SteveShannon

Lossy cable will make an antenna’s SWR appear better than it actually is. An SWR meter in the radio or connected next to the radio measures the forward power before it has been attenuated by the cable and measures the reflected power after it has been attenuated twice, making the ratio of reflected power to forward power much lower than it actually is.

It’s not entirely true. The difference between a tuned antenna and a badly tuned antenna is audible. Preliminary manual tuning using a trans-match is done while listening.

Are you sure that the second character in S9 isn’t just the way the LCD displays a lower case ”q”? Here are the instructions: To adjust the Squelch Sensitivity: 1. Press the Menu button to place the radio in “Menu” mode. 2. Use the Volume Up or Volume Down button to scroll through the menu options until the LCD display shows Sq. 3. Press the Lock button to confirm your selection 4. Use the Volume Up or Volume Down button to scroll forward or back- ward to select the desired squelch level, from 01 to 09. ▪ The default squelch setting is 04, which generally provides reliable squelch operation for most applications. 5. When the desired squelch level is shown on the LCD display, press the Lock button to confirm your selection. YOU MUST PRESS THE LOCK BUTTON TO CONFIRM YOUR SELECTION OR THE SQUELCH SENSITIVITY WILL NOT BE CHANGED.

That’s just not true. An antenna has no idea whether AM or FM is flowing through its elements. Now if you really meant that an antenna tuned for VHF FM broadcast band is not ideal for AM broadcast band at 550-1600 kHz, I would agree.

https://www.gigaparts.com/yaesu-ft-65r-5w-vhf-uhf-handheld-transceiver.html

It’s the same thing. I was just in a hurry.

I have the FT-65, FT-4, VX-6, VX-7, and FT5DR. The one I use most frequently is the FT-65. But $140 is a stupid high price. The most versatile and durable of my radios are the VX models and the FT5DR. I haven’t used them as much as the FT-65, but I intend to work on that. Get prices from Gigaparts, HRO, or DXEngineering. Gigaparts has the FT65 for $95.

Yes, that sounds right.

Exactly right!

I am not sure either. The only difference I can think of is that a true Base Station probably would have a base station antenna, which could be hundreds of feet in the air and reach a hundred miles. Two base stations talking to each other through a repeater could span a pretty good distance.

More than one person has argued over this. There’s an entire thread about it. You have to go back up to the Personal Radio Services and read the definition of Fixed Station. The differences boil down to this that Fixed Stations are fixed in location, AND only communicate with other Fixed Stations, AND are allowed to transmit on the 467 MHz frequencies (as well as the 462 frequencies) even though they are not talking to a repeater. Another curious thing about the rules is that where it lists the types of stations that may transmit on the 467 MHz Main frequencies through repeaters, Base Stations are not in the list.

An offset of 5.0001 MHz would indeed be out of compliance, but that’s not what people are doing. The FCC established 30 specific frequencies, but not specific pairs that must be used with each other. As long as a person sets their repeater to receive on one of the established 467 MHz Main frequencies and transmit on one of the established 462 MHz Main frequencies, they’re legal, even if the difference isn’t exactly 5.000 MHz.

Look up the call sign, look up the owner, write a letter. GMRS call signs and thus GMRS Stations, are individual, not club held.

5 MHz. And the certified 95e mobile and portable radios all have 5.000 MHz programmed in. There’s no regulation that says it must be exactly 5.000 MHz but the regulations limit radios to transmit on the 467 MHz Main channels to repeaters and limit repeaters to transmit only on the 462 MHz Main channels. So the difference is almost always about 5 MHz Some repeater owners complied with the regulations but deliberately selected channels that are not exactly 5.000 MHz apart. That effectively blocks radios that are 95e certified, forcing a person to either use an unlocked ham radio or commercial radio.

Channel 17 and channel 17rp both receive on the same frequency. That's why you hear the same chatter on both channels. But the channels marked rp differ in their transmit frequencies. They are for specifically configured for repeater use. A radio set to channel 17 receives and transmits on the same frequency, 462.600 MHz. That's referred to as a "simplex channel." A radio set to channel 17rp receives on 462.600 MHz, but transmits on 467.600 MHz. That's the 5 MHz offset Randy (@OffroaderX) mentioned. The repeater receives on 467.600 MHz and is designed to simultaneously transmit what it receives on 462.600 MHz. Transmitting and receiving at exactly the same time is called duplex.

Their market isn’t radio aficionados. They build radios that are easily programmed from the front panel for a single repeater on each of the repeater channels. They’re just right for a family farm or family recreational activities.

Or stock up on enough toilet paper and trade it for batteries!

Like almost every such general question, the only possible answer is “It depends.” For short range communications to a group, FM VHF and UHF (including GMRS) shine, if and only if you have plans for what to do in the event of a disaster, interference, zombies with RDF equipment, etc. You must have backup plans as well and backups to those. Yes, I believe you need ham radio in the mix and a way to monitor shortwave and broadcast bands. The news you eventually piece together from a GMRS handheld using simplex and its short ranges might be like playing the teenage game of Gossip.

Never feel like you have to apologize for asking a question, especially after trying to find prior threads. Welcome to the site.

You’re pretty negative towards other people’s posts lately, cherry picking things to be snarky about. Is everything all right?

GMRS uses FM, frequency modulation. One of the characteristics of FM is that a receiver “captures” the strongest transmitter on a frequency. It will do so regardless of the tone, because the CTCSS or DCS has nothing to do with reception. The tone is only used to determine whether or not to audibly reproduce the received signal. So, if your wife and somebody else who is closer to you are using channel 17, you might never hear your wife. That is why aircraft do not use FM. Instead they use AM or amplitude modulation. An AM receiver can receive and reproduce multiple signals on the same frequency simultaneously, allowing a person to break into a conversation if needed.

Not at all. Midland markets entire systems to the agriculture sector as nearly plug and play systems. I wouldn’t be surprised if their GMRS radios make up half of the market.

I didn't think a person could sign up more than once per call sign. In this case your call sign is your username.

Coax should always be as short as possible. Tuning the coax to a wavelength is not necessary. At the center where the two quarter wave halves of the radiator come together, unless you use a gamma match or delta match. I don’t know them well enough to attempt to explain them. Straight dipoles are usually about 73 ohms at the center. If you have an analyzer you can splay them slightly like an isosceles triangle. That’s a delta match I think. In an inverted vee configuration you can reduce the impedance to about 50 ohms, but usually Yagi antennas have straight radiators. I doubt you’ll see less that 50. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Remember, as soon as that wire leaves the coax, it becomes part of the radiator. Any length there either adds or detracts from the radiator. A dipole radiator has a length of one half of the wavelength times the velocity factor, and then tuned for the lowest VSWR. Dipoles are usually (but not always) split in half and the shield is attached to one half and the center conductor attaches to the other half. Both shield and center conductor are attached to the inner ends of the two quarter wave halves of the dipole. I don’t understand how you would have long wire anyway unless you use a balun and feed the dipole with ladder line.