SteveShannon

I think it’s still possibly multipath.

I understand that the FRS radio is fine. It almost certainly has a less selective SOC receiver than the superhet KG-S88G, not necessarily less sensitive. Thus it will be less affected by things that can disturb the repeaters transmitted signal. Usually that helps reduce interference from other sources, but it could also cause a poor signal to be rejected, even though you want to hear it. When I suggested trying other radios I was hoping to detect a pattern of more than a single sample. If other superhet radios do the same thing then you might be able to rule out problems with the Wouxun. Are there any wind generators or similar large moving surfaces near you or the repeater? Or the fading in and out maybe caused by multipath propagation.

Maybe it’s a problem that affects the more selective receivers. Try it with some other radios.

So for purposes of this thought exercise, a bunch of hams would network their ham repeaters and then discuss GMRS? Of course to be compliant we wouldn’t allow any GMRS repeaters to connect to the common network, right?

The GMRS Pro supports sending texts using simplex from radio to radio, but not through a repeater. It does not support digital voice in any format, either transmit or receive. It has a single receiver. It does receive VHF and UHF, but only transmits on the GMRS channels.

This is a key factor. Without some kind of organization representing us, I doubt much will change. And based on the vast diversity of ways people use GMRS, it would be a challenge forming such an organization. I must be missing something. How would hams even see the traffic?

But digital GMRS is not interoperable with analog GMRS, so they would be effectively creating another service (DGMRS or DMRS). At that point, why not use a different section of spectrum? Fortunately for me, I live where there’s a lot of underutilized spectrum, but that also means I don’t have a feel for what you metropolitans have to deal with. And I guess a part of me asks why people don’t just get their technician licenses and buy into 70cm digital voice. Of course the family license is probably the reason.

Good document. Makes me want to run out and buy a couple dPMR handhelds to play with. The only thing I quibble with is the opening statement that GMRS isn’t for hobby use, but that’s been cussed and discussed elsewhere and this thread has had enough diversions.

One way might be to split existing analog channels into two DGMRS channels, one at a time over a period of time. That way everyone would be inconvenienced equally. For locations like mine, analog and digital could happily coexist, at least for a while. You’re right that a new band would be best, but whom do you take it from? The FCC must have some studies showing any lesser used spectrum.

Don’t drag me into this very annoying sidebar.

I couldn’t commit enough time or capital support to doing that, but you’re right; that would seem like a great location. Thank you for the thought.

I’ve got one of those 18”x18”x18” all-weather equipment boxes with an extending handle and wheels. I wish it had larger tires so I could tow it behind me while hiking up a hill at our rocket launch site. I also have lots of SLA 7Ah batteries I’d like to use. They’re heavy-ish but that would be mitigated by being able to roll the case behind me. I haven’t done the calculations but I think I’d only need a couple for a Retevis RT97S. Most of the time it will simply be receiving with maybe 5 or 10 minutes of transmitting max. I’ve toyed with doing something like you did using the two Radioddity DB20G mobiles I bought last month, but it would probably end up costing nearly as much as a Retevis RT97S.

CTCSS are analog tones. DPL are digital codes. There is no conversion. Nor are they interchangeable. You will have to learn how and where to select the DPL, also known as DCS, DTCSS, or possibly something else, but all meaning the same thing. It’s usually a different menu item than the CTCSS tone. I don’t have a 935, but someone will probably chime in and tell you which menu choice it is. Under the correct menu there will be a long list of choices. There will also be a column telling whether the codes are normal or inverse.

Probably similar gain, but you can take a Signal Stick and wind it into a loop and put it in your pocket, or use two of them to make a dipole, or multiple ones of different lengths to make a fan dipole. They’re part of a system. The most important thing they do is make Ham Study available for people who want to study.

Maybe this will help: ” The origin of the Super-Elastic Signal Stick Approximately 15 years ago I made my first antenna following this general design. These are based on the traditional “1/4 wave piano wire antenna” design; it turns out that 1/4 wave on 2m is roughly 3/4 wave on 70cm, and a 3/4 wave antenna performs roughly the same as a 1/4 wave antenna, which makes these work equally well on both 70cm and 2m. These antennas were originally made with stainless steel wire as a fundraiser for a ham radio youth group (the one I met my wife in, actually). Over the years we’ve improved the design dramatically, most notably by changing to use nitinol superelastic wire. When the youth group shut down I was assistant advisor to it and due to continued demand I took over the project and have continued selling them as a fundraiser for HamStudy.org, a site which I am also connected with.”

Any antennas can have its gain expressed in dBi. dBi is simply a unit. Perhaps you meant they have a gain of 2.1 dBi or something like that?

Cool, thanks! That's good enough; you don't need to dig for a BOM.

Both of the statement above, by @KAF6045 and @OffRoaderX are correct. The rest of my post is useless except as a geeky point of interest. There is a calculation that can be done to determine theoretical loss at given distance, but it assumes perfect conditions, i.e. "Free Space." That could useful for establishing an absolute outer limit for distance. Great for space travel. The equation looks like this: d is the distance between the receiving antenna and transmitting antenna. f is the frequency in Hertz c is the speed of light in the same units your distance is in. Gt is the gain of the transmitting antenna Gr is the gain of the receiving antenna Here's a calculator built to use it: https://www.pasternack.com/t-calculator-fspl.aspx

I’d love to see pictures and an actual parts list.

I’m gonna put up a repeater and make it a requirement that everyone must use a roger beep and the more annoying the better. We’ll hold contests! And it’ll be on channel 19. ?

I think the disagreement is on the definition of being cheap. A person that I think of as being cheap buys the cheapest of everything. There’s a consistency to the cheapness. He (or she) would buy a cheap radio and pair it with cheap feedline, a cheap antenna, and a cheap microphone. Based on that definition a person who buys an expensive radio isn’t cheap, even if they pair it with a cheap microphone or questionable feedline. They may be working with a finite budget. They might have really poor judgment. They might just be stupid. But by the act of buying an expensive radio they have disqualified themselves from being called “cheap.” And I agree, when it comes to hobbies, I see a lot of people who try to do as much as they can to save money in some ways that prove to be questionable. Ham radio is no different. A lot of retirees with a budget try to build their ham shack by budgeting one expensive item each year, but they need something to get them by in the short term, so there are lots of $1300 radios paired with $60 antenna kits (using my own example).

Some hams have had to get very creative. Dipoles or end fed half waves hide along fascia boards or are disguised as Christmas lights. J-poles can be hidden behind hanging plants or in flagpoles. Tall trees can help hide many kinds of vertical wires. Fences help hide horizontal wires. If you can make an antenna, you can make an antenna that looks like something else!

It’s six weeks old. Send it in for warranty replacement.

Sure, and I’ve seen people who want to impress others match a great audio system with crappy lightweight speakers. Some people spend money on the stuff they have to look at and neglect it on the parts that are out of view. People are funny sometimes. But nobody should be shamed for refusing to pay $150 for a Bluetooth microphone with crappy reviews. ?

It's not a double or triple key press. Just press the bottom button, on the side below the PTT, which is the SK2 button. You press it once and the flashlight turns on. You press it again and the flashlight starts strobing. You push it again and the flashlight turns off. Push it again and the flashlight turns on again, starting the whole cycle over again. Here's the description in the manual - page 21: 6.7 This function is very useful for night illumination. To turn it on press MON; push it again, the flash light will be strobe; push it again: it will turn off. I don't know if there is a way to restore to factory defaults.