SteveShannon

Here’s one of the posts where WRFP399 describes his RT97S setup. I’ve always been impressed by it: Steve

Yes, I think it’ll be the gentleman in Alaska. Wrrc399 or something like that. I’ll look for it.

Welcome, Rodrigo! Without truly knowing what you consider “low-priced” I will say that the easiest path is probably to just buy a Retevis RT97, a good antenna, the best coax you can afford, and a mast to get the antenna up into the air.

Not really. Marc and I both answered his original question. Then, like conversations sometimes go, Gortex2 introduced an inflection point. Almost all of us understand that the conversation that’s going on now has almost nothing to do with the OP’s question. That’s just life online. It has been an interesting diversion though.

I googled “emergency protocols for FRS radio” and I’m delighted that I found many sites and documents that describe such plans. Unfortunately they are dissimilar, but for people in those areas they may be very useful.

Yes, I think that’s crucial. Here’s something else:

Certainly it’s not ideal, but for $200 I could donate 10 Baofeng radios and set them up to scan all the GMRS/FRS radios and all the local ham repeaters and probably the SAR frequencies as well. These could be provided to folks who are out searching for a lost person. I agree; there’s no perfect scenario, but as long as people are willing to keep working towards solutions, some things will improve.

So again, we need to be taking a more proactive position in teaching folks who travel into the woods how to be prepared to use their radios (and what kind of radio to have, and identifying an emergency channel, etc.) Putting ourselves in the position of Joe Schmoe: You said you take your ham radio if you don’t have SAR coverage, but both of those choices that you have are out of reach of the average person. How does the average citizen (who isn’t part of SAR) get SAR coverage? You have options that are unavailable to most Joe Schmoes. For this discussion you need to look at things from their perspective. Also, most people going into the woods don’t get ham radio licenses. But they do buy the bubble pack radios at the sporting goods store. They’re right there next to the guns and ammo. You know the old saying that “You go into battle with the army you have, not the army you want.” This is the same thing. People are going to buy and carry bubble pack radios. SAR needs to be equipped to deal with that reality. And once SAR is equipped to deal with that then it makes sense to use GMRS. SAR cannot monitor every tone and channel? That seems like something they might want to do. A good scanner would certainly enable them to monitor all the GMRS channels and they don’t need to monitor all the different tones; just leave them all clear. Of course they might need to be able to transmit a tone in case the lost soul has implemented a tone squelch in his/her receiver, but scanners reveal tones as well. All of us, before going into the woods, should identify which band and frequency SAR is likely to listen on and be ready to use that if needed. This is where you need to acknowledge that the person you’re looking for is more likely to have bubble pack radios than anything else and adjust to that reality. SAR groups should work with fish and game, USFS, BLM, etc. to advertise how to get help (and maybe they do - but it’s not immediately obvious in my area.)

So what do you carry when you’re simply Joe Schmoe going for a walk in the woods? Most people have nothing other than a cell phone. A GMRS radio or ham radio is a step up. People who go out in the back country professionally carry PLBs, but very few recreational hikers do. It’s better for people to carry a GMRS radio that they know how to use than to leave it at home because someone on the internet said “I would never trust a GMRS system with my life.” I agree with you on this: if I knew I was going to be going into a situation that required reliable communications, I wouldn’t choose GMRS as my first or even second choice. I’d insist on a PLB and probably a satellite phone. But we should be encouraging recreational hikers to carry some kind of communications gear and we should be advising them so they can make informed decisions.

In a true emergency situation any form of communication is better than none at all. So, even though I wouldn’t make GMRS my plan A, B, or possibly even C, I would make sure that I have several GMRS and probably even FRS radios available as backups. But I wouldn’t wait for everything else to fail before teaching my kids and grandkids to use them.

IN to the repeater and OUT of the repeater. The INPUT PL Code is the CTCSS tone that you must transmit from your handheld using the INPUT frequency. Your transmission goes IN to the repeater. The OUTPUT frequency is the frequency the REPEATER transmits on. That must be the frequency you receive on, so its your RX frequency. The OUTPUT tone is the tone the repeater transmits. If you leave the tone blank you will receive all transmissions on the output frequency. I recommend starting that way then programming in the Output tone once you’re sure everything else is working.

Not a bit of trouble, at least with me. I agree with you.

Correct, only individuals may obtains new GMRS licenses. Before July 31, 1987, other types of GMRS licenses were available for other entities,such as corporations and government entities. Some of those licenses are still active (Grandfathered), but no new licenses are being issued for such entities. Only individuals can now be newly licensed, but those grandfathered licenses can still be renewed: Grandfathered GMRS license. A GMRS license held by a non-individual person (i.e.,a partnership, corporation, association or governmental unit) as a result of renewals of a GMRS license issued prior to July 31, 1987. And it’s worth understanding that the station, the actual physical hardware used to transmit and receive, is not licensed. There are no restrictions on who (or what entities) may buy the hardware, but there are distinct restrictions on who may operate a Station. From https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/section-95.1705 A valid individual license is required to operate a GMRS station. To obtain an individual license, an applicant must be eligible and follow the applicable rules and procedures set forth in this subpart and in part 1 of this chapter, and must pay the required application and regulatory fees as set forth in part 1, subpart G of this chapter. (a)Eligibility.This paragraph contains eligibility requirements for individual licenses in the GMRS. (1)Only an individual who is at least 18 years old and who meets the requirements of § 95.305 is eligible to obtain a new individual GMRS license. (2)Any person that holds a valid individual license is eligible to obtain a renewed license, or a modified license to reflect a change of name or address.

I suspect that a good quality whip on your handheld and a good quality base station antenna on the mobile will work well as is. Your conditions (summit to a point on the opposite side of the valley) are nearly ideal. I don’t think that I would use a Yagi for the handheld, because if you have an emergency that disables you in some way you might not be able to point it. If you point it the wrong direction it’s worse than the rubber duckies. Also with two Yagis how do you know where to point them unless you can see each other? If you cannot communicate until the Yagi antennas are mutually lined up it’s difficult to coordinate the alignment. If you do use Yagi antennas you might want to run some tests; Yagi antennas with fewer directors may yield a wider pattern that works better for you. I would hike into the same area in advance and run some tests. Also, avalanche beepers and personal locator beacons are probably necessary.

I could anticipate a government entity granting a person or radio club money or material to establish a repeater used for government supported public service purposes, but it’s clear from the scope of the current regulations that only individuals can be newly licensed. I completely agree that grandfathered government entity licenses exist. Whether those license holders could now establish a new repeater for their government purposes I haven’t studied. Under the current rules, can a government entity build a repeater and require its employees to become licensed so they can operate it? If they can, so could a commercial corporation or a political group. I don’t believe any of those cases is consistent with the scope or purposes of GMRS.

Should be this one: Authentic Genuine Nagoya NA-771G 15.3-Inch Whip GMRS (462MHz) Antenna SMA-Female for BTECH and BaoFeng Radios https://a.co/d/eWqjTzt

I suspect the KG1000 is transmitting just fine but either the 905g is being swamped by the power (de-sensing) or that the 905G is listening on a different frequency and/or using a different tone. I suggest you clear out all receive tones first and make sure xmit and receive are all on the same frequency.

Yes. But you might also be able to improve the connections with and apply the noalox. Short jumpers are used to bond parts together to improve the ground system. There are several videos on marine bonding on YouTube. I haven’t watched any of them.

Wrong. 95.305(e) No person is authorized by this section to operate a United States Government Radio station. 95.1705(a) Eligibility (1) Individual licensee (2) Licensee’s family (3) Licensee May allow anyone to communicate an emergency message (4) Grandfathered licensees (which includes governmental units allowing its employees). So, no, there’s no current way for a government unit to setup and operate a repeater. I greatly abbreviated the sections above, but I don’t think that changed the conclusion.

That sounds perfect!

I don’t know what power you’re outputting, but you’re probably not going to be transmitting at a high duty cycle. I assume you’re not going out on the boat to talk on the radio. If you put the radio onto a mast you’re in even better shape. I would be sure and get some oxide preventing compound to put between all the metal pieces. Any electrical supply store or even Ace or Menards should have it. Aluminum oxidizes very quickly and aluminum oxide is very hard and non-conductive. Then, when you’re ready to attach the bracket, sand the contacting surfaces and apply the oxide preventative before attaching them together.

This sentence made me think you owned the repeater: Those repeater output channels are available as FRS channels as well. It’s entirely possible they’re doing everything by the book.

I see three in Long Island

That one is only 19 ga. thickness. It’s meant to be attached to a fiberglass roof. A cookie sheet, pizza pan, or pie plate like this will work: 10 Inch Round Pie Pan for Baking, Aluminum Commercial Grade Pie Plate by Tezzorio https://a.co/d/2fHKb9h Don’t let us convince you that the size is too critical. These antennas are typically fastened to a metal roof of indeterminate size. Also you’re on the water. That’s just perfect in terms of terrain. I’ve never put an antenna on a boat, and I don’t know what your boat is like or what it has for mounting, but do whatever is easiest. Edit: I told I’d never put an antenna on a boat. It appears that for marine applications the body of water serves as the ground plane. I really don’t know how you take advantage of that.

Maybe it’s one of those “if you build it they will come” things. ? Although I have 146.520 programmed into my radios, the few times I’ve left the frequency there I’ve heard nothing. Of course that is here in Montana and doesn’t reflect congested urban areas.