SteveShannon

I’m not a mod, but just in case you don’t know, there is a classified ads area on this site.

All of us who read this thread.

You did, back on February 27. This forum is sometimes confusing when the posts get sorted according to votes rather than by date.

You’re right. The wire leading from the center tap of the SO 239 becomes part of the radiating element. For that reason they are usually connected directly to the radiator or with a very short wire.

It’s entirely possible that the repeater has a courtesy beep programmed. Some do. If so, you should also hear it whenever anyone else transmits. It’s also possible that your radio is programmed with a Roger beep as 709 suggests. If it’s that it will beep every time you transmit, regardless of the channel. Rather than depending upon the beep, try asking if anyone hears you while you PTT.

So RG11 truly is 75 ohm cable, but that is not terrible. It just means you’ll never get the VSWR below 1.5:1. Losses are 2.65 dB over 100 feet. That’s about the same as LMR400. Measure your power output at both ends of the cable and you’ll really get an accurate measurement of how much power you lose in the cable.

It sounds like you’re doing everything right as far as the repeater. I don’t know if the repeater you’re using is networked and you’re hearing someone connecting that way. Nor do I know what you must do to connect to them.

There’s actually a Radio Shack in Bozeman that never closed. From their ads it appears they mostly sell RC cars.

Used to be able to go to Radio Shack.

HRO carries 300 ohm ladder line: https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-016485

I completely agree that the DIY aspect is fun. Just think what you could do in ham radio where your experiments are not limited to accessories and antennas. In ham radio you can make your own radios, linear amplifiers, etc. I just picked up an old Amateur Radio Handbook. This was the 20th edition (the hundredth is the current printing). It was printed during wartime, in 1943, and it has plans for “wartime radios.” It’s a fascinating look into the past. Of course transistors hadn’t been invented yet.

Transmitting 10 watts, actually up to 50 watts, on a handheld is allowed on all of the main GMRS channels, just not onthe interstitial channels. On 15-22 and 23-30 you could transmit 50 watts as long as your batteries held out and you were crazy enough to transmit 50 watts inches from your head. It’s simply the fact that it’s not designed and certified for 95E that makes you a rule breaker.

So, I think what you’re wanting to do is to simply have a secondary alert system on top of the CTCSS squelch system to alert your daughter or you that either of you wishes to talk. So, even though the transmission goes through the repeater because of the repeater’s PL or CTCSS system, your daughter’s and your radio would stay silent until this other tone or sequence of tones, such as DTMF, which only you and she share, is sent. In use, one of you would send this sequence of tones, the other’s radio would beep or break squelch to alert that person that the sender wanted them to pick up their radio. I doubt that what you want is easily available. If it is, it may be a separate system that would intercept and block audio from the radio until the secondary sequence of tones is heard. The secondary tones would have to be higher than 300 Hz because tones below 300 are filtered out after triggering CTCSS. Thus, everyone else listening to the repeater would hear them. One of my radios, which is capable of GMRS use, has a paging function built in, but I have never played with it. I’ll look in the manual to see how it works, but I won’t hold my breath. When you think about it the cell phone is a marvelous thing.

I apologize if I missed it, but 75 feet of what kind of cable? 75 feet of the wrong cable will consume most of the output power before it ever arrives at the antenna. Something you might want to try, even if just temporarily as an experiment, is to mount the RT-97 on the mast just below the antenna with a short jumper between it and the feedpoint.

Don’t even worry about it, especially if your communications are mostly between your family.

I don’t have experience with that but I do with the Alinco DJ-MD5xt, which is certified part 90, has DMR and AES 256 encryption, and is less expensive than the Black Diamond.

No, the FRN hasn’t expired. Just make sure its information is up to date and buy a new GMRS license.

I built mine around this USA made MMDVM Pi Hat. I used a $15 Pi Zero W and a $10 OLED board, but I'm ruminating on replacing the OLED board with a Nextion display. https://www.store.n5boc.com/product-page/mmdvm-simplex-1v8

As the priests always tell me “It’s a mystery.”

I’m sorry for the loss of this pioneer. My condolences to his family and friends.

Nicely done, Gil!

The SW-102 measures three things: frequency forward power reflected power. The forward power and reflected power are used to calculate the SWR, or standing wave ratio. The calculated number is the number to the left of the colon in the SWR. Reflected power occurs when there is an impedance mismatch. That reflected power doesn’t enter the antenna. It bounces off the transition between the two impedances just as light is reflected from the surface of a lake. The nominal impedance of your radio is about 50 ohms, so your transmission line must be 50 ohms and so must your antenna. But simply being 50 ohms doesn’t make an antenna efficient. It just removes one cause of inefficiency in getting the signal to the antenna. You can have a perfect 1.0:1 SWR but have an antenna that just doesn’t radiate RF. .

Welcome!

He said:

My call sign is AI7KS. I started out calling it just that way and when I’m on a net where others know my call sign that’s what I use, but I found out very quickly that a leading A is more often mistaken for a K than correctly interpreted as an A. They would say “Come now with your call sign, first name, and location.” i would respond, going slowly because I know how difficult it is to hear it quickly “A I 7 K S, Steve in Butte.” They would respond “I’ve got you in the log KI7KS. Are there any other check-ins?” That exact same mistake happens on 2 meter nets, 40 meter nets, and random on-air contacts. I realized that’s its difficult to hear the difference between a K and an A in English. There’s a stop at the beginning of both characters and both make the long A sound. So, when introducing myself on air for the first time I simply say “alpha India seven kilo sierra, AI7KS, Steve, from Butte.” I absolutely agree that the regulations don’t require it, but sometimes conditions do in a practical sense. But I see nothing wrong with Victor Uniform Lima as part of a call sign. I will listen for it.