PACNWComms

I agree with this part, as I was having to do the same thing. Working in commercial/military radio for thirty years and doing amateur/GMRS for much of that, I needed something better than a cell phone when in the wilderness. Having a background in satcom, i also carried a satellite phone and later a satellite beacon that can sync to my cell phone to send messages. However, it is the GMRS radio that is cheap and common enough that I almost always make contact with someone when out and about. Like others have mentioned though, I have also experienced the end of many auxiliary communications services and emcomm entities in Oregon, as they only bring radio experience to the table much of the time. While they help with parades, and disaster comms, in my area of the country, they often lack the Incident Command Structure (ICS) training, and miss many of the collaborative training opportunities with city, county, and tribal elements. My advice to emcomm people still doing that work, stay engaged or you may be replaced with technology, and foster the relationships with Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), local fire and law enforcement and emergency medical professionals......take that first aid class or learn to teach CPS with AED. Take the ICS certification classes and show up, and you may keep that "seat at the table" when the decision is made on interoperability and inclusion. Washington State in contrast, does appear to keep emcomm volunteers, and engage CERT, ARES, RACES, and AFMARS, combining the efforts of the state military department, and civilian emergency management along with some coordination with FEMA Region Ten headquarters....while keeping the line between state/county/city/tribal and federal apart. Representing the corporate side of the house, I also partake in a weekly check-in via HF and UHF nets, which is in use as both commercial and hobby radio comms....but with some emergency management aspects added in for those that wish to participate. The cool thing with radio and the many aspects of it, is that you can participate at whichever level you want to, be it commercial, military (even for civilians - Military Affiliate Radio is not just for the military), public safety, hobby use, and emergency use. All are useful.

I started reading this thread and went right to Motorola R56, then saw you had posted a link already. Attaching it in case that is unreachable. Chapter's 4 and 5 go into a great deal of detail on what needs to be done. Thank you for posting this. Many could take head in this before having their home catch fire or lose equipment/property/and life to a lightening strike. In previous work in the oil industry, ship antennas would often get hit by lightening strikes. Polyphaser's and actually grounding them in the most direct route saved all but one radio over the course of ten years. With the price of copper, it is understandable why people skimp on this part, but it could save life and property. It is an area that even the professionals try to save money. A couple of years ago, I had to have a 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point under construction, re-pour the concrete base of their antenna tower, as they did not place grounding mesh underneath. The building also needed some walls torn apart to retrofit grounding for the many radio racks, antenna coax penetrations, and backroom equipment. Grounding also improves signal to noise by having gear at the same effective ground, to include the call taking (telephone) systems in use at the sites. Follow R56 and do at least the minimum, adding lightening protection, copper rods and bonding pieces to each antenna/radio system. Motorola-Standards-and-Guidelines-for-Communication-Sites-R56-Manual.pdf

For mobile use and handheld radios, this is where having a quality antenna can be very helpful. In my part of the country, I see even first response vehicles that have several fender and trunk mounted antennas that are not cut to frequency, are too short to be useful (going for looks instead of function), and installs that look like old shop stock was used to clear inventory. As others have mentioned, cars are an RF cage and cuts signal a great deal. On another note, there is an old saying with radio, that the more you are scanning the less you are hearing. I know some that try to scan an entire band (VHF or UHF, and UHF has different meanings to different people/type of training). Limiting your scanning to less channels/frequencies, and parts of band may help. Some radios scan faster than others, and it is still recommended that dedicated scanners be used over radios set to scan. You will still see many Uniden scanners in law enforcement vehicles for example, as they scan faster than the radio on their hip, or the mobile installed next to it in the console. Like you, I recently went on an extended road trip. I only heard a few construction teams, some calls for price checks near shopping malls, and what may have been some hospice/nursing home activity. During an extended traffic stop, there was some chatter on old school CB, but even that was limited talking. People said what they needed to and got off. The few amateur conversations (on 2m) was about antennas and how to tweak them for better function. I only hear extended radio communications on HF bands, and then during scheduled net check-ins. Keep trying and stay the course, you may hear something interesting, and more conversations in time. There is activity in Phoenix and Mesa, there is a joke at my current work, that those two areas have sucked up all the VHF/UHF spectrum. I can't even request any more UHF frequency pairs, and 800 MHz is limited as the cell phone companies own much of that, with the remaining being used by public safety. I administer a combined ASTRO/Trbo network there that covers VHF/UHF/and 7/800MHz, but that would require a trunk tracking scanner or a radio set to non-affiliate scan. Very different than GMRS and CB or amateur use to hear. Good luck on your return trip.

