SteveShannon

GMRS radios that transmit digital data are required to have fixed antennas.

How does it work with the radio completely disconnected from the power supply? How are you grounding the radio, or are you leaving it ungrounded? Same for the antenna. Finally, what does the power supply instruction manual say about being plugged into a GFCI receptacle? I’ll attach a screenshot from the part of a Samlex manual that addresses this:

Is it a a gfci outlet or a breaker that also trips on overcurrent?

Is it hooked up to anything?

We might be able to talk you through it. What frequency are you transmitting on? Are you sure you programmed the correct code for transmitting? Also, I recommend leaving the receiver tone empty, at least until you know for sure that you’re getting into the repeater. If you leave the tone off of the receiver you’ll hear everything so you’ll have a better idea of whether you’re getting into the repeater.

This is exactly right.

No. I don’t use it on any of my radios - GMRS or otherwise. Just not interested. If I wanted, I would enable alerts on my phone instead.

@Flameout The actual effect of raising the power from 40 watts to 50 watts will make almost no difference in range. It’s a waste of time. You’re better off optimizing your antenna system including the feedline.

Then, I don’t know. Might have to ask John Kruk.

I can’t claim to “know” what it is, but this tidbit from the FT5DR Advance manual seems to describe it: User Programmed Reverse CTCSS Decoder The tone signal frequency can be set at 100 Hz intervals between 300 Hz and 3000 Hz to mute the audio when receiving a signal containing a CTCSS tone matching the programmed tone. 1. Press the [F MENU] key[SQTYP]. 2. Rotate the DIAL knob to select “PR FREQ”. 3. Press the PTT switch to save the setting and return to normal operation. 4. Press the [F MENU] key[CODE]. The setting screen containing the CTCSS tone frequencies is displayed. 5. Rotate the DIAL knob to select the desired CTCSS tone frequency. 300Hz to 3000Hz (100Hz steps) 6. Press the PTT switch to save the setting and return to normal operation. So, a person could assign different PR Frequencies to different radios and then selectively block the audio when receiving a signal from a radio that sends the same PR Frequency. Maybe for blocking audio from APRS or digital transmissions on an analog radio? 1600 Hz is the default.

The rule for TV antennas is part of OTARD, which is an acronym for "Over The Air Reception Devices". It's described here: https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/installing-consumer-owned-antennas-and-satellite-dishes#:~:text=The FCC requires fixed wireless,be professionally installed are permissible. But this line describes how it affects two way radio usage: "Antennas used for AM/FM radio, amateur ("ham") radio, CB radio, or digital audio radio services are not covered by the rule." That doesn't mean that some other rule doesn't do what Marc's friend needed, possibly even a state rule, but it's not this one. There was a petition a couple decades ago arguing "reasonable allowances" that was denied: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/prb-1-1999 It was review again and denied again in this decision: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/prb-1-2001 However, there is this rule (rule b) regarding amateur radio and state or local authorities (does that include HOAs? I would guess not): § 97.15 Station antenna structures. (a) Owners of certain antenna structures more than 60.96 meters (200 feet) above ground level at the site or located near or at a public use airport must notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register with the Commission as required by part 17 of this chapter. (b) Except as otherwise provided herein, a station antenna structure may be erected at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate amateur service communications. (State and local regulation of a station antenna structure must not preclude amateur service communications. Rather, it must reasonably accommodate such communications and must constitute the minimum practicable regulation to accomplish the state or local authority's legitimate purpose. See PRB–1, 101 FCC 2d 952 (1985) for details.) (c) Antennas used to transmit in the 2200 m and 630 m bands must not exceed 60 meters in height above ground level.

I don’t have one. 20 watts in a handheld? But what issues are you having connecting to a repeater? How do you have it setup?

My admittedly poor attitude is that if a repeater owner doesn’t respond in a timely manner to access requests they probably won’t notice that you’re accessing their repeater unless you do something wrong. Do as Randy says and scan for the input tone. If they object to you accessing their repeater they can always say so.

Welcome! Now I have to look into the name “Show Low”.

Really? A Celwave duplexer costs you 3dB? I thought that they were a lower loss duplexer. That’s more in line with a cheap duplexer from Ali Baba. Did you measure it on both sides of the duplexer?

Why not just set the IC-FR4000 to 50 watts and run it through the duplexer and skip the amplifier?

You’ll be waiting for a long time. One reason for amateur radio is for people to experiment with new technologies. Certainly a mode might be left by the wayside, but it generally takes many years. I would look at commercial radios to see if any settling has occurred.

If a nearby C4FM radio also has Group Monitor turned on with the same group ID, it’s possible to have a simplex conversation directly between the two radios. If you connect through a repeater you do tie up repeater resources.

Group Monitor: See these videos:

Will it allow you to change it later? I would assume so. If so, put anything in there, unless you’re signing for a digital ID for C4FM. Also, if you put your GMRS call in your sig sometimes some wud might be able to find you in the ULS. Of course the problems right now affect that.

Those look correct if the repeater owner uses DTCSS on both transmit and receive and neither is inverted. I’m assuming that you entered the correct values. It’s not really necessary to have a value for receiving. If you leave it out you’ll receive everything on that frequency. Sometimes that is useful while making sure your transmitter is configured correctly. Then you can always go back and enter a code/tone for receiving.

I think you intended to ask if GMRS is long range communication. It is not. Without the grid it is limited to very short range between two handheld radios. Using a repeater a person might achieve a hundred miles, assuming the repeater has a 50 mile coverage radius. Ham radio has the potential of communicating at very long ranges and some of the newer software programs leverage that technical capability to provide an alternative to internet based email, file sharing, and chat. But I want to emphasize that getting that kind of performance out of ham radio is not as simple as passing the tests, buying a radio, throwing a wire over a tree, and getting on the air. It requires practice and trial and error to determine what works for your location and when.

https://www.radioddity.com/collections/consumer-radios-cb-radios/products/radioddity-cb-27-pro

That might cause a problem now, but he had his GMRS callsign wrong, like Rich explained. The fact that he had a call sign at all demonstrates that the ULS system was working at that moment. He just mistook the fourth letter ‘I’ for a numeral ‘1’.

Not hardly. They hit several agencies: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/06/15/politics/us-government-hit-cybeattack/index.html