SteveShannon

It sounded like he and she might both be outside of the trailer with their handheld radios and he wants to be able to reach her.

Put the RICK back in your GR300 and verify that it works.

On the main page you can select to listen to a net:

I think quite a few people have said that they no longer receive the audio.

What was your question again?

I'm not the site owner so it's not my call. @rdunajewski owns the site and makes the rules. Feel free to send him a message to see what he thinks. I'm no expert on Canadian GMRS, but it sounds like it's very similar to FRS. There are very few FRS threads here; most folks are more interested in higher power GMRS and access to repeaters. $35 for a ten year license is the most straightforward way to join though. Good luck, whatever you decide.

Before loading all of the stuff from Repeaterbook download from your radio to populate your codeplug. Then add the repeaters you want from Repeaterbook. If you don't download from your radio first, you do write over it.

I like mine. It's not fancy, but it works and it's small and it is easy to hook up; just plug it into the power port (cigarette lighter) on your dashboard. I use it with a Midland MXTA26 antenna and Midland magnetic mount. I do have a few Windows machines as well as one Mac. The Mac almost never gets used. But I don't have a bunch of channels to program so if I were strictly a Mac guy I wouldn't be too put out. Good luck whatever you choose.

Were the receiver and transmitter on different frequencies and connected to a duplexer?

I ran into it just the other day. Our repeater has frozen up (older DR1) and until the snow melts we won’t be able to access it. So we have begun doing a simplex net on the receive frequency. Last Monday I turned on a Baofeng UV5RA that I just got from my son-in-law. My Yaesu FT65 heard everything including from net control who was parked on a bridge several miles away. The Baofeng did not. Maybe it’s just this “sample of one” but it was surprising.

Exactly right, and we hear people frequently saying that their Baofeng transmits just as far as a Motorola, but I suspect there’s a huge difference in how well the Motorola radios receive compared to the Baofeng. To me that’s the important distinction.

Go to the repeater’s page, click on the menu symbol and click on “view request”. The responses show up under each request:

If you have it connected directly to an auxiliary battery (lead acid) your radio is powered by 12.7 volts. It might not put out 50 watts at that voltage. But it really won’t make any noticeable difference whether it puts out 45 or 50 watts.

The radio will probably come with the right size fuse holder and fuse (maybe two) in the power cable.

Many of us have Baofengs in our collection. They can be very useful. You may end up someday with something else, but it’s nothing to feel shy about.

I was referring to the part of your post that I quoted. You said you needed to figure out where to get power to activate the relay. You already agreed that you would be running power from the battery to terminal 30 on the relay. When the power comes on to the power port the relay closes and terminal 87 goes hot powering up the radio. Just be sure to use an automotive relay with sufficient current capability. I’ve used Tyco with good results. Good luck.

Does your cigarette lighter/power port come on with ignition?

Welcome!

It’s strictly for people with GMRS licenses. You could get a GMRS license and then register.

Just for the line I emphasized above I think you’d be fun to drink with. Unfortunately I don’t have the answers you’re seeking, but I like your delivery.

Hi Mark, I commend you for wanting to do things right. Unless you are working as a “representative of a foreign government” I don’t know of any reason you couldn’t obtain a GMRS license. It’s only $35 and it lasts for 10 years. The tallest hurdle will be navigating the FCC ULC system. Notarubicon has a guide that takes you through that step by step. I believe you need a U.S. address for a GMRS license. It’s just a mailing address, not a transmitter location. https://www.notarubicon.com/how-to-get-a-gmrs-license-easy-guide-to-gmrs-licensing-on-the-fcc-website/ In general you register for an FRN first. That definitely allows international addresses and there are 2244 Australians with FRNs already. Registering for an FRN is free. Then you apply for the GMRS license using the FRN you just got. It takes a separate step to pay for it. Please don’t judge all of us in the USA by the FCC licensing system. It’s terrible and we know it. Hopefully you’ll also bring a dual band ham radio handheld. There are a lot more ham radio repeaters across this country and as you probably already know amateur radio operators can operate in the amateur radio service in many countries they are visiting without needing to obtain that country’s ham license. Many people do operate without a GMRS license in the USA, but if I were doing that I would not provide an easily identifiable call sign for another service. Choosing to disregard regulations is a personal choice and a lot of my friends do it, but they don’t complicate their situation by providing a ham call sign that can be traced. I hope you have a great time in the USA. 73 de AI7KS

Some people have had problems with desensitization of the receiving side when they have built repeaters from discrete KG1000 transceivers. Notarubicon @OffRoaderX has a video describing it. Please let us know how it turns out.

I agree also. The reason I asked was because people were talking about line length limitations for cat 5 cables which really only apply when talking about network protocols. If these are analog or even serial signals like RS485 it’s a different matter.

An antenna that's advertised as 6 dB gain, is probably 6 dBi, or 6 decibels of gain with respect to a theoretical single radiating point called an isentropic antenna. One of the simplest antennas is the dipole. A dipole has 2.15 dBi or 2.15 decibels of gain with respect to an isentropic antenna. That establishes an additive offset of 2.15 dB. Most antennas are labeled with respect to dBi, even if the manufacturer doesn't include the correct unit. But sometimes they're labeled as dBd, meaning the performance of a dipole is the reference point. An antenna that's advertised as 6.15 dBi is 4 dBd. And you will definitely not lose anything by using a magnetic mount.

A ground plane antenna doesn’t require a DC connection to your roof. Magnetic mounts make a capacitive connection to your roof in spite of the paint, rubber base, etc. I live in the mountains and a 6 db MXTA26 antenna is just fine. But it’s important to know whether that gain number is dbi or dbd. I would agree with Ryan if he was recommending not to use a higher gain antenna but 6 db antennas still have 3 db gain 10° above and below horizontal. That’s 17 feet of rise in 100 feet of horizontal distance. This guy likes the MXTA26.