SteveShannon

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.

Swap the base station radio with one of the radios that works. If the problem follows the radio you know it is something with the radio. If the house continues to have poor reception then it’s not the radio. By logically eliminating things you can rule them out. In the end perhaps it’s just something in the house that’s causing poor reception.

I reported it to Rich. He’s the one who can help you.

Think of RX DCS as a filter. When it’s in place everything with a DCS different than it is filtered out. Leaving RX DCS off does no filtering, so you hear everything. If you hear nothing from the repeater when you turn on RX DCS, you have got something configured wrong.

Your coax calculator doesn’t have RG8/u or LM400?

I don’t think he meant it that way. He wouldn’t scan it because he already has a pdf, which he then provided to all of us.

Thanks for providing the PDF so nobody has to scan it. Can you tell us what has changed to make it so much larger?

I’m impressed with the quality of the Alpha Delta items that I have. I don’t have an antenna switch yet but I have several other items including their excellent lightning arrester. Having a second arc-plug in their switch adds another incremental amount of protection for the most common issues.

Tail setting won’t help. Deleting the Rx tone opens up your receiver so it will pass anything it receives regardless of the tone.

You would need to contact the Philippine National Telecommunications Commission to find out the process for requesting that. https://ntc.gov.ph/philippine-table-of-frequency-allocations/?doing_wp_cron=1663945203.0378279685974121093750 It appears that the entire range between 415 and 472 MHz is already used for Maritime Mobile. Edited to add (possibly correct): this web page indicates that 400-470 is available to radio amateurs: https://n2rac.com/pinoy-preppers-radio-faq-a36673619567 Good luck!