tcp2525

Ouch!

Don't get me started on those pen testers. I always tell the new guys to NEVER rely on them. If you insist on using one you better check using your meter. 277v and 480v is so unforgiving.

That is the beauty of the 87, it's such a joy to use. I always thought the clamp was such a neat accessory.

Ah, the classic 87, it never goes out of style nor will it ever be discontinued. Don't remind me about clamp meters. My dumb ass left my old favorite Fluke ampprobe where I was working and didn't remember I forgot it till the next day. Needless to say somebody got an early Christmas gift. I bought a new one, it gets hooked to my belt. I ain't making that mistake twice.

I've found out the hard way in my younger days that if you skimp and buy inexpensive tools you pay for it in the end. If you're doing mobile GMRS installs or troubleshooting, and the gear and accessories are "Imported" it is inadvisable to use a domestically manufactured meter, even the legendary Fluke. To solve this dilemma I've been finding myself in more often than not is to purchase an "Imported" Fluke meter to get around this problem. Now when I'm in this situation again, I won't feel like I'm mixing matter with anti-matter. I love this meter!! Ain't she pretty? Now off to measure the current draw of my DB20.

My suspicion is your problem is in the transition between to components. An example would be coax to connector, connector to antenna connector, antenna connector to radiating element, and so on. It's in there and I'm sure you will find it if you get aggressive looking for it.

Amazing what a little piece of Heliax makes. Buy it once, install it once, and never look back.

Nice! You should really feel great that you it it behind you and it's working.

Good people. I've been dealing with them for years.

Bragging rights.

Depends on the landlord. Just talk with him and ask permission. Explain exactly what and how you are going to do it in plain simple English. Back in the 80s my landlord let me put up a 40 meter dipole and run the cable. It helped that I offered to repair any holes I made and paint the apartment. It was a bargain for me.

Klein is definitely a great entry level meter that are very inexpensive for new techs just leaving trade school, but they find that most have a short lifespan and seek out more accurate and reliable meters. It's great that Home Depot will exchange them, even when past the return period. I agree, buy and use what you like. Gotta admit, it does suck watching techs struggling with UEI and Fieldpiece garbage. Remember those?

What type/brand meter are you using? If you're not using a Fluke meter and are most likely using one of the those cheap "imported"ones, I would say your meter is not really accurate. If you have a modern vehicle it has a voltage monitoring system that will alert you to potential problems.. The other issue is you bought a disposable radio, just keep sending them back for a replacement until you get one that lasts more than 24-hours.

Man, you guys are going extreme. Next you'll attempt to put a condom on a pachyderm. Just wrap it with good quality 3M electrical tape and be done with. I have wrapped with that stuff and it's still working after 30 years. You can get rolls of 2" wide from your local utility worker for free, just ask.

Most updates are released to fix bugs the software developer overlooked while rushing to get the product out the door and on the market. You're the customer and have no need to know what was done in the firmware.

Now, ain't that purdy! Nice shiny new Heliax glimmering in the sunlight. That ought to give you an extra 2.5db gain. I can't wait till it's up and running. Good waterproofing job.

Yep, and wait for it. Someone just might come in and say, "Well, I'll just install a receive preamp and brute force the receiver" not taking into account they are also raising the noise floor with reduced selectivity and adjacent signal rejection. Of course there are some very tight frequency specific preamps, but they are expensive. On a repeater it might create more issues that will drive up the costs to get your Band-Aid working. Definitely a bad move if your repeater is located in an oversaturated RF environment.

Nice! the F150 is by far the easiest truck to install gear in. Lots of room and many spots to install radios, which is only limited by your imagination. Keeping it covert. And you won't find my GMRS radio.

Sound advice for someone that wants their repeater to work. Now, if you're building a dummy load, by all means use a nice long piece of LMR400.

Maybe so, but to get the higher flow rate in the 1/2" pipe your pump will require more power to overcome the resistance of the smaller pipe. Resistance goes up and so does the pressure. No matter how all of this interact with each other, it's not the best and most efficient way to put the same amount of whatever to it's destination.

A lot of people make that common mistake of assuming one can overcome the loss of using that crappy coax by brute force and throwing more watts at the problem. The main issue they overlook, whether intentional or ignorance, is how much the receive is attenuated. You can pump the same amount of water through a 1/2" pipe compared to a 2" pipe by turning up the pressure on the pump. A wasteful exercise in futility.

For a real world comparison, a roof mounted antenna on my F150 vs trunk lip mount on the hood of my Lincoln (Glass Roof) yielded the same performance measured by my trusty Seat-O-Pants meter driving the same long distance route. I reluctantly fought the idea of mounting it on the corner of the hood since it is such a crappy location. Both antennas were Larsen NMO 2/70B. I was surprised by the REAL WORLD performance.

One should keep in mind with that pic on whether or not the vehicle would be moving in any random direction as we all do when traveling. What frequency? Too many variable to take it with even a half grain of salt. You could have -2.8db and a split second later you would have +2.8db to the receiving station.. Now if the car was stationary in an anechoic chamber there's a better chance of those numbers be acceptable. But when we get back to the real world you wouldn't be able to tell where the antenna is placed on the car.

Pretty damn cool, I like!!!

Good choice on the 1/2". Should you ever want to upgrade to 7/8" new reel ends can be had for $1.00 a foot if you know where to look for it.