WRPG745

eSIM... my t-moble account has a $100 a month service for unlimited international on 2 phones. (i believe it covers both eSIM and SIM) I'll bet a set of burner phones would be similar in cost, but even if more, you don't have to worry about losing them!

Have you considered burner phones or travel sim cards for your own cell? check your carrier for international sim cards to use for roaming, you might need more than one for all the places you want to go (Japan vs China).

wow, this is getting good... (lol, there is no right way to radio...)

I'm sure some folks will be by shortly to give technical insight on if you "need" to put one up. (you might) I'm wondering what you plan on doing with your radio(s). Where you'll operate and who'll you talk to... why did you get into gmrs? I use mine to chat with family and friends when we kayak, hike, caravan on the road. I also check in on the local repeaters occasionally. I use ham as well but not with family. em-coms is my secondary use. btw- there are few threads to read that might be helpful (or at least entertaining! I have a sick sense of humor) grab some popcorn and wade through these... my takeaway is to buy a commercial repeater solution rather than build your own, but if you have the skill, it probably would be fun. Drama seems to depend on where you are. welcome to the family! -john

Everything said before answers the question, but just to simplify, think of it this way: The repeater uses the tone to ignore any transmission NOT using the tone. (only hears transmissions with the tone). You use the tone the same way, to NOT hear others NOT using the tone. If you transmit with a tone, anyone listening with the tone hears you, AND anyone with no tone will also hear you, but "breaking squelch" is about signal strength (with or without a tone).

If it were me, I'd change the Tx power to high...

Depending on your truck, you might use a magnet mounted Tram or Nagoya. you will also probably need an adapter for your radio (depending on the connector on the antenna cable). There are vehicle specific mounts (what truck make/model/year do you have?) and options for front hood, rear stake body or 3rd brake light. if you have an aluminum body or for instance you have racks and such. Or just hate the idea of putting a magnet on the paint. Long term, you may need to drill a hole somewhere to run cable for a permanent installation. I get great coverage using a Tram 1180, fender mounted, cable running through the firewall. It's driver side front mounted. All in I think I spent about $110 because I used a firewall boot and a stainless steel mount. YMMV

HI I don't know that antenna, but I did see this link: https://pascogmrs.us/tram-1486/ looks like a complete writeup (and a decent antenna) -jc

Just a warning, you'll be buying more radios in the future regardless! You may not notice the difference in these radios (I think they have the same direct sampling technology). You will notice the difference going to a superheterodyne receiver. check out the https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-905g.html its $30 cheaper than the 935g, and the https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-805g.html is $50 cheaper at $80. Both are still more than the BTECH GMRS-V2, but you will see a difference for selectivity and audio quality.

Hi Red Horse, If your radio entry point is some level of "prepping", you might start with a few questions to help flesh out what works for you: Who are you looking to listen to? You can listen to anyone with the right scanner or shortwave radio. Who will you talk to? How far away are they? How do you do this now? Text messaging can work when circuits are busy or in weak signal areas. What are the most likely disaster scenarios in your area? In my area, wind and rain events (severe thunderstorms, tornados, and hurricanes) are most likely to affect us. Are you more concerned with natural disasters that take "the grid down" or are you envisioning "man-made" issues or TEOTWAWKI? How much effort will you put into getting trained, licensed and proficient? For me, my primary radio use is to run around outside (hike, kayak, fish, etc.) as well as I'm interested with technology. I use GMRS with my family (they have no interest in getting licensed for ham). Prepping is a secondary use for me. I have a Technicians license and am considering purchasing a HF rig and at some point upgrading to a General license. For disasters, I will get information from AM/FM radio, text messages from our county services, local ARES nets, and conversations with GMRS users. My family is anywhere from 90 to 800 miles from me. For disaster planning, we don't have a full PACE plan but we will use: phone, email, and text messaging. Radios for us will have only local tactical use. Honestly, I'm more concerned with access to drinking water and heat. I think GMRS will likely give you the best local coms for the cost and effort, but it all depends!

This Tram 1185 dual band has served me well. (Cookie sheet mount in front of a west facing, second story window.) Using a UV5X3 I hit GMRS repeaters south and east of me at 15 miles, I easily hit VHF repeaters on high ground at 25+ miles. using my KG805 or my TYT 8600 I do slightly better. Eventually I'll have an antenna up on the roof eave, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

@WSAW350 (and Guest Ray-El), I think you are right, the only way to know is to test. Based on the gear you mention, I think its possible, but has more to do with your antenna placements and height than anything else. I agree with the mindset of making the comms without a repeater. best to not rely on someone else's infrastructure. looking forward to seeing more replies on this and finding out what works for y'all.

