SteveShannon

Are you operating from a vehicle or as a base station? You seem to be describing two different things: “static interference after releasing the PTT” and choppiness and poor quality audio while transmitting. Let’s take them one at a time. First, static interference. Do you mean that you hear static immediately after letting go of the PTT? How long does it continue? Static is always present to some extent. The squelch control turns off the audio when the signal strength is below a certain threshold. Turning up the squelch increases the threshold. Have you tried turning up the squelch?

Horseshit. There’s nothing wrong with people getting together in a club (or perhaps even a forum) to discuss, learn about, and share enjoyment of GMRS.

Exactly right. Almost every car comes with a power port that accepts the cigarette lighter plug. Although the cigarette lighter plug isn’t what many of us might eventually use, it’s the closest thing there is to being universally available and works well for these low power radios allowing them to be used immediately.

Not really. There is no QRZ for GMRS. You might be able to check to see if the repeater operator is also a ham (https://gmrs.app/?) and then look on QRZ, but email addresses there are only there voluntarily. But you could always look them up on the FCC site and send them snail mail.

Comet CA-GMRS https://www.gigaparts.com/comet-ca-gmrs-base-antenna.html?utm_term=sku-zcm-ca-gmrs&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD_py5EKZQxij1cmldY7F8FS3Vn42&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyoi8BhDvARIsAO_CDsBPolyUSP6EAjfHgLTgAmTPj__UDbKhG2y8DMvRLwgdMx9xjiUbKR8aAgAQEALw_wcB

It really depends on the radio, but it could. If the Surecom 102 is right at the edge of its ability to detect reflected power (which it very easily could be at an SWR of 1.1:1) it really might not be able to accurately tell the difference between 1.11:1 and 1.39:1. Even Bird meters are only represented as reading +/-5%. Most inexpensive meters are more likely 20%. Are these readings all taken on the same transmit frequency? Does your radio have an ALC circuit that adjusts to SWR? Show us a picture of your sw-102 for both antennas so we can see all of the readings, please. There’s a lot more information than just SWR and power. Can you spot the errors in the following photo from the Radioddity site?:

Are you confident that your SWR/wattmeter is correct and sensitive enough? Many inexpensive ones do a poor job of differentiating between very slight reflected power levels, especially at UHF. What does an antenna analyzer show for the two different combinations?

This is exactly right. In my defense, because it is a GMRS radio, the channel should have the offset baked in to the channels between 23 and 30. Or did I misunderstand it being a GMRS radio?

John, We must both be equally dense. It looks like you have it set correctly. Try getting closer to the repeater.

Why? If the goal is an honest comparison of the potential of two different services, why constrain one in such a way that it cannot achieve its potential?

Yes, a 5 watt GMRS handheld and external antenna is more comparable in capabilities and performance to CB, but the question raised by this thread was specifically about FRS versus CB.

Good catch that would have been even better without the snarky comment about knowing how to use the map.

My understanding is that UHF is better at penetrating dry structures than HF or VHF (which is why cell phones work in buildings), but it’s worse at penetrating water or water bearing vegetation, which is why leafy trees affect it.

Good hunting!

A certified FRS radio shouldn’t be able to transmit on the repeater input frequencies. But those kids (and their folks) could have been using GMRS radios.

Make sure you’re at the mygmrs.com level, NOT the forums.mygmrs.com level. It’s only at the higher level that you can change your username. Rich gave us that ability about a year ago.

We’re at that age (I assume) where we help those who need help. It’s not always easy but it’s rewarding in its own right.

I agree, it looks like Henderson and Omaha 725 are the nearest on this map.

Exactly. The reason I ordered the UV380 was because I’d been programming code plugs for a blind/deaf (mostly) ham friend. The OpenGD77 and OpenUV380 software supports a fairly rich set of voice prompts which are a huge benefit to my friend. For the Anytone/Alinco model I found that the only way to make channels easier for him were to exactly duplicate the channels for every DMR zone. That way he could memorize the numbers of the zones and the numbers of the channels within the zones. So, channels 191, 291, 391, … all pointed to Talk group 91, the North American talk group, differing only in zone number. But as you say that’s a lot of duplication and ends up with many channels that differ minimally. The OpenGD77 model is much more intuitive.

I agree, but recently I repleaced the firmware in a couple of TYT MD UV380 handhelds with OpenUV380. It is actually intuitive compared to the Anytone model which my Alinco radio used. You program repeaters, just the way you would an analog repeater, except of course you need to include color code and time slot. Then you group the talk groups into “talk group lists”. Finally you associate each repeater to a talk group lists. No more having to individually program every single talk group for every single repeater. It’s even easier and more intuitive than using the DMR calculator supplied by RT Systems.

It’s pretty easy. Edit your profile at the mygmrs.com level and enter a new username.

There are some things to be careful of. If you get a LiFePO4 battery and intend to charge it from the alternator, there are special chargers that need to be used to avoid burning out your alternator. There are lots of YouTube videos about it. I haven’t done it and have no experience.

Yes, it’s possible. A secondary battery would be the most efficient and have the least opportunity to create noise, but there’s no guarantee it’ll be a perfect cure.

Good job!

No, I know of Wilsall . My dad’s cousin owned the Clyde Park Tavern in the 70’s or 80s.