tcp2525

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.

Do I believe my eyes? Someone that actually nows their stuff. Using anything other than LMR-400 is totally taboo from what you read on this forum. Did I tell you that it's totally and utterly foolish and breaks every terrestrial and celestial boundary of human stupidity to use anything other than Heilax for UHF.

Yep, only proves my point. Way too much overemphasis on seeking the "perfect" ground plane when most people accidentally get it right without thinking about it.

Putting your antenna dead center of the roof for that "perfect" ground plane is overrated and only matters to people that want to sound like they are smart. Sure, there's going to be lobes were you have a strong signal and others where it is going to be weak. Guess what? It doesn't really matter because you're not driving in a straight line +/- 1° 100% of the time. So your radiation pattern is always changing just as long as you are moving. I can understand your apprehension to drill, that's fine. You can use whatever mount you want and put it in a spot that's easy and convenient for you and your performance will be good. I put my 2m/70cm NMO antenna right above the 3rd brake light and it performs really well. Very easy install and didn't have to pull the headliner down. The Midland for GMRS NMO is close to center, not perfect and performance is good. Don't sweat it, enjoy it.

Wow! In a futile attempt to always be right and save face for wrongfully assuming something he knows nothing about is not only amazing but sadly pathetic. I asked for this to be dropped but you feel the need to carry on. Have at it without me.

That might work for $5 items, but not for higher priced ones. We've had people dumpster dive on a daily basis for our broken or uneconomic to repair goods until we started to fully crush them. Best to sell in large lots for scrap.

Yep, I understand all that, but as policy, I would pay to have it shipped back and dispose of it myself or throw it in lots to auction off to recoup losses. The point being there is way too much profit margin on these disposable goods. The other benefit is it weeds out the people that claim defective if they know they getting keep the items.

Thanks for the well thought out explanation, but it is wasted on deaf ears and it's not worth enabling him. Please let this topic die.

Install it in the sunglass holder above your head. Close it when not in use and it is hidden from prying eyes. I did and love it. I'm on the road and unable to post pictures

To any reasonable person, absolutely nothing. Here's an example. One of the directors in the company I work for ordered an electric power washer that was almost $400. It didn't work under load, so he contacted tech support and he went through all the steps he was told to do, still nothing. Call ended with them overnight a new one and told to toss the first one in the trash. I was asked to take a quick look at it and found the neutral wire under a screw that was never tightened. I looked at the tag and guess where it was made? I tightened the screw and they now have two power washers. No quality control and won't even take the defective one back to repair it. This is the true definition of disposable goods. Goes to show you the high profit margin.

I too have an F150 and the power sunroof is not an issue. Plenty of room for an NMO mount.

Really? If one's motives are honest they wouldn't need to explain themselves. If you feel the burning desire to continue this petty nonsense please feel free to PM and we can discuss this in private. I won't discuss this in an open forum as I will be the one to get reprimanded, not you. No further bait will be taken.