Hasaf

I live about five miles from a large trailer transfer yard for a meat packing plant. I frequently hear yard related conversations on Channel 20.

I recently installed an AT-778 in my FJ Cruiser, as you can see, it has all of the controls on the mic.

For those who don't know where to search, the page is here.

No, it was an antenna. I wrote to Midland about it and they responded with, what amounted to, "the antenna is working fine." Mostly my post is because this radio didn't seem to be mentioned here, so I was trying to give potential users some idea of what it was and how well it performed. As I understand, Midland is coming out with a full power unit, with the controls on the microphone, soon. I will probably go that route when they do.

A "convoy friendly" feature that could easily be incorporated, even without maps, is a simple "distance away" display. Conversations of the "how far are you from me?" nature would be a lot easier with such a number on the display. No, it doesn't seem a high-end showcase of GPS and location tracking capabilities, but it would be useful, and requires no map. However, internal map features would be nice to get anything but crows flight distances.

I think a good part of the issue, at least for me, is that there are no APRS facilities near me. As such, I can only see if I got it working when I go on a long drive.

Frankly, I can see it stalling. Loud users of other services will undoubtedly see it as, "letting other people play with one of their toys."

Oh God, no. I have spent the last couple of days trying to get APRS working on my AnyTone D878UV +. I spent time on it last year, and the year before. It still doesn't work.

Sorry it has taken me so long to finish this. The frequencies were programmed from this chart. I have not confirmed the Frequency counter. However, I have not adjusted it either. If it is to be trusted, this radio is transmitting a bit off frequency on Channel 20. The Channel 5&12 frequencies may be a rounding error. According to the manual, both the receiver and the transmitter are capable of both narrow and wide band. However, I do not have the means of testing this. More troublesome is the low power output. The specifications claim 25W at full power. the test showed 17.77W. At low power the specifications claim 5W and the meter showed 4.28W. Ignore the SWR, I am using a Midland MXTA26 and it is ~1:1 on channel 12, but falls off, pretty quickly, on both sides. On Channel 20 On Channel 5

In your opening statement you summarized why I have little interest in Digital (pretty much anything) for ham radio. There are too many incompatible standards, and there isn't anyone using any of them, near me, anyways. I think my Anytone AT-D878UV supports something, but I have no idea what. I am sort of interested in getting an APRS vehicle tracker working, but I have little interest beyond that. I teach computers and robotics, I think it is something I could get interested in. But with no local activity it just doesn't draw me in.

Here are the antennas. GMRS in the centre rear, VHF/UHF in the centre front, CB (11M) in the left rear by the hinges.

Agreed, most placed I have read say that ch20 is the calling channel, just like 146.52 on 2M. Those seem to be the channels that it makes sense to monitor while driving. The whole cb19 is a different thing. When I was driving truck I was in California, mostly the central valley, most communication was on 17.

FCC ID T4KAT778U I have today off, so I spent a couple of hours pulling the headliner and installing a couple NMO connectors, then running the coax behind stuff until they get to the radios. Probably the only smart thing I did was to label the coax "front" and "rear" so I can remember which piece goes to which mount.

I also posted these pictures in the review sub-forum. This is the AnyTone that I just mounted in my FJ Cruiser. it is under the passenger seat next to my 2m/440. There is a rectangular recess in the centre console that is a perfect size for the microphone.

It is a switch. That is what I have done, both it and the 2m/440 are wired to a relay after the accessory circuit. As such, they turn on and off with the car. As for the switch on the radio, I just leave it on.

I have seen several mentions of the AT-778uv, but not of the AT-778, which is a different radio. It is a lot like the Midland MXT275 with a couple of differences. The first difference is that the power is claimed to be 25W, rather than Midlands 15W max output. Another difference is that the AT-778 has a large power switch on the radio chassis. How useful that power switch really is can be seen as a bit questionable unless the radio chassis is mounted in an easily accessible location, negating the value of a "controls on the microphone" style radio in the first place. I haven't done any meaningful testing on it yet, other than basic power-up and radio checks. It does not come with the programming cable. However, once I figured out the basics, it was easy, if tedious, to program. This is a Part 90 radio, so it will need to be programmed. Frankly, if I had noticed that it was Part 90 before I purchased it, I probably would have just gone with the Midland. The bandwidth can be changed for individual channels. However, the lowest power it can be set to is 5W, putting it out of specification for channels 8-14. I am a bit concerned that it may be too easy to change the programming. I have yet to bump-program any of my settings, but it looks like it would be easy to do on accident. Here it is, mounted under the passenger seat of an FJ Cruiser. The unit next to it is my VHF/UHF Kenwood. Here is the control/microphone

I am also glad I came across this thread. I am getting ready to drill my FJ Cruiser instead of the lip mount that I am using. I was looking at these. I have a Nano VNA, I have no idea which version. So far I can't say I am too happy with it. It is extremely small and hard to read, that said, this is the best Nano VNA SWR video I have seen. This is just a rough look at the ones I have looked at. MFJ-894 1.6-525MHz 2, 20, 0200 159.95 Large twin needle MFJ-864 HF/VHF/UHF 30, 300 129.95 MFJ-817 144/220/440 30, 300 129.95 MFJ-849 HF/VHF/UHF 200W 199.95 Large Digital MFJ-867 144/220/440 400W 189.95 Large Single needle MFJ-873 125-525 200 W 99.95 SW-102 125-525 125W 56.99 Positive reviews on mygmrs.com Daiwa 501 140-525 200W 105.99 Positive revirws Daiwa CN-901 140-525 200W 155.99 Dual needle large display High quality

I decided to go with a separate unit install instead of just accessing GMRS using my VHF/UHF. This means installing another antenna on my FJ Cruiser. This is enough antennas to push me over the line, drop the headliner and install NMO mounts instead of the "clamp-On" that I am currently using. This got me to looking at the Larson NMO tunable, a favourite when I was playing with radios more often. Realizing how short the wavelength is, has anyone played with different lengths? The "no ground plane" feature is pointless as it is going to go on a big sheet of steel (the roof). The bit of gain is more valuable to me. I then got to thinking of full wave, I can't think of anyone I know ever using full wave, there has to be a good reason not to, but I am not thinking of any. The antenna comes pretty long, with the intention of being cut, but it can't be un-cut. Any thoughts? Next question, what is the most common Fr to cut the GMRS antennas to?