SteveShannon

So I just got the Anytone 5888UV Dual Band in today and ran into the issue with Chirp showing "list index out of range" error beginning at channel 35 when I pulled the original programming from the radio. It wouldn't let me program to the radio from channel 35 onward. I found a solution to this issue and wanted to share it.
 
In order to get the full frequency list to index properly in Chirp, you first need to download and install the AnyTone 5888UV factory software. Once the software is installed, open it and download the stock programing from the radio. After the download is complete, upload that exact list back to the radio using the factory software.
 
Go back into Chirp and download from the radio again. Now all of the available channels for the radio can be accessed and the "list index out of range" error is gone. 
 
I discovered this by messing around with both softwares because I really wanted to use Chirp to dump my programming list into the radio. You will need to use the factory software to set advanced settings however for the radio configuration options. I spend atleast an hour online searching for this workaround but wasn't able to find it. Hopefully this post will help others down the road with this issue.

Disconnect/open loops because EMF.
 
 
Lightning strike between my house and neighbor's house took out 2 window AC's and 3 TV's at the neighbor's house, but just a light ballast and the power filter board on my HF rig.  If I had had the HF rig disconnected from the power supply it would have just been the light ballast.  Power poles are your friend.

And here it is.
Antennas are tuned to specific frequencies.  When they’re used at frequencies other than those they’re tuned for, the results are usually bad. Also, the cable used for a CB antenna is usually very lossy at GMRS frequencies.
So, as Randy said, no.

Obviously, we'll do some testing with my antenna before she spends the money for one.
 
There's no doubt about that, but we have to work with what we have. Modern vehicles have so many non-metallic parts that it's often hard to find a decent ground plane. Literally the only ground plane on my truck is the roof. The hood is fiberglass. I'm going to install an NMO on the roof at some point; I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

That's great if it works for him.
All antennas, even the no ground plane antennas, will benefit from a ground plane. That being said. Plenty of ground plane antennas still work with a less than optimal ground plane underneath.

Definitely don't overcomplicate things. Either use the existing fuses where they are at or move them closer to the battery.
I have yet to burn up any wires or blow fuses even when talking for a long time with any of my 50 watt dual band and GMRS radios. And I run them on high power all of the time.

If you are mounting an antenna that large, i would drill a hole in the top of the bed rail over the tail light and hard-mount a UHF mount. (Or NMO).
 
The only other option would be to use a lip mount on the hood. Something like this... ot the Diamond version. 
 
https://www.cometantenna.com/product/coment-hd-5m-heavy-duty-rs-840-lip-mount-w-dlx-166-coax-gold-uhf-conns/
 
I'll take a couple pictures of mine in about an hour and show you what I have (both) for GMRS and Amateur Radio  

Here's three options for the Jeep.
The lip mount on the hood is a Laird Lip-Mount and Phantom antenna, and does not need anything special. This Phantom antenna is used for UHF DMR.
The mount on the driver's side near the A pillar is a Laird non- ground plane for VHF and the mount is a Rugged Radios mount.
The glass-mount on the rear glass is a Larsen and used for UHF. I get great performance with the glass-mount antenna.
All of these options can apply to the Gladiator.
The Midland antennae are great if you are just transmitting on GMRS freqs. If you are transmitting on a mix of GMRS and Business Radio Service freqs use the Lairds and Larsen antennae, do not use any of the HAM crap stuff.

One of the reasons I always go with an NMO mount is so I can remove the antenna for car washes. Full disclosure: It's not my vehicle; I'm helping a friend figure out what to do. 

Those are all useful options. I'll show them to the owner.

If you do choose a ground plane antenna, mount it to the center of the roof. That’s the single most effective place to mount an antenna, but it brings with it other challenges: is the roof metal? If not you’ll need a sheet of metal to provide the ground plane. Is the roof strong enough to withstand the vibration of the mount and antenna? Do you go through car washes? Etc.