Looks like some trees and possibly hills. Do you have a clear line of sight from the antenna to the repeater? The antenna in the garage may be lined up just right, while the roof mounted one may not be. Or possibly something is wrong with the antenna. Do you have a wattmeter to make sure power is getting out the roof mounted antenna? Another issue could be line loss, and the more coax you use, the more potential loss you may have. Which type of coax is being used with each antenna, length of coax, and type of connector, and adapters if used.

That is funny. And great to hear there was no profanity on the air. On the 900 MHz frequency hoppers, in use by tugboats and their crews, that is almost the entire conversation. Good thing they are not on UHF radios, as everyone in the area would hear them. I do not even think that the state and fedgov listening posts are equipped to monitor ISM band radios.

In watching videos about the little Magnatrac dozer, I did find this, which may make me buy a Harbor Freight Trencher. I'll still stay away from the little Magnatrack though. Just not a good fit for my needs (always fighting back the forest, blackberry bushes and underbrush in a pine forest).

For me, UHF spectrum is either saturated with users, or almost non existent where I tend to go. When I travel to Seattle for work, UHF is cluttered with many users on almost every FRS/GMRS channel. then I break out a 900 MHz ISM band Motorola DTR410 frequency hopping radio, and find at least one of the default channels in use, most often by tugs and other vessels along the Duwamish River. Over the holidays I spent some time at Quinault Lodge, and it was FRS/GMRS all over. I actually had to use tones on several Garmin Rino 530's my family used to keep in touch. Closer to home, several school districts migrated to DTR series Motorola radios, as they had some problems with UHF. One district had Motorola CP200 UHF radios that were falling apart, and their UHF license had expired. When they came to me for advice, they mentioned how they had some issues with people listening in to conversations. As a stop gap, they had purchased many blister pack FRS/GMRS radios (this was pre-2017 rule changes). Incidents included people talking into school related conversations, sending people to the wrong part of campus, and one incident where a child had wandered off campus, and this interfering person delayed the search. Something besides "UHF" as they described it was needed. Not having a valid UHF commercial license, and not being legal for GMRS at that time, I put them on DTR series radios (550/650). It worked for them, and I used a custom hopset setting so they did not fall victim to the other DTR users that bought radios and left them at default values. I hear many of them around urban areas of Washington and Oregon. It does seem that many work crews are using various FRS and/or GMRS radios, as the price comes down and they become easier to use. While driving in the city, I do hear the occasional hotel staff and sometimes a "price check" type of conversation when near a shopping mall. One larger mall must use GMRS for their security, as there is often chatter about specific customers and positioning personnel in case they become a problem. The funniest radios calls at that mall seemed to be during the summer when many parents were teaching teenagers how to drive. Shopping mall parking lots are great for this, but security did not like any of that. Seemed like several incidents a day during the summer related to drivers training in the parking lot. Is has been pretty steady radio wise since Christmas here in the Pacific Northwest. What is the funniest thing you have heard on the radio?

I do the same thing for my GMRS and some amateur repeaters. My only wish is that my older Garmin Rino FRS/GMRS radios allowed for additional channels to be added, some with tones and some without. Since its programming is hard coded, there is no way to add additional channels. One of the few reasons I bought a Radioddity DB20-G. It was a good middle ground between some of my most often used handhelds Garmin Rino 530's and Motorola Part 90 handhelds and my Motorola mobiles. Great advice given here.

