tcp2525

What I found to be the best way to get around all these worries about virus and other nonsense, especially when it comes to loading Chinese software, is to load it all in a virtual machine. All my radio programming software from various manufacturers gets installed in a Windows 10 VM, whether from a legitimate company such as Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, RT Systems, or any of the Chinese companies such as Anytone or TYT. I always take a Snapshot prior to installing any new software and can restore the VM to its prior state with a couple mouse clicks should I get bit. The best part is I can take a copy of that VM and run it on any other machine, even if the host is Linux or Windows. I use VMware, which works great. A very good free for personal use VM software is made by Oracle called VirtualBox. I have used both and have no complaints about either one. As for using anti-virus software such as Norton and McAfee, they are a virus within themselves and one has to manually remove all traces from the registry after using their "uninstall" program. Keep it simple and use Windows Defender.

Tell me about it! I have three FTM-400s that were made in Japan and have Chinese mic cords. All be damned, one of them frayed at the mic end and lost audio. Piss poor design putting a very stiff strain relief on the cord. So what did I do to resolve this? I ordered three more Chinese cords from Mr.Chung. After all, we live in a disposable society so what else can one do?

I thought about it, but I'm too damn lazy! Just the inherent design of the PL-259 it will never be as good as an N connector.

Agree. I'm not that anal were I'm going to change the connector on the radio.

I watched the video and yes, I agree with you. But.... If someone is using SO-239s at 460 Mhz they're really not too concerned about a fraction of a db loss. What did he say, 3db loss through 10 connectors? So, using two in your system is going to be minimal. I have loads of old silver plated Amphenol connectors and happy with them because they are just good connectors. Everything I do on UHF goes through an N-connector if I can help it. I know hooking up the spectrum analyzer to measure return loss on a duplexer I can see the loss change as I tighten the N connector until it's fully seated.. That said, the ones DXE is selling are nickel plated brass and probably aren't that much better than Mr. Chung's nickle plated brass ones. I'm not knocking Amphenol's US made connectors, but you can easily reach the point of diminishing returns for hobby radio. If I were budget limited, I would rather invest in good feedline and use a marginal connector. The most loss is in long lengths of cheap coax. Forgot to add, according to DXE specs the body of the connector is made of Zamac which is basically pot metal. The real question, does the Chinese adhere to the metallurgical formula for ZAMAK and does it really matter after it's nickel plated?

I'm not doubting your expertise, but at $47.00 for two nickel plated brass Amphenols from DXEngineering, I'll stick with a nickel plated brass one from the south side of China for a quarter of the price. I don't think either of us will be able to pick out the Amphenol 100% of the time in a double blind test.

Using the 1486 as well mounted to the side of the tower at the 30' level fed with 50' of 1/2" Heliax. I'm getting 5-7 miles usable range, which is good for the terrain I'm on. This covers all my fishing spots on the river using the HT. I would really like more range, but that's not going to happen until I get a better antenna and more height. So, no real complaints as I have realistic expectations for what I'm using.

Excellent advice! I was going to go that route myself a while back, but found a good deal on the Vertex VX-4207 on eBay. I picked up two of them for $75 each using the "Make Offer" feature. They are both type 90 and 95 FCC accepted, so they can legally be used on GMRS and 70cm ham band. Plenty of memory channels and features such as scan. Got all the repeater channels programmed into memory with every PL tone so I can scan and use repeaters that I normally wouldn't have in memory while traveling. So, if you feel comfortable programming a radio you'll find these great virtually indestructible radios at a bargain price. I've got a total of four of them now, two in the vehicles and made a repeater out of the other two. Here's a link to the eBay seller. He fully tests them before shipping and will send you the results as shown on his IFR 1200S service monitor. I have no relation to seller, just passing on a good deal for anyone that wants one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/175863411815?

Who gave the right to the Biden administration to raise the price of toilet paper? It's getting cost prohibitive to take my morning dump. I'm not going back to the good old days where corncobs were your first choice when you got to the last page of the Sears catalog. I have no problem with the FCC because I follow their rules and guidelines. I don't se an issue here.

Trust me, UPS isn't losing out delivering to "rural" areas as us shippers get slammed with a fuel surcharge to deliver to you guys. And that's on top of rates increasing each year.

I feel your pain.

Oh, I've had more than one incident with them. I have a commercial account with both FedEx and UPS. And I much prefer UPS. I only use FedEx if a customer requests it. Bottom line, I hate inefficiency, laziness, slackers, and other burdens on society that think the world owes them a living. The whole workforce has deteriorated after the China virus was unleashed. Just my opinion.

I did it! Finally made it to Ace Hardware and picked up a couple stainless steel sets crews. This is what should have been done at the factory.

Yes it has. And Christmas just came early! It was a close one. The driver was running late and said he was past his quiting time and only had two more stops and was thinking about saving them for tomorrow. I'm glad he decided to tough it out and finish the route. Now I'm happy and will get er up and running tomorrow.

My new repeater was scheduled to be delivered between 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM today. And guess what? It's now 4:06 PM EST and the bastards still haven't showed up. Oh, I forgot to mention, it had a one delay on top of it preventing it from being delivered yesterday! This isn't looking good.

Looks like someone is going to get an honorary guest VIP invitation to the ignore user list

I've had a few Diamond antennas over the years and found them to be well built and performed really well. I have a Tram 1486 on the side of my tower fed with 1/2" Heliax and it is okay considering the size and price. I guess you gotta consider its intended use. I'd rather use a StationMaster for GMRS, but I don't have the 20' space needed to mount it to the side of the tower. Once the second tower goes up I'll retire the 1486.

Midland=Chinese Junk!

I'll second what @kidphc says, but would like to add that using any of these "all band" is a compromise. Also, stick with a good quality commercial grade antenna manufacturer such as Laird or Larsen. I've used Larsen for decades and never had a failure and they performed really well. On my truck, I use a dual band antenna for 2m/70cm that been in service for over 10 years. I recently added an NMO antenna for GMRS that is of poor manufactured quality made by Midland. Bottom line, stick with quality commercial grade antennas and use separate antennas for multiple bands and radios.

I had that problem a while back and, going by memory, you have to search out on the internet and get the 2006 edition of that driver. Once loaded, you will be fine.

Ah, if only the FCC would allow us GMRS'ers to use a kilowatt we'd all be happy. This 50w limit is surely cramping my style!

Good points. I'm finding the VX-4207 radios are well isolated and shielded. I bumped power up to 20w for testing and still getting good range without affecting recieve. This is with a Tram 1486 on the side of the tower at 30' above ground fed with 50" 1/2" Heliax. If I get my antenna situation optimized where I can some altitude then I will just buy a commercial made repeater.

Same situation as you. But I bit the bullet and used an NMO lip mount on the passenger side front hood. Didn't affect signal in any noticeable way.

Just a thought. Are you going to be transmitting on both radios at the very same time all the time? It's good practice to have each radio on it's own rated circuit, but for the temporary install in your Lincoln. But... the best way to handle this situation if you want to do it 100% right is to get a fused power distribution box and run your heavy duty cable directly to the battery. You can run as many radios as you want on each of their own fused circuit.

You might want to consider mounting the control head in the sunglass holder. I have my head mounted there and close it when the radio is not in use for concealment. This is in both my Lincoln and F150.