SteveShannon

I don’t think that it’s as simple as that. According to this document PVC is more polarizable in the presence of RF and has a higher dielectric constant than other plastics and composite materials, especially at higher frequencies. This document discusses the materials which are more suitable for use as radioed: https://www.curbellplastics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Plastics-for-High-Performance-Radomes-White-Paper.pdf

Here’s a quote from a post on RadioReference: I once did an experiment with a simple dipole on VHF. The dipole was made with #8 solid wire, and it's resonant frequency was measured. It was then encased in PVC and the resonant frequency was remeasured, and found to have moved over a MHz. That was at VHF. I expect the effect at 2.4 GHz would be worse. https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/protecting-yagi-with-pvc-or-other-material.298291/#:~:text=The issue is nopt necessarily,it'll work just fine.

No, I don’t think there’s any way to tell if you’re not reaching the repeater, but there are signs that you’re reaching it, such as an ID or even a response. But if you hear Morse code in response to saying “test,” I believe you’re hitting the repeater. Many repeaters are set to ID themselves using Morse code and if it has been a while since the repeater has been used it will immediately ID itself in response to receiving your transmission. Instead of saying “test”, give your call sign and ask for a radio check: “This is wxyz123. Can I get a radio check?” No, you don’t need to have the receive tone set. In fact if you’re in a low traffic area it’s probably best not to set it.

Exactly this^^^^

Sorry, I don’t have first hand knowledge, but here’s a post on radio reference where the settings are discussed as having problems: https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/xpr-8400-cwid-problem.382441/ @Radioguy7268 has experience with these settings. Maybe he’s around.

I would clean up the language. Anything more can still be done later if necessary.

Yeah, I hadn’t read that before I responded here. I still hope Keith sticks around.

The day is young.

The scrambling is extremely easy for anyone to unscramble. It’s just phase inversion. Many cheap handhelds have that. All you have to do is turn it on and play with the level. As far as the frequency hopping, it depends on how it’s synchronized, but the statement the nobody will be able to decipher you is certainly not true and it doesn’t take one of the alphabet agencies, just someone with deep enough pockets to buy an AR5RM.

You’re required to ID every 15 minutes when transmitting.

Ahh, I see. Here is where it blew up overnight. As someone whose wife is confined to a wheelchair I can absolutely understand why a person with a kid in a wheelchair would feel upset about a comment that uses a kid in a wheelchair as a simile for being helpless. Until a loved one has been in that situation you might not get it, but having a loved one disabled does make us more sensitive about things we might otherwise have understood differently. But I don’t think that Randy went to the extent of finding out that your child was in a wheelchair and deliberately chose that as a way to goad you personally. I think it was just one of those insensitive comments that people make. I understand Ken being upset about the language also. How about we all go wrap gifts or something and take a mental health break. The unfortunate thing is you are people who might actually like each other in different circumstances, but because you’re only seeing that one sharp edge that’s being presented that’s where your focus is.

You should be able to delete your repeaters if you’re getting rid of them, or at the very least mark them as closed or offline, whichever is correct. As far as your 869 posts, I don’t believe you can get rid of them, but I know at least two other former members left and had their accounts deleted, which changes the name on their posts to “Guest”. Still, wherever someone quoted their posts in the past remains with their old user name. It would be a huge mess to try to clean that up and honestly I hope your content remains. I learned from it. Only Rich can delete your account. @rdunajewski I would be sorry if you do leave. I don’t know what events caused you to feel this way, but stress is always higher this time of year and I understand how a person might need a break. I suggest mulling it over a few days. Take time for family and friends. I hope you have a nice holiday season no matter what.

I’m sorry if I said something that confused you. When you transmit on the right repeater channel, your radios should each be transmitting on 467.650 MHz and receiving on 462.650 MHz and it sounds like that’s exactly what they’re doing. But you aren’t receiving the repeater’s output signal. So, when you tune the receiver on B to 467.650 MHz you receive the signal directly from the other handheld, but you’re still not receiving the signal from the repeater. So what we have to figure out is why. Is the repeater not receiving your signal on 467.650, which can happen if you’re too far away or on the wrong frequency? Or is the repeater receiving your signal on 467.650 but choosing not to retransmit it, which can happen if you have the wrong CTCSS tone? But I’m slightly confused by the channel number. I think 462.650 MHz is channel 27 (aka 19R or 19RP) on the GMRS channels, not channel 26 unless you programmed it that way.

Merry Christmas! With the right adapter it could be even shorter

Much simpler than my explanation. Good job!

