Since you are in the logging industry, you will be moving around obviously. Not sure what part of the country you operate in, but you can indicate that area, or those states when getting the license. Not sure how large an area you would be working for a specific job, or if a repeater would be needed. If you are trying to cover a number of miles, then a repeater might be required to provide that coverage. There are repeaters out there that will run off 12 volts. My advice would be putting the antenna up on a topped tree with some sort of chain mount. Or if you have a piece of equipment that is stationary throughout the job and is at a higher elevation then that might be an option as well. Mind you I don't know much about the industry past watching the 'logger show' back in the day. I just built something similar to this for a utility contractor that repairs storm damage. They go out and replace poles and wires that are down from storms. We set them up with a couple repeaters that were in weatherproof cases that would run on 110 or 12 volt and they would just lash a pipe to the top of a pole and setup there. What you don't want to do is get a fixed location license and then move around with it. What I mean by that is if you are in Salem Oregon and get a license for there, you can't take that equipment to Portland and operate on that same frequency legally. You will no doubt be interfering with someone that has that same frequency there. SO you have to have a different type of license to remain legal. Operating on GMRS can't really be legally done since it's not really for business use. So again, Itinerant licenses are the way to go here. And there is NOT a license that you can get in the USA that will allow you to operate in Canada either. So be aware of that. EDIT>>> OIL AND GAS??? Oil and Gas and underground work is going to fall under MSHA regulations in addition to the standard FCC radio stuff. As mentioned you are going to need radios that are rated for the environments you are working in. Honestly, you are going to need professional direction here and NOT the ramblings of some keyboard hero's on a hobby radio site. Not getting that professional assistance and using the wrong stuff will catch up to you when some MSHA inspector shows up and looks at your radios and slaps you with fines and shuts down your operation. When you mentioned 'Forestry' as being your industry, there isn't the requirements for specific radios there. As mentioned by @LScott “intrinsically safe” radios are going to be required for any operations around a well or underground. That rating insures that the radios will not be a possible ignition source in an explosive gas environment. Using radios that are not rated as “intrinsically safe” will get you a hefty fine and shut down by an inspector. And for underground, I believe MSHA requires radio for all personnel working below ground. The underground thing becomes a different issue. Obviously there would be little to no coverage below ground. If you are working in mines, then that has already been dealt with by the mine owner. They may have contractor radios for use in there facility, or you can get an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) giving you permission to have your radios programmed to their radio system. It would cover what operational abilities you would have when doing so and what types of communication was allowed. Meaning what types of radio traffic would be permissible, just emergency, emergency and operational, or emergency, operational and general. But you and your crew would be expected to abide by that when operating on their system. Again, this is stuff to be looked at by a professional radio vendor and not just some guys on the Internet. Yes, I am in the radio industry. But I am in Ohio and not where you are, so I ain't really trying to push you to a specific radio vendor, but knowing enough about MSHA regulations since we have customers that fall under their regulations, I can say that not getting proper advice on this isn't a good way to proceed.

Without knowing your budget, I would toss a couple idea's your way in the 'reasonable' cost arena. Motorola on both counts. First would be the CDM mobiles and HT series portables. These were in their day the go to for law enforcement and fire service use. Very rugged and reliable. Second, for a slightly newer Motorola radio I would look at the XPR 4550 mobiles and 6550 portables. Again, the go to for public safety. They have DMR functionality but that can't be used on GMRS or FRS. But they are a really good radio as well. Any of the radios mentioned will need to be programmed with a computer and the required software. That being said, having radios that can't be messed with that are being handed out to workers, the fact they are locked down is a good thing. Having limited channels, functions and the like means that users are less likely to end up off on some random channel or frequency that it's the one you need them on. And these radios or similar radios from other manufactures can be used on commercial frequencies if you decide to get a business radio license later down the road. THe offerings that are GMRS specific radios can't do that, they are going to be locked to the GMRS service.

The big issue I have is people not understanding how to conduct communications with more than two people on the radio. The idea of letting people take turns just escapes some people.

doesn't matter

What ever..... you win, you're the greatest.

Don't be a dick because I know more than you. Quick scanning Grinder, do some research and learn stuff. Then maybe you will know as much as I do.... but I doubt it. You're the one doing GMRS video's. How about you explain it detail what I was talking about in my post? I mean that was a really watered down version of how that all works. You could go into the weeds about how path loss is actually effected by different environments, the amount of expected per city block and how the calculations are done and averaged in a 360 degree plot for a distance specified by the user. You could explain the time it takes depending on the granularity of the mapping. How it's normally only done in 5 or 10 degree increments but can be done in finer increments at the cost of processing time. That a 10 degree map is averaged and can miss certain things that might block a signal that will show as good on a map. How the maps that are used for a reference are really important to be up to date so that they will indicate those area's that will have the signal blocked. You could go into what HAAT (height above average terrain) is and how it effects things. How the same maps are used for those calculations. The 6dB realized gain that you get every time you double your antenna height and how radio stations ERP is actually calculated using that information. There is a LOT that can be discussed with UHF coverage. Could talk about multipath fading and why moving less than a foot in some instances can get a poor signal full quieting. Lot's of things to cover. But I know Grinder is waiting for you. SO you go boy.