SteveShannon

You want 50 ohm. That’s basic.

You asked a question that results in a very specific answer. As soon as you use the word "best" without defining what qualities are important to you and as soon as you said "least amount of signal loss" you boxed in the people who might suggest something. You probably don't really mean "best", although I cannot possibly know for sure. Most of us cannot truly afford the "best." You also probably don't truly mean "least amount of signal loss." Again, I cannot possibly know for sure. Perhaps you should provide additional information. Do you have an unlimited budget? Then by all means lean towards Hardline. What's your actual communications situation?

That's ideal. ?

I'm not familiar with his GMRS antenna, but I assume it's like his other antennas. I would note that he doesn't specify gain in one of the usual frames of reference: dBi or dBd. Instead he says: Gain: 5 dB over reference ground plane Without knowing what gain the "reference ground plane" has with respect to either an isotropic antenna or dipole antenna, that's meaningless. Look closer at the DBJ-2, of which the commercial model covers the same frequency range. Here's what he says: 2.1 dBi, which is exactly the same as a dipole. In other words it has 2.1 dB gain over an isotropic antenna, which is a theoretical antenna that has no gain. That's what the 'i' stands for in dBi. It's just a reference. Another reference is dBd, which means referenced to a dipole. A dipole has 2.1 dB gain compared to an isotropic antenna, all other things being equal. A yagi might have 9 dB gain compared to isotropic (9 dBi) or 6.85 dB compared to a dipole (6.85 dBd). Then he goes on to say that's 6 dB gain over a 2 meter J-pole used at 450 MHz, that's impressive, right, but it simply means that it doesn't lose as much power as the J-pole used at a frequency it's not intended for:

https://www.radioddity.com/collections/consumer-radios-frs-gmrs-radios/products/radioddity-db20g

Hmmm, is anyone else having problems with the file? I’m on a different device than I used to upload it and I can click on it and see it. I can screenshot it and post it again as an image.

I apologize. This slipped my mind. Here's the specifications page from the manual: Specs of MFJ-884.pdf

Which network will it be connected to? Brandmeister is the most well known but there are a couple others. Will it be dual mode, meaning capable of Digital and Analog? If analog mode is allowed, what PL or DPL tone is required to access the analog repeater? Which tone should the analog repeater transmit? Which static talk groups for each of the two time slots? Here are the specifics for one in my area (I do not own it or have anything to do with operating it, but I do use it. All these specifications are openly published.) Repeater particulars: 444.000 MHz, plus 5 MHz offset Analog FM access: PL encode/decode 100.0 Hz DMR admission: Color Code 1 DMR Radio ID: 313018 Operational mode: Dynamic Dual Mode (analog FM or DMR digital on-demand) Networking: DMR: Brandmeister Static talk groups: Time Slot 1 3130 Montana Statewide, 31301 MPRG1 Mac Pass Repeater Group Time Slot 2 31303 BGV Bozeman Gallatin Valley Dynamic talk groups: Time Slot 1 All BrandMeister talk groups Time Slot 2 PLEASE DO NOT USE TIME SLOT 2 for dynamic talk groups

Probably... QFT (Internet slang) Initialism of quoted for truth (used after repeating the text of a previous post one agrees with)

https://www.clearskyinstitute.com/ham/stats/index.html Although these data only include through 2018, they don’t indicate a reduction in hams. Here are two of the graphs:

You’re wrong and I already responded in the thread you started.

I looked it up earlier this year and there were something like 13 thousand more active ham licenses last year than the year before. That doesn’t point to it going away. Basic testing is necessary in order to ensure that people have learned the bare minimum regulations and a small amount of the science. Many of the most basic questions that people ask when they become involved in radio are those things that a person learns while studying to pass the Technician test. Not only that but the questions are all publicly available. Eight year old children pass the test. Some ham clubs even have one day cram and test days where a person goes through the material for a while and then immediately tests on it. The test is truly not a barrier unless a person is unwilling to put forth any effort at all.

I’d like to suggest that you provide a new screenshot of just the dialog box. The resolution on this one is not legible even when zoomed in. Someone intimately familiar with the software might be able to answer your question without referring to the dialog box, but for the rest of us that would be great.

Just another thought: see if there’s a local ham radio club (I bet there is) and attend one of their meetings. Many of the members of my club are also GMRS members. They exist to help others become hams.

No, just molded in thick heat sink fins on the bottom and back. You might have to point a fan at them. How long do you transmit at a time anyway? Or are you hoping to buy two and make a repeater? Based on past forum posts I’ve read that doesn’t seem to be a very effective way to put up a repeater.

I agree with Gortex that asking the repeater owner before creating a net. Be sure the net has a purpose that will keep it going, because otherwise it will eventually die on the vine. If you are just doing it to have someone to talk to, you might want to consider becoming an amateur radio operator. There’s more of that in ham radio.

Pi’s are much easier to get now. I got two of them at the right prices (not scalpers). But you can only order one at a time. First, watch rpilocator to see when they come in. Second, sign up at the official resellers like Adafruit to be notified when the models you want are in stock. You’ll get one notification; order it immediately. Do not dilly-dally. Quantities are limited. I got another notification just a couple days ago, but I don’t need any more.

A taller antenna will make more difference than raising your power.

Being slightly off frequency can bring out the Charlie Brown teacher voice.

That’s just the way it is. FRS radios are toys and regulations allow unlicensed children to use them. Pitting us against each other will not help; it just exacerbates the frustration and resentment.

That’s also true of any GMRS user using those channels for simplex. But that’s not “jamming“ the frequency. That’s just sharing the frequency as regulations require.

I'll recheck the same radio on GMRS but with a different antenna to see how it does. I'll also check my other DB20G radio to see how much they differ. That'll have to wait for a dry day though. ?

Depending on terrain 55 miles isn't far at all for a tall antenna. UHF, even at low power, can go hundreds of miles as long as nothing interrupts the path.

Did you ever go look at the interactive map? Different repeaters appear depending on zoom level. You never told us more specifically than SW Missouri. How far away is POSY? Repeaters are limited to 50 watts, same as your mobile radio, so I doubt that’s a real difference, but POSY could have a pretty tall antenna tower.