SteveShannon

Last week I decided to put my dual band DB20G radio into my 4Runner instead of the one I keep dedicated to GMRS. I have a Midland magnetic NMO mount on the roof with an MXTA26 antenna for use on GMRS. I already know the MXTA26 is worthless for 2 meters so I unscrewed the MXTA26 from the NMO mount where it has been. Although i intended to use it for GMRS, the need simply never materialized and so for the past eight months or so the dedicated GMRS radio has been out of the 4Runner. The antenna has been in place without being disturbed for two years. Apparently the seal for the NMO mount works really well, because even though it has been hot(ish) and very dry here for the past month, trapped water gushed out under the gasket at the base of the antenna as soon as I broke the seal. It was surprising. There was probably a tablespoon or two of water trapped in the base of the antenna. My theory is that over the winters and rainy springs water travelled down the whip into the base. I expected that there would be some kind of seal to prevent water from entering the cavities of the base, but if so it didn’t work. I have a second MXTA26 antenna that I mounted briefly but replaced with a Comet SBB5 that I can always use, but I’ll put the antenna analyzer on this one to see what it looks like. I’ll compare the two, the nearly unused one vs. the one that was waterlogged. So, because the much discussed format of this forum expects a question and allows us to vote the answers up or down, have any of you experienced this kind of water ingress with the Midland MXTA26 or another NMO mount antenna? If so, do you just drain them and let them drip dry every so often?

Yeah, but you have a life.

The difference between digital codes that end in N or I is that N is the normal code and I is the inverse of the same code. If it doesn’t specify I, use N.

I have an end fed half wave that has good SWR on 40, 30, 20, 15, and 10 meters. 17 can be tuned using the internal tuner in my FTDX10, but I built an automatic tuner from a kit that’ll tune to 10:1 so I can pick up 80, 60, and 12 meters. With the beautiful waterfall on the radio I can almost always find someone to listen to. I only have 100 watts but I usually don’t turn it up beyond 45 watts and sometimes only 15-20.

Yes

If you really think that simply changing the element will work go to an auto parts store and pick out a replacement automotive antenna whip. Last time I checked they were $10. But the base of the antenna probably has a coil and a capacitor that were chosen for the whip you want to replace so you’re kind of working bass-backwards.

I guess we have differing expectations of hf and differing definitions of reliability. It sounds like you want the instant gratification of a VHF handheld, the addressable nature of a cell phone, and the long distance of hf. That would be wonderful, but it’s just not realistic. As I’ve mentioned probably too often I always get through to the 40 meter net on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ve simply never failed at it and from Butte, MT to Keyport, WA the distance isn’t short. And that’s on SSB phone which is one of the most sensitive to noise. That doesn’t mean I can hear every person who checks in. As you say, atmospheric conditions sometimes make it difficult to hear some people. But what it does mean is that I know which paths work reliably, which modes I can fall back to (text or email style messaging via weak-signal modes are particularly useful, but the original CW is a skill I want to develop), and whom I can count on to relay a message if I must get a message delivered. Now that’s not as convenient as a cell phone. I cannot say that I can talk to any other person on hf whenever I want, but I can rely on a network of hams to get messages through, and in an emergency that’s what’s important.

That hotspot was designed for digital modes, ham radio. I don’t know if or how it can be used for GMRS.

10-4!

This! I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve gotten to the point where I stop telling people this because for many of them they start by saying they already bought the radios they intended to use.

You’re right. Many of us don’t care. Other than mild curiosity I don’t buy radios just to listen to other people’s conversations on an internet feed. Perhaps few of us do, perhaps there’s very little traffic, and perhaps that’s why it’s not high on the priorities of the one person who maintains this site. But that just conjecture on my part. What I know is that it costs money to maintain features like that. Vote with your dollars by becoming a premium member. (Thank you @UpperBucks!)

Less than you might think. Plus that does nothing to extend your receive range. The limit on GMRS range is almost never due strictly to power, but relies on the factors LeoG mentioned.

Actually, you might even consider that the repeater may extend your range by the distance it will receive plus the distance it will transmit. Of course LeoG is right that the antenna and topology have a great effect, but I think you already considered those effects when you said “the distance the radios transmit.”

Yes

If it’s so you can feed the smaller cable into your vehicle, don’t put a connector part way. Take the connector at the end off and replace it with a new one with the cable only as long as necessary.

The Wouxun kg-805 is a simple to use but decent quality superheterodyne GMRS radio. Randy has covered it in a couple of video articles, most recently this one:

I meant electric power. I agree with Randy, don’t chase the myth of RF power instead of antenna and antenna height.

Here are very few wire antennas for GMRS, in fact I don’t know of any. Typically you need 1. A repeater, 2. A duplexer, 3. A good antenna, and 4. A good source of electric power. There are lots of opinions on which is the best for each of those. I don’t have the right experience to advise you but I would recommend that you hang around for a while, look back through older posts and ask some questions before buying anything expensive

I don’t dare look!!!

I can do better than that. For the low price of $35 you can get a real one!

I’m not sure what you mean when you say HF is generally unreliable. I join a 40 meter net Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and I am always able to reach people several hundred miles from me with 100 watts. Sometimes the signal is better than other times but I’ve never been skunked.

So, use the votes and pass the word so others do also.

No, the question is always on top. Second, as I understand it, people ask technical questions hoping to get an accurate answer and they benefit from having the most nearly correct answer voted to the top.

Thanks for the additional information. Good luck with your project. I’ll be interested in your progress.

Welcome!!