SteveShannon

On any given day there may be many posts. I’ve seen as many as ten pages of online users (including a bunch of guests) at any one time. Easter weekend might not be typical. If you are only seeing older posts you are doing something wrong. If you spent $50 to “unlock your computer from windows” you are doing something wrong. This site pays for itself by including advertising, but you can purchase levels of membership that completely block all advertising. It’s not unheard of for people to do something wrong, but it’s fairly stupid to blame everyone but yourself. There are some very smart people on this site who would be willing to help you but you kind of burned that bridge before you crossed it. Yes, you appear to be lost.

This is exactly right. Increasing the power results in more ERP, you never completely make up for the losses. And increasing the power does nothing for reception.

It appeared on mine from 2021, but as of a few months ago if you redownload it, it wasn’t appearing on people’s licenses. There was a thread about it a few months ago. Merely reprinting a license that you downloaded a couple years ago would not reflect the change. Here’s the thread:

Some time ago it appears that these prohibitions no longer exist. Folks reprinted the official copy of their licences and the language about the Line A prohibition no longer appeared. Try logging into your license manager at fcc and see.

This really isn’t ambiguous: Plain language voice communications. Voice communications without codes or coded messages intended to provide a hidden meaning. Foreign languages and commonly known radio operating words and phrases, such as “ten four” and “roger,” not intended to provide a hidden meaning, are not considered codes or coded messages.

I know you were documenting the changes in SWR as freezing temperatures happened. Were you able to determine where the water damage occurred? Of course water infiltration is possible with any coax if the connectors are exposed to the elements. You might be able to salvage some of that by cutting the last few feet off.

Some people have concerns about the mixed metals in the shield of LMR 400 for actual full duplex use. They claim that the contact points between the two different metals become a semiconductor material that causes problems. I don’t know whether that’s true or not but one simple solution is to use M&P Broadcom 10 or some other cable that doesn’t use mixed metals in its shield. The size and performance is almost identical to LMR400 in terms of attenuation but all of the shielding and the center conductor is copper. They also have even larger cables, such as their 13 mm cable.

I’m not certain that surplus ground plane in one direction more than another affects directionality, much if any. I absolutely agree that some antennas require a minimum radius ground plane and I suspect that having that at least the minimum radius ground plane in all directions contributes to more even 360° coverage, but for GMRS that radius is relatively small. I’m old enough to remember how CB signals were pictured as very off center when an antenna was mounted at one edge of a vehicle, but the ground plane minimum radius is much larger for CB than for GMRS.

Sure, you can give up your current license and buy another, but it’ll cost you another $35. We had a member here that regularly irritated people then got a new license with different call sign. But there’s no selection of call signs. You might get something you dislike more. They’re assigned in order.

After 90 days you can’t renew an GMRS license but you can get a new one. According to google’s AI refunds can be given, but it’s probably easier to apply the credit towards a new license. Call their support number. I’ve gotten excellent and friendly service the one time I called.

If it’s just a USB cable, there’s nothing to recognize in the cable itself. That doesn’t mean something isn’t working. If the radio is plugged into a regular USB cable and the USB cable is plugged into the computer Windows will attempt to recognize the chip that’s in the radio itself. That can only happen if a driver has already been installed that is appropriate for the radio. Windows has some drivers pre-installed but not always the right ones. If the radio manufacturer recommends a driver, the driver must be installed before plugging in the radio. The cables that work with the K1 connector have a chip built in, called a UART, that converts USB level signal to audio signals that are connected via the earphone and microphone connection. It is that UART chip which requires a driver on the Windows computer.

Thanks!

Nobody said a constitutional change is necessary. I said that a change would need to be made to the rules we have now in order to require that only English be used to communicate. I also said that legislation could do it (override the rules) assuming that said legislation withstood a constitutional challenge (meaning that legislation requiring all communications to be made in the English language might be challenged in court as being unconstitutional).

Where did you find that on the ARRL website? I used their search function and found nothing other than mentions. Thanks!

That’s how I read it also.