SteveShannon

I believe that it was the battery as well; I just consider that part of the radio as a whole. The radios shown in the news photos were Icom ic-v82 which was discontinued by icom nearly a decade ago but they were delivered about five months ago according to the news. There are manufacturers of aftermarket batteries so the opportunity for embedded explosives exists. Also, this particular radio has a feature whereby sending a code can alert the user. Finally, the ic-v82 has the ability to be updated to DStar, which makes it addressable either individually or in groups. I have no idea whether the digital upgrade was installed or what is necessary to perform the upgrade.

The radios that exploded in Hezbollah’s hands had been doctored with a high explosive compound called petn. This wasn’t a case of lithium batteries failing.

The simplest solution is to purchase a product like the Retevis RT-97s or the very similar Midland repeater. The Retevis is even available in an all-in-one kit with antenna and cable. you can buy it, put the antenna up, screw the cable to the antenna and the radio, connect power, and be up and operating within a very short time. Messing around with two radios connected as a repeater can be done and is an inexpensive way to get more power, but requires more support, plus the KG1000g has been shown to have issues with desense when used that way unless you find a way to isolate the two radios from each other. Notarubicon has a series of videos showing him setting up a repeater using the KG1000g. If you do decide to go the separate radio route my suggestion would be to go to a nearby ham radio club and ask for assistance. Someone there will have the experience and the willingness to help you.

What do you mean by “better”? Why would you want a repeater instead of simply a base station with an antenna on the roof?

Max is 9.78 dB (assuming dBi) at theta = 90°, horizontal. That’s the blue horizontal line to the right, and it’s 9.77 dB along the green horizontal line to the left (theta = -90°). The red lines are about angles above and below horizontal. Theta is the angle along the circle. So at theta = 84° (which is the upper red line in the diagram) the gain is 5.74 dB. That’s 6° above horizontal. At theta = 95° (the lower red line) the gain is 6.77 dB. Everywhere within the 11° angle between theta = 84° to theta = 95° has gain greater than 5.74 up to 9.78 and back down to 6.77.

That looks right and the IC-V82 has the option of being converted to digital which would make it addressable.

Yes, a high gain antenna sacrifices up and down while enhancing horizontal. The antenna we use for our 2 meter repeater is a vertical array that uses phasing to tilt the gain downward like a shallow cone.

Glad I have Yaesus.

The picture on CBS nightly news was of pieces but along the top it said VHF radio

If you like the KG-905G, why not go for the very similar mobile radio, KG-1000G Plus? https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-1000g-plus.html?matchtype=e&keyword=wouxun kg 1000g plus&device=c&adposition=&network=g&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9Km3BhDjARIsAGUb4nyeVD_7vY7JbkTyrL0bOLmAsSJt8TEKNsQVoN96mQeTHgcCsM7yG2EaAjqGEALw_wcB

I'll keep looking. Do you live in an area where the battery temperature might drop to +40°F?

I don't have a better idea, but the IC-V85 looks too short and squat to me.

For a range of 14.4 vdc in and 12.0 +/-0.5 vdc out? How much peak current do you guess? Also, what type of battery? For lead acid something like this might be everything you need: https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/wmt-58403-1046?seid=dxese1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9Km3BhDjARIsAGUb4nyW7YSRHOOjCy1OcM9SCYZ074KAnDL2RJZPhS-6XOWi7AQkuLw4WnoaApUTEALw_wcB But if you already have a charger, there’s no point in paying for that circuitry again.

First Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, fears their cell phones are compromised. So, they change over to pagers. 3000 people are wounded and 10-12 killed when they simultaneously explode. Then they change over to “walkie talkies” that they bought because of earlier concerns about secure communications and attend the funerals for people who were killed. Their walkie talkies explode with even more force. I wonder what their next line of backup communications is. They’ve got to be nervous by now.

Here’s the web page for the marine radios from the European distributor for the Middle East: https://www.icomeurope.com/en/radio/handhelds-for-marine/

Yeah, for two days I’ve been chortling. I’m pretty sure I’m going to hell.

Your voltage is close enough you just need a voltage regulator, not a dc-dc converter.

More explosions have occurred. This time it appears to have involved handheld radios. An Icom is displayed during the video:

In this video some guy says that the 5,000 pagers had their batteries replaced with battery assemblies containing explosives as well. It may have been done while they were being held in customs at a nearby country.

That might already be covered by traffic regulations.

I’m thinking I’ll be better with something like a Yaesu ftm300. But I already have these two DB20G radios that are great go box radios. I just need to pay closer attention before I start building a configuration file.

I have two of the db20g radios. I like almost everything about it: small, easy to use, powerful enough. What I don’t like is the fact that you cannot use Chirp or RT Systems, and the software provided by Radioddity doesn’t allow imports, and copying and pasting doesn’t work the way I want. Also, this is probably the most frustrating: once you have a configuration file created, you cannot change the frequency range in the CPS to another, even if all of the channels you’ve programmed are well within both of the ranges. There’s a range of channels that goes up to 470 MHz. There’s another range that’s higher in the list of available ranges that goes to 490 MHz. A program file written for one range cannot be used for the other and changing the range in the settings wipes out all the channels you’ve created.

Here’s the frequency table in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mobile_Radio_Service#Frequency_table Note that channels 15-22 are used for simplex communications (meaning that transmission and reception is done on the same frequency, taking turns to talk). Channels 15-22 are also used for duplex communications by the repeater. The repeater receives a transmission on one of the frequencies marked 15R through 22R and simultaneously retransmits it on a frequency that is 5 MHz lower, marked 15-22 (no ‘R’).

Here’s the actual rule the specifically permits traffic reports: 95.1731(b) One-way communications. The operator of a GMRS station may use that station to transmit one-way communications: (1) To call for help or transmit other emergency communications; (2) To provide warnings of hazardous road conditions to travelers; or, (3) To make brief test transmissions.

Good job! 73!