SteveShannon

You make an interesting point. Also, many of us who have said “That’s only a 3 dB gain! You probably won’t notice it,” are the ones who get wound around the axle about a 3dB loss when someone picks a coax type and length with 3dB attenuation. And I’m sure I’ve done it myself. ?

No, there are two different levels on the site. From within the forums, when you click on someone’s profile you don’t see their license. If you back up to the top level you can see who’s online. Try clicking on “browse” and then looking at Online Users.

Along the top menu you can look for clubs near your location. Maybe that will help.

Welcome to the forum. I’m from Montana

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! Steve Shannon

So, what does the presence of that label mean to the average Joe Blow? Does it mean we can be confident that exposure limits are not exceeded?

Based on the following paragraph in the regulations, the FCC hasn’t issued station licenses since 1987. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the entire concept of Base Stations and Fixed Stations dates back to then and means nothing now:

I suspect a calculation of exposure limits would result in a practical limit, but I don’t know what that would be. Such calculations are required by the regs.

That’s not what the FCC definition says:

They sent me an invitation with a coupon. I suspected everyone registered on their site got it, but maybe I’m special. ?

That’s a good price! I just bought a couple for 20% off MSRP and thought I did alright. This is even better than that.

Just as a point of clarification: Nothing in the regulations prohibits full duplex between Fixed Stations, and Nothing in the regulations prohibits a network of more than two Fixed Stations.

Sounds like there’s a story involved… Our garage is a single car garage, reserved for a wheelchair van for my wife. The topper for my pickup is just barely too tall to fit through the door with the weatherstripping on the garage door. That’s why the garage no longer has the top piece of weather stripping. Also, the topper apparently has a slight incline, which causes a wedging action ?. The 4Runner fits easily enough into the garage, but I never put it in there anyway so I think I’ll just get the magnetic mounts for both.

Thanks. The one for the 98 Ram will be magnetic. The one for my 4Runner probably will be, BT I kind of like the mount made for the fender/hood seam near the front pillar or the lip mount that attaches to the rear hatch. It just feels like the magnetic one for the roof would have slightly better performance but I have zero experience.

Thanks! The sale is still going on plus today they had a 15% off coupon. I already received the two I ordered though. I still need to get an NMO base/cable. Does anyone have a particular favorite that isn’t too lossy for GMRS frequencies?

I agree, but his question was about GMRS, so my response stayed within the limitations of Subpart E.

That’s the entire purpose of FCC regulations, capturing what it means to the FCC. No more and no less. Fixed stations are radios in fixed locations that may only transmit analog signals directly to each other, using no more than 15 watts output power. They are allowed to transmit on either the 462 MHz main channels or the 467 MHz main channels. They may be operated by remote control. I just added that last sentence, but it’s important because it allows a fixed station under direct control to communicate to another fixed station which you are remotely controlling. Thus, a pair of fixed stations, using audio tones, could be used to control an irrigation system or detect and report various alarm conditions, etc, similar to a very basic SCADA system. Or it could be used to form a full duplex intercom system. Or anything else that you can conceive of that can be done using full or half duplex, audio only with 15 watts. It’s really up to you. FCC simply put some limitations on.

I found it useful last week when I was helping a brand new ham set up his 2 meter handheld (there are no GMRS repeaters in my area yet). He lives just down the street from me and the courtesy beep helped me know when he was actually going through the repeater instead of transmitting simplex on the receive frequency. I had to purposely listen for it through because I don’t even notice it otherwise. So, it’s useful, but at least for me it isn’t bothersome.

I like it for that same reason.

It had been answered several times, all in the same way, whether quoting the definition directly or paraphrasing. Here’s an example: Fixed stations are radios in fixed locations that may only transmit analog signals directly to each other, using no more than 15 watts output power. They are allowed to transmit on either the 462 MHz main channels or the 467 MHz main channels.

I started my wife’s van so we could fly to Phoenix. Today I’m 70° ?

It was -6 yesterday morning. Going out wasn’t an option. ?

But it’s not. In my post I made a mistake. I forgot to include repeater stations in the list of stations that a fixed station may not communicate with. Also, it isn’t as immediately understandable. “A fixed station may only communicate with a fixed station” is simple and clear. The alternative I offered forces the reader to compile or consult a complete list of station types and then exclude them all until only “fixed station” remains. That’s a terrible way to write rules.

But the way they used the words in the definition doesn’t make it confusing. Saying that a Fixed Station may only communicate with another Fixed Station. They could have just as easily said “A Fixed Station may not communicate with mobile stations, base stations, control stations, or hand-held portables.”

Keep an eye open for sales. Sign up for the Radioddity and Midland announcements. Black Friday is just around the corner. Last week Radioddity had a 20% off sale. I picked up two of the DB-20G radios. They’re usually $110 each but I got both for $175 total. They’re pretty slick looking but I haven’t had a chance to power them up yet.