tcp2525

The great thing about the scenario you describe in the original post is 98.93736452367263554327% of all GMRS communications are generally radio checks, so interference is not an issue.

You did good, son. Generally, these issues are self correcting as the user gets more familiar with their radio. Now you will really enjoy the DB20 as its an amazingly good sub-$100 radio.

The tried and true method is to time slice. Repeater A users get transmit time for even minutes and Repeater B users get to transmit on odd minutes. Of course this would be totally voluntary between the two groups. Just like the old land line days of yesteryear with the party line. If a dispute were to happen then would get their radios throttled using WWV as the standard. If all else fails, the offending mobile user takes a one week time-out . In all seriousness, nothing to worry about as the percentages of interference will be minimal.

Speaking of "roids" Did I ever tell you that I have one dangling as long as a snap bean? And for you hotrod enthusiasts, I am willing to tell you about my full blown hemi. And these have been relevant topics on our local repeaters.

I totally agree 100% with you if it were my repeater and the activity didn't break FCC rules. The problem is it isn't my repeater. You gotta take the path of least resistance. And yes, I am totally against all forms of censorship.

Why get upset when these "news" organizations are just opinion spreaders with nothing related to factual news and all should be taken with a grain of salt. I can handle their opinions as a source of curiosity even if I disagree with them. Bottom line, repeater usage should be civil and respectful..

It will die down in a couple weeks. My neighborhood is with all the kids having fun with their new toys.

That's just it, I agree with you, but..... It's not about us. Trust me, do you think I enjoy the direction our society is going? Nope! But I'm just along for the ride like most people. I've learned long ago to accept the fact that we have to deal with people that are just simply unhappy with their life and they expect everyone around them to be just as miserable. I've always lived by the simple rule, "If I don't have a financial or emotional investment in your ass, I won't allow you to get a rise out of me." That said, the manufacturer of my radios installed some really neat controls that most people never learned how to use properly. They are called an ON/OFF switch and that highly advanced channel selector. If I don't like the content or rules on a repeater I can simply turn my radio off or move to another repeater. And frankly, I have nothing to gain by trying to hold an intelligent political conversation with someone of an opposing viewpoint because neither of us most likely won't be swayed by simple logic. If I have to it will be in person. We've all heard the drunken hams on HF. I surely don't want that on any repeater so I would just move on if it was there.

I agree with you that a good thoughtful and civil discussion can be had, but politics is one subject that you are guaranteed to offend at least 50% of the population. You combine that with people that have never learned how to respect people that have a different viewpoint than theirs. These trends are getting more pronounced as generations move forward. It's evident that this segment of people have never learned civility, respect for others, conflict resolution, discussion and debating skills to move them forward positively in society. This phenomena can be traced back to the introduction of the internet and social media where the users had the option to "unfriend" or block other users. While this, on the surface, sounds like a great feature, it impeded the user to develop and evolve emotionally to deal with difficult situations. All that being said, why would you not want to abide by the repeater owner's charter? If they don't allow this type of discussions, why is so difficult to show respect? I find life is so much easier for all members on the repeater when we respect each other by not discussing things you know if going to offend others that might not have developed skills to deal with it. It's simple, have fun and be respectful.

Why would anyone be foolish enough to use a utility that is on the internet that is absolutely free and only gets updated when the crows fly upside down? This applies to all sites, not just this one. The onus is on you, not the site giving misinformation. Only way to do it correctly is to do a site survey for a predetermined amount of time to be 98% sure you're not going to cause or receive interference.

The one and only time I ever had problems with RT is when they had a buggy update for my Icom IC-7610. I e-mailed them and explained what happened and they got back to me in in a couple hours and told me to download the update again an it will fix the problem. They admitted to the mistake and apologized as it would have affected everyone with that radio. Great company to deal with! And it will be the best $25 you ever spent.

Way too much work and totally unnecessary. Just use the snapshot feature and take regular snapshots and mouse click once to return to the clean version before you got infected. And get into the habit of taking a snapshot prior to installing software you downloaded from the net and you'll waste time again.

It's refreshing to actually see someone else on this forum taking advantage of VMs. I've been doing it for many years and it's the only way for general surfing as you do, but the main benefit is it's the best way organize and use all your radio programming software. If you're using some of that antique Motorola software that will only work on 32-bit you can load Widows 7 or Windows 10 VM and it just works. The best part of using VMs is when you are installing new software, you simply take a snapshop before you install it and if things go south, all you have to do is take one mouse click and you're back on the previous and clean version of the OS. For the people that want to experiment with VMs, you can download and legally use VMware for free as a personal user.

Come on folks, Oppenheimer didn't have this much difficulty building the atomic bomb. I wonder how he would have fared against a Chinese radio?

It sounds more of an issue of a defective mic element or broken wire going to the radio. As for an adjustable feature for gain, you really don't need one if the radio was calibrated correctly from the factory. I'm assuming you are hearing a carrier with no audio?

Thanks for the article, it's definitely an eye opener in some of the properties I took into consideration in a highly unscientific way. As an experimenter and hobbyist when it comes to building antennas, the two features I naturally and instinctively took into consideration is reflection and absorption of RF. I definitely want to get more in-depth in Ashby. My logic for using PVC is it is readily available, easy to work with and inexpensive. The real question from an RF perspective, does it have a negative impact on performance operating on the frequencies we use? I really haven't found any, especially measurable ones. Granted, there are better materials for structural and longevity, but will they perform any better electrically? Maybe, maybe not. I guess what I'm trying to say is any materials we have access to as hobbyists is going to have its positives and negatives that we have take into consideration for ourselves if the material is usable. From an academic and mission critical perspective where costs and availability are pretty much not a major issue all these properties must be considered.

Good points mentioned in that forum. I suspect the builder of the yagi suffered inconsistencies more from supporting the dipole in open air than he would from the PVC. I admit any material used for a radome can have impurities that can reflect RF back to the native antenna. We need pictures to see exactly what he was doing. Not enough info.

I suspect the radome material should not affect velocity factor as it's determined by the dielectric material in the coax if you're building a collinier. When I rebuild StationMasters I always tape it to the outside of the radome at intervals that keep it straight as possible. Antenna is mounted vertical on my test mast before measuring. If I have to make adjustments, I have to unmount it from the mast. As for the PVC getting discolored from UV, it depends. I have some Carlon PVC fittings that have been exposed to weather for 20+ years and haven't been affected. Compare that to some of the fittings I got from Home Depot that look like crap. It seems all PVC isn't created equal. One day I will have to try some schedule 80 CPVC.

I'm using schedule 80 PVC (gray) for a 70cm and a 1296 coax collinear that have been on the tower for over 5 years without issue or discoloration. I didn't notice any changes in resonance when I put the antenna inside the PVC. When I make an antenna I secure it to the outside of the radome and tune.

Use an antenna with a spring. My Midland MXTA26 for GMRS has one built in and the Larsen 2/70B has the optional spring. Going in low clearance parking garages is no longer an issue other than the noise of them scraping the concrete ceiling. This is on an F150. As for ghost antennas, if you have an insatiable craving to endure poor performance and generate heat, definitely use one. As he old hotrod saying goes, there's no replacement for displacement. Same with using the proper antenna compared to a compromised one.

I have to agree with you on this. Of course we would all love to have MIL spec radios that can withstand a .50 cal hit or an EMP burst from a nuclear strike, but we gotta be realistic and use what we can afford or given. Admittedly, I must say that these cheap Chinese radios will fill the bill for the volunteer to complete their task without difficulty. As for putting this person on the ignore list, I don't feel the need to block anyone I disagree with as it's not the adult thing to do when dealing with "difficult" people. I have always wondered how these people cope in the real world when they have to deal with people they disagree with. And really, if I put everyone on the ignore list in this forum that piled on a newbie there would be zero traffic. Just be helpful, don't jump to conclusions, and enjoy.

Here's some resources on YouTube that will get you started and have a better understanding. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=retevis+ra87+programming

Kudos to you for deploying a repeater. It's always nice to see a new one on the air even though I'm to far away to use it. Good luck on getting it finalized the way you want it.

Can you do it?

I can get into a repeater full quieting 25 miles away with just 100 milliwatts. Does that count?