WRPQ991

OK please explain how to go back to GMRS. Was fun for a minute. Never mind I got it:)

One downside to "opening" this radio is it takes forever to scan It goes past the 450.0 MhZ on 70cm 420MHz and below and over the 144.-148.0 mhz on 2 M 144 MHz. of course it does NOT have side band so your not going to hear alot of conversations. You will get the noise from what I assume is data, loud static.

The Radioddity DB25-G is CHIRP compatible according to the website, kinda wish I'ld gotten that rather than the DB20_G Multi Band? JMHO if your licensed for GMRS and Ham why not? Unless your running too much power, how does the FCC know what radio your transmitting on? A "modified" GMRS or an unmodified ham radio? As long as your legally licensed to operate those frequencies. Power? go to CB ch6 27.025 any evening. Sitting in central Texas with 1 ft of coax on a 100W dummy load I can hear Orlando FL, Lansing MI, a Few way up in the NE Main, CT NY NJ Them boys are putting out some power. ch 17 and 28 are just about as bad. I know some of you would rather take a butt whopping than mess around on 11M 27mhz but its alive and well LOL

I'll be doing 100% coax I have a Surecom SW 102and Surecom SW 33 mark II. to check SWR and power. I was certainly disappointed to learn all my CB test equipment SWR/Power wouldn't work on GMRS. I do have dedicated GMRS antennas but they look just like the ones that come with the little CBs that are on the market. Fit in the palm of your hand, some dead key around 6 Watts and swing 10-15Watts I run a President Bill in my Ford Ranger but have it on a 5 Ft firestick, SWR is 1.5/1 to 2.1/1 from 25.615 to 29.205. If I'm on a longer trip I'll put in a RM AM/SSB KL23P 100W linear. On a good day it will talk across the grass median. Ran a Midland MXT500 for awhile, with the included antenna, I was not at all impressed. Nobody out there. Of course alot of places I go there is NO cell service, NO FM radio, and AM is the boarder blaster Mexican stations. So, I was thinking of running the Midland as a base station, and as long as I have the pole down put up a good CB Base as well. That's another story on a different forum.. Guess I'll go looking for an antenna analyzer. And see if I can figure out how to use it. Rules can be broken, Laws cannot (should not). So don't lecture me on power and frequencies, I know the rules.

Over the years I have acquired a few antennas, Is there any way to identify which would do UHF Gmrs, which are 10/11 meter, which are 2M ? I was goofing around on a Ham equipment site last night after a few adult beverages. I saw a antenna matcher, supposedly whatever freq you transmit on it matches it for optimum SWR and impedance. It wasn't cheap, but with all the multi band, or any band radios, with on heck of a frequency range... I guess you could do it all with one antenna? If I used the wrong terminology or misspelled anything, I'm not a Ham operator. I spent years OTR using CB everything from "converted 10M" to Pres. Bill, alot of Cobra and Unidens. Yes I've played in the "prepper bands" or "free bands" Retired now with too much free time on my hands. LOL

I have a Cobra Micro talk (bubble pack) FRS with 22 channels, each channel has 38 sub channels. My Wouxun KG 80G has 30 channels but I cant find the sub channels. I'm not sure if this is what the OP was referencing, If the Cobra is on CH 4.25 the Wouxun won't pick it up, If the Cobra is on 4.00 the Wouxun will pick it up loud and clear out 1/4 mile away.

That's a nice pole, but with the guy wires has a pretty big footprint. Do you encounter any issues with no ground plane, except the ground of course. While the hunting tower has the expanded metal..Here, where I am, the ground has very little reflective properties. Mostly limestone and sand. I see people using aluminum pipe from the top of a wire fence, or a few sticks of PVC, and all sorts of redneck engineering. For your heavy rotor and a set of moon rakers, you could remove the seat and use the pedestal. I'm just kicking around ideas right now.

Saw this earlier today and thought HMM a 20 foot tower! I'm thinking even multiple antennas for different radios or frequencies https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/guide-gear-heavy-duty-20039-hunting-tripod?a=2271737

Yeah I guess I need a label maker, I have CRS real bad these days.

The "chip" shortage for new cars is a good example. There are no American made CBs either, I have an old Lafayette 23 channel that was made in America...maybe. The crystals were probably not. Like it or not, its a global economy

If the cig lighter plug is a problem, why not change the connection to a two wire plug, think 110V home plug with one wide one thin so you cant plug it in backwards. Or the push to connect like the front of a power supply.

Thanks for the info. I'll see if I can find it. WRPC505, i'm just off FM 2657 probably not too far away

Most oil and gas workers are outside contractors, and don't have the capital or want the exclusive systems as they work for many different companies. I've worked for as many as 10 different companies in a week. Out there where there is NO cell service, No road signs (or no roads) and No directions. Many times I've put Long/Lat in my GPS and hoped for the best. A "BIG" repeater? maybe one that works for more than 2 miles? or one that works 10-15 miles compared to one that works for 70 miles. I was kinda thinking the 102 for base operations, not so much mobile. But thanks y'all for the input. I'm coming from the CB side of this, so alot of it is still fuzzy math and voodoo science.

I don't know how much it takes to get the FCC's attention, they are busy trying to stop cyber attacks and interference with our power and fuel grids. (watch for "false flags" from our Government, Question everything) And investigating Elon Musk for buying stock in Twitter. They've given up on CB just listen to CH 6 . Most people are completely ignorant to radio bandwidth and frequencies. They just buy what they think will work, plug it in and go. There is no malice, no bad intentions, just the attitude if I can buy it, it must be legal.

Here is kinda how I se it, a GMRS radio can not be modified to operate (transmit and receive) on Ham bands, But a Ham radio can be modified to operate on GMRS bands. Some CBs can be modified to operate in Ham Bands, (free bands) and that is highly illegal but Ham operators often use the CB frequencies, and it's OK. I will admit I did NOT google all of the radios mentioned in this thread, I don't always understand the acronyms used in the forum, but the more I read, the more I learn.

Wrong Room, Pee Quick 9-9-1 ?

Duh? I cant use my licensed GMRS radio in a crime, and I can't use my licensed handgun in a crime, and I cant use my licensed pickup truck in a crime, and I cant commit a crime in the house I own. So, why is there so much crime? stolen radio, stolen handgun, stolen vehicle, vacant house.

Ok I'm new to this so please, If I'm just setting up a base station. why would I need a duplexer? That's more for repeaters right? So between the radio and antenna I have coax, a lightning arrestor. and ??? nothing. So if my radio puts out 50W (optimistic) and say 100 ft of coax. I know there are alot of variables here but why couldn't I get estimated 40W to the antenna?

Figures I just got mine 03/08/2022 haven't even hooked up my radio yet.

Good question, I have an ARE topper on a 04 Ford Ranger and would like this info too. Where and how were you planning on mounting the antenna, and what antenna are you using? The issue I see is you cant get the antenna over the cab height.

Up north in Copperas Cove, (Ft Hood) I can sometimes get Oglesby but nothing from the south. Austin has the local repeaters that don't reach far. I can sometimes get one when I visit family in Phlugerville. But it don't quite reach Round Rock. Going up to Shreveport when I lose Oglesby in about 45 minutes I start picking up Tyler, that gets me pretty close to Shreveport, But there is NOTHING there.

Not seeing too many "big" repeaters in Texas, I figured with all the oil and gas work and support there would be more. I read about the cost of setting up a good 50-70 mile repeater and its way out of my budget. A small mobile one for an event don't look to bad but really wouldn't help travelers. Or the general GMRS population. One stupid question, would a 102 inch whip work on GMRS? It's kinda the "old standard" of 11M CB. Or, am I kinda stuck with the little wimpy antennas (mobile)

If I'm correct the WRP means he's in Texas somewhere. I'm new to this too but noticing the call signs and locations....

Just got my license, ordered a Midland radio, will see what kind of trouble I can get into. Sitting here between Waco and Austin, kinda between repeaters, will have to wait & see. Can't say I understand all the posts here, but as I learn it should become clear. Coming from the CB side it's' channels but from the Ham side it's frequencies. It'll take some time for me to visualize them all.

But all in your group would have to have a Ham lic. too. With FRS/GMRS they can go to wally world and get a handheld FRS cheap and have communication. Can't get a consents on the channels we have now on GMRS why would we want more bandwidth/spectrum and more confusion?