My license was granted 11-02-2021, and lists the three you have above, and also 467.650 MHz.

Updating, as I noticed I attached NIFOG version 1.6.1A in my previous post. Attaching NIFOG (National Interoperability Field Operations Guide) version 2.0 from August 2021. The first portion still describes when interop frequencies can be used by different types of users. Page 5 shows that Title 47 applies to Part: 80,87,90,95, and 97. 1937188711_NIFOGVer2.0_508version_FINAL_9_23_2021_(signed).pdf

The first section of the NIFOG (National Interoperability Field Operations Guide) Version 1.6.1A describes a lot of the legal aspects, as BoxCar above mentioned, in detail in section 1 (up to page 23). Many state level FOG's re-iterate this. However, many will tell you to never ever do this. If your life or that of someone else is on the line, make that radio call, it may be the only thing that gets through. And yes, some of my personal incidents involved lost hikers in the Olympic National Forest, and all they had was a Baofeng with "prepper" frequencies loaded into it.....it still worked as it was being monitored by the closest Coast guard station's listening station. Raytheon ACU-1000 and some other gear that "listens" for exactly this type of thing in remote areas. 705610239_NIFOGVer1.6.1A.pdf

+1 on this. I bought a Radioddity DB20-G because it was only about $100 and could be opened up to 2 meters and 70 cm.......yet I know many people that seem to like the Midlands. Even radio savvy people, until the coiled cord breaks (Previous Midland series).

Plain simple English. This is "name" at "location" and I have an emergency. The person on the distant end of that radio should know how to handle this type of situation. Unfortunately, between the military, public safety, and emergency response.....I have been the person making these types of radio "calls" as well as taking a few. Often they involved a maritime environment where the US Coast Guard was needed as well. Plain and simple English works the best. Do not use jargon, 10 codes, or military style radio procedures, it only confuses dispatchers. Of course, if there are specific procedures in place, being a pre-arranged interoperability channel, use those procedures if they are known.

I wasn't trying to avoid, more in....not paying as much. At that time I had a boss that liked to throw out Motorola service manuals. they come in two types "detailed" and "basic" but usually costing no more than $100-150, but it seemed like people were willing to pay about $100 for used manuals at that time. After a few months of selling those manuals, I get a notice saying that my earnings are being reported to the IRS. Those sales added up pretty quick. The way Motorola is going, I expect future manuals to be downloadable DRM content eventually as software as a service is also creeping in with them. I just hate paying fees to auction sites that get higher and higher, then the IRS red tape, as many people do. Of course I file my taxes every year, and earnings. But, I also see barter as becoming more necessary with our current issue of inflation, and see some in the neighborhood doing exactly that for lawn service, car washes, and auto repair type of gigs.

I left selling items on eBay when it started to become known as ePay, with shipping fees being highly recommended being paid by the seller and for the US Postal Service to be the carrier. As Radioguy 7268 mentioned, that pushed the cost up a lot. I was also tired of the buyer having all the power, and the seller having to keep up with the many scams being played upon them/me. I sold a Motorola Maxtrac service manual, and several people told me that $12.95 for shipping was too much, and that I could have placed that manual in an envelope. When I showed these people details, that the manual is in a 2.5 inch thick three ring binder and was insured for replacement amount, I lost money on shipping charges. Thank you OP for the warning on the IRS side of the situation, I hit that limit of $20k many years ago, and was just as fed up then. Local amateur club and cash is the way to go it would seem.

Thank you for sharing. I have been tasked with replacing some "illegal" Rugged Radio, radios that are installed in UTV's in use at many airport fire stations across the country.....and this may be the replacement. For my own use, I would balk at the price tag, but for UTV use this may be the way to go. What has prevented other Midlands from being used is the reviews online that showed the microphone cable falling apart, and cracked/split coiled cord sheathing. If you experience that with this one, please share with us, might save some others from the heartache the older Midlands suffered.

My only issue with the NEXT series is the cloud based programming, Motorola CPS as a service.......I work for a corporation that often messes up billing and payment, especially with Motorola, so I can see my programming option being held hostage until payment is current. (Can't fault Motorola on that though, at least not entirely.) Software as a service was tried by Harris, they needed the MAC address of a specific computer to program XG-100P handhelds and mobiles, where I can download Motorola CPS and put it on a dozen computers if I want. The one APX NEXT we borrowed as a demo did not work well for firefighters, but security it worked well.....that huge touchscreen was the issue with fire, and gloves.

That sounds like the same method to open up UHF1/UHF2 to full UHF range on the XPR6550.....I have made that mistake a few times, going to fast as well, then see the error that freqs are out of range for the specific model of radio. I kick myself, when doing that, as it is always when my clean (hex edited) copy is on another computer, across town or the other side of the state. I need to make my own 6550 look different form the many company ones around that do not have that mod done to them. Good to know it works on the XPR6580 as well.

This thread made me look up how long some of my DTR410's have held up. Looks like 2012 was when I put the first batch into service with a school. They only needed coverage on campus, and liked the fixed antenna as it would be harder to break, and the radio was cheaper than the DTR550/650's. I doubt a Retevis would hold up to ten years and counting of use/abuse by school personnel. The Retevis reminds me of the eXRS radios that also tried 900 MHz ISM band frequency hopping, at a lower price (about $100 per pair) that made me go big and buy Motorola instead. I still have those eXRS radios, I will not even give them away to anyone, they are that bad. The only issue I ever had was a user that tried to plug the charging connector into the cradle (single cup) upside down. I then took a silver Sharpie to the Batwings and instructed users that the connector needs to show the Motorola symbol for the charger to work. There was enough slop in the spring contacts that the cable did connect, but was not making proper electrical connection.

I run several sites on DTR series Motorola radios as well. They do work great within their specifications. Many schools wanted something that could not be heard via Radio Shack/Realistic scanner, and then I find out their license for UHF expired. DTR series radios in ISM band were the perfect fit.

Full disclosure, I used to work as an engineer for the the JVC/Kenwood Group / Zetron.....the 5000 series Kenwoods are nice, but I prefer APX series Motorola for sure. I will only contemplate Kenwood amateur radios now, unless they are at a hugely discounted rate. You may have dodged a bullet, and it was hard for me to recommend Kenwood P25 radios when I knew some of the inside info. My area is going P25 Phase II as well, and multi-band capability is also needed. Years ago, I did have some Harris Unity XG-100P radios for this purpose, but I only keep one for my own use now (amateur bands, marine VHF, GMRS, etc.). P25 is my favorite digital mode, with DMR second.

Believe it or not, there was a push to go with Harris, and I had to pitch the OpenSky debacle.....and the fact that most of the enterprise is already using Motorola ASTRO/Trbo infrastructure......would have cost about $200mil more to go Harris. This is a company that issued Motorola HT-200's and has been Motorola ever since. I won the argument and it is APX8000/8500's for all now, not just the few sites that have had them a year or two now. Multi-band is needed due to many mutual aid agreements. So, DMR and P25 are my favorite digital modes.

Same here (audio and equipment wise), as I have maintained public safety radios for several decades now. I carry a Motorola XTS1500 P25 Phase I for monitoring local county 911, and then a XPR6550 Trbo series radio for some of the GMRS and amateur nets. A 900 MHz DTR410 is also kept close as many construction sites and tugs on the closest few rivers use them, but have left their default TalkGroups programmed. Audio wise the XPR7550e and XPR5550e seem the best in my own use, but build quality does not match the more expensive P25 radios. For work it is an APX4000 and XPR7550e for handhelds and APX4500 and XPR5550e for mobiles. All get replaced this year for APX8000/8500 P25 Phase I/II gear.....it will be a busy time getting everything programmed and switched out.