Hey if 10 codes work with your coms, it works and isn't dumb. Lol, I have to admit when someone uses a 10 code other than 10-4 or 10-100, I have no idea what they mean. (I also assume they are of a certain age or might be tactical LARPing.) If you use them, you be you, use 10 codes, wear 5.11, have fun... there's room for all!

@marcspaz, what kind of trails are you thinking? I'm sure you've got some clearance. Any space for unmodified trucks? (blue trails? green trails?)

Lo siento, no hablo español, usé el traductor de Google para averiguar lo que dijiste. ¿Qué radio es? marca y numero de modelo? espero que alguien que hable español con fluidez pueda intervenir...

you might consider a bracket like the ones at Valley Enterprises: https://www.valley-ent.com/store/brackets I didn't see Bronco specifically, but perhaps one of the F150 mounts would work? might be worth the call... good luck!

https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_CHIRP.php

Hi BKLIPP, I am sure one of the actual experts will chime in on this soon. You might consider creating your own thread about "Btech 50x1" to get better responses. I use a BTech UV5X3 handheld and my manual has pretty good instructions for editing tones manually, yours is probably similar. one thing to do is press "menu" after each and every action as confirmation (this got me tripped up for a while). CHIRP should be easier because your can edit a spreadsheet vs navigating menus. Where you able to connect to and clone your radio in CHIRP? Perhaps that was a USB driver issue? Once you connect and clone, you'll just need the correct input/output tones for the repeater. Good Luck!

the Greensboro 575 machine: https://mygmrs.com/repeater/5000 has a weekly net on Tuesdays on 575, 8pm Be sure to check with https://mygmrs.com/user/TangoKilo. The owner is a good guy and will be happy to assist. good luck!

it looks like you have an air conditioner up there... is it possible to attach to a point on that instead of penetrating the camper roof? perhaps a clever bracket with a ground plane kit. There maybe a way to chase the antenna wire through this access too. I could be wrong, I've never had an RV or camper air conditioner, do you have a photo that shows the top area there?

lol, yes "least worst" indeed! for the stake hole bracket, I'm tracking with you... Ive got a tie down point in there now and would hate to lose that. Customizing it could work, especially to get ground below the plastic trim. option 1 is still looking "best". I may be looking for a snipe with my antenna request. I can easily give up 1.25m. I'll probably switch out antennas and radios when needed. appreciate the tip on the Tram 1181 and Comet 2x4sr! I do like the look of glass mount, very sanitary. Do you recall which antenna you used? I could always do what HCCFCA did in his Ferrari and go all suction cuppy! appreciate the feedback! I'm not doing anything for a few weeks so keep the comments coming, thanks!

here's the background: truck: 2014 Ram 1500 quad cab radio service(s): GMRS primary, HAM bands secondary: 2m, the rest of 70cm and optionally 1.25m I use my truck on road mostly and on the beach occasionally. it is NOT an off road rig. I pull boats, haul lumber and other stuff. I have a hard tonneau cover (Bakflip2) and have tie down anchors in all 4 bed stake holes. I use carwashes occasionally and have no issue removing an antenna to do so. I have a standard garage door and use parking garages in the local cities. I have been thinking about 3 options: Fender mount drivers side front Bed mount up tight to the cab C-pillar glass mount at drivers side rear #1 I would buy the vehicle specific clip, #2 looks like I may need to fabricate or modify a stock item, #3 probably has issues with the exterior height and interior space behind the seats. I'm leaning towards #1 I know not mounting on the roof will make any installation directional, but I'd rather that than breaking antennas all the time. here is an image showing some thoughts. What would you do? what am I missing? all observations and comments are welcome, thanks in advance!

watching this thread... Dr Bombay, what did you do or plan to do?

Hi Bob, you might try the FCC search tool to find licensed operators for GMRS or HAM in your area. its not super user friendly. This might give you an idea of who's around. theres no guarantee they would hear or answer a transmission. the "advanced" license link is: https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAdvanced.jsp repeater groups have weekly nets on the repeater. if you haven't already, you might search for clubs in your area (HAM or GMRS) good luck! -jc