SteveShannon

Control station. A station at a fixed location that communicates with mobile stations and other control stations through repeater stations, and may also be used to control the operation of repeater stations. Fixed station. A station at a fixed location that directly communicates with other fixed stations only.

Not on the repeater: 462 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, repeater, base and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 462.5500, 462.5750, 462.6000, 462.6250, 462.6500, 462.6750, 462.7000, and 462.7250 MHz. 467 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, control and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. Mobile, hand-held portable and control stations may transmit on these channels only when communicating through a repeater station or making brief test transmissions in accordance with § 95.319(c). The channel center frequencies are: 467.5500, 467.5750, 467.6000, 467.6250, 467.6500, 467.6750, 467.7000, and 467.7250 MHz.

Yup, that’s a GMRS repeater, but the call sign isn’t. First, make sure you are using a repeater channel on your radio. The repeater channels automatically incorporate the 5 MHz offset. Because the repeater transmits on 462.725 MHz, you must transmit to it on 467.725 MHz. Selecting the repeater channel will do that automatically. Next, just put the tone in for transmitting, not receiving. That way you’ll hear everything on 462.725 MHz. Get closer to the repeater if necessary. Also, don’t count on hearing something after you transmit. That’s optional and not all repeater owners turn it on.

Without more details it’s hard to know. Is the radio you’re using capable of transmitting on a ham radio frequency? WN2FXO is not a GMRS call sign, so it might be a ham radio repeater. What radio are you using? What frequency is the repeater? Are you on a repeater channel or do you have automatic frequency offsets enabled? Are you able to receive the repeater? I always recommend leaving the receive tone out so you hear all traffic.

No reason exists to try to make them play well together. Ham radio promotes the ability to try many things, just for the sake of trying. But what’s learned there might affect decisions elsewhere.

That’s pretty common. Some repeaters use phased antennas that direct the pattern downward.

I’m sure that settles it once and for all. It’s fair game to discuss. Eventually I suspect GMRS will go digital; I plan to resist until there’s a clear path.

I spent a couple years programming real time systems using LynxOS, and I have no problem using Linux systems, but I still prefer Windows.

This page explains the dependencies for Chirp Next on Linux. https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/ChirpOnLinux

100 feet of rise in 525 feet of run is a 10.78° angle above horizontal.

I’ll do it for you if you tell me the horizontal distance and the rise in elevation.

Contact @rdunajewski, the administrator. He’s the only one who can do it.

Trigonometry. But unless there’s a repeater or someone you’re trying to reach at the top of the ridge it might not matter. A radio signal that is aimed at the ridge will keep on going in a straight line, not curve back down where someone on the other side of the ridge will receive it.

For a service that has a very limited number of frequencies and that is intended to be an easy way for friends and families to communicate with each other adding a bunch of crap like that is a non-starter. I disagree that “the people” are asking for either scenario you posted as #1 or #2. Saying “the people” implies there’s consensus but there just isn’t. Very few people who use FRS even know about #1 or #2, much less ask for them and only a few of the more serious GMRS folks who have their toes also in ham radio or commercial radio continue to propose such things.

You’re right, but planting a repeater on one of the few repeater frequency pairs and then telling people they cannot use those frequencies is also a form of interference. No repeater owner owns the frequency pair. If the repeater is quiet, anyone else can use that pair.

The 97S model has an extra port which can be used for an external mike or an IDer. But I absolutely agree about just mounting it to the top of the mast with a short piece of good cable.

First, make sure you select a repeater channel. They already have the correct frequencies programmed in. Then set the transmit tone to whatever the repeater expects to receive. At first leave the receive tone out (or set it to TONE, rather than T-SQL. Then push the PTT button and identify yourself and ask if anyone can hear you. Welcome to the forum Alejandro.

If your mast is strong enough mount the repeater box closer to the antenna and make sure you select one of the “ultra-flex” types of cable. M&P is fine. Both layers of shielding are copper, unlike Times-Microwave’s LMR400 which has aluminum and copper.

Let’s use correct terminology. It’s not true to say that dBi is always greater than dB. A dB is a relative unit of measurement. It’s never correct to say that an antenna has X dB of gain unless you also specify what that gain is relative to. That’s usually done by expressing gain as dBi, dBd. dBi is relative to an isentropic antenna, a theoretical antenna that consists of a single point radiating exactly the same in every direction. dBd is relative to a dipole, which is a very real antenna. A dipole antenna has 2.15 dB greater gain in certain directions, than an isentropic antenna. That also means it radiates less in other directions. There’s also the term dBm, which is not used to characterize passive antennas but to characterize electrical sensitivity, such as receivers.

Ahhh, here’s what’s going on. It’s not just “turning on the speaker.” It’s mute logic and there’s a setting for when to un-mute. Here’s what the manual says: Speaker Turn On (SP unmute) Speaker will be turned on when the mobile radio receives communication signaling. Opening conditions can be chosen. 1. Press FUN, MHZ/SET key in turn, then rotate the coding knob to choose menu number 59 (UNMUTE). 2. Press MHZ/SET key and rotate the coding knob to choose PTT ID types: QD (default), Q+0 or Q-0. QD: Speaker will be turned on as soon as CTCSS/DCS signaling is right. Q+0: Both the CTCSS\DCS signaling and the optional signaling (DTMF or MSK signaling) must be correct to turn on the horn. Q-0: Turn on the horn whenever one of the CTCSS\DCS signaling, optional signaling (DTMF or MSK signaling) is correct 3.Press MHZ/SET key to save settings, or press any other key to cancel. 4.Press any other key to exit menu mode, except MHZ/SET key.

I don’t have an answer. I’ve never had a radio that required turning on the internal speaker. If you download and look at the channel list in software, is there a per channel setting for internal speaker?

No problem. And for anyone else who has a similar issue you can always report your own post.

I have reported your post.

I would agree that your power appears to be noisy. Whether it’s the ground or the positive or both is difficult to know from here. My conclusion is that you’re doing all the right things!