SteveShannon

If you look at the Brandmeister dashboard you can see if your signal is being received and what strength. Once you know, then you can configure a channel to the Parrot talkgroup and you’ll be able to hear what you sound like.

In my case Norton (not Windows) didn’t complain about the executable having a virus; it identified the website as a known problem site, which might be more related to information about users being discovered in phishing attacks.

Anywhere there’s a DMR repeater, you should be able to save a channel to join talk groups in that network such as TG 93, USA-Wide on the Brandmeister network. You take everybody on the repeater with you though.

I am impressed! You’ve certainly gotten the most out of that combination and in a heavily wooded, high humidity area with an antenna lower than the canopy. The use of the amplifier is something I haven’t seen others do; good job! The 200 mile range mentioned by wrxp381 is highly unusual except between high elevations and across deserts, which bear no resemblance to your swamp at sea level. As long as you’re epoxying the radome, you might consider drilling and epoxying (or screwing) in some pins to prevent the halves from separating. I would not worry about tuning that antenna. You’ll truly never notice the difference between a VSWR of 1.5:1 and 1.3:1. As you know, your feedline is attenuating quite a bit of signal though and in both directions. That’s your most easily identifiable avenue to getting more power, but it could also be expensive. Again, I’m impressed!

Here’s one of the best explanations of the requirements of the NEC and antenna grounding: https://reeve.com/Documents/Articles Papers/Reeve_AntennaSystemGroundingRequirements.pdf

Except for the term “sad ham.”

I bet the utility company loves having that tower and antenna that close to their transmission line!

He might be able to put together an RJ45 coupler, a straight through Cat6 cable, and the cable that came with the radios to get the right pin out and length, but shielding might be an issue.

When you’re an asshole to the one person who honestly tried to calm the discussion down a little you’re not likely to find much help. I realize that you just wanted specific answers to the questions you were asking, not to have someone tell you had already chosen wrong, but that’s how forums are. And I certainly understand how the idiotic outburst against CCRs is the farthest thing from being helpful. I’ve mostly learned to ignore that person and his whining about CCRs. But Gil (wruu653) truly is someone who tries hard to help. I hope you find someone who can help you with your repeater.

There is no field called "Duplex" in the FT-65R. "Duplex" is simply the field name built into Chirp map which is mapped to the fourth field in the channel table. Yaesu calls that field "Offset Direction" and the three choices for it are (Plus, Minus, and Simplex). If its function is confusing to you, it's because a poorly matched Chirp field name was used instead of using the Yaesu field name.

It's not really difficult, but it is needlessly complex, mostly because of leftover commercial radio characteristics: First, you have to create a list of talkgroups. Then you have to create channels. A channel consists of a channel name, Brandmeister ID (or other digital ID), timeslot, color code, frequency, bandwidth, whether transmit is inhibited, whether it's an analog or digital channel, and if it's digital you need a talkgroup assigned. That's why you have to create the list of talkgroups first. There are other fields as well including encryption etc., but you get the idea. Then you have to create at least one zone and assign channels to the zone. You may (not mandatory) also populate a database of digital IDs which links the call sign, Brandmeister ID, and contact name. This can be downloaded. The newest DMR radios have room for 500,000 contacts. My radio handles 200,000 so I can only load most of North America. On your radio you select a zone and then select a channel within that zone.

Well there goes the neighborhood... Be careful you don't snap your neck putting your nose in the air.

There is. I’m still helping my blind friend with his DMR radio (as well as my own) and I wish I could get the ear of the firmware programmers for these Anytone and Alinco DMR radios. There’s absolutely no reason it has to be as difficult as it is. With simple changes in firmware a person could easily just create two channels for each repeater (one per timeslot) and then just input or select the talk group. DMR radios would only be slightly more complicated than analog.

Those are just fine. Repeater frequencies transmit at 467.xxx MHz rather than 462.xxx MHz, so the SWR changes. But either SWR is just fine. You’ll never be able to tell the difference when using the radio

Before you invest in the Anytone, have someone show you how to program it. I believe it’s nearly the same radio as my Alinco DJ-MD5xt. Programming it from the front panel is very difficult. Using the CPS is very detailed because it’s designed around the data structure necessary for DMR channels. You have to create Talk Groups, Zones, and Channels and link them together, even for the most basic analog channels. Other than that it performs well, but I would hate to have to program it from the front panel. Added, here’s a video showing how to change the frequency:

You sure get wound up trying to justify your actions by pointing fingers at others.

I bet it’s a hotspot with problems. See if you hear anything in the 70 cm range.

The Wouxun KG-UV9G receives almost everything including FM radio, NOAA, and local emergency services. It’s a superhet GMRS transceiver with a buttload of receive only channels preprogrammed for use as a SHTF scanner. https://bettersaferadio.com/wouxun-kg-uv9g-pro-gmrs-two-way-radio-shtf-scanner/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwkuqvBhAQEiwA65XxQLAA8CFffU_wwnqn0gFQlO_pxw25Bdm7q464aSMnJtQXYKlFgPmmsRoCFmAQAvD_BwE

If you caved in to us “Karens”, what does that make you?

Just to put a finer point to it, the station owner must maintain access and control. That would require proximity: “The licensee must maintain access to and control over all stations authorized under its license.” But, yeah, FCC would never seek someone out for violating this. They might add it on as a citation if a person is cited for something more serious.

Wrong. Every person using a GMRS radio is required to identify. 95.1751 GMRS station identification. Each GMRS station must be identified by transmission of its FCC-assigned call sign at the end of transmissions and at periodic intervals during transmissions except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. A unit number may be included after the call sign in the identification.

Bingo! Give that man a cigar!

LSCOTT is exactly right. I misunderstood. I didn't think you were asking about bare solar panels. I was thinking about something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Voltset-Monocrystalline-Maintainer-Controller-Adjustable/dp/B0BWY64QTY/ref=sr_1_18?crid=1YA190Q0J4BCY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UFORvyZPz9hX16ZkYOieLvSoZf2AeTtihePIabvzvswDlLOxbMybjD_PnMFkIRvFZEOKXI9RWCfWKzO6bGQNn5GmXRA2SYHvY6DTxa1xibf_8aPd_X-anRAPRST0MGeQJPsZS9banSPxiQt-48S-MFaf6G-yYqCFXUYWgx-zRWZ3LOzzNsMka9xxuYki9jrkkozokBrseFOASjhkrKhX65ddhM-4EN9_K9zSIG0W16o.tEl-hZ7jYPYuOne3HUALp-oKIQikxHG0qHETspUh6Xo&dib_tag=se&keywords=solar+charger&qid=1710879012&sprefix=solar+cha%2Caps%2C358&sr=8-18 Anyway, I appreciate the question because it knocked me off TDC and got me to order one. There's a 20% off coupon also so the total is under $40.

This ^ But it depends on the channels. Some channels don't allow that much and some channels require ERP calculations. § 95.1767 GMRS transmitting power limits. This section contains transmitting power limits for GMRS stations. The maximum transmitting power depends on which channels are being used and the type of station. (a) 462/467 MHz main channels. The limits in this paragraph apply to stations transmitting on any of the 462 MHz main channels or any of the 467 MHz main channels. Each GMRS transmitter type must be capable of operating within the allowable power range. GMRS licensees are responsible for ensuring that their GMRS stations operate in compliance with these limits. (1) The transmitter output power of mobile, repeater and base stations must not exceed 50 Watts. (2) The transmitter output power of fixed stations must not exceed 15 Watts. (You'll probably never need to know this) (b) 462 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of mobile, hand-held portable and base stations transmitting on the 462 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 5 Watts. (c) 467 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of hand-held portable units transmitting on the 467 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 0.5 Watt. Each GMRS transmitter type capable of transmitting on these channels must be designed such that the ERP does not exceed 0.5 Watt.

It's programmed to be +5.000 MHz for the repeater channels on commercially sold GMRS radios, but the regulations don't actually require that. They simply say that radios transmit to repeaters on the 467 MHz Main Channels and receive on the 462 MHz Main Channels. Some repeater owners have chosen to deviate from the 5.000 MHz offset. It's not technically non-compliant, but it effectively makes it very difficult for commonly available GMRS radios to be used. I don't know why they do that, but I suspect a bias against inexpensive GMRS radios. So, they end up with inexpensive ham radios instead.