PACNWComms

Most of the antennas on my vehicles are New Motorola (NMO), so they unscrew easily enough for car washes, that use rollers and cloth strips. However, the mounts vary from flush NMO to lip mounts for the hood and trunk, which is the same as many vehicles for my current employer. Maintenance teams are dispatched in trucks, SUV's, forklifts, and semi tractors. Many of the Chevy Suburban drivers would manage to find the one car wash in town that would tear off antennas, bust mounts, and the worst one was an 800 MHz "thimble" antenna, Laird Phantom type antenna, that was "grabbed" by one of the car wash cloth strips, and wielded like a sling, hitting the entire roof of the SUV, hitting it with the antenna and denting all over the roof. There must have been about thirty hits to that roof before the car wash was shut down. Luckily, this one had two people that would hand wipe down the vehicles to dry it beyond the fans, but the damage from the spinning cloth strips did thousands in damage. I do not use car wash machines that touch the vehicle, too much possibility for damage. Glad it worked out for you though.

I have tried the aluminum tape method, and chokes as well on sPod boxes. They look nice in the rig, and make it easy to add accessories, with switches that look like they came from the factory. But, that trade-off is that they are still an aftermarket accessory. I wish they had more metal in them, or a grounding pigtail for the box. Grounding may help, but as others have said, power may come from another area in different models of Jeep. Higher end LED's will help, I know many people that went cheap on LED headlight, that have the factory wiring harness, grounding, and physical connections of the incandescent stock version, but still interfered with radio audio. Going to higher end LED headlights then fixed the problem, based on the engineering in the higher end LED headlight elements. Good luck, it may take a few tries to find something that works.

What applies to ships at sea also applies to vehicles on the ground. Many years ago, after working on vehicle mounted radios for the military, I went to work for the oil industry, and radios aboard a fleet of ships. Well antenna gain issue cropped up often, as many think more gain means more "amplification" of receive signal, not realizing that it is also the radiation pattern impacting signal as BoxCar mentions. Very often, someone would place a 12 dB gain antenna on a small vessel and it had trouble talking to a larger vessel, even when in line of sight and close in distance. An isotropic antenna would radiate like a sphere, while a 3dB gain antenna may radiate like a doughnut, 6 db gain antenna like a pancake, a 9 dB antenna like a thick tortilla or naan bread, and a 12 dB antenna like an LP record. So, with a 12 dB gain antenna on a small vessel, and a 0-3 dB gain antenna on a large ship, the only reliable communication (due to height differences between vessels) is when the little one is bobbing around and the radiation (transmit for smaller vessel and receive for larger) match up. This is where height and a 0-6dB antenna are much more useful, as they both have transmit and receive patterns that can reach other stations. Power is also an issue, as more power in a more focused radiation pattern can mean more distance. Cars and fixed radio stations are impacted the same way. When it comes to wattage and a mobile radio, Part 90 radios in use by public safety, commercial use, and hobby use are often limited to about 50 watts. Motorola, Vertex, Icom, Kenwood, mobiles are often 25/40/50 watts. Attached is a lab kit for Radio over Internet Protocol, with a Motorola XPR4550 UHF 40 watt mobile shown. I used Motorola mobiles for GMRS, with my CDM1550LS+ at 50 watts. GMRS radios usually max out around 50 watts too. Radiation exposure specifications will usually specify 6 foot or so (sometimes less) of separation between people and antennas in the UHF range at 50 watts. 50 watts mobile, with RG-58, and the shorter run in a vehicle than up a high mounted fixed antenna will get you ten to twenty miles, depending on terrain and local conditions. I myself usually run about 10 to 20 watts mobile and have no problem hearing people, hitting repeaters ten miles away, and transmitting back. The radio tops out at 10 watts, my RG-58 cable run is about twelve feet, and I have a decent antenna on the trunk which acts as a good ground plane. If what you have works, then let that itch go to a basestation, or a handheld that can be taken when not in your vehicle. Glad to see someone else get further into this......GMRS has taken off over the past few years for sure.

I became tired of waiting for the fee to actually drop to $35 myself. In my mind, I think $7 per year is not a bad deal, but am a little annoyed that the $35 fee was approved but not yet implemented. The only other time I was a bit disgruntled about a radio related fee was for the Canadian Restricted Operators Certificate (ROC) for maritime radio use in Canadian waters. There was no test, just a fee. This meant it was just a way to get money.

+1 on showing pictures of this antenna installation. I had VHF and UHF antennas in my attic, until having my roof replaced last summer. I live at the top of a large hill, but when locating my antennas to the eight foot high fence surrounding my property (thinking it was temporary), I found that there was no change in my useful coverage. I still hear and hit repeaters, and what I probably miss out simplex, well if I don't hear it, I don't miss it (ignorance is bliss at times). So, I may leave them mounted to the fence, as it gives me more attic storage. But, seeing that antenna on an 80 foot mast does intrigue me a bit.

APX900 Model 2 on left and XPR7550e on right. (XPR7550e is like Model three, full keypad and display, where a XPR7350e has no display or keypad like a Model 1, there is no Model 2 abbreviated keypad version like the APX series.)

Wejoke at work how much the APX900 and XPR7550e are alike. If someone came up with a P25 flash/software load,whatever it gets called, I know a lot of people that would keep/buy/re-use them.

Not yet. Will have to dig it out and see what it shipped with (probably not the version you mentioned), and then just do it. I stuck in a box with other radio related items, after taking a few poser picture of it with a Garmin Rino 530. So, this thread may help me make that GM-30 "useful.....thank you for the info on firmware.

I received a GM-30 model GMRS handheld radios as part of a package deal when I purchased my Radioddity DB20-G mobile. One of the first things I noticed was the issue with the customizable channels.....and the issue with the drivers for the programming cable. In my case, I have a lot of radios, and a lot of laptop programming computers. So, I end up labelling them with which CPs is on each computer, which cable to use for each radio. I charged the GM-30 and tried to program it a few times, and then went back to my Motorola XPR6550 that requires a hex edit for my use in the GMRS band, and my Anytone 878. The GM-30 has been sitting in a box for a few months unused. Sitting, the battery is still charged, but I have yet to really use the radio. To everyone posting here (thank you), I may dig it out and see if I can add customized repeater channels as well. Probably good to have it in use instead of inside a random box, doing nothing.

There is "amateur radio world" and then real world, with the two often being far apart. As MichaelLAX mentioned, things have changed. As for radio gear in commercial vehicles, there are other restrictions, like not being able to use radio scanners, radar detectors, and laser jamming equipment as well. Drive truck for a while and you will find that the State Patrol adds enhancements for all kinds of things that may fall under the FCC for regulation, but law enforcement for when they connect with commercial transportation. It is similar to maritime law, and the use of RF emitting equipment. Do you thin the FCC enforces licensing for marine operators of radio/radar? No, it is usually the U.S. Coast Guard that boards the vessel and checks ship and operator licenses. In my ten years offshore, I never had an FCC official check a license, it was always the Coast Guard.

I have had a Yaesu FT-817ND for many years for this exact purpose. This series of radio has been great over the years. Although, I am also looking at a Yaesu FT-991A for a QRM rig, and have several friends that have bought them in the past year.

I still hear some of these in some parts of the country. Usually Texas to Mississippi on the highways east to west. Often at truck stops, a few even brag about having linear amplifiers. Lots of people have had gear confiscated in that crowd, but often after being stopped for something else. In oil spill response related emergency communications, our truck drivers only got away with having scanners in the cab because of the nature of that division of the company, and towing mobile communications suites or related support trailers. State Patrol often wondered why these tractors had several Motorola mobiles (VHF, UHF, and 800MHz) and a VHF marine radio installed. Luckily, we had documentation that mentioned what was being transported and why, with FEMA documents to add credibility for the driver. Although, many drivers did not even know how to operate anything besides the AM 40 channel CB radio. In the ten years I was in that industry, there was only one truck driver that was fined for supposed unlicensed radio use, but then the ticket was thrown out in court. The ticket was based on the thought that one of those radios had to be an illegal 10m CB.

I am on a grandfathered plan that includes time, which gets used, then I pay additional if going over.....do not recall the amount of time included. May have to see if getting a new account can save some money.

For those that venture into the wilderness of Washington State or Oregon, there are many people that carry FRS/GMRS radios (pre-2017), or GMRS only radios. This also includes Coast Guard and military that may have been issued Garmin Rino's of several different models. Along the Olympic Peninsula, Garmin Rino's are carried by many Search and Rescue Team personnel, with some non public safety (volunteers) using Motorola Trbo series radios. This allows for two types of radio, that both have the capability of GPS function (Rino built in as radio/GPS, and Trbo radio sending data location on one time slot and voice on the other to a Trbonet dispatch console). For FRS use, Channel 1 is most often monitored, with remote listening posts receiving everything above the noise floor, wth the exception of ISM band 900MHz frequency hopping radios. If I were going into rural ares of these two states, I would have a FRS/GMRS radio set to FRS Channel 1 if I got into trouble and lacked cell phone coverage. Amateur radio and a list of local repeaters would also be include.....but after the satphones and Garmin InReach tethered to my cell phone.

Iridium is about $50 per month while Globalstar is about $30 per month. Each had its problems at different times, with government assistance for both, earlier for Iridium, and later for Globalstar, so Globalstar is still a little cheaper as a result. My accounts have been active since 2005, so new accounts may be more now. As others mentioned Garmin is $15 per month, I use one of those too. I spent ten years providing emergency communications for floors, hurricanes, and oil spill, which included hurricanes: Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in 2005, and the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010. Being in so many incidents, I spend a lot of time in rural areas that lack cell phone and often public safety radio service, hence the satphones and tethered device (Garmin).

If this is the Trbo Ion radio that is being talked about as the replacement for the XPR7550e, it at least appears to be much like the APX Next, and I have been told it also may have the program via network while logged into MOL account. Which means for my current employer, that will not work, and the touchscreen will not function for firefighters. But, I have only put hands on the APX Next, not the XPR Trbo based Ion yet. As for the Aeroflex, the one shown was bought when I had my own business, which I may start back up. Bought as part of a group buy.....and my current employer allows me to get software upgrades tacked onto corporate orders. They know I am not in competition with them, and any side work I do only keeps me proficient.

I just added options 440/441/640 to an Aeroflex 3920 for NXDN/Kenwood NXDN/Autotest II NXDN respectively, for an oddball science project for a customer. Viavi/Aeroflex messed up the license files between five test sets, but one was correct. I cringe as a former engineer for Zetron when it was part of the JVC/Kenwood Group, as NXDN and 5000 series Kenwood radios always had issues (hired too many Microsoft transplants) with many software bug fixes and patches being necessary (more so than Motorola at least). If you buy Kenwood, order what you need as adding features or unlocking them with a license may become a problem at a future date....see Microsoft part of comment. As for the XPR7550e, great little radios, but there is a Hex problem in every version of CPS 2.0 which requires some changes in either: the radio programming and/or Provisioning Manager if you use aliasing, or in one version you must skip any hex ID that contains the letter "E"

I currently use two personal satellite phones, a Globalstar and an Iridium, two different networks, as I am still active in the maritime community, even though I administer land based radios networks now. Satellite phones and beacons that tether to cellular phones are a lot cheaper, reliable, and available now. If you live or frequent areas that lack cell phone coverage, I highly recommend them. This could be vast areas of desert or maritime use.....I go through and to both. Radio and satellite is the only thing that works in many cases. One of my pictures in the gallery shows some of my UHF satellite equipment, when I expect to spend some time out in the middle of nowhere. Much of the rural united States even lacks adequate first response radio coverage, in which case some fedgov equipment may be the only thing that "hears" your cries for help.

My only issue with the 3-3-3 plan is that it, like the push for FRS Channel 1 proposal is not regulation or procedure. Both are just suggestions, and whom determines which is better or more useful, the end users and those that wish to participate in that plan. The plan that goes by three has become popular due to the three percenters, which may turn off some people if they understand the political push and influence. There is no regulation or rule driving it, which was what ended the push for FRS Channel 1 a decade earlier. The reason radio silent clocks exist is due to maritime regulation, which has a historical precedence, but does not necessarily apply to FRS/GMRS/MURS. Having a plan is better than not having one, as long as there is agreement to which plan to use. If you end up on the Oregon or Washington coastline (I do not know if all of California followed suit, but Crescent City, CA and Brookings, Oregon have an agreement), maritime precedent applies with the Coast Guard (radio silent clock method). The listening posts equipped with radio direction finding equipment expanded capabilities as the infrastructure was developed for maritime use, but added spectrum bands as software defined multi-band receiving equipment was installed at the sites.