SteveShannon

Definitely check the duplexer, but desensing can occur simply because you have shielding on the two individual transceivers that isn’t up to service in a repeater. Those two radios were not necessarily designed to be operated immediately next to each other. Separating them and placing them into metal boxes will reveal if that’s the case.

Did you look at the map? Arab is about midway between the Huntsville repeaters and a repeater called Palisades Park 650.

That only works if @WROH500 uses the repeater every time anyone else uses it. Besides, it’s not just an IDer; it’s also a repeater controller, which @WROH500 might need if they’re wiring two Baofeng radios together.

Ask specific questions and you’ll probably get answers. The ID-O-Matic has been discussed a few times, including how to program it and wire it to a repeater. The more information you provide the better quality answers you’ll receive, but don’t hesitate to ask questions about things you don’t know.

That’s really the essence of the problem. The GMRS rules don’t truly prohibit linking repeaters; they prohibit placing GMRS communications onto a network.

Check Heil’s products.

Ultimately it’s up to the repeater operator but that’s exactly what GMRS is for.

That’s an ignorant comment.

Which I greatly appreciated because it was very helpful to a young ham. I tested it at multiple ham frequencies against my RigExpert and it was good enough. Not exact, but good enough to tune an antenna. He doesn’t have a lot of money so I gave it to him for just the cost of shipping and he also appreciated it. Thanks again!

If you’re attempting a db read or worse extract every hour they may have blocked you thinking that you’re testing for a denial of service attack.

No thanks. I’m not against it. This forum is enough.

Maybe they blocked you. Is there something in particular you’d like me to look up?

I had no problems looking up license information an hour ago or so.

I would suggest that all language relating to Fixed Stations be stricken from the GMRS regulations. Incremental improvements still help.

Here’s your chance to make a difference!

For repeaters it’s possible to hear them on both a simplex channel and a repeater channel but only the repeater channel will transmit at the correct frequency. The simplex channels are 15-22. The repeater channels are labeled something different, sometimes 15RP-22RP, sometimes 23-30, sometimes something else. Make certain you are using a repeater channel that transmits on 467.xxx MHz.

Yes, I am always concerned about unintended consequences when changes are made to satisfy people who don’t fully understand the history and context of rules.

The FCC has released the following document inviting comments on where to deregulate. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-219A1.pdf Comments Due: Friday, April 11, 2025 Reply Comments Due: Monday, April 28, 2025 Through a series of Executive Orders, President Trump has called on administrative agencies to unleash prosperity through deregulation and ensure that they are efficiently delivering great results for the American people.1 By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) is taking action to promote the policies outlined by President Trump in those Executive Orders. Specifically, we are seeking public input on identifying FCC rules for the purpose of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens. We seek comment on deregulatory initiatives that would facilitate and encourage American firms’ investment in modernizing their networks, developing infrastructure, and offering innovative and advanced capabilities. The Communications Act directs the FCC to regularly review its rules to identify and eliminate those that are unnecessary in light of current circumstances,2 recognizing that in addition to imposing unnecessary burdens,3 unnecessary rules may stand in the way of deployment, expansion, competition, and technological innovation.

All SWR meters are directional power meters at heart. The SWR meters that were manufactured by Nissei for MFJ are okay, about the same as any other mass produced SWR meter. They’re a compromise between cost and accuracy and because they try to measure very wide frequency and power ranges they excel at none. The biggest problem I see with them is an inability to measure low levels of reflected power accurately, leading to very optimistic SWR values at low power. But good enough is good enough. As far as antenna analyzers (which are not SWR meters) I also prefer RigExpert. They’re easy to use and have a lot of functionality built into them that I suspect many people never use. For instance, if you know the actual length of a cable you can use the RigExpert to determine the actual Velocity Factor (VF). If you know the actual VF you can measure the length of the cable using the RigExpert. Once you know the VF, save it so you can look it up. Then, if a long cable starts acting strange remeasure the length using the RigExpert and the saved VF. If it’s anything other than what you measured originally it tells you the general location of a problem. But a RigExpert will not tell you forward power or reflected power. For that you need a directional watt meter. Once you have those two measurements you can very easily calculate SWR. That’s where Bird or Telewave stand head and shoulders above all of the cheap SWR/wattmeters. Their sensors are calibrated for the exact range of frequencies and power levels you wish to measure. The McBazel SW-102 is inexpensive, does a lot of different things, including measuring the frequency (something that neither the high end wattmeter nor the moderately expensive antenna analyzer can do, except for the MFJ 259, 269 series), forward power (within limits) and reflected power (possibly even more limited at the bottom end), and calculates the SWR based on those limited measurements. I think they’re very handy for a go bag for use with a specific range of power outputs.

No, but often times the Morse ID is sent without a CTCSS tone or DCS code and voice messages include a tone or code. In that instance setting your receiver tone or code will filter out the ID.

Great progress! Good job!

It’s a page, not a group. By liking it you follow it so you receive notifications, unless you turn those off.

My wife taught in Noxon from fall of 1977 to the end of the the school year spring of 1979. Beautiful area. We considered buying a house there but instead went to eastern Montana (a one room school outside of Sidney).

Welcome @WRCT989 and @Pyro406!