SteveShannon

I’m sorry to see you go, but maybe this video will help?

Thanks for trying to help him out. Hopefully I didn’t drive him away frustrated.

Thanks for that info. I agree. We have friends in Naples. We’ll give them a little time before asking them how things went.

Both make you think about killing yourself?

Of course that means Rich is dealing with hurricane issues also. I hope he is safe.

As long as it’s an open system I decided that Rich probably would not mind. I sent you the tones in a message. Best wishes!

So you need to register separately for the section of the website that includes the repeater directory. Go to www.mygmrs.com and click “register for free”. It just so happens that the owner of this site is the owner of the Fort Pierce repeater. I’m hesitant to publish here in the open the tones used for the repeater, but I did report this thread to him so he can respond.

Yes, you need the tone. Did you try looking up the repeater on this site? It should either tell you the tone or information that will help you get it.

And antenna gain.

Use 156.7 Hz as the TX CTCSS. Leave RX CTCSS empty for now.

We just accept it. I doubt that it really amounts to 11% greater range unless you’re transmitting to space. Remember it’s line of sight.

Not exactly. TX CTCSS is the output of your radio and the input to the repeater. Your output goes to the repeater input. They must match.

No, your transmit tone must match the input tone for the repeater. You must transmit using 156.7 Hz as the TX CTCSS.

It’s relative. TX CTCSS is the tone transmitted (or output) by whichever radio is transmitting. One radio’s transmit (output) tone is another radio’s receive (input) tone. You must transmit with the correct tone because the repeater filters out all transmissions it receives that don’t have the correct tone But you don’t have to filter out transmissions on your receiver You can leave the RX tone empty and receive all transmissions

No, you left out (1) which says: (1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and, Because it says “and”, both conditions must be true. The only example of (1) that I interpret would be if I set up a repeater and only my family members operating under my call sign use the repeater. (2) means that they still must properly ID using my call sign while using the repeater. Both must be true. If the repeater is ONLY used for that purpose then there’s no need for the repeater to (separately) transmit my call sign. But in my opinion I believe that as soon as someone using a different call sign uses the repeater, then the repeater is required to ID itself periodically either using voice or CW.

The repeater is a station and must be identified. Here are the rules: § 95.1751 GMRS station identification. Each GMRS station must be identified by transmission of its FCC-assigned call sign at the end of transmissions and at periodic intervals during transmissions except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. A unit number may be included after the call sign in the identification. (a) The GMRS station call sign must be transmitted: (1) Following a single transmission or a series of transmissions; and, (2) After 15 minutes and at least once every 15 minutes thereafter during a series of transmissions lasting more than 15 minutes. (b) The call sign must be transmitted using voice in the English language or international Morse code telegraphy using an audible tone. (c) Any GMRS repeater station is not required to transmit station identification if: (1) It retransmits only communications from GMRS stations operating under authority of the individual license under which it operates; and, (2) The GMRS stations whose communications are retransmitted are properly identified in accordance with this section.

Your transmit tone must match the input tone of the repeater. Your receive tone can either be left empty (to receive everything) or may have the output tone of the repeater. I would strongly recommend leaving it empty until you get transmit working anyway.

For the most part ham nets are operated by local ham clubs and the net controller is a volunteer. Are you a member of a local GMRS club? You might be able to suggest that the local club have a net for emergencies. Be prepared to volunteer. ?

The USB 2.0 spec limits current draw to 500mA (100mA per port and up to 5 ports). However, USB chargers can supply up to 1.8 amp. At 5 volts that’s about 9 watts. Cigarette lighters on the other hand can attempt to draw much more than that, depending on the wiring and fuse. Using a USB to cigarette lighter female port should only be used for very low current items. I wouldn’t try to power a five watt transceiver that way.

I ordered a set of 5. What the hell. ? Thanks for the heads up. We now return to the regularly scheduled topic…

Those look similar to the very fine connectors from M&P: https://www.gigaparts.com/connector-for-airborne-5-cable.html?utm_term=sku-zmp-co-uhf-5m-s&gclid=CjwKCAjwvsqZBhAlEiwAqAHElRQb2BuWzLP0UCdEV-6XgcxxI5MnVyIGXMVlD5kMmFClbrEsMXvgDBoCFpgQAvD_BwE

That’s what a net is until it’s needed. Depending on the net controller it might have a little more personality, but it’s really just an exercise of the systems.

I promise I won’t laugh, except to commiserate. I’ve chased similar things before, many of them my own doing! I’ve felt pretty humble when I’ve figured them out also. I consider troubleshooting the relentless application of logic. It’s one of my favorite things to do, but it can seem so illogical sometimes. i haven’t seen those connectors. Do you have a link?

Exactly. This can be caused (I know you already know, Marc) by too sharp of a bend in the coax or too tight of a cable tie which squeezes the coax too tight, causing the inner conductor to migrate through the insulation (especially foam core) and contact the shield. This is the kind of issue I thought he could self diagnose when I suggested changing out every element one at a time to logically troubleshoot the issue: radio, coax, antenna. Of course it’s possible that a person replaces the coax and makes the same installation mistakes as before, causing the same problem. It’s also possible to take a piece of coax and move it somewhere else and have the condition reverse itself, resulting in the inner conductor no longer touching the shield, at least temporarily, but personally I would discard or at least cut out the bad spot and repurpose a failed coax cable.

Transmitting to a repeater is done at a special range of frequencies. Those channels are sometimes referred to as 15rp, 16rp, … up to 22rp. While the repeater is receiving on those channels it’s transmitting whatever it receives on the regular channels 15-22, which are each exactly 5 MHz lower than the corresponding RP channels.