SteveShannon

I got a chuckle out of the rating of the Diamond SRH805S. You might have noticed that they rate the antenna gain as -2dB. That means a loss of RF radiation. Diamond says: So, basically, Diamond says the SRH805S will perform 2dB worse than the OEM antenna

I would be very surprised if the final output transistor in your radio would let its smoke out even if full power were reflected.

First, don’t mistake SWR for antenna quality. If it were that simple we’d all use dummy loads. They typically provide a very low SWR but have no ability to radiate RF. Second, the SWR meter is not a sufficient ground plane for a VHF antenna. Typically you’d need either a planar surface of metal or an array of radials of at least a quarter wave radius or length to provide a decent ground plane. For VHF that’s much larger than the body of the SWR meter you’re using. The fact is that measuring SWR for handheld antennas is frequently futile and unnecessary. Instead hook up the antennas and see what kind of performance you get.

I don’t understand. You called the Anytone 578 a $15 radio but you pay $200 for the 878? The 578 plus is a 50 watt (vhf, 40 UHF, and 5 watts 1.25 meters) mobile version of the 878 but with cross-band repeater capability. I don’t know that it’s worth $485, but it’s certainly better than the majority of the inexpensive radios.

It’s true that a person can spoof another person’s DMR ID, but that’s probably not done frequently in amateur radio. The exact address isn’t important to me, but being able to see their country, call sign, and name is nice, just like having your logging software look up call signs automatically.

Again with the racist and stereotypical dismissiveness. A knockoff is an unauthorized copy of a “legitimate” product. This radio and the handheld 878 have unique features all of their own that were groundbreaking when first released, such as having the memory needed to store every contact in the RadioID database.

It is the same as the Anytone, with slightly different features which are probably simply enabled in firmware. This Alinco, just like the Anytone, is a high powered mobile radio with terrific features such as cross band repeat, even digital to analog (cross-mode) repeat. It’s wrong to compare this to a $15 radio. It’s ignorant to call it “just a cheap Chinese throwaway radio.”

Happy to help!

Would you prefer the Alinco DR520? https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/alo-dr-md520t?srsltid=AfmBOorP-QoBaYjvD5uaakcsmjMfHFbCLqEydOqNFMc7SJm6iB1ZVy_h

It’s hard to beat the db20g for functionality and price and although it can’t be programmed with Chirp it can be programmed using RT Systems which is superior to Chirp except for price.

RT Systems has a cable for this radio for $30: https://www.rtsystemsinc.com/USB-76-Programming-Cable_p_2323.html Or Radioddity has one for $20. https://www.radioddity.com/products/radioddity-pc005?_pos=5&_fid=b7d4551e2&_ss=c

Welcome!

You bet. You certainly can set the RX tone also but if it doesn’t match the repeater output tone you never will hear the repeater. Often the repeater has two different tones. If you leave the RX tone empty then you hear everything on the channel.

So it’s transmitting? The next thing to look at is the tone. If you’re picking tones by number instead of frequency you’ll soon discover that the numbers don’t match with all manufacturers. Double check the tone (or DCS) you need to transmit to the repeater and then look in the 575 manual to see how to program it. But only program it into transmit on the 575. Leave the receive tone blank. See if you can hit the repeater that way.

And have you programmed one of the handhelds to receive on the repeater input frequency (467.xxx MHz) with no RX tone? Then listen to see if there’s any signal when you PTT the Midland MXT 575.

I haven’t used one, but I would consider something like this. I use an mxta26 and like it. https://midlandusa.com/products/mxat05vp-3-db-heavy-duty-bullbar-antenna?variant=42539707302065&campaign_id=17727845030&ad_id=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADAFdQglRxyShGFPXLNzwa6UtbZFt&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnui_BhDlARIsAEo9GusL9Y1FOKx1quX2PSNYMUM_aiJJ6i8Iq0p8mSonjpv2M4D7XH3-gwsaAnZ2EALw_wcB

What makes you think it isn’t transmitting?

In that case your calculations would be 4.30 db too low. An isotropic antenna is theoretical, a single infinitely small source with a gain of 0, meaning multiply the input times 1 to get the output when working with linear values. Having a dBd gain value for an antenna is convenient but for a calculator like this you always want to take the antenna gain back to dBi so you’re not inadvertently throwing the output value off. Maybe a better way to explain it is that the dBd value is only useful for comparing an antenna to a dipole. For purposes of calculating total gain you always need to start at 0 which is the dBi number.

If you have voltage on pin 1, but not the output, then yes, the regulator is shot.

Their calculation is correct. Total gain calculations should be relative to an isotopic antenna.

Yes, you need the forum software to recognize that you are a premium member in order to create a club. Rich will have to fix your account. I’ll report your post to catch his attention.

Except we’re in town.

It sounds as though the frequencies you programmed are prohibited by firmware.

Does the board have reverse polarity protection? Here’s a data sheet for that regulator: https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm2576.pdf Trace the voltage coming in on the red wire all the way to pin 1 on the voltage regulator. If you don’t see voltage there the problem isn’t the regulator. In that case look for a circuit breaker or fuse that might be tripped or blow for reverse voltage.

Last week we got 8-10 inches. The highlands are still solid white, as is the continental divide about a mile east of me. Rivers went out a month ago. Two pictures to demonstrate how quickly things change.