SteveShannon

I would suggest that all language relating to Fixed Stations be stricken from the GMRS regulations. Incremental improvements still help.

Here’s your chance to make a difference!

For repeaters it’s possible to hear them on both a simplex channel and a repeater channel but only the repeater channel will transmit at the correct frequency. The simplex channels are 15-22. The repeater channels are labeled something different, sometimes 15RP-22RP, sometimes 23-30, sometimes something else. Make certain you are using a repeater channel that transmits on 467.xxx MHz.

Yes, I am always concerned about unintended consequences when changes are made to satisfy people who don’t fully understand the history and context of rules.

The FCC has released the following document inviting comments on where to deregulate. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-219A1.pdf Comments Due: Friday, April 11, 2025 Reply Comments Due: Monday, April 28, 2025 Through a series of Executive Orders, President Trump has called on administrative agencies to unleash prosperity through deregulation and ensure that they are efficiently delivering great results for the American people.1 By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) is taking action to promote the policies outlined by President Trump in those Executive Orders. Specifically, we are seeking public input on identifying FCC rules for the purpose of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens. We seek comment on deregulatory initiatives that would facilitate and encourage American firms’ investment in modernizing their networks, developing infrastructure, and offering innovative and advanced capabilities. The Communications Act directs the FCC to regularly review its rules to identify and eliminate those that are unnecessary in light of current circumstances,2 recognizing that in addition to imposing unnecessary burdens,3 unnecessary rules may stand in the way of deployment, expansion, competition, and technological innovation.

All SWR meters are directional power meters at heart. The SWR meters that were manufactured by Nissei for MFJ are okay, about the same as any other mass produced SWR meter. They’re a compromise between cost and accuracy and because they try to measure very wide frequency and power ranges they excel at none. The biggest problem I see with them is an inability to measure low levels of reflected power accurately, leading to very optimistic SWR values at low power. But good enough is good enough. As far as antenna analyzers (which are not SWR meters) I also prefer RigExpert. They’re easy to use and have a lot of functionality built into them that I suspect many people never use. For instance, if you know the actual length of a cable you can use the RigExpert to determine the actual Velocity Factor (VF). If you know the actual VF you can measure the length of the cable using the RigExpert. Once you know the VF, save it so you can look it up. Then, if a long cable starts acting strange remeasure the length using the RigExpert and the saved VF. If it’s anything other than what you measured originally it tells you the general location of a problem. But a RigExpert will not tell you forward power or reflected power. For that you need a directional watt meter. Once you have those two measurements you can very easily calculate SWR. That’s where Bird or Telewave stand head and shoulders above all of the cheap SWR/wattmeters. Their sensors are calibrated for the exact range of frequencies and power levels you wish to measure. The McBazel SW-102 is inexpensive, does a lot of different things, including measuring the frequency (something that neither the high end wattmeter nor the moderately expensive antenna analyzer can do, except for the MFJ 259, 269 series), forward power (within limits) and reflected power (possibly even more limited at the bottom end), and calculates the SWR based on those limited measurements. I think they’re very handy for a go bag for use with a specific range of power outputs.

No, but often times the Morse ID is sent without a CTCSS tone or DCS code and voice messages include a tone or code. In that instance setting your receiver tone or code will filter out the ID.

Great progress! Good job!

It’s a page, not a group. By liking it you follow it so you receive notifications, unless you turn those off.

My wife taught in Noxon from fall of 1977 to the end of the the school year spring of 1979. Beautiful area. We considered buying a house there but instead went to eastern Montana (a one room school outside of Sidney).

Welcome @WRCT989 and @Pyro406!

Welcome! I like the db20g mobile from Radioddity. Small, simple, lightweight, only 20 watts but it has a button marked “FUN”. And it’s often on sale for less than $90. I bought two of them. If I wanted a full 50 watts I’d look at the Wouxun kg1000g. It’s not inexpensive but only a couple people have ever complained about it.

Welcome back. If you could find one of your old posts maybe Rich could reconnect you to your old account. Was it under a different call sign?

How about trying a company dedicated to antennas? https://theantennafarm.com

Is it the VHF or UHF version?

Welcome!

It falls in the same frequency range but GMRS is considered one of the personal radio services defined in part 95. Defining every individual channel is beyond that chart.

Hi Stanley, Before you buy another radio, make sure you exhaust the possible solutions. There are at least three different technical possibilities for why people using the repeater didn’t acknowledge you: 1. You might have been on the wrong channel. Channels 15-22 are for talking directly to other radio users. On the Trailblazer 450 the repeater channels are named 15RP - 22RP. You can hear repeaters on either group of channels but you can only transmit to a repeater on the repeater channels. 2. Nearly every repeater uses tones or digital signals to prevent accidental interruptions. The tones are called PL, or CTCSS, or something similar. Digital signals (codes) are called DCS or DPL. If you have no receive tones set you hear everything. If you have the wrong transmit tone or no transmit tone set, the repeater will automatically ignore you. Nobody will hear you in that case. 3. Finally, you mentioned power output. It’s possible your radio isn’t reaching the repeater. Try getting closer. Welcome to the forum!

You have to be a premium member to post in the classifieds. It might help to give more details, such as frequency range, power output.

I said it like that because I am not convinced that the regulations support this interpretation. But I suspect it would be very expensive to fight them.

I look forward to hearing what you discover. Although the technology is interesting I think it will be turned down for the most basic reason: You’re connecting a GMRS repeater to a network, which means you are carrying GMRS communications on a network which is prohibited by the FCC interpretation of the rules. Here’s their interpretation: GMRS stations cannot be interconnected with the public switched telephone network or any other network for the purpose of carrying GMRS communications, but these networks can be used for remote control of repeater stations.

Funny, the song “Let’s all go to the lobby” popped into my head.

You must load the driver that services the cable before ever plugging in the cable. If you don’t Windows will attempt to load a driver, which might not work. It’s the driver that creates the virtual serial port that Chirp or any other CPS software uses. In Device Manager you should be able to see the virtual serial port created when the cable is plugged into your computer. Then you can specify to Chirp which port to use rather than hoping it finds the right one.

Correct, but that requires putting GMRS communications onto a network, which is what is prohibited.

Do you feel like pidgin English is the language of this thread?