SteveShannon

And if that doesn’t help drop it down to the same height you had the previous antenna. I agree that probably doesn’t make sense; I’m just looking at the things you changed.

Excellent advice!

For something you plan to connect and disconnect frequently I would recommend BNC. You’ll simply need an SMA to BNC adapter in the appropriate genders. SMA to BNC is a pretty popular adapter for handheld radios.

The Midland MXTA26 has a good reputation and is on sale for ~$40 right now. It’s an NMO mount antenna, but you also need to buy a base and cable for it. Probably the most common base folks get for it is a magnetic mount. I got the MXTA12 from Midland for that. I think it’s about $30, but it was a Christmas gift, so I’m not certain.

At the very top of the screen shot at the top of this thread, you pasted a screenshot of the configuration software. The first two values are “DTMF PAUSE CODE” and “(DTMF) PAUSE TIME” Pause time is set to 2 seconds but the code is set to 0. Try putting a character in there. The hints at the bottom of the screenshot show what characters are acceptable. Then, I assume, put that same character into your DTMF string.

One thing I might suggest is to practice sending DTMF using one of your BTech mobiles or your Midland mxt500. Then make the 2200 sound like that.

Not from me. Sorry.

There are some very inexpensive sets of SMA adapters at Amazon that will work for many different combinations.

Most handheld charging cradles are not intended to be used as power adapters, allowing you to receive while charging. They frequently have a lot of ripple current and use unfiltered switching power supplies. The manuals that accompanied my more expensive radios explain the distinction, but none of the manuals for my less expensive radios do.

Then you’re on the wrong frequency or you more likely have a receive tone set that doesn’t match the FRS radio transmit frequency. Try clearing the receive tone first. Or your radio is just really not very sensitive. How close are the FRS radios? If you kerchunk the Midland on that same channel do you hear it on your GMRS V2? (I’m assuming simplex because FRS doesn’t use repeaters)

Did you ever get it? How did it work?

It’s very good in direct sunlight.

I think it was @MichaelLAX who has a post on using a 3 inch test plug with the radio bolted to it. He just sets it in his cup holder. Correction: it was @Newb

Did you remove and replace the battery?

Just curious, since you’re logged in as a guest. Do you have a GMRS license?

We’re out here. After your resume in your first post I was a little intimidated. I didn’t realize you were having problems. ? Unfortunately, I have no advice to offer. Obviously you already know how to troubleshoot network problems so it sounds like the problem might be on the other end.

Very cool! 500 watts, but that’s only 20 dB more than my GMRS HT! ?

Well, real LMR400 has losses of 1.5 dB/100 ft at 150 MHz or 1.9 dB/100 ft at 220 MHz, so I don’t know that I would accept that as better than real LMR400 from Times Microwave. http://www.signalcontrol.com/products/timesmicrowave/Times_Microwave_LMR400.pdf

This^^^^

@WRVC250 - Welcome to mygmrs! As others said better, don’t let the few jerks ruin the experience for you. Listen to as much radio as you can and speak up when you have something to say. Also, don’t hesitate to participate here. I'm just one year younger than you and I live in a place that has no GMRS repeaters, so I would have to establish my own if I wanted to have one connected to the net. Instead, I got my ham license. There are a lot of things going on in ham radio also to get involved with, so for me that’s an interesting place to learn. Everything I learn about ham radio carries over to GMRS. Again, don’t hesitate to jump in here. Maybe the written nature will be easier for you with respect to retention. Happy holidays! Steve

It’s not outside the capabilities of GMRS. You shouldn’t need Yagi antennas. I’m no expert on J-poles, but I would expect to be able to communicate ten miles away easily with a decent mobile antenna on a car. If you have the J-poles already try them.

So you probably have about 50 feet of cable running to your antenna, maybe a little more. What kind of cable are you using? What kind of kind of duplexer are you using? What are you using for an antenna? What seems disappointing about your reception. Is it range or clarity or what?

They make very high quality cables, but as LScott points out there’s much more to it than picking a good manufacturer. Every different cable type has a characteristic which indicates the loss rate (usually expressed as dB per 100 feet) for that cable over distance for a specific frequency. Generally speaking the loss rate goes way up as the frequency increases. If you only need six feet you might not have to be too choosy, but if you’re running 200 feet through LMR400 for a GMRS repeater you could easily end up losing 75% of your power in cable losses. 3 dB loss over 100 feet is the same as losing 50% of your power. 6 dB over 200 feet is 75% loss. So, by all means select from a high quality manufacturer, but look at their complete catalog to see what they have that will work well for your use case. Also generally speaking larger diameter cables have lower loss rates. For professional installations people usually use something called hardline.

You’re right. I should have read the MURS requirements.

I don't believe this is accurate. A transmitter is prohibited to be type certified for both GMRS and amateur radio and a transmitter is prohibited to be certified for both GMRS and FRS, but there's nothing in the regulations that prohibits a combination GMRS and MURS. Here's the relevant regulation: No GMRS transmitter will be certified for use in the GMRS if it is equipped with a frequency capability not listed in § 95.1763, unless such transmitter is also certified for use in another radio service for which the frequency is authorized and for which certification is also required. No GMRS transmitter will be certified for use in the GMRS if it is equipped with the capabilities to operate in services that do not require equipment certification, such as the Amateur Radio Service. All frequency determining circuitry (including crystals) and programming controls in each GMRS transmitter must be internal to the transmitter and must not be accessible from the exterior of the transmitter operating panel or from the exterior of the transmitter enclosure.