SteveShannon

You probably already did this but just in case: Before the cable is plugged in, and before you run the software, you must install the driver for the cable. Then plug in the cable and look in Device Manager and make sure that the driver is attached to a virtual serial port. Then open the CPS software and assign that serial port to the software.

That’s true, but really, nobody was talking about doing NVIS on GMRS frequencies.

I don’t know the exact cause, but here’s an experiment you can try: Disconnect your radio from the coax at your house and disconnect his radio from the coax at his house and swap radios temporarily. The object is to see whether the weak reception follows your radio or continues at your house. If it follows your radio then you know it’s the radio. Otherwise you know it’s something with the combination of the coax and antenna. If it’s something with the antenna and coax, swap it temporarily. See if the isssue follows the antenna. By doing this one component at a time you should be able to figure out what the cause is. You may find that it just happens to be your location. RF is not guaranteed to be symmetrical. Just because he hears you well is no guarantee that you can hear him well. But you’ll find many posts on this forum that talk about how important a good receiver is and that the difference between 15 watts and 40 watts really doesn’t make much difference. It might be as simple as the Midland having a less sensitive receiver.

@Reclusiarch - Welcome!

I’m interested too. The military 2259 antenna is a great model to follow. That’s a crossed dipole with a 15 foot central pole At its simplest a NVIS antenna is a dipole that’s placed low rather than high so propagation goes nearly vertically. Heres a good summary with interesting links: https://practicalantennas.com/applications/nvis/as2259/

All coax has attenuation (RF electricities fall out) that’s related to the length. It’s entirely possible to lose 75% or more of your signal strength (RF power ) in your coax before it reaches the antenna. SWR is calculated from the ratio of reflected power compared to forward power. An SWR meter placed near the radio measures power before it has been attenuated but it measures the reflected power after it has been attenuated in two different directions, when it is weakest. That results in a low SWR that doesn’t accurately predict how efficient your antenna truly is. TL;DR. Randy nailed it.

There’s nothing wrong with 1.9:1. Check it on different channels and you might see the SWR change. Also, a perfect SWR does not mean it is a good or bad antenna. A dummy load will get you 1.0:1. A very lossy cable will improve your SWR at the expense of signal strength.

This can work during daylight hours. It does require lower frequencies. It’s what the military uses for nearby communications. No repeater necessary and a dipole at 1/10 wavelength above the ground is all that’s needed for an antenna, but a horizontal loop on top of a vehicle works okay also (Caution: I have read!! I am just starting to try this myself.)

Here in Montana 70 cm is well used by a network of linked digital repeaters, connected to the Brandmeister. I hear local conversations frequently between hams in Helena, Belgrade, Bozeman, and Butte as well as Montana Statewide Net checkins from Alabama, New Mexico and several from Montana. If a band seems underutilized, find some way to use it.

Welcome to the forums!

I have reported it,which is the most reliable and quickest way to reach Rich. The function labeled “My Repeaters” makes it far too easy to accidentally or intentionally allow any person to list a repeater as their own and appears right next to the Favorite Repeaters tab. I suspect at least some people add repeaters to their “My Repeaters” list accidentally while attempting to populate their favorites. To populate your favorites list, just click on the Star next to the repeater name. I suggested to Rich (in my report) that the My Repeaters feature be disabled.

I would try 40 meter mobile ham radios. You might have to try NVIS.

The proposal linked in my first post. If you can show that the FCC is charging too much for processing GMRS licenses a petition to reduce the cost to all who apply would be reasonable, but giving GMRS licenses to ham radio licensees isn’t the solution. “We overcharge GMRS licensees so we’re going to give them to hams!”

First, don't necessarily trust the SWR reading from the Surecom. It might be rights, but there are reports of them being incorrect. An antenna analyzer will tell you whether your antenna has a reasonable SWR in the 462-467 MHz. Once you know about the antenna, then test the combination of the cable and antenna. Second, are you testing with the antenna connected to the car the way it's designed to be? The simple act of raising an antenna, or placing it on a ground plane, or standing beside it, can drastically affect the SWR. Third, What is the SWR on the higher repeater channels (23-30?) Finally, welcome to the forums! Steve

Personally, I think it's sloppily written with inaccurate premises and illogical conclusions. I see absolutely no reason why a ham radio licensee should be excused from paying for a GMRS license and arguing that equipment that requires no certification should be allowed on a service that requires certified equipment is ridiculous. But it's interesting what people will ask for.

I don't recall it being mentioned on the forums here, but in October, Garmin petitioned for a rule change as well: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1005158792395

You can, but it will never be the best option. You have to weigh the advantages against the disadvantages. How long is it? Which leads to calculating the losses. RG-6 loses nearly 5 dB in 100 feet on GMRS frequencies. How difficult would it be to replace? If it’s easy, and the cable is long, go for something better. If it’s short and difficult to replace then I would at least try it. Basically I would try it and see first.

It means it’s “stale”. Its status hasn’t been updated in 2 years.

I wouldn’t think that the FCC would be in on the joke…

That’s exactly the one. It doesn’t fold over, at least not accidentally. It may be that they changed the way the folding whip works since someone complained about it, but it requires a very deliberate action to fold it. One other thing. I bought mine used from a person and saved $10 (I thought), but I didn’t have a decent analyzer at the time. It worked on 2 meters (better than the Midland) but once I got my RigExpert I discovered that SWR was higher than it should be. It looked like the whip was too short. So, I wrote in to the US Comet representative and he immediately identified it as a failed capacitor in the loading coil section immediately above the mount. He sent me one for a price, so by buying used from a private party I cost myself some money. I suspect I could replace the capacitor if I could figure out how to take apart the coil assembly, but I haven’t yet. The factory rep said it couldn’t be done without destroying the coil. Of course you’ll need a mount as well.

No, “TSQL”, means that it transmits a tone and also requires a tone to open the squelch. “TONE” sends a tone but doesn’t require one on receive. It’s the same as leaving the tone out on receive.

I tried to use the Midland MXTA26 antenna for one of my Radioddity DB20Gs, which I reconfigured for use on VHF and UHF Amateur bands, but not GMRS. As expected it worked okay on 70 cm. But it failed miserably on 2 meters, not even communicating five blocks down a straight street. For that radio I switched to a Comet SBB5.

I would suggest contacting the repeater owner to see if there’s anything they can think of, perhaps an additional level of access codes. I admit that’s unlikely, but I don’t know what else to try.

As I read what you have tried I couldn’t think of anything else either. Just out of curiosity do you have any issues talking simplex between your two radios?

No, the system hadn’t recognized him as a premium member yet. It has been fixed.