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SteveShannon

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Everything posted by SteveShannon

  1. SteveShannon
    I’ve got to go work on my cabin. I’ll be back tonight. Maybe someone else can explain it better than I did.
  2. SteveShannon
    Those all transmit on the wrong frequency. They must transmit on 467.650 MHz. GMRS repeaters receive on the 467 MHz frequencies and transmit on the 462 frequencies. That’s why I keep asking what channel you’re on. If you’re using a GMRS certified radio there are repeater specific channels (either 23-30 or sometimes RP15-RP22) that automatically adjust the transmit and receive frequencies.
  3. SteveShannon
    That’s the receive frequency. You must transmit on 467.650 MHz.
  4. SteveShannon
    Yes, every fifteen minutes while in use. But not all repeater operators have that set up. Repeaters used by a group of people who are all authorized to use the same call sign are not required to self-ID iff the users all correctly ID.
  5. SteveShannon
    What channel are you on? More to the point, what is the transmit frequency?
  6. SteveShannon
    A repeater is only required to ID itself when people are using it. So there’s no reason to expect that it would randomly ID during quiet periods. Are you certain that the people could hear you? Are you sure you’re transmitting on the right frequency and transmitting with the right tone? Also, on GMRS repeaters, people are less likely to respond to random stations. You pointed out people who are busy opening and closing gates. They’re working and might have zero interest in engaging in a conversation with some random guy. I know that mightsound harsh, but engaging with an unknown someone on the radio is much more of a ham radio pursuit. It’s not wrong for you to try, but a lot of people don’t respond well.
  7. SteveShannon
    How are you testing the power output? What is the output power when the radio is set to low power? There have been reports of Chirp swapping the high and low power settings such that higher output power is observed when the radio is set to low power. I have not seen that myself.
  8. SteveShannon
    The bold sentence is incorrect. I understand why it might seem like that but each set of poles (North-South) simply adds an additional phase. Added phases cannot be combined to increase the frequency because they are out of phase with each other. A four pole generator will simply generate two separate phases of 60 Hz AC, presumably 90° out of phase. Three phase generators have six “poles”, three north and three south, but each North-South set is 120° from the other two. Automotive alternators have either 12 or 16 sets of poles. As you correctly pointed out earlier the only practical way to get 60 Hz AC from the output of a car alternator is to rectify it and filter it to establish DC, and then run the DC through an inverter to make AC.
  9. SteveShannon
    I have no way of knowing, but if you’re truly interested in finding working repeaters, listening is required. There are only eight repeater channels. Just set your radio to scan them all with no tones and if there are any working repeaters in your area you’ll hear them eventually.
  10. SteveShannon
    Have you tried this repeater? https://mygmrs.com/repeater/9104
  11. SteveShannon
    Several months ago Rich announced that people can now change their names by themselves. It’s the bottom announcement on the front page of the site (you won’t see it if you come directly to the forum like most of us!) Click on this: https://mygmrs.com and go to the bottom. Basically you’re editing your username in the site account rather than the forum account properties and it carries through.
  12. SteveShannon
    Are you asking about the executable or the data file?
  13. SteveShannon
    I don’t see anything there that makes me cringe. The radio is as good of a GMRS certified radio as you can get. The Midland mount is okay. It’s nice to install because it only requires a 3/8” hole. It might not be “commercial radio” quality like a police car or ambulance would get, but it should be fine. If it fails then ask one of the guys like Kenny what NMO mount they use in a public safety vehicle where price is no object and reliability is the only concern. The Melowave antenna is not one I’m familiar with, but I have seen them sold on one of the buy two way radios websites. There’s no reason to doubt it, but as far as I know it’s strictly GMRS.
  14. SteveShannon
    You’re checking for a damaged cable or something at one end or the other that might be shorting the center conductor to the shield. It’s just a guess on my part, but maybe when you turn off your radioa relay opens up and for the next three seconds, while voltage is draining from capacitors in the power circuits that’s why it suddenly works on NOAA channels. With your multimeter you might put it on the continuity test and check to see what the resistance is between the center conductor and the shield with the NMO antenna removed. It should be very large, like in the megohms or “OL” as some meters say. If it’s a low value, there might be a short between the center conductor and the shield of the coax. That could happen at either end due to a poorly installed connector or damaged cable. An antenna analyzer is a tool some of us have that performs test on the feedline and antenna to help understand what’s happening. Don’t run out and buy one unless the bug bites you and you decide to go from GMRS into ham radio. Then, heaven help you because you’ll never stop shopping for radios and test gear (or building them yourself!)
  15. SteveShannon
    Unscrew the pl259 on the radio end and slide it partially out so the center conductor is still connected but the shield is not. See if that makes any difference. Do you have a multimeter? Or better yet an antenna analyzer?
  16. SteveShannon
    Good grief. That’s 100% wrong. Although it’s possible to have additional ground electrodes they are all required to be bonded together. It they are not there’s a possibility that you can have current flowing along the shield of your coax.
  17. SteveShannon
    Yes, exactly the same way.
  18. SteveShannon
    Don’t make a long coax run to your electrical box. Your antenna isn’t grounded to the electrical panel. Instead it is grounded to your grounding electrode outside. If anything run a bonding conductor outside the house from where your coax enters the house to your intersystem bonding terminal block. See this article: https://reeve.com/Documents/Articles Papers/Reeve_AntennaSystemGroundingRequirements.pdf
  19. SteveShannon
    A drip loop near where you go through your wall is helpful to keep water out of your walls, but that’s at the other end of the coax. For some antennas a loop is added next to the antenna to act as a choke. The minimum radius allowed for lmr400 might not allow that. If you think you need a choke you can make on with a more flexible cable, like rg58. It’s such a short length that the losses won’t hurt. There’s really no other reason for a loop at the antenna end as far as I know. I doubt that you need it.
  20. SteveShannon
    Why do you say dumbass judgemental things like that to people? What’s wrong with you?
  21. SteveShannon
    No. If your radio is set without a receive tone it reproduces everything detected on that RF frequency. But if a tone is set then it must match. So by leaving the receive tone out you are able to hear everything on the repeater.
  22. SteveShannon
    Ham Radio Outlet has the antenna for $349, not including drop-shipping. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-003375
  23. SteveShannon
    In hilly terrain is where something like the j-pole will really shine. Good job!
  24. SteveShannon
    Welcome to the forum!
  25. SteveShannon
    Perfect is the enemy of good enough! Nice job tuning the antenna!
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