SteveShannon

Those both look good. I’d love to see what’s inside the box.

Here’s a schematic for one of the Transco transfer switches. I like the fact that when it’s unpowered the common defaults to port one. I would hook that to either a dummy load or ground. https://www.hamanuals.com/MMans/Transco Switch - Schematic.pdf

Here’s another that has an attractive price. https://www.rfparts.com/switches/switches-coax/82152-146c70100-8.html If you don’t get this one I might. Although I just picked up a Bird manual 718 coax switch that’s just really cool. ? Based on the label of another switch you apply voltage to the common terminal and the terminal labeled to match the coax output. Seems straightforward, plus you should be able to find documentation

For the antennas in the attic just run all the wires internally. You don’t need lightning protection for them and the HOA should never know or care. Only run the coax for the HF outside. What about one of these surplus coax switches. Several use SMA or N switches. Here’s one in particular that only requires 24 vDC to actuate and it latches. https://www.rfparts.com/switches/switches-coax/062-b37-a1c-4a2-loral-p.html

For the antennas in the attic just run all the wires internally. You don’t need lightning protection for them and the HOA should never know or care. Only run the coax for the HF outside.

Here’s the antenna separately: https://www.retevis.com/mr300-1200mm-heavy-duty-fiberglass-radome-gmrs-antenna-us

Compare the specs: Tram 6.5 dBd, which is ≈8.6 dBi Fong 2.2 dBi - it has about the same gain as a dipole Tram is fiberglass encased Fong is contained within PVC On paper the Tram looks better.

Just yesterday a request I made quite a while ago was granted, so it can happen.

Usually less than 24 hours, but it can take a few days before an extract of the callsign database affects this site.

If all you want to do is tune antennas, an antenna analyzer is better than an SWR meter. An SWR meter will only show you the SWR of the antenna for the frequency you're transmitting on and it can be completely wrong if you're looking at a system with lossy cable. An antenna analyzer connected directly to the antenna can show you the actual response of the antenna. An antenna analyzer connected to a piece of cable can help you determine problems with the cable, including losses through the cable and velocity factor. In addition, having a cable cut to the right length can help the antenna system. An SWR/wattmeter cannot distinguish between those kinds of things. Also, a good analyzer can reveal where the antenna is resonant, which is not necessarily the same frequency where it has the lowest SWR. An SWR meter cannot. However, if you just want to make sure you don't damage your radio by having it connected to high SWR, an SWR meter is ideal because it can be left inline. Also, if you want to test the output of your radio, an antenna analyzer won't do you a bit of good. For that you need a wattmeter. They're different tools for different purposes.

This might help illustrate the problem in the Michigan-Ohio area:

Seattle, WA Everett, WA Sandpoint, ID Kalispell, MT Minot, ND Duluth, MN Detroit, MI Lansing, MI Cleveland, OH Buffalo, NY Rochester, NY Syracuse, NY Montpelier, VT are all North of Line A. Detroit and Seattle are the largest of course, but significant metro areas representing millions of people are above Line A as well as vast swaths of outdoor recreational areas, such as Glacier National Park. I understand the desire to nominate 19 for nostalgic reasons, but people are smart enough to learn another number. Most young people have no recognition of “Channel 19.” Here’s the FCC’s guide to Line A with a zoomable map. It affects far more than just GMRS. https://www.fcc.gov/engineering-technology/electromagnetic-compatibility-division/frequency-coordination-canada-below

I agree. Having just a channel specified without any tones makes the most sense. Monitor 3 without a tone. Then, all a person needs to remember in an emergency is to switch to channel 3. They will be heard. Now if the person who’s having the emergency has a tone set on their receiver they might not hear a response. Other than public education or getting manufacturers to leave tones clear by default on channel 3 I don’t know a way around that.

More like a ? Deadpool. ?

Just be sure you know how to assign or change tones from the front panel and you have that option.

No. But I also never scan. I only use my radio to talk to people I know on prearranged channels.

To find a repeater in your vicinity, use the repeater directory that’s part of this site. You might have to search for all repeaters in Indiana. There you may be able to request access as well. If you are granted access they should tell you what tone the repeater requires in order to access it. Scanning for a tone only tells you the tone the repeater transmits. That may be the same as it requires, but not necessarily. If you are close to the repeater you may be able to scan for a tone on the input frequency (467.600 MHz). I usually tell people not to set a receive tone. If left unset you will receive everything transmitted on the output frequency (462.600 MHz). So, to summarize: find the repeater using the directory that’s part of mygmrs. Ask for access. Program the necessary input tone into your radio as the TX_CTCSS or whatever it’s called for your radio. Leave RX_CTCSS clear, or use Tone Mode instead of TSQL mode or however it’s called on your radio. Best wishes!

In the menu, click on Staff and then click on @rdunajewski. As far as I know he is the owner and administrator. Or you can simply report your own post and it will eventually attract the attention of a moderator.

There are no GMRS radios that receive P25.

The only way to do it is to ask the administrator to change it for you.

Those are extras for you to use so you can have more than one repeater programmed into your radio, for times when you travel or otherwise find a repeater with the same frequency but different tones.

The KG905G is a dedicated GMRS radio. It’s also a much better radio than the Baofeng BF-F8HP, which is simply a higher priced UV5R.

You may want to consider using a quality cable with an N connector rather than using an adapter. N connectors are sealed and less susceptible to weather related damage.

Welcome to MyGMRS. There’s a forum established for problems with the site. A question similar to your was asked a few months ago. Maybe this will help:

Right? Good airflow!