Fiber or fabric roof. That's not an option. For a fiber roof, mounting some type if reflector for a ground plane doesn't work. The material is too thick for it to be inside and it's ribbed up top, which adds a whole new level of aggravation.

A mount on the spare tire is popular. You will want to use an antenna that does not require a ground plane with the spare mount for best performance.
All antennas are a compromise, the trick is to decide which compromise you can live with and still get the performance you want.

And here it is.
Antennas are tuned to specific frequencies.  When they’re used at frequencies other than those they’re tuned for, the results are usually bad. Also, the cable used for a CB antenna is usually very lossy at GMRS frequencies.
So, as Randy said, no.

That's only 3 paragraphs! Dont worry, the 10 paragraph answer will come.

Use one of the many coax loss calculators to see if the loss for that length is acceptable to you. 

Use one of the many coax loss calculators to see if the loss for that length is acceptable to you. 

Seems like the site has been a bit buggy lately, I got it to show up with stale turned on. Looks  like it’s been over a year since the owner updated. 
@Ark1 try sending the owner a message and ask him about the repeater. They might appreciate knowing that their page fell into stale and that they just need to log into their repeater account to make it update. 

It still appears in the database, but browsing the map it doesn’t appear.  I don’t know why.  I tried it with offline and stale both turned on.

You are the opposite of a “Sad Ham”.  Great job!

Let’s disregard lightning protection for a few minutes and just talk about bonding to your house service ground. 
Your tower is sort of grounded. We all agree with that I think. It’s embedded in an imperfect conductor, concrete, at the bottom. To improve the grounding a ground wire runs from each leg of the tower to a ground rod. But any two separate ground rods are almost always at different potentials. Whenever you have different potentials between two points in a circuit you will have electric currents flowing from one point to the other. So, the three or four legs of the tower are bonded together using a material that is more conductive than the tower itself. Otherwise you have current flowing between the legs of your  tower. If current flows between the legs of your tower over time the metal of the tower will corrode. Bonding between the three or four legs provides an easier path for the current to flow which keeps the legs all at the same potential. 
In addition your antenna mount is certainly connected electrically to your tower and your coax shield is connected to your antenna mount. Your coax shield then runs to your radio. If you have a watt meter, amplifier, or any other device between your radio and your antenna, they are all connected serially via the coax shield. Their metal cases are all connected to the coax shield. So all of the devices in your shack are connected together via the coax shield. If a power surge comes through the shield (static, lightning, unicorn farts, whatever) it is going to cause current to flow through your equipment because that’s the most direct path. By bonding the chassis of all those devices to a single point, we provide a much better path that doesn’t flow through those devices. So that’s why we use a single point ground. But remember, that single point ground is connected to ground at the tower.  
You power your radio with a power supply that’s plugged into your house power. Its case is connected to the ground wire in the outlet which runs back to the service panel where it’s bonded to the service ground for the utility power coming into your house. It has to be because NEC says so. 
So let’s say you don’t have your single point ground bonded to your service ground. You reach out to touch your radio and at the same time your brush your other hand on the power supply. The potential of your tower ground, which is what your one hand is touching, is probably different than the potential of the service ground, which is what your other hand is feeling. And it’s DC. Your heart can be stopped by as little as 1/10 of an ampere. So you die. 
So we bond the tower ground to the utility ground to ensure they are at the same potential and save your life. 
Also with fewer ground currents in the shack we hear less noise. 
😁

Obviously you don’t ground a fiberglass mast, but your coax shield is attached to part of the antenna somewhere and it will develop a charge as air currents pass over it.
Now the difference in potentials is between the metal parts of the antenna connected to the shield of the coax and the service ground, again going through your equipment and possibly you. One of the purposes of a surge suppressor (commonly called a lightning protector but nobody guarantees that) is to allow you to bond the coax shield to the grounding system. 

A Glad Ham!

You are the opposite of a “Sad Ham”.  Great job!

You are the opposite of a “Sad Ham”.  Great job!