Eight frequencies have been designated in regulations for repeaters to transmit upon. They are the same eight frequencies used by both FRS and GMRS for simplex communications and they are numbers 15-22 in the FRS regulations: (a) 462 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, repeater, base and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 462.5500, 462.5750, 462.6000, 462.6250, 462.6500, 462.6750, 462.7000, and 462.7250 MHz. Eight other frequencies, 5 MHz higher in frequency, have been designated by regulation for transmission by stations wishing to transmit to a repeater for relay by the repeater: (c) 467 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, control and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. Mobile, hand-held portable and control stations may transmit on these channels only when communicating through a repeater station or making brief test transmissions in accordance with § 95.319(c). The channel center frequencies are: 467.5500, 467.5750, 467.6000, 467.6250, 467.6500, 467.6750, 467.7000, and 467.7250 MHz. All GMRS certified radios pair the eight channels in those two groups into repeater pairs. Thus, a radio transmitting to a repeater on 467.5500 MHz receives from that same repeater on 462.5500 MHz. The FCC did not assign channel numbers to the repeater pairs in the GMRS regulations, but they did assign numbers to the first 22 channels in the FRS regulations https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-B Because channels 15-22 (462 MHz main channels) are dual purpose, as shared simplex channels for FRS and GMRS and as repeater output channels, some manufacturers refer to the repeater pairs as RP15 - RP22. Others simply continue the numbering sequence by referring to the repeater pairs as channels 23-30. Other call them repeater channels 1-8. The best thing to do is to be aware of the frequencies allocated in regulation and learn what your radio manufacturer calls them.

As you can see from my meter foible, I can not afford too much hubris. Good job figuring it out! On many occasions a good night’s sleep has yielded better results.

Well, that’s embarrassing. The black lead was in the current reading A socket rather than the Com socket. Obviously it must be low impedance (perhaps just a fuse) between the two sockets, but it’s not right. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

So, just the power up screen? Maybe it is the meter. Try taking it all the way back to where you started. Do you have a local friend with a radio? I'm going to bed. Maybe someone else can think of something to try.

Yes, and your meter has two different ohms ranges - you’re in the x10 range which would appear to be open even if it’s not. I would test the circuits that should be closed using the x10 range and test the circuits that should be open using the x1k range. So now the SWR meter is blank or just doesn’t change? Also, I went back to the top. You thought you had a bad cable so you ordered another and it shows the same SWR of 19.99? I am sorry, but I doubt that two separate cables are bad. That leaves something else, the mount, the ground plane kit, or the antenna and I suspect the mount since you’ve tried it with and without the ground plane and with two different antennas. Or it’s the SWR meter. Honestly I’m just guessing but if I were there I would eliminate one thing after another.

Could you show us a picture of your multimeter. For an open circuit it should read something like OL. Of course if you’ve got a probe in each hand it’s measuring the conductivity of your body and all bets are off. For a continuous conductor it should read in some tenths of an ohm. End to end - shield: End to end - center: center to shield - open circuit (my probe slipped while I was trying to hold it one handed to take the picture but you get the idea). It shows that it’s an open circuit (OL) and it is on the Megohm range:

Do you have another radio to check the meter on?

The easiest way is to swap it out to another. Otherwise check for continuity from one end to the other on both the shield and the center conductor. But, the shield and center conductor must not be shorted to each other.

It might be the meter, but I bet it’s either the cable or the mount.

Although it’s possible to get a single radio that can tune almost everything from DC to daylight (cellular frequencies are blocked on receivers sold in the U.S.) and that functions well as a handheld radio for some of those frequencies, a scanner with a large discone would do a much better job as a home-rolled NSA listening post. It will scan the frequencies much faster. Even better would bet would be a bank of scanners, each covering a section of the spectrum. Understand that the RF spectrum is immense and there are many different types of modulation. My Yaesu FT5DR does a great job for a handheld that can still serve well as a 2 meter and 70 cm transceiver and listen to FM and AM from 1 MHz to 999 MHz (minus cellular). But there are several gigahertz of frequencies above that. But understand that antennas (or antennae for those who care) that are “more powerful” do so by focusing upon a smaller and smaller direction. And antennas are most efficient around a single frequency. It’s nice to have an antenna that can receive additional frequencies, but they do so at some cost: you have to include loading coils or traps or multiple elements that are tuned for different frequencies. I’m sorry, but I don’t know the difference between the AR5RM and the UV5RM, but here’s what an AI said: