SteveShannon

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.

Hmmm, the document link works for me on both my phone and my laptop. If you click on the second link, which is the filing, then you can click on the link to the PDF near the top.

While I was on the FCC site today trying to decide what (if anything) to enter into the public record about the Midland proposal for digital mobile GMRS radios and digital voice on GMRS, I stumbled across this document: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/121859354063/1 Here's the filing details: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/121859354063

No, I said: Such as this: https://www.americanradiosupply.com/uhf-male-to-f-female-coaxial-adapter-connector/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1rSsBhDHARIsANB4EJaXnN6NDUi0pnfCrPC7u1jPPlHuNPlbzokazzddein9TZ6qF3Rgw_0aAjaEEALw_wcB

Yes, one repeater transmitting to another repeater results in an infinite loop. You transmit on Channel A to the small repeater. The small repeater repeats your transmission on Channel B so it can be received by the big repeater. The big repeater must transmit on Channel A or your small repeater would never receive it. When the small repeater receives it on Channel A it repeats it on Channel B where it is received by the big repeater. Infinite loop. There are ways to link repeaters to accomplish what you suggest using network connections.