SteveShannon

So it breaks the “privacy” functionality?

@Suburbazine only posted three times and hasn’t been here since November. That’s not uncommon. I think a lot of people make a few posts and then move on.

I don’t think it’s technically possible. CTCSS is a continuous tone that’s transmitted in conjunction with speech. If you try to modulate it somehow, you either end up with a non-continuous tone or a different tone. Likewise DTCSS sends a very small digital code over and over. If you try to overlay other data you’ve changed the code. But digital data is not prohibited anyway so why futz around with the CTCSS and DTCSS? Just send digital data. There are limits but those limits are less limiting than trying to repurpose the squelch control system.

I agree in principle but very slightly disagree in practice. Instead of buying that adapter I would recommend cutting the cable between the radio and the cigarette lighter plug and installing a pair of PowerPoles. The only reason I suggest that this is better is because the PowerPoles are much less current limiting than the cigarette lighter plug and can be mated directly to almost any kind of power storage device. Your way is easier. My way is a slightly better long term solution (in my opinion ) and less expensive if you have the tool and PowerPoles.

Very nice!

My first hf antenna was an End Fed Half Wave I built from a kit I bought from ARRL. Although it’s not as simple as a dipole it was just right for me nice because it had a low SWR for 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters. I learned a ton from making it and tuning it. Recently i added a loading coil at the end and another short length of wire to be able to work 75 meters. I tuned it for 3910 kHz which is where the Montana Traffic Net meets daily.

That’s a nice series of pictures and a nice job of routing.

I think he was attempting to type “The only reason…”

You bet. One other thing to be careful of is that the cable that’s used must have a solid dielectric rather than foam in order to withstand the typical stresses. Commercial mounts with cable already fitted typically use RG-58, which does have a solid dielectric. It’s lossy though at GMRS frequencies. Some people might be tempted to use something less lossy, but most cables with less loss use foam dielectric. So it’s really important to understand what you’ve got. To make things worse there are some brands of rig-58 that have foam dielectric.

I haven’t tried all of them but Ham Radio Crash Course likes the Smiley and Signal Stick antennas. I have had good results with Diamond and Comet antennas.

Congratulations!

How much distance between the two radios?

Good job trying different things. It doesn’t make sense to me either, but based on past experiences that definitely means little. Did you feel any difference in how well the magnet holds for these different locations? The magnetic base couples with the metal to form the ground plane. It would be interesting to see if a non-ground plane antenna worked better in your specific circumstances. Also, play around with your cable. You might have a problem that manifests itself when some portion of the cable is bent or straightened but not others. That could form an intermittent problem that coincidentally happens as you move the base around. Radio is sometimes the most frustrating mystery, but I have found that most problems have simple solutions, propagation being the exception.

Yes it is. Watch for sales at Radioddity. You should be able to pick up a db20g for less than $90.

Move the car and try again.

What do you mean by “Everything looks fine on a meter?” What kind of meter? As a sanity check, go back to your original configuration and see if it still works.

Often you can lift the edge of the weatherstripping and fit the cable in under it. Follow it to the bottom of the door and then sometimes you can squeeze it into the recess next to the end of the rocker panel to get into the vehicle.

You should, assuming the tone matches the input tone of the repeater. You’ll actually be transmitting on 467.650 MHz; that is what the offset does.

It’s so nice for you to join us. We feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful person in our midst.

I’ve switched over to RT Systems for almost all of my radios. I enjoy the consistency but I did use Chirp before. One of the menus in Chirp allows you to import from RepeaterBook (good for ham radio listings but not as complete as MyGMRS’s database for GMRS.) I think it also allows importing CSV (comma separated variable) files. But I don’t know about Wouxun software. Not meant negatively; I just haven’t used it.

Does the Wouxun software allow importing from CSV files from myGMRS?

I like the Garmin Rhino also. There’s no better gps/GMRS radio and the screen is so good in daylight. I just use the built in maps, but for a price you can get higher resolution maps on a card that you install in the radio.

I’m glad you stopped by!

I think elsewhere he said they use BF UV-9Gs.

Not all of the California folks though. @WRUU653 would help anyone who needs help. @Socalgmrs just doesn’t play well with others. It’s too bad too. I think his experience could have value. But because of the way he talks to people whatever value he might bring is rejected.