SteveShannon

Since you have said that you can talk to a friend using simplex (that’s when you are both transmitting and receiving on the same frequency) it’s obvious that you know how to turn it on and change channels. Yes, an “uplink” tone is the tone you transmit. It’s also the tone the repeater receives. Using the term uplink precisely describes that you are transmitting it and the repeater is receiving it. If the description of the repeater simply said “transmit tone” or “receive tone” then the person using it is sometimes unsure whether they are referring to transmit or receive programmed on the repeater or a users radio. I would challenge you to use your manual to teach yourself the individual steps necessary to set and clear tones. “Tones” are initially confusing, but you’ll learn them in far less time that it would take someone to write step by step instructions for you. Your manual should already show you the steps needed, but here are a few tips that might clear up some confusion: 1. There are lots of terms that refer to exactly the same things. Tones, PL, and CTCSS all refer to exactly the same thing and are used interchangeably to refer to an analog tone, like a single low note played on a synthesizer, that is combined with your voice transmission. When the other radio receives your transmission the tone is removed so you never hear it. 2. DCS, DTCSS, and DPL refer to digital codes that are sometimes used instead of tones. This refers to a binary value that is transmitted in conjunction with your voice, just like a CTCSS tone. To make things slightly more confusing they will sometimes be inverted, but they usually tell you. 3. The reason for tones or codes is to allow a radio to ignore a transmission. If someone is transmitting using a 141.3 Hz tone and your receive tone is set to 100.0 Hz, your radio will not reproduce their transmission. It still receives it; it just doesn’t make it audible. However, if you don’t set a Receive tone, your radio will reproduce everything it receives.

If you have another handheld just set it up to receive on the repeater input frequency and CTCSS. And then go a distance away so you don’t get desensed.

I don’t agree. It doesn’t matter who is being targeted; a channel is being blocked. Interference is interference. Broadcasting and playing music are also violations.

Installation is usually the most difficult part. I would wring it out on an antenna analyzer or network analyzer first.

Actually, there is. Contact the local ham club, tell them about the interference. See if they will help find the location of the jammer and then turn it in to the FCC.

I agree. For a lot of its base, GMRS is a service that works great for people who just want to buy a radio, rent a license for their entire family for ten years, and get on the air with the people who can use that license while engaging in either a recreational activity or a family business.. Next largest group is the people who share in the enjoyment of a recreational activity, off-roaming, hunting, fishing, hiking, Rocketry, etc. Honestly, I’m not sure this isn’t the biggest group. It very well could be. Next is the group of people who have a greater knowledge of radios and their capabilities. They see GMRS as something like an unfinished project that they would like to influence into something with greater utility. Unfortunately, this will leave the previous two groups, who truly form the base of GMRS use, behind. Finally, there are those who just think that GMRS should be just another area for hams to play in. They’re just wrong.

My ft-dx10 always shows the B band, and I agree that it sometimes just takes up real estate on the screen.

I haven’t noticed any mobile HF radios with dual receivers. Several have dual VFOs, like the FT-891. If you truly want dual receivers you’re looking at $3200 radios like the Icom IC-7610 or the Yaesu FT-DX101mp or FT-DX101D models.

This has nothing to do with what the FCC wants. Some guy proposed this. He’s a ham, but he doesn’t represent anyone other than himself.

It depends on the channels. There’s one set of 0.5 watts, one of 2 watts, and then the two “main” sets which are 50 watts, except for fixed stations. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/section-95.1767

I believe there is not a 5 watt regulatory limit on handheld portable GMRS stations on either the 462 main channels or 467 MHz main channels.

Welcome to the forum!

I can’t tell anymore.

It might be!

Still, a belt pouch might reduce the stress on the battery clip by supporting the battery.

You just acted like a hors’s ass to one of the nicest and least pretentious members (WRUU653) of this forum. Thank God for the Ignore list.

I had influenza A right after Christmas, then something that followed right afterwards. For two weeks I was pretty worthless (here’s your chance @OffRoaderX). I hope you get better quickly.

At the bottom of each post is the word "quote". Click on that and you will have a reply window that includes the message you're replying to in a quote box, like above.

20 kHz is 0.02 MHz. 200 kHz is 0.2 MHz. I don’t know if that helps at all or just demonstrates my pedantic nature.

This relatively simple article does a good job of explaining what is required. There are also some pretty good YouTube videos that I can recommend if you want. https://reeve.com/Documents/Articles Papers/Reeve_AntennaSystemGroundingRequirements.pdf The most important thing is that everything is grounded together and to a single point. That helps prevent current flow along other paths, such as your coax and house electrical system. And you certainly should also ground your coax at the base of your tower and then connect that ground to your system ground using at least #8 awg. But you should still want to install an arrester right before your cable enters the house. Why there instead of four feet away? Because if anything happens in that four feet, such as a power line landing on your coax, having the arrester right at the entry to the house is your last opportunity to divert it to ground. Arresters aren’t perfect. They simply represent your last best chance to keep the surge out of the house and divert it to your system ground. You certainly can disconnect your coax to prevent lightning from following it inside, but if you do, do it outside, not inside. Putting it in a mason jar on the inside is silly. If that lightning jumped a few miles in the air, bringing it inside and then putting it in a glass jar will do absolutely nothing, except create glass shrapnel for the firefighters to wade through.

I absolutely agree that in your situation leaving the receive tone off would cause problems. But if you have that many people actively sharing each channel, even with tones to prevent the constantly breaking squelch, you will have RF interference. Tones don’t prevent that. Ideally you need something with more channels.

Almost everything about this post is wrong. Whether you like it or not your radio is connected to a ground. Lightning travels miles through the air to get to ground and your antenna and tower are just a convenient path for it. Current will follow your coax (either the shield or the center conductor or both) until it finds ground. That’s why you place surge arresters outside the house and connect them to your house ground system, to give static charge an easier path to ground. You don’t have to open the electrical panel or hire an electrician to do any of this.

Great! But I'm confused. You said that the repeater was split tone: "where Tx is DCS and Rx is CTCSS." But now you say you're in D Code, which uses DCS for Tx and DCS for Rx. That's not split mode. What did I miss.

So I assume you would need your radio to be in mode “T DCS”, which I believe transmits a CTCSS tone to the repeater and expects to receive a DCS code from the repeater? If that doesn’t work then I would try “D Tone” in case it lists the receive mode first.

Makes sense. So what happens when you try to program split tones? Is the programming giving you a problem or does it simply fail on